Tag: winstar farm

Into Mischief’s Life Is Good Wires Woodward

'TDN Rising Star' Life Is Good (Into Mischief), backed like he couldn't lose the GI Woodward S. at Belmont at the Big A, was briefly challenged by longshot Law Professor (Constitution) before ultimately shutting the door on that foe and splashing home a 1 1/4-length winner Saturday. The winner's stablemate Keepmeinmind (Laoban) was third in the four-horse affair.

Perfect in three prior Stateside starts this season, with a lone blemish a fourth in the G1 Dubai World Cup in March, the China Horse Club and WinStar Farm representative was a rare 1-9 on the morning line and garnered $364,099 of the $409,486 wagered to win on the nine-furlong event.

Away on top and quickly in command, Life Is Good was kept well off the inside by Irad Ortiz, Jr. as he doled out splits of :24.40, :48.60 and 1:13.07 over the sloppy track. Ortiz peeked back heading for home to find Law Professor in hot pursuit, and he stepped on the gas and got out the whip for the stretch drive. Law Professor–a winner of the rained-off GII Santa Anita Mathis Mile S. last December and most recently the restricted Tapit S. at Kentucky Downs Sept. 1 in his first start for Rob Atras–continued to keep Life Is Good honest to midstretch, but the chalk called on his class and eventually edged away while kept to task by Ortiz.

“He's quick out of there. There was not too much speed in the race and the first part of the race, there was a lot of water–we got a lot of rain,” Ortiz said. “I wanted to get off the rail and was able to do it. He broke fast, and he stayed there [on the lead] the whole time.

“The track didn't help too much–it's not that fast. He relaxed and I didn't have use him [too much]. He just was quiet, he was relaxed and we waited and he gave me everything he had from the quarter pole to the wire. If I asked him a little earlier, he could go faster and keep going.”

With his only other defeat a neck second to formidable champion Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) in last year's GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S., Life Is Good concluded his sophomore season with a romp in the GI Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile S. at Del Mar in November and picked right up where he left off when handling Horse of the Year Knicks Go (Paynter) in that one's swan song in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. in January. He faded to fourth behind Country Grammer (Tonalist) after setting the pace in the 10-furlong Dubai World Cup, but bounced back in Belmont's seven-furlong John A. Nerud S. July 2 before stretching back out to 1 1/8 miles to handle an accomplished bunch in Saratoga's GI Whitney S. Aug. 6.

“You could tell going into the first turn he had his ears straight up and was really relaxed,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “That was good, but it also maybe plays against his strength a little bit to be that turned off. Part of his brilliance is being able to go fast and keep going. It was the logical tactics for today, but I don't think it's his preferred running style. His real weapon is his high-cruising speed and the ability to keep going.

“I was confident that he would respond when asked, but it was his first time over a sealed off track, and this track has not been playing real fast since the meet began. Any time you're a prohibitive favorite like that, you're concerned about those things.

“This was one of those, where there was only one satisfactory outcome and that's to win. We wanted to make sure we did that, while also keeping in mind that we have a biggergoal in five weeks, so we tried to balance that out the best we could.”

Focus will now shift to Keeneland, where Life Is Good could take on unbeaten divisional leader Flightline (Tapit) in the Nov. 5 GI Breeders' Cup Classic–surely the route fans are rooting for–or defend his title in the Dirt Mile.

“The plan is to probably ship on Monday afternoon to Keeneland,” Pletcher noted.

It was an exacta of rooting interests for WinStar Farm, which also stands the runner-up's sire.

“Constitutions, you never take them lightly and Law Professor ran the race of his life,” said WinStar's Elliott Walden. “It was a great race by him. Constitutions love the mud, so I figured he'd give him a good run. He drew away from him comfortably. We wanted to win, but we didn't want to put on a show. It's on to the next one.”

