Vino Rosso | Horse Racing Free Tips

Rich Strike’s Sister ‘A Gift’ for New Breeder Scott Miller

Scott Miller has only been involved in breeding for a few years, but he's more than happy to stick around for a while longer now that he owns a half-sister to a Kentucky Derby winner.

Miller's mare Lode Lady (Posse) is the first foal out of the Smart Strike mare Gold Strike, the dam of newly-acclaimed Derby hero Rich Strike (Keen Ice). Foaled in 2008, Lode Lady made three trips to the winner's circle at Woodbine and earned over $150,000 during her racing career before ending up with Miller eight years later.

With only two starters but no winners on her produce record so far, Lode Lady foaled an Honest Mischief filly this year at Waldorf Farm in New York. While the mare was slated to visit a regional stallion this spring, she is now bound for Kentucky to be bred to Vino Rosso, Spendthrift Farm's champion son of Curlin.

“She had her Honest Mischief foal and the next thing you know, [Waldorf Farm manager Kenny Toye] calls me and says, 'Hey, this mare's half-brother named Rich Strike is running in the Derby,'” Miller said. “I told him that at 80-1 it wasn't going to do anything, but Kenny had looked at the pedigree. He said the horse could go the distance and that he thought Rich Strike could win. Sure enough, he did. This is a dream that you would never believe could happen.”

Hailing from Hammonton, New Jersey, Miller has been involved in the equestrian world for many years, but only recently got involved in the racing industry.

“I started getting into Thoroughbreds right before COVID started,” Miller explained. “I decided I was too old for hack riding. A friend of mine called me and said she had a few Thoroughbred yearlings available. I ended up taking them from her and racing them. I really enjoyed it even though I never made a dime with them.”

It wasn't long before Miller was looking to add a few broodmares to his stable. He got in touch with breeder Jon Marshall. The Texas-based horseman was selling two mares along with their foals for a combined $40,000.

Miller decided to take only the mares, Stormy Tak (Stormy Atlantic) and Lode Lady, and let Marshall sell the foals. Stormy Tak's foal, a son of Gun Runner, went on to bring $270,000 as a yearling. Lode Lady's yearling brought only $25,000.

Lode Lady and her Honest Mischief filly with Waldorf Farm's Jerry Bilinski and Kenny Toye | photo courtesy Waldorf Farm

Miller could never have predicted that today, Lode Lady might have the more valuable pedigree of the pair, but he is grateful to Marshall for helping him get his start as a breeder.

“The day Rich Strike won the Kentucky Derby, Jon and his wife called to congratulate me,” Marshall said. “I told him that he should be sick because he gave me the mare, but he said he was happy for me. I am relatively new at this, so he has been kind of a mentor for me.”

While Miller has big plans for Lode Lady, he has no immediate intentions of putting her through a sales ring.

“It's hard to sell something when someone gives you a gift,” he explained. “I really have no money invested into this horse. Jon basically gave her to me and the only thing I have invested is the stud fees, so why would I get rid of her?”

As for the mare's Honest Mischief filly, who was foaled in February, Miller is still not sure where she could end up.

“I almost always sell the foals, but I just don't know with her,” he admitted. “I've thought about keeping her and running her myself, but we may test the waters and put her in a sale. This foal is special in my eye. She's beautiful with good size and bone.”

Dr. Jerry Bilinski, who oversees Miller's broodmare band at Waldorf Farm, can remember one similar experience with a sudden, favorable pedigree update when his stallion Cormorant was represented by 1994 GI Kentucky Derby winner Go for Gin.

“I was busy on the farm when I got a call that night that Go for Gin had won the Derby,” he recalled. “I didn't even watch the race because I was working away.”

“It's always interesting because you have the horse that wins the Derby, but then you have all these peripheral horses that suddenly become more valuable,” Bilinski said. “In this case, this mare was supposed to be bred in New York but then 48 hours later, she's on her way to Kentucky. It just shows you that lightning in one bottle can strike and when it does, it oftentimes strikes in other bottles around the horse community.”

While Miller does not typically bet, his wife did place a win bet on Rich Strike.

“Right after the race she said she wanted to go buy a handbag,” Miller recounted with a laugh.

“I'm lucky that I got these mares and got connected with the right people,” he said. “There are a lot of good people in this industry that you don't ever hear about. For Jon to give me these mares and then for this to happen, I still can't believe it.”

The post Rich Strike’s Sister ‘A Gift’ for New Breeder Scott Miller appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

May 7 Insights: Full to Vino Rosso Debuts in NY

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency

FULL TO VINO ROSSO DEBUTS IN NY
6th-BEL, $90K, Msw, 3yo/up, 1 1/16mT, 3:13 p.m.
John Gunther homebred NEWS CARVER (Curlin), a full-brother to champion Vino Rosso, makes his career bow Saturday at Belmont for trainer Jorge Abreu. Ending his career on a high note with a win in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic and an Eclipse award, Vino Rosso now stands stud at Spendthrift Farm. News Carver is also a half to GSP So Alive (Super Saver). Their dam Mythical Bride (Street Cry {Ire}) is a half to MGSW & GISP Commissioner (A.P. Indy) and GSW & GISP Laugh Track (Distorted Humor). Danny Gargan saddles another firster in Oglethorpe (Arrogate). The $350,000 KEESEP buy is out of SP Star Act (Street Cry {Ire}), who is a daughter of MGISW Starrer (Dynaformer). TJCIS PPs

COX UNVEILS GODOLPHIN BLUEBLOOD
14th-CD, $120K, Msw, 3yo/up, 6f, 8:30 p.m.
Brad Cox unveils another well-bred Godolphin homebred in STROBE (Into Mischief). The bay is out of two-time Grade I winner Flashing (A.P. Indy), who is also the dam of SW & MGSP Floodlight (Medaglia d'Oro). This is also the family of champion Golden Attraction and Grade I winners Gorgeous and Seaside Attraction. TJCIS PPs

The post May 7 Insights: Full to Vino Rosso Debuts in NY appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Mating Plans, Presented by Spendthrift: Pike Place Farm

With the 2022 breeding season underway, we continue to feature a series of breeders' mating plans. Today we have Jake Bennett of Pike Place Farm.

“My wife, Jaclyn, and I have just recently moved to Kentucky to start up our breeding operation,” said Bennett. “We have a small farm in Georgetown with four broodmares (three that we will get bred this year), a retired gelding (that I joke is my wife's horse), one yearling that we are preparing to sell this fall after acquiring him at the Keeneland November sale, and one 2-year-old that is back home in Seattle preparing for his racing career.”

EURASIA (m, 7, Pioneerof the Nile–Laurasia, by Black Mambo), to be bred to Vekoma

We first acquired this mare as part of our racing operation and she had some tough luck unfortunately. She is just beautiful and was a $135,000 purchase as a 2-year-old. She is inbred to some influential female lines and the great broodmare, Lassie Dear, and stems from the well-respected breeding operation of Bonnie Heath and his family down in Florida. She is due to drop a Mo Town foal any day for her first foal and she will be bred back to Vekoma. This may be the mating we are most excited about overall; we strongly feel Vekoma has every right to be a top-tier stallion given his pedigree and race record. This appears to be a great match for our mare in terms of physical compatibility, as well as the cross of Candy Ride (Arg) over sons of Unbridled, breeding the Fappiano line back through itself, proving to show an affinity for top-notch racehorses with a most recent example being Rock Your World.

GETINTHEREONETIME (m, 17, Bertrando–Common Hope, by Storm Cat), to be bred to Gift Box

This is a half-sister to champion Shared Belief (Candy Ride {Arg}) that we recently acquired. We will be breeding her to Gift Box to try to recreate some of the magic that the cross between Candy Ride and this female family created. Candy Ride and his son Twirling Candy both had such modest beginnings and, as I've already mentioned, we really love this sire line. Gift Box himself is an outstanding individual, he's priced right and we're hoping to get this mare on track to produce some runners and carry on a deep female family that has been nurtured over the years by the Wygod family.

MOONSTONE MAGIC (m, 11, Malibu Moon–Never Fail, by Holy Bull), to be bred to Vino Rosso

We purchased this mare just before moving to Kentucky this fall and we're excited to have her here in the bluegrass and optimize her potential to produce some quality foals. She strongly resembles her broodmare sire, Holy Bull, and is a bit of a throwback type physically: full bodied with lots of bone. She was a nice allowance runner at a mile and a sixteenth and we feel she can throw a true classic type of horse. Her female family is laced with plenty of black-type runners and producers and has seen success when bred to sons of Mr. Prospector, including Abraaj, the sire of one of our other mares. With this in mind, we decided to breed her to Vino Rosso. This is a cross that has been tried and true: Curlin/A.P. Indy and their sons. We feel this mating really clicks on all cylinders from a pedigree standpoint as Curlin also has enjoyed success when mated to Holy Bull mares including his son Connect, who is off to a great start at stud. Vino Rosso was such a talented horse that really blossomed over time in his career. Being a son of Curlin and hailing from a rich female family, we're excited to see his first runners hit the track.

Let us know who you're breeding your mares to in 2022, and why. We will print a selection of your responses in TDN over the coming weeks. Please send details to: garyking@thetdn.com.

The post Mating Plans, Presented by Spendthrift: Pike Place Farm appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Toast To Vino Rosso Presented By Spendthrift Farm: Momentum Into The Weekend At Keeneland November

As the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale moves into its second week, Spendthrift Farm's Vino Rosso has emerged as one of the early stars among the first-crop weanling sires.

The Breeders' Cup Classic-winning son of Curlin was responsible for the auction's most expensive first-crop weanling through the auction's first three sessions, and has established himself as one of the rookie stallions with the highest average weanling sale price during the select sessions of Kentucky's fall mixed sales.

In this installment of Toast To Vino Rosso, we'll look at a pair of weanlings by the stallion from the Gainesway consignment. One turned heads in the sale ring on Friday with a six-figure hammer price, while the other will get her chance to shine during Sunday's session.

Hip 645 – Bay filly out of Shaken, by Uncle Mo

The second-most expensive Vino Rosso weanling of the Keeneland sale through the end of Friday's session went to Scoot Stable for $300,000.

Bred in Kentucky by Mark Stansell, the bay filly is the first foal out of the Grade 2-placed Uncle Mo mare Shaken, who is herself a half-sister to the multiple Grade 2-placed runner Sway Away.

We checked in on this filly back in May, when she was boarded at Waggoner Farm in Lexington, Ky., for Texas-based Stansell. At the time, he said the decision to send Shaken to Vino Rosso was based on the stallion's race record and his expectation that the first foals would be received well at auction.

Brian Graves of consignor Gainesway was quick to note the filly's quality after the fall of the hammer.

“The Vino Rosso that we sold was just a really beautiful filly,” he said. “She'd be a select session-type filly at any sale she'd go to. She's beautifully-balanced, great hip. We've seen quite a few Vino Rossos that we liked over the sale, so the stallion looks like he's off to a good start producing nice stock.”

Hip 1469 – Gray or roan filly out of Snagglepuss, by Holy Bull

Sunday's session will feature this filly out of the winning Holy Bull mare Snagglepuss, who is the dam of one winner from two runners.

Bred in Kentucky by Tami Bobo, the filly hails from the family of Grade 1-placed Colorful Charades. The mating that produced this foal was set up by Milan Kosanovich, and Bobo acquired the pregnant mare after her visit to Vino Rosso.

“She's a beautiful filly, very forward, always loved her,” Bobo said. “I thought the market might be one that would support a filly that's physically as presentable as her to maybe come and try early, and see if the market plays where I think it should play. I think she's a great specimen for the stallion.”

“As a group overall, I like the Vino Rossos,” Bobo continued. “Collectively, they've been a great group of horses, and I think the public's going to receive them well. In hindsight, I think I probably should have been earlier than later, but I played it safe and was busy with real estate, and really hadn't gone through my babies like I should have early enough. Sale deadline time came up, so I called my two consignors and said, 'Enter all my horses in Book 3.' Hopefully she's a standout where she's at, and hopefully the public sees what we see in her.”

Vino Rosso, a 6-year-old son of Curlin, stands at Spendthrift Farm for an advertised fee of $20,000.

Vino Rosso won six of 15 starts and earned $4,803,125 on the racetrack. In addition to his signature Breeders' Cup Classic score, the stallion picked up victories in the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes, and the G2 Wood Memorial Stakes.

The post Toast To Vino Rosso Presented By Spendthrift Farm: Momentum Into The Weekend At Keeneland November appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post