War Front | Horse Racing Free Tips

Second Chances: Promising War Front Colt Returns at Santa Anita Friday

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar.

After finishing a well-beaten third behind potential GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile favorite Corniche (Quality Road) sprinting on debut at Del Mar Sept. 4 (video), the promising War At Sea (c, 2, War Front–Serene Melody, by Street Cry {Ire}) stretches to two turns at Santa Anita Friday.

Off at 24-1 in his unveiling for the patient Ron Ellis barn, War At Sea chased from an inside fifth as Corniche threw it down through an opening quarter in :21.72 in a stretched-out field of 10. With the subsequent unbeaten GI American Pharoah S. winner in a race of his own turning for home and on his way to 'TDN Rising Stardom,' War At Sea continued on down the lane to pick up the show slot, eight lengths adrift the $1.5-million OBS April topper. War At Sea earned a very solid 78 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.

“Obviously, the horse that beat him is one of the top 2-year-olds in the country and might even be favored in the Breeders' Cup, so he got beat by a good one,” Ellis said.

“I was very impressed with the way he ran. He had trained like he's a really good horse and I think the more distance, the better for him. He's not really a sprinter and I knew that first time out, but he showed a little bit more than I thought he would at 5 1/2 [furlongs].”

War At Sea has breezed five times since his debut, including a four-furlong drill in :47 4/5 (9/46) in Arcadia Oct. 11. He's listed at odds of 4-1 on the morning-line while facing nine rivals going a mile at Santa Anita Friday.

“Because I wasn't expecting much from him as a sprinter, I didn't wind him up real tight for that first start,” Ellis said. “We've tightened the screws just a little bit–I got him geared to improve with each race. We've got long-term goals with him. He probably was only 85% first out and he's probably at 90% now. After this race, he should be at a 100%. Just trying to have him get a little better with each race.”

Produced by a stakes-winning daughter of the brilliant Serena's Song (Rahy), War At Sea, bred in Kentucky by Lewis Thoroughbred Breeding, brought $525,000 from Doubledown Stables, Inc. after powering through an eighth in :10 from the Eddie Woods consignment at OBS March earlier this year. This is the female family of Grade/Group 1 winners Sophisticat (Storm Cat), Honor Code (A.P. Indy), et al. The War Front/Street Cry cross is also responsible for MGSW War Decree.

“I was very surprised that a horse of his size and pedigree to go farther could do that [go in :10 flat],” Ellis said. “I loved him at the sale.”

“The War Front colt was very backward as a yearling,” Woods said earlier this spring. “They didn't feel like he was going to bring what he should [as a yearling], so we were very lucky to get him from Mr. Lewis. He's trained beautifully all year. He's gotten better and better as we've gone along. We've always thought he was a serious horse.”

Previous standouts featured in 'Second Chances' include: GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby winner Honor A. P. (Honor Code), GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner and Royal Ascot G2 Norfolk S. runner-up Golden Pal (Uncle Mo), MGISW and 'TDN Rising Star' Paradise Woods (Union Rags), GIII Las Virgenes S. heroine Moonlight d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro), GII Los Alamitos Futurity winner and MGISP Spielberg (Union Rags), GSW Backyard Heaven (Tizway), and MSW and 'TDN Rising Star' Gidu (Ire) (Frankel {GB}).

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Dam of Going to Vegas Headlines Early Fasig November Supplements

Fasig-Tipton has catalogued seven initial supplemental entries to its 2021 November Sale, which are catalogued as hips 260-266, and include:

Hard to Resist (Hip 264): A stakes-winning daughter of Johannesburg, she is the dam of Going to Vegas (Goldencents), recent winner of the GI Rodeo Drive S. at Santa Anita. A leader in the California female turf division with three graded stakes win in 2021, Going to Vegas is pointing for the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf for her next start. Hard to Resist is in foal to leading California sire Grazen. She will be consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent.
Caravel (Hip 265): Brilliant 4-year-old daughter of Mizzen Mast has captured three stakes victories this year sprinting on the turf. Among these wins was a dominant score in the GIII Caress S. at Saratoga. The gray also earned a Grade I stakes placing when facing males in the Highlander S. at Woodbine in August. A registered Pennsylvania-bred, she has five career stakes wins and current earnings of $400,169. Consigned as a racing/broodmare prospect by ELiTE, agent.

This group of supplemental entries also includes weanlings by Liam's Map, Uncle Mo, Munnings, War Front and Bolt d'Oro.

These entries may now be viewed online and will also be available in the equineline sales catalogue app. Print versions of all supplemental entries will be available on-site at Fasig-Tipton at sale time.

Fasig-Tipton will continue to accept approved November Sale supplemental entries through the Breeders' Cup. The November Sale will be held Tuesday, Nov. 9, in Lexington, Kentucky starting at 2 p.m.

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Godolphin Newbloods Intrigue on Tuesday

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Tuesday's Observations features a pair of Godolphin bluebloods at Leicester and Kempton.

1.37 Leicester, Novice, £10,000, 2yo, 8f 53yT
PERSEUS WAY (IRE) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) is one of two notable Godolphin newcomers on the day, being out of a half-sister to this year's G1 2000 Guineas runner-up Master of the Seas (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and to the smart Latharnach (Iffraaj {GB}) and Falls of Lora (Ire) (Street Cry {Ire}). Charlie Appleby has charge of the March-foaled chestnut, who encounters The Eclipse Partnership's fellow newcomer Elena's Gift (GB) (Frankel {GB}), a Ralph Beckett-trained half-sister to the G1 Prix Morny and G1 Middle Park S. hero Reckless Abandon (GB) (Exchange Rate), the smart Best Approach (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) and this year's G3 Prix Paul de Moussac winner Erasmo (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}).

5.30 Kempton, Mdn, £6,800, 2yo, 7f (AWT)
SENSE OF POWER (IRE) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) is the second debutante from Godolphin's Charlie Appleby stable to fire the imagination on the afternoon, being a €330,000 Goffs November Foal graduate whose dam is a half to the GIII Appleton S. winner and promoted GI Gulfstream Park Turf H. second All Included (Include) and the GII Honeymoon Handicap S. scorer Sarach (Arch). He encounters Shadwell's debut fifth Laasudood (War Front), a Sir Michael Stoute-trained son of the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf and GI Flower Bowl Invitational heroine Lahudood (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}) whose half-sister Aghareed (Kingmambo) has produced the Sea the Stars (Ire) duo of Baaeed (GB) and Hukum (Ire).

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‘Rising Star’ Annapolis Wins ‘War’ in Pilgrim

Sunday's GII Pilgrim S. at Belmont featured just four horses, but it was far from boring, as 'TDN Rising Star' Annapolis and GIII With Anticipation S. runner-up Portfolio Company threw it down pretty much from start to finish. Bass homebred Annapolis was pounded down to clear favoritism off a head-turning, fast-finishing 4 1/2-length debut score at Saratoga Sept. 4, and prompted Portfolio Company here through easy splits of :24.34 and :48.96 as Expected pacesetter Doctor Jeff (Street Boss) was ridden with surprising patience after breaking slowly. Annapolis ranged up on even terms with his main rival after a six-furlong split of 1:12.22. Portfolio Company battled back gamely from the fence in the run to the line, but Annapolis always seemed to have a little bit more to give and struck the wire a head in front.

“With only four horses, there wasn't much speed in the race,” noted winning pilot Irad Ortiz, Jr. “The other horse that showed some speed (Doctor Jeff) to the outside of me might be a step below these horses. [Portfolio Company] I've ridden before and he can be tough to handle and likes to get very keen. I knew the pace wasn't going to be very fast, so I just broke well and tried to be close to the pace. I ended up second to the horse I had to try and beat, so I just went from there.

“He fought the whole way to the wire. That was a nice race. The way he did it last time he looked like a nice horse, so we expected him to move forward and he did.”

Added Byron Hughes, assistant to trainer Todd Pletcher: “He broke well and Irad had him in a great spot on the outside. It was a good duel down the stretch and he was able to get a head down at the wire… We were hoping he would break well and help Irad put himself in a good position and see what happened today. I thought [Doctor Jeff] was going to show more speed. He didn't break well and left us alone there on the outside in the clear, so it all worked out.”

This was Pletcher's fourth win in the Pilgrim, which has produced the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner in three of the last five years.

Sunday, Belmont Park
PILGRIM S.-GII, $186,000, Belmont, 10-3, 2yo, 1 1/16mT, 1:41.04, fm.
1–ANNAPOLIS, 120, c, 2, by War Front
            1st Dam: My Miss Sophia (GSW & MGISP, $605,040),
                                by Unbridled's Song
            2nd Dam: Wildwood Flower, by Langfuhr
            3rd Dam: Dial a Trick, by Phone Trick
   'TDN Rising Star' 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES
   WIN. O-Bass Racing, LLC; B-Bass Stables, LLC (KY); T-Todd A.
Pletcher; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr. $110,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0,
$165,000. Click for eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk
   Nick Rating: A.
2–Portfolio Company, 120, c, 2, Kitten's Joy–Iteration, by Wild
Again. ($125,000 Ylg '20 FTKSEL). O-Klaravich Stables, Inc.;
B-Kenneth L. & Sarah K. Ramsey (KY); T-Chad C. Brown.
$40,000.
3–Limited Liability, 120, c, 2, Kitten's Joy–Hold Harmless, by
Blame. O-Stuart S. Janney, III; B-Stuart S. Janney, III LLC (KY);
T-Claude R. McGaughey III. $24,000.
Margins: HD, 5, 3 1/4. Odds: 0.65, 2.35, 5.80.
Also Ran: Doctor Jeff. Scratched: City At Night, Midnight Worker.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:
Annapolis becomes the 100th black-type winner and 56th graded/group winner for his superstar sire–he is the fourth graded winner bred on the War Front–Unbridled's Song cross. Unbridled's Song, perennially at or near the top of the broodmare sire list, is responsible for the dams of 104 graded/group winners.

Originally campaigned by Mathis Stable and Pletcher after selling for $260,000 as a KEESEP yearling, My Miss Sophia took the 2014 GII Gazelle S. and was second in the GI Kentucky Oaks before being purchased by Reynolds Bell, Jr. on behalf of Jon Clay's Alpha Delta Stables for $2.15 million at the Fasig-Tipton November sale that fall.

My Miss Sophia found a new home on the turf at four, and earned a career-best 102 Beyer Speed Figure when finishing a close third in the GII Ballston Spa S. behind MGISWs Dacita (Chi) (Scat Daddy) and Tepin (Bernstein). She was subsequently put in foal to War Front after an abbreviated 2016 campaign, and produced the now 3-year-old Nevisian Sunrise, who was third in June's Wild Applause S. here for her breeder and Portfolio Company's conditioner Chad Brown. Agent Steve Young, meanwhile, paid $4 million for My Miss Sophia while she was carrying Annapolis at the 2018 Keeneland November sale–her price was $200,000 short of sale topper Lady Eli.

A half to the Young-purchased 2015 GI Florida Derby winner Materiality (Afleet Alex) from the family of GISWs Afleet Express and Embellish the Lace, My Miss Sophia lost her Medaglia d'Oro foal in 2020, but produced another War Front colt Apr. 23. She was barren to War Front in her most recent visit to him.

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