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To the Moon Alice Delivers Uncle Mo Filly At Old Tavern Farm As Part Of National Museum of Racing’s Foal Patrol Season 4

To the Moon Alice, an 8-year-old mare owned by Old Tavern Farm, delivered a filly by stallion Uncle Mo at 2 a.m. on April 7 at Old Tavern as part of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame's Foal Patrol Season 4.

Both the mare and foal are healthy and doing well. This is the second foal of the season delivered on Foal Patrol, following Miss Chapin colt by Oscar Performance at Mill Ridge in Kentucky on Feb. 26.

To the Moon Alice is a dark bay daughter of Malibu Moon out of the Partner's Hero mare Love Match. Bred in Kentucky by Hare Forest Farm, she was purchased by Old Tavern Farm at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale in 2017. This is her fourth foal.

There are four mares participating in Foal Patrol Season 4, as well as the stallion Tapit at Gainesway Farm. The next mare scheduled to deliver is Miss Always Ready (in foal to Palace Malice) at Three Chimneys Farm in Versailles, Ky., who is overdue her expected foaling date of March 30. The fourth mare is Janae (Safari North, Versailles, Ky.), who is in foal to Malibu Moon with an expected foaling date of April 12.

Foal Patrol is a one-of-a-kind interactive web project. Season 4 features a collection of live cameras where people can view real-time streams of several mares and their foals and the stallion Tapit. The live camera feeds will be available according to each horse's daily schedule, set by the farm. For more information, please visit www.foalpatrol.com.

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Modernist Could Target Brooklyn Following Excelsior Score

Pam and Martin Wygod's Modernist earned a 95 Beyer for his 2 1/2-length score in Saturday's Grade 3, $150,000 Excelsior, a nine-furlong test for older horses at Aqueduct racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

With Junior Alvarado up for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, Modernist tracked in second position and shook clear at the head of the lane en route to a convincing win over the late-closing Haikal.

The 4-year-old Uncle Mo colt graduated last January at the Big A ahead of a win in the Grade 2 Risen Star and a third in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby, both at Fair Grounds. He was given a freshening after off-the-board efforts in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes and Grade 3 Peter Pan at Saratoga.

“He's doing good this morning,” said Mott's New York-based assistant Leana Willaford. “The last couple races last year, he was looking like he was ready for a break and he got one. It obviously helped him. He came back to me here much more mature physically and mentally. I thought he looked great going into the race.”

Willaford said the prominent trip was a good one for the long-running colt, especially after the scratch of 4-5 morning line favorite Mr. Buff.

“He's run well that way. He was on the lead when he broke his maiden and vying for it when he won the Risen Star,” said Willaford. “With Mr. Buff out, you figured you better be up there and they didn't go very fast early. Distance will not be a limitation for this horse. He can go all day.”

A possible target for Modernist would be the 12-furlong Grade 2, $400,000 Brooklyn on June 5 at Belmont.

WinStar Stablemates Racing's Paris Lights garnered an 85 Beyer for her half-length score over pacesetter Portal Creek in the Grade 3 Distaff on Friday at the Big A.

“She ran great,” said Willaford. “She was sitting a little closer than I imagined she would, but it was good that she did because that filly got away with some slow fractions, too.”

Paris Lights is likely to target the Grade 1, $500,000 La Troienne on April 30 at Churchill Downs.

Frank Fletcher Racing Operations' Candy Man Rocket faded to ninth in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial after an early stalking trip under Alvarado.

“The track was a little deep for him. He sat close easily and Junior said he asked him a little at the three-eighths pole and he gave him a run to the quarter pole,” said Willaford. “He came out of it fine this morning. I think we just need to shorten him up. He looks like more of a one-turn type of horse.”

There's A Chance Stable, Medallion Racing, Abbondanza Racing, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Paradise Farms Corp., and David Staudacher's Horologist is set to make her seasonal debut in Saturday's $100,000 Top Flight Invitational at nine furlongs on the main track.

The 5-year-old New Jersey-bred daughter of Gemologist won the Grade 2 Molly Pitcher at Monmouth Park and Grade 2 Beldame at Belmont last year. She completed a lucrative campaign with an off-the-board effort in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff in November at Keeneland.

“She's doing good,” said Willaford. “She was here last year before the Beldame for quite a while and she looks as good or better as she did in the late summer and fall.”

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After Scratch Of Mr. Buff, Modernist Proves Best In Excelsior Stakes

Pam and Martin Wygod's Modernist pressed the pace and pounced to a 2 1/2-length victory in Saturday's Grade 3, $150,000 Excelsior, a nine-furlong test for older horses at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott and piloted by Junior Alvarado, the 4-year-old Uncle Mo colt prevailed as the youngest horse in a field of six veteran routers.

The complexion of the race changed when Chester and Mary Broman's New York homebred Mr. Buff, installed as the 4-5 morning line favorite, was scratched on Saturday morning after receiving treatment for colic symptoms.

“He had a little colic,” trainer John Kimmel said. “He's fine now and acting like nothing ever happened. It's nothing serious but it was unfortunate timing.”

Kimmel said the 7-year-old Mr. Buff, a 17-time winner with more than $1.3 million in purse earnings, will target the Grade 3 Westchester on May 1 at Belmont Park.

Backsideofthemoon, a 9-year-old gelding piloted by Trevor McCarthy, took command into the first turn in the Excelsior as Modernist, Limonite and Tintoretto jostled for position behind the veteran pacesetter through an opening quarter-mile in 25.54 seconds.

Modernist pressed the pace from second down the backstretch as multiple graded stakes-placed Backsideofthemoon, a veteran of 50 career starts, clung stubbornly to a diminishing lead.

The modest pace battle continued into the final turn as the tightly-packed group began to come alive with Grumps Little Tots launching an outside bid and Haikal, the 2019 Grade 3 Gotham winner, following his run.

Modernist was asked for his best late in the turn and took the lead as a rail-riding Limonite waited for racing room with Haikal looming large on the outside. Inside the final eighth, Modernist surged clear and powered through the wire in a final time of 1:54.38 on the fast main track. Haikal completed the exacta by 3 3/4-lengths over Limonite. Rounding out the order of finish were Backsideofthemoon, Grumps Little Tots and Tintoretto.

The victory marked the second graded stakes win in as many days at Aqueduct for Alvarado and Mott, who combined to win Friday Grade 3 Distaff with Paris Lights.

Alvarado said the scratch of Mr. Buff meant he would utilize a more prominent approach with Modernist.

“I knew whatever would happen at the gate, I had to be a little more aggressive and forwardly placed,” said Alvarado. “ Even though we had a slow break, I had to use him a little to put myself in that position, and I think that helped.”

Alvarado said he was confident throughout aboard Modernist, who entered the Excelsior from a second in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 Challenger on March 6 at Tampa Bay Downs.

“He helped me get my position in the first turn and after that I was just a passenger,” said Alvarado. “I was just waiting to turn for home to ask him and he kicked on very nicely.

“At the quarter-pole, when I asked him to run, he picked it up so quickly that he didn't even have a chance to switch leads,” added Alvarado. “Then, I felt him running faster and I didn't want to badger him to switch leads until we passed the eighth pole. I pulled a little on my inside reins and then he switched leads and kept on. Nothing to be worried about.”

Modernist, a third-out maiden winner last January at the Big A, enjoyed a profitable sophomore season winning the Grade 2 Risen Star and finishing third in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds ahead of an off-the-board effort in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes.

It was the second Excelsior victory for Mott, who captured the 1991 renewal with Chief Honcho. Mott's New York-based assistant Leana Willaford said she was pleased with the confident ride.

“We told Junior, 'Don't take anything away coming easy,'” said Willaford. “I was really happy with him. He's matured both physically and mentally. I think he's going to have a good year.”

Bred in Kentucky by the Wygod Family, Modernist banked $82,500 in victory while improving his record to 9-3-1-2. He returned $5.30 for a $2 win ticket.

Live racing resumes Thursday at the Big A with an eight-race card. First post is 1:20 p.m. Eastern.

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Young Sires Reign At The Top Of Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale

The Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Selected 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale was the first casualty of COVID-19's havoc on the auction calendar, and as one of the market's first checkpoints when the juvenile season came back around in 2021, this particular renewal would reveal plenty about the state of the upper market.

That's a lot of weight to carry, but the auction's returns presented plenty of reasons for optimism, especially for sellers of juveniles by young sires.

Returns were down across the board, but not in the kind of way that should sound alarms. The most recent Gulfstream sale in 2019 was a record edition in nearly every measurable way, and pinhookers were buying into a different, less stable market in the fall of 2020 than they had been in previous yearling seasons, so there were plenty of valid causes.

What makes this slight decline palatable is the fact that Wednesday's sale still produced some of the best returns in the auction's history.

A total of 67 horses changed hands on Wednesday for revenues of $25,360,000, the second-highest gross since the sale moved to Gulfstream Park in 2015. The average sale price was $378,507 (third-highest since 2015), the median price was $300,000 (second-highest in that time span), and the buyback rate finished at 36 percent.

Where the sale saw its most drastic change was in its upper-middle market, similar to the squeeze seen at the higher-end yearling sales in 2020.

Three horses changed hands for $1 million or more on Wednesday, which was down from six in the record-setting 2019 edition, but it was equal with the 2018 sale. However, the 13 juveniles that sold for $500,000 or more was down from 20 in 2019 and 19 the year before that.

The top of the market at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale is often a playground for the most proven sires, but this year's edition turned that notion on its head.

Of the 11 horses to bring $550,000 or more, eight of them came from the first or second crops of their respective sires.

Leading the way was Hip 28, a second-crop Nyquist colt who sold to M.V. Magnier of the Coolmore partnership for $2.6 million.

The bay colt garnered plenty of attention following Monday's under-tack show after breezing an eighth of a mile in :9 4/5 seconds, giving him sole possession of the day's fastest time at the distance.

Consigned by Wavertree Stables, agent, the colt is the first foal out of the winning Smart Strike mare Spinning Wheel. The dam is a half-sister to classic-placed Ride On Curlin and stakes winner Space Mountain. His third dam is the Grade 1 winner Victory Ride.

Magnier, typically a big player at the Gulfstream sale, also secured Hip 67, an Uncle Mo colt, in partnership with West Bloodstock for $1.3 million for the day's third-highest price.

The full-brother to Grade 1 winner Dream Tree is out of the winning Afleet Alex mare Afleet Maggi, whose foals also include stakes-placed O'Maggi. Grade 1 winner Golden Ticket is in the colt's extended family, along with Grade 2 winner Academy Award.

Wavertree Stables also consigned this colt, who breezed an eighth in :10 seconds flat.

The sale's second-highest price came for Hip 181, a first-crop Gun Runner colt who went to Gary C. Young, agent, for $1.7 million.

The chestnut colt, named Needmore Guns, is the second foal out of the stakes-winning Flatter mare Needmore Flattery. He was consigned by Hartley/De Renzo Thoroughbreds, agent, and he breezed an eighth in :10 1/5 seconds.

Gun Runner joins Triple Crown winner American Pharoah as the only two stallions to hammer down a seven-figure horse from their first crop at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale since the auction moved to Gulfstream Park in 2015.

Other first-year stallions to with horses sold at $550,000 or more included Practical Joke, American Freedom, and Arrogate. Darley's second-year duo of Nyquist and Frosted were also represented at that price level, with Nyquist having three sold in that range.

To view the auction's full results, click here.

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