Bred in Kentucky by Bonne Chance Farm LLC, the chestnut was purchased by Amr Zedan's Zedan Racing Stable for $600,000 out of the 2022 OBS April Sale and made a big impression at first asking, graduating by three lengths and clocking a strong 1:09.78 for six furlongs. Arabian Lion proved proficient when stretched out to two turns by trainer Bob Baffert, finishing second to fellow 'Rising Star' First Mission (Street Sense) in the GIII Lexington S. before romping by four lengths in the Sir Barton S., good for a 103 Beyer.

Having been under consideration for the GI Belmont S., Arabian Lion cut back to seven-eighths of a mile for the Woody Stephens, defeating then-unbeaten Drew's Gold (Violence) by 1 3/4 lengths, covering the distance in a slick 1:21.70 (109 Beyer) ahead of a third in the GI H. Allen Jerkens S. at Saratoga. Arabian Lion retires with a record of 3-2-1 from nine starts and earnings of $498,100.

“Arabian Lion is a tremendous-looking individual and he showed real brilliance on the track,” said Spendthrift General Manager Ned Toffey. “His win in the Woody Stephens was arguably the best performance this year by a 3-year-old, and the speed figures back that up.

“We are grateful to Mr. Zedan for the opportunity to stand another one of his stars. He and his team have obviously done a great job of acquiring and racing the best of the best, and those are the type of stallion prospects we are looking to stand at Spendthrift.”

Arabian Gold will stand alongside Zedan's 'TDN Rising Star' Taiba (Gun Runner) at Spendthrift.

Produced by a half-sister to the stakes-placed dam of the Spendthrift-owned MGSW Major Dude (Bolt d'Oro), Arabian Lion–the first son of Justify to stud–counts the inimitable Personal Ensign (Private Account) as his third dam. Descending from that unbeaten racemare is MGISW My Flag, her champion daughter Storm Flag Flying (Storm Cat) and additional Grade I winners Miner's Mark, Traditionally and Mr Speaker .

#3 Arabian Lion claws to the front to win the G1 Woody Stephens S. at Belmont under John Velazquez for trainer Bob Baffert!

#TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/QWjNEZRtZG

— TwinSpires Racing (@TwinSpires) June 10, 2023

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“He worked really good. He's never really been a good workhorse alone but as he's gotten older, he's more into it,” Chapman said. “I told [jockey] Jose [Ortiz] if you can follow someone, he's going to work a lot better for you. He got in behind a Rudy [Rodriguez] horse that horse was 15 lengths in front of him leaving the half. At the wire, he was still three or four lengths in front of him and then after the wire, he just blew by him.

“He's a beautiful mover anyways, but he really likes this track,” Chapman continued. “Hopefully, he can get this thing done in nice shape and we want to win the next one going seven-eighths,” he said, referring to the GI H. Allen Jerkens S. at the Spa Aug. 26.

Bred by Woodford Thoroughbreds, Drew's Gold sold for $25,000 as a Keeneland September yearling in 2021 and won his Churchill debut last May. Gone for 8 1/2 months thereafter, he resumed with a handy Laurel allowance score Jan. 28 befor winning the Jimmy Winkfield S. and Gold Fever S. at Aqueduct prior to his Woody Stephens try. Drew's Gold has amassed $302,620 to date in earnings.

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The Ashford Stud-based stallion, quite fittingly, celebrated his first Grade I winner as a sire on the Belmont undercard courtesy of 'TDN Rising Star' Arabian Lion (Justify)'s good-looking 1 3/4-length victory as the 2-1 favorite over Drew's Gold (Violence) in Saturday's GI Woody Stephens S. Gilmore (Twirling Candy) was third.

The win marked a triumphant return to the Big Apple for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, who was suspended from competition for one year from NYRA tracks stemming from his well-documented medical violation of disqualified 2021 GI Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit. The ban ended in January. Baffert hadn't started a runner in New York since Rockefeller (Medaglia d'Oro) finished 10th in the 2022 GIII Gotham S. at Aqueduct.

“He's just a smaller version of Justify and to have a horse by Justify–one of the greatest horses I've ever trained–and to bring him to New York and win a Grade I, that's what we're all in the game for,” Baffert said.

“I'm just going to enjoy this Grade I victory. It's great to be back here. Nothing like winning in New York. It means so much to the horse and the connections and I feel great about it.”

Drawn on the inside in post two in the 10-horse field, the Zedan Racing Stable colorbearer sat the trip from fourth, drafting in behind the two-for-two Federal Judge (Army Mule), who faced pressure to his outside from the well-backed Drew's Gold. The unbeaten Gold Fever S. winner made his move on the outside turning for home and was moving well, but Arabian Lion had other ideas. Arabian Lion was tipped out leaving the quarter pole and took flight in the stretch with good-looking strides to roar home for a career high.

An impressive debut winner at Santa Anita last October, Arabian Lion didn't fare well in his first two tries versus stakes company going two turns, finishing last of five as the heavy favorite in the GII Los Alamitos Futurity Dec. 17 and fourth in the GIII Robert B. Lewis S. Feb. 4. He bounced back with a huge second behind sidelined 'TDN Rising Star' First Mission (Street Sense) in the GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. at Keeneland Apr. 15, then put on a show on the GI Preakness S. undercard with a powerful front-running victory in the Sir Barton S.

“This horse, I've always been so high on, he's just been slow to come around,” Baffert said. “Amr Zedan, he let me be patient with him and now we're getting rewarded with he way he ran.”

He continued, “The Lexington S. was a headscratcher. It looked like he was going to win and I think he saw something in the crowd and quit running and then he got beat. His race at Pimlico was amazing. I flew him back to California and I said, 'I probably won't bring him back,' but he was doing so well, I could tell.”

Baffert added that Arabian Lion could target the $1-million GI Haskell on July 22 at Monmouth Park.

Pedigree Notes:

Arabian Lion, a $600,000 OBS April breezer (:10) from the first crop of Justify, becomes the seventh graded winner for his young sire. Arabian Lion's third dam is the legendary runner and producer Personal Ensign. Arabian Lion's dam Unbound began her career in Japan before being imported by SF Bloodstock and running second in a sprint stakes at Belmont. She was later sold for $310,000 to F. T. I at Keeneland November in 2015 in foal to Tiznow. After failing to produce a foal in the next two seasons following Arabian Lion, Unbound produced a filly by Frosted this year. Unbound's stakes-placed full-sister Mary Rita is responsible for recent GII Penn Mile S. winner Major Dude (Bolt d'Oro).

Saturday, Belmont Park
WOODY STEPHENS S. PRESENTED BY MOHEGAN SUN-GI,
$400,000, Belmont, 6-10, 3yo, 7f, 1:21.70, ft.
1–ARABIAN LION, 122, c, 3, by Justify
                1st Dam: Unbound (SP, $359,826), by Distorted Humor
                2nd Dam: Possibility, by A.P. Indy
                3rd Dam: Personal Ensign, by Private Account
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I WIN. ($600,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR). O-Zedan Racing Stables, Inc.; B-Bonne Chance Farm LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert; J-John R. Velazquez. $220,000. Lifetime Record: 7-3-2-0, $437,600. Werk Nick Rating: C. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Drew's Gold, 122, r, 3, Violence–Frolic's Revenge, by Vindication. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($25,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-James K. Chapman and Stuart Tsujimoto; B-Woodford Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY); T-James K. Chapman. $80,000.
3–Gilmore, 118, c, 3, Twirling Candy–My Surfer Girl, by Henny Hughes. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($48,000 Wlg '20 KEENOV; $250,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Robert E. Masterson, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Jay A. Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital LLC and Catherine Donovan; B-Dividing Ridge Farm (KY); T-Brendan P. Walsh. $48,000.
Margins: 1 3/4, 3/4, 7 1/4. Odds: 2.35, 3.80, 7.20.
Also Ran: Federal Judge, Gun Pilot, General Jim, Victory Formation, Fort Warren, Dark Vector, Arman.
Scratched: Fort Bragg, Harrodsburg, New York Thunder.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs.
VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Trainer Brendan Walsh was duly pleased with his filly's final serious piece of work.

“That's typical of her,” Walsh commented. “I think she even went :47 4/5 in her work before the Oaks as well. She's been doing well since then. Everything seems spot on for her.”

The Acorn will be contested over a one-turn 8 1/2 furlongs for the first time this year, having been lengthened from a mile, and Walsh is not concerned about the cutback to one bend.

“I don't think it'll be a problem at all,” Walsh said. “It should work out well for her. She has plenty of natural speed, which is required in this type of race.”

Gilmore was runner-up in the GIII Bay Shore S. at Aqueduct Apr. 8 and cuts back to a sprint off a sound third in the GII Pat Day Mile at Churchill May 6.

“I thought he worked great, too. That was a great work for him,” Walsh said. “He's not the most generous worker in the morning, but he worked fine. I didn't want him to go head-to-head with her because I thought they would have gone too fast.”

G1 Kentucky Oaks winner PRETTY