Saturday, Belmont The Big A
WOODWARD S.-GI, $465,000, Belmont The Big A, 10-1, 3yo/up, 1 1/8m, 1:49.57, sy.
1–LIFE IS GOOD, 126, c, 4, by Into Mischief
                1st Dam: Beach Walk, by Distorted Humor
                2nd Dam: Bonnie Blue Flag, by Mineshaft
                3rd Dam: Tap Your Feet, by Dixieland Band
'TDN Rising Star'. ($525,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-CHC Inc. &
WinStar Farm LLC; B-Gary & Mary West Stables Inc. (KY);
T-Todd A. Pletcher; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr. $275,000. Lifetime Record:
11-9-1-0, $4,361,700. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Law Professor, 122, g, 4, Constitution–Haunted Heroine, by
Ghostzapper. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O-Twin Creeks Racing
Stables, LLC; B-Twin Creeks Farm (KY); T-Rob Atras. $100,000.
3–Keepmeinmind, 122, c, 4, Laoban–Inclination, by
Victory Gallop. O-Cypress Creek Equine, Arnold Bennewith &
Spendthrift Farm LLC; B-Southern Equine Stables, LLC (KY);
T-Todd A. Pletcher. $60,000.
Margins: 1 1/4, 10 1/4, 8 1/4. Odds: 0.05, 26.75, 13.70.
Also Ran: Informative. Scratched: Thomas Shelby.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs.

Pedigree Notes:

The second foal to race out of Beach Walk, a $435,000 KEESEP yearling who went 0-for-5 in her career, Life Is Good is one of 115 stakes victors, 54 graded stakes winners and 11 Grade I conquerors for Into Mischief. His second dam Bonnie Blue Flag was runner-up in the 2010 GI Test S. and is a half-sister to MGISW Diamondrella (GB) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}). Beach Walk has an unraced juvenile filly named Living Good (Blame), a yearling colt by Candy Ride (Arg) and a full-brother to Life Is Good foaled Mar. 31. She returned to Into Mischief for 2023.

 

The post Into Mischief’s Life Is Good Wires Woodward appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Elm Tree Stars Again as KEESEP Surpasses 2021 Gross

Jody and Michelle Huckabay's Elm Tree Farm consigned a son of Curlin on behalf of Barbara Banke's Stonestreet Bred & Raised that topped Saturday's fifth session of the Keeneland September Sale in Lexington on a bid of $900,000. Just 48 hours later, the couple sold a colt by leading sire Candy Ride (Arg) for $600,000 to repeat the dose during yet another solid day of trade Monday which saw the sale surpass its turnover from last year with fully five days of selling remaining.

Monday's topper was one of 10 horses sold for better than a quarter-million dollar during a session where 314 youngsters were reported as sold for $27,544,000. The average of $87,720 and median price of $67,500 represented gains of 2.4% and 12.5%, respectively, over the figures from 2021. As the sale began its second week, a total of 1,556 yearlings have changed hands for $355,453,500, shooting past last year's sale gross of $352,823,000. The average of $228,441 was an improvement of just over 11% year-over-year, while the median of $160,000 is up by a healthy 6.7%.

Topper Far Exceeds Expectations…

Jody Huckabay was as surprised as anyone in the Keeneland sales pavilion when hip 2214 proved as popular in the ring as he did. Former Barretts sales executive Kim Lloyd signed the winning ticket at $600,000 on behalf of owner Michael Talla's Talla Racing, a hammer price that far outpaced Huckabay's expectations. Same as the Saturday topper, Elm Tree was offering Monday's colt on behalf of Stonestreet.

“I really thought around $400,000,” he admitted when asked how he had appraised the colt. “That certainly wasn't the reserve, he was here to sell, but we are tickled with what he brought. I think the Stonestreet clan were pleased as well, so it's smiles all around.

“He was a very neat little horse,” Huckabay continued. “We certainly didn't expect him to do that, but we're very pleased that he did. I say we didn't expect it…as time went on, we heard that he was in the top two or three horses selling today, but we weren't expecting that kind of money, to be honest.”

Barbara Banke's high-class operation purchased hip 2214's second dam, Ticket to Houston (Houston) in foal to Storm Cat for an even $2 million at this auction house's November Sale back in 2005. Twelve months prior, the mare's daughter Runway Model (Petionville) carried the colors of owner Naveed Chowhan to victory in the GII Darley Alcibiades S. up at the local racetrack. The half-sister to SW Mambo Train (Kingmambo) would go on to become the dam of 'TDN Rising Star' and current Gainesway stallion McKinzie (Street Sense).

Hip 2214 is the latest produce from Ticket to Houston's daughter Essentially (Maclean's Music), whose now 2-year-old colt Twisted Tightly (Hard Spun) sold to Mike Ryan for $350,000 at last year's September sale.

“He was just a very, very good mover,” Huckabay said of Monday's topper. “He did it all with ease and just a very well-made colt. He moved like an athlete. It worked out that we moved him back a session or two and he ended up being a star.

People were here with enthusiasm bidding today at all different levels. Yes, we got lucky with him, but we sold our whole consignment, everybody sold today, so we are very pleased.”

The Huckabays consider themselves fortunate to be entrusted with horses for Stonestreet.

“Their team came to us several years ago, John Moynihan in particular, for us to sell for them and we were really excited and blown away to even be considered,” Jody Huckabay said. “Now after 10 or 12 years of doing this–every year they send us a nice horse and this year it just so happens we got two very nice horses, session-toppers. The Curlin was an absolutely gorgeous individual and we think he was a very special horse. I can't say enough positives about what Barbara brings to the industry and helping people in the business, big and little. She's just wonderful for the business all the way around.”

Take Charge Indy Back With a Vengeance…

The late Chuck and Maribeth Sandford's Take Charge Indy (A.P. Indy) covered sizable books of mares in his first two years at stud at WinStar Farm in 2014 and 2015, but by the end of the following season, the nursery's Elliott Walden announced that the difficult decision had been made to sell the son of Take Charge Lady (Dehere) to the Korea Racing Authority while retaining the right to return the stallion to the U.S. in the future.

From his first two crops, Take Charge Indy sired the likes of Triple Crown prep winners Noble Indy (GII Louisiana Derby) and Long Range Toddy (GII Rebel S.), as well as GIII Forward Gal S. victress Take Charge Paula. By the middle of 2019, Walden was in discussions to repatriate Take Charge Indy and about this time that year, it was announced that the ridgling would return to WinStar for the 2020 breeding season.

“He has been well received,” Walden said of Take Charge Indy's popularity since coming home. “I think he fits a great mix with being one of the last really good sons of A.P. Indy and at his price point, he's a proven stallion that people want to buy into. He's done well and we're excited about what he's thrown.”

During Monday's session at Keeneland, a member of that first crop–hip 2199–caught the attention of many sales-goers and was ultimately hammered down to WinStar entity Maverick Racing and Siena Farm for $425,000, the third-dearest price of the session.

“He was that best Take Charge Indy that I've ever seen,” Walden said. “He's got a great physique, tremendous strength, full of quality and had a very solid pedigree well. He wasn't cheap, he was pricey, but we just felt like being by a proven stallion that had really good success when he was here before we felt like it was worth taking a shot. We loved this colt today.”

A Mar. 10 foal consigned to the September sale by Taylor Made as agent, the bay is out of the unraced Ghostzapper mare Dynamic Doll, a half-sister to Grade III winners Lawn Ranger (U S Ranger) and Georgie's Angel (Bellamy Road). The latter is the dam of 'TDN Rising Star' Cave Rock (Arrogate), a perfect two-for-two in his young career and recent winner of the GI Runhappy Del Mar Futurity. Take Charge Indy is himself a half-brother to Charming (Seeking the Gold), the dam of Omaha Beach (War Front), whose first-crop yearlings have been hot commodities at the September sale.

According to Walden, Take Charge Indy bred 100 mares this year after covering 117 in 2021.

The post Elm Tree Stars Again as KEESEP Surpasses 2021 Gross appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Sunday Insights: Full to Derby winner Among Into Mischief Juveniles in Action at Ellis Park Sunday

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency

2nd-Ellis Park, $60k, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 2:18 p.m. ET
WinStar Farm and CMNWLTH's PENSACOLA (Into Mischief) opens his career for trainer Rodolphe Brisset. The bay colt was acquired for $600,000 following a :10 1/5 work at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May sale earlier this year. He is a son of stakes winner Stormy Regatta (Midshipman) and a half to stakes winner Bay Storm (Kantharos). Also debuting is AMO Racing's Hurricane J (Nyquist), a $330,000 KEESEP yearling trained by Paulo Lobo. He is a half to Grade I placed Borracho (Uncle Mo).
TJCIS PPs

4th-Ellis Park, $60k, 2yo, 6f, 3:14 p.m. ET
Juddmonte homebred MULLION (Into Mischief), a full-brother to GI Kentucky Derby winner Mandaloun, makes in his first trip to the post for trainer Brad Cox. Trainer Cherie DeVaux saddles Blue Heaven Farm homebred firster Pyrenees (Into Mischief), a half-brother to last year's GI Del Mar Debutante winner Grace Adler (Curlin) and to graded placed Virginia Key (Distorted Humor). TJCIS PPs

The post Sunday Insights: Full to Derby winner Among Into Mischief Juveniles in Action at Ellis Park Sunday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Record-Setting International Sire More Than Ready Dies

More Than Ready (Southern Halo–Woodman's Girl, by Woodman), whose 216 worldwide stakes winners is the fourth highest total of all time, was euthanized the morning of Aug. 26 at WinStar Farm due to the cumulative effects of old age. He was 25 years old.

“More Than Ready was an amazing horse who touched everyone he came in contact with,” said Elliott Walden, president, CEO, and racing manager of WinStar Farm. “He may not have been the biggest horse in the barn, but he more than made up for it in class, balance, and character. His expressions said it all. We will greatly miss him at the farm.”

Larry McGinnis, longtime stallion manager at WinStar Farm, said of the legend's passing, “To me, he was more than a great stallion, he was a great friend. It was an honor to take care of such a remarkable horse. I will miss him.”

Bred in Kentucky by Woodlynn Farm Inc., More Than Ready was purchased by Edward Rosen, agent for owner Jim Scatuorchio, for $187,000 at the 1998 Keeneland September sale and won his first five starts for trainer Todd Pletcher, including the GIII Tremont S. and GII Sanford S. before tasting defeat for the first time when stretched to a mile in the GI Champagne S. Dead-heat winner of the GII Hutcheson S. in his sophomore debut, More Than Ready was second in the GII Louisiana Derby and was beaten a head when runner-up in the GI Toyota Blue Grass S. ahead of a meritorious fourth to Fusaichi Pegasus in the GI Kentucky Derby. Focusing on one-turn races for the balance of the season, More Than Ready earned Grade I laurels in Saratoga's King's Bishop S. and was second to stablemate Trippi (End Sweep) in the GI Vosburgh S. He retired to Vinery Kentucky for the 2001 breeding season with seven wins from 17 starts and earnings of $1,026,229, and was one of several Vinery stallions that moved to WinStar upon the closure of that nursery.

 

 

 

A Dual-Hemisphere Sensation…

A stallion blessed with tremendous fertility, More Than Ready is the sire of an eye-popping and record-setting 2118 winners to date (72.4% winners to starters), making him the world's most prolific sire of individual winners. With a victory in the GII Wonder Again S. in June 2022, Klaravich Stables' Consumer Spending provided the stallion with his 100th worldwide winner at the group/graded level and the victory occurred on the same Belmont program where Morethanreadyeddie–named in honor of the aforementioned Rosen–won his maiden at first asking over five furlongs. Of his black-type winners (only Galileo {Ire}, Danehill and Sadler's Wells have more), some 26 have struck at the top level in seven racing jurisdictions, including Hong Kong and South Africa. The sire of 17 winners and three stakes winners from his first American crop in 2004, More Than Ready was an instant hit in Australia, where he shuttled to Vinery Stud to serve mares Southern Hemisphere time. To date, he has sired 971 winners in the U.S. and Canada and 905 in Australia and New Zealand. His progeny earnings are in excess of $219 million.

With Australasia's emphasis on speed and precocity, his foals hit the ground running, with six black-type winners among his 17 first-crop winners overall, including G1 Champagne S. heroine Carry On Cutie (Aus). His early Australian crops also featured Benicio (Aus), winner of the 2006 G1 Victoria Derby; Sebring (Aus) and Phelan Ready (Aus), victorious in the prestigious G1 Golden Slipper S. in 2008 and 2009, respectively; G1 Blue Diamond S. hero Samaready (Aus); and G1 Western Australian Derby victress Dreamaway (Aus). More Than Ready has also proven especially potent with Danehill-line mares, resulting in the likes of Group 1 winners More Joyous (Aus), Prized Icon (Aus) and More Than Sacred (Aus) in addition to Benicio (Aus), Sebring (Aus), Perfectly Ready (Aus) and Dreamaway (Aus). More Than Ready's other Southern Hemisphere Group 1 winners include Gimmethegreenlight (Aus) and Entisaar (Aus) in South Africa; and More Than Sacred in New Zealand. His progeny were brilliant enough in the early parts of their careers to score in races like the G1 Golden Slipper and G1 Blue Diamond S., but were equally effective at trips of 2000 meters and beyond in Australian fixtures such as the Queen Elizabeth S., and he accounted for Derby winners in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia. In total, More Than Ready has sired Group 1/Grade I winners in seven countries.

Trainer Todd Pletcher and More Than Ready | Horsephotos

The top-level winners were a bit slower to come at home, but Buster's Ready became More Than Ready's first American Grade I winner in the 2011 Mother Goose S. Verrazano, raced in partnership by Kevin Scatuorchio's Let's Go Stable, became his sire's first male GISW in the 2013 Wood Memorial S. and Daredevil–also raced by Let's Go in partnership–his first Grade I-winning juvenile in the 2014 Champagne S. More Than Ready's son Catholic Boy holds the rare distinction of winning Grade Is on two surfaces–the GI Belmont Derby on turf and the GI Travers S. on the dirt. Catholic Boy is one of four sons of More Than Ready at stud in Kentucky (Copper Bullet, Daredevil, Funtastic), while Verrazano has gone on to become a productive stallion in South America.

More Than Ready is the leading sire of Breeders' Cup winners to date with seven and accounted for multiple Breeders' Cup winners on two separate occasions. He was represented by the winners of the Breeders' Cup juvenile turf events in 2010 (Pluck, More Than Real), while champion Roy H won the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint in 2017 and 2018. 'TDN Rising Star' and future Eclipse Award winner Rushing Fall posted the first of her six career Grade Is in the 2017 GI Juvenile Fillies' Turf. Uni (GB)–another maternal granddaughter of Danehill–beat the boys in the 2019 GI Breeders' Cup Mile. More Than Ready has been represented by 13 champions around the world. Among More Than Ready's 16 offspring that earned the 'Rising Star' distinction is the versatile Emmanuel, third in the GI Toyota Blue Grass S. and front-running winner of his turf debut in the GII Pennine Ridge S. at Belmont this past June. More Than Ready is the only sire to have an Eclipse Award Champion each year from 2017 to 2020.

A Broodmare Sire of Note…

More Than Ready is the broodmare sire of fully 135 stakes winners, 61 group or graded winners and 15 at the top level, including GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf hero Structor (Palace Malice), top Australian sprinter Bivouac (Aus) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}), the rags-to-riches Group 1-winning juvenile filly Miracles of Life (Aus) (Not A Single Doubt {Aus}) and Hong Kong champion Wellington (Aus). Other U.S. graded winners from More Than Ready mares include Kauai Katie (Malibu Moon), Breeders' Cup winner Four Wheel Drive (American Pharoah) and 'TDN Rising Star' and leading turf distaffer Regal Glory (Animal Kingdom), whose dam Mary's Follies is also responsible for Japan's top dirt galloper Cafe Pharoah (American Pharoah) and Night Prowler (Giant's Causeway), a dual graded winner in the U.S. whose success extended to Barbados and that island nation's richest event, the Barbados Gold Cup.

Rosen Remembers 'Life-Changing' Horse…

Eddie Rosen has been involved with any number of successful horses over the course of his bloodstock career, but it's safe to say none left the impression the same way More Than Ready did.

“Most people are aware of all the amazing statistics he compiled as the greatest dual-hemisphere sire in history, his versatility in the ability to sire dirt, turf, long and sprint winners,” he reflected. “Sometimes forgotten is what a great 2-year-old he was, reeling off the first five starts of his career in spectacular fashion. My family and I will always cherish the wonderful memories sharing his career with the Scatuorchio family. For me, he was life-changing. During Derby week this year, I was able to visit with him and give him one last peppermint. I will miss him dearly!”

 

The post Record-Setting International Sire More Than Ready Dies appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights