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Actuator Delivers Off Private Purchase in Indiana Derby

Actuator (Bodemeister), just a $2,200 FTKFEB yearling graduate, stayed perfect on dirt to capture a career high in Saturday's GIII Indiana Derby.

Third in his first two tries on grass for trainer Rodolphe Brisset at Horseshoe Indianapolis last term, including going a mile in his juvenile finale Oct. 6, he returned from the bench to air in his dirt debut going seven furlongs in his first try for trainer Michael McCarthy at Churchill Downs last time June 8.

With Black Type Thoroughbreds acquiring a 75-percent controlling interest since, 3-1 third-choice Actuator broke inward at the start from his outside draw here. Favored GISW Rattle N Roll (Connect), drawn two to his inside, took the worst of it at the break, clipping heels while getting bumped from both sides with rider Brian Hernandez, Jr. briefly losing the irons.

Actuator, meanwhile, raced in an outside fourth while rounding the clubhouse turn. Chasing from third while three deep heading down the backstretch, the bay was ridden to keep pace on the far turn, challenged from the outside while racing a bit greenly with his lead change as they straightened and dug down deep in the stretch to hold Best Actor (Flatter) safe while brushing with that rival inside the sixteenth pole.

Actuator survived a steward's inquiry involving the start and also an objection lodged by jockey Florent Geroux aboard the runner-up alleging interference in deep stretch.

“I don't know where I interfered with him,” winning jockey James Graham said. “He did break in a little bit, but his horse didn't break either. We kind of made contact. But that's the first jump. I grabbed him immediately and he actually came and leaned on me the last sixteenth. My horse ran his race. He showed a lot of grit and tenacity today, so I'm happy with that.”

McCarthy added, “He didn't get away from there great, but James was able to go ahead and get us into a great spot going into the first turn. Up the backside, he was sitting right off the speed and around the turn. James asked him to pick it up, and he slowly got into a rhythm. He was game through the lane.”

McCarthy continued, “Everybody was quietly confident. I thought his performance off the layoff was very, very good. The horse came back and trained well after his maiden score. Jake Ballis and his partners were very keen to get in on the horse. I thought there were bigger and better things to come with him.”

Pedigree Notes:

Actuator is the 11th graded/26th stakes winner for former WinStar stallion and current Jockey Club of Turkey resident Bodemeister. Like Bodemeister's 2022 GII American Turf S. winner Stolen Base, Actuator is also out of an Indian Charlie mare. Indian Charlie is now responsible for 30 graded/90 stakes winners as a broodmare sire. The E. Paul Robsham-bred Indian Rocket, a winner of two of 16 career starts, was a $175,000 KEENOV weanling. The half-sister to GISW and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies runner-up R Heat Lightning (Trippi) passed away in 2019. Actuator was her final produce.

Saturday, Horseshoe Indianapolis
INDIANA DERBY-GIII, $300,000, Horseshoe Indianapolis, 7-9, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:44.48, gd.
1–ACTUATOR, 118, c, 3, by Bodemeister
                1st Dam: Indian Rocket, by Indian Charlie
                2nd Dam: Yellow Heat, by Gold Fever
                3rd Dam: The Real Thing, by Capote
   1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($2,200 Ylg
'20 FTKFEB). O-Black Type Thoroughbreds, Rags Racing Stable
LLC, Rick Howard & Gavin O'Connor; B-WinStar Farm, LLC (KY);
T-Michael W. McCarthy; J-James Graham. $174,600. Lifetime
Record: 4-2-0-2, $250,860. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple
Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Best Actor, 124, c, 3, Flatter–Abraqat, by Smart Strike.
1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($330,000 Ylg '20
KEESEP). O-Gary & Mary West; B-E. H. Beau Lane, Gail
McMichael Lane, J. B. Lane Orem & Michael Orem (KY); T-Brad Cox. $58,200.
3–King Ottoman, 124, c, 3, Curlin–Shook Up, by Tapit.
1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($335,000 RNA Ylg '20 KEESEP).
O/B-Three Chimneys Farm, LLC (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen.
$32,010.
Margins: HF, 2HF, 3/4. Odds: 3.20, 2.90, 4.90.
Also Ran: Trademark, Mowins, Fowler Blue, Rattle N Roll, First Glimpse. Scratched: New Year's Fever, Un Ojo. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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First-Crop Yearling Previews: Yoshida

The ever-growing depth and caliber of the Japanese breeding and racing industry was on full display at last year's Breeders' Cup World Championships when Japan captured its first two Breeders' Cup victories in a span of just a few hours.

One year before future champions Loves Only You (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Marche Lorraine (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) were both foaled, WinStar Farm's Elliott Walden and SF Bloodstock's Tom Ryan attended the 2015 Japan Racing Horse Association's yearling and weanling sale. They came home with a group that included Yoshida (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn} – Hilda's Passion, by Canadian Frontier)–a ¥94 million (approximately $850,000) yearling purchase, eventual multiple Grade I-winning 'TDN Rising Star', and now, a WinStar Farm sire with his first crop of yearlings pointing for the sales ring.

Bred by Katsumi Yoshida's Northern Farm, the grandson of the Japanese breed-shaping sire Sunday Silence is the second foal out of Hilda's Passion, a multiple graded stakes winner who culminated her career with a victory in the 2011 GI Ballerina S. and then sold to Katsumi Yoshida for $1.225 million at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale.

“Yoshida is very prototypical of the Japanese breeding program,” said WinStar's Liam O'Rourke. “He's out of an elite American race mare and he is by a son of Sunday Silence. We've seen it come to fruition in recent times that in the Japanese program, they breed for class and versatility. Those are two of the big qualities that Yoshida represents.”

Campaigned by WinStar Farm, China Horse Club and Head of Plains Partners, Yoshida raced from age two through five under Bill Mott's tutelage, claiming four stakes wins headlined by the GI Old Forester Turf Classic S. on turf and the GI Woodward S. on dirt.

Debuting in his career at stud with a fee of $20,000 in 2020, the durable earner of $2.5 million bred 148 mares in his first year at WinStar. With a $15,000 stud fee, he saw another 84 mares last year.

“His first book was ranked third by CPI among [incoming] sires that year,” O'Rourke noted. “We're very proud of the types of mares that he has gotten. He's been supported by a variety of breeders, both commercial and racing types.”

As Yoshida's yearlings now work through their sales prep, O'Rourke said that he has heard optimistic reviews from breeders.

“They have a lot of his physical qualities,” he reported. “They have that class and strength. In watching them as foals early on out in the field, you could see that they were high energy. They were assertive types, kind of rambunctious, and were really aware of their surroundings. The one really common piece of feedback that I get as I've been visiting farms is that you can't give them enough work. That's a great quality when they have the desire to work and to be competitive.”

O'Rourke said that Yoshida's ability on multiple surfaces, along with Japan's growing success on a global scale, has retained breeders' interest throughout the stallion's first three years at stud.

“It's unique that he was so successful on dirt and turf,” he said. “I think he brings a different dimension to the stud barn that we're very proud to offer breeders. He was a very convincing winner of the Woodward, which is a great sire-producing race. In the Old Forester Turf Classic on Derby Day, [he beat] a great field. I think there was eight graded stakes winners in that field. He also beat Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar in the GIII Hill Prince S.”

Last year, Yoshida was represented by 36 weanlings and short yearlings at the fall and winter breeding stock sales. 23 youngsters sold to average $38,279. His colt out of GIIISW Catherinethegreat (Uncaptured) sold for $150,000 at the Keeneland November Sale while in Japan, a colt out of Curlins BFF (Curlin) brought $181,235.

Yoshida has seven yearlings cataloged for the upcoming Fasig-Tipton July Sale on July 12, including a colt out of Moon and Stars (Orb) that sells as Hip 19 with the Shawhan Place consignment.

“He's very strong with tons of bone, good hip and a strong shoulder,” said Shawhan Place's Director of Sales Courtney Schneider. “He's built like a bull; he's just so strong. He's very easy to work with and he's a little bit more forward than our others so that's why we wanted to showcase him a bit earlier in the July Sale.”

Shawhan Place has a special connection with Yoshida as the birthplace of his dam. Bred by Shawhan partner Ted Kuster, Hilda's Passion did not meet her reserve as a weanling, but was sold early in her racing career and went on to claim five graded stakes for Starlight Racing.

“Yoshida was a stallion we were really excited to support here on the farm,” Schneider said. “He was a dual-surface Grade I winner and has all the qualifications of bringing back the Sunday Silence line. We have several on the farm that we're really excited about.”

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44-1 Shocker Mardukas is Always Dreaming’s First Winner

7th-Churchill Downs, $92,690, Msw, 6-26, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 1:05.44, ft, neck.
MARDUKAS (c, 2, Always Dreaming–Blue Kisses, by Pulpit) pulled off a 44-1 shocker to become his freshman sire (by Bodemeister)'s first winner in his second career start, a notable improvement from his prior effort at track and trip when he finished seventh June 8. Tracking from third on the fence early, he rode the saved ground into the lane after a :46.24 half, and prevailed late by a neck in a long drive for home. Cortese (Speightster) followed him in for second over 6-5 favorite Clear the Deck (Army Mule). A modest $20,000 FTKOCT buy for his connections, Mardukas is the third winner from as many to race for his dam. He has a pair of half-sisters, a yearling by Bolt d'Oro and a 2022 foal by Vekoma. The female family is quiet closer up but third dam Saratoga Babe (Saratoga Six) claims no fewer than ten black-type earners beneath her. Further down the page, MGISW, millionaire Videogenic (Caucasus) and GI King's Bishop S. winner Valid Video (Valid Wager) make an appearance as well. Sales history: $20,000 Ylg '21 FTKOCT. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-0, $53,950. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O-Daniel Preiss and Chris Province; B-Hubert Vester (KY); T-Jeff Engler.

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T. D. Thornton’s Belmont Predictions, Sponsored by Fasig-Tipton

This week's TDN Triple Crown feature examines the GI Belmont S. entrants listed in “likeliest winner” order.

1) Mo Donegal (c, Uncle Mo–Callingmissbrown, by Pulpit)
O-Donegal Racing & Repole Stable. B-Ashview Farm & Colts Neck Stables (KY). T-Todd Pletcher. Sales History: $250,000 yrl '20 KEESEP.
You could argue that Mo Donegal lost the GI Kentucky Derby at the post draw after getting stuck with the dreaded rail gate. But his fifth-place effort, beaten 5 3/4 lengths in a stretch finish that featured the 1-2-3 horses all running full-tilt to the wire, is actually quite a bit better than it appears on paper. This $250,000 KEESEP son of Uncle Mo was too patiently handled by Irad Ortiz, Jr., who didn't ask this athletic colt for his best run until 2 1/2 furlongs out, and Mo then had to float 12 wide off the turn to find clear passage. But he still uncorked with his characteristic acceleration inside the eighth pole, and that type of late-race torque has been evident throughout Mo's career. This colt simply keeps gaining ground in deep stretch, even when the final furlongs are quick, and his company lines are far more robust than any of his Belmont S. foes. Don't be tempted to stamp him as strictly an off-the-tailgate type, because Mo is agile and nimble enough to take up the running from a sweet stalking spot in an eight-horse field where he's not as likely to meet up with the trip trouble that he often encounters.

2) We the People (c, Constitution–Letchworth, by Tiznow)
O-Winstar Farm, LLC, Bobby Flay, CMNWLTH, & Siena Farm, LLC.
B-Henley Farms Inc (KY). T-R Brisset. Sales History: $110k wnlg '19 KEENOV, $220k yrl '20 KEESEP, $230k 2yo FTFMAR.
We the People possesses both a very high cruising gear and a reputation for being difficult to handle. His brief past performance block features a pair of open-length wins at Oaklawn and a blowout, 10 1/4-length, tour-de-force romp in the GII Peter Pan S. four weeks ago (103 Beyer Speed Figure). But sandwiched in between was a hot-and-bothered effort in the weak GI Arkansas Derby in which this Constitution colt couldn't make the lead, then got hooked wide around both turns, beating only two horses. Which We the People will show up as the morning-line fave for the third leg of the Triple Crown? Sure, he's won with authority over Belmont's main track. But that was a sealed, post-rain surface rated “good,” and the field contained only one horse who had ever won a stakes (a minor one at that). Still, the raw power of that victory will be enough to sway pari-mutuel supporters to this colt's side. We the People was always in control in the Peter Pan, and it's hard to shake the visual of him turning for home under a hand ride from Flavien Prat while everyone else in his widening wake was desperately whipping and driving. He also had a nice spurt of extra acceleration in upper stretch-the kind of move where Prat was probably just gauging what was under the hood for future reference.

3) Rich Strike (c, Keen Ice–Gold Strike, by Smart Strike)
O-RED TR-Racing, LLC. B-Calumet Farm (KY). T-Eric Reed.
When a horse wins a race at 80-1 odds, you can usually point to evidence that the favorites didn't fire, the pace blew up, or a number of logical contenders ran into trip trouble. None of those things happened in the Derby. Sonny Leon sliced and diced his way to a clear inside path through the far turn, and Rich Strike did the rest, taking aim with purpose and reeling in two favorites who weren't quitting. Is the effort replicable? This connections of this former $30,000 maiden-claiming son of Keen Ice defied convention and skipped the GI Preakness S. with the aim of having a tighter fighter at 12 furlongs, a distance trainer Eric Reed believes is within this colt's scope. His 101 Beyer in Louisville represents a 17-point jump off his best career effort, and Rich Strike is going to have to come up with a similar or better fig if he is to be draped in a blanket of white carnations.

Rich Strike poses for every photo before Saturday's Belmont Stakes. | Sarah Andrew

But you have to wonder if he's going to be tactically forced out of his sweet spot, because dropping far behind the field against this crew is likely going to leave him too much work to do.

Then again, this is a colt who wasn't too far off the action going a one-turn a mile at Churchill at age two (a 17 1/4-length upset), so maybe he's a touch more versatile than critics give him credit for. A bigger concern might be Leon's inexperience riding over Belmont's vast, sweeping main-track configuration, which has been known to stymie riders unfamiliar with its 1 1/2-miles circumference. Leon is named to ride in only one race (on the grass) at Belmont on Friday, then will have what will seem like an interminably long wait on Saturday (7 1/2 hours) between his only main-track mounts in the opener and in the Belmont S. itself.

4) Barber Road (c, Race Day–Encounter, by Southern Image)
O-WSS Racing, LLC. B-Susan Forrester & Judy Curry (KY).
T-John Ortiz. Sales History: $15,000 wnlg '19 KEENOV.
Despite having to rally from last and getting parked in the 14 path turning for home, this Race Day gray ($15,000 KEENOV) put in a fairly decent sustained run over the final three furlongs of the Derby. Barber Road gets a jockey change to Joel Rosario for the Belmont, and will race without blinkers for the first time since his career debut at Colonial Downs last August. He's winless since Nov. 10, but has amassed a bankroll north of $650,000 by chipping away with minor awards in graded stakes. Longer distances certainly appear within the scope of his pedigree. His paternal grandsire is Tapit, the sire of four Belmont S. winners, and damsire Southern Image won two Grade I routes at Triple Crown distances in 2004 (the Santa Anita H. and the Pimlico Special). But the big question for Barber Road isn't staying power-it's whether he's fast enough. His best Beyer tops out at 94, seven points below the par for this race.

5) Nest (f, Curlin–Marion Ravenwood, by A.P. Indy). O-Repole Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, & Michael House.
B-Ashview Farm & Colts Neck Stables (KY). T-Todd Pletcher. Sales History: $350,000 yrl '20 KEESEP.
Nest's family tree is replete with distance-centric influences. Her sire, Curlin, lost the 2007 Belmont by a head, barely coming up short behind the gallant filly Rags to Riches (who was trained by Nest's trainer, Todd Pletcher). Nest's damsire, A.P. Indy, won the '92 Belmont. This filly is also a full sister to Idol, last year's winner of the Santa Anita H. She was most recently a grinding second in the GI Kentucky Oaks, incrementally gaining on the winner, and before that, she popped for an 8 1/4-length victory in the GI Ashland S. in April. That score was notable for a prolonged, 4 1/2-furlong bid over Keeneland's short-stretch configuration in which Nest drove past the front four leaders with authority midway on the far turn. Jose Ortiz picks up the mount for the first time, as his brother, Irad, sticks with Nest's uncoupled stablemate, Mo Donegal.

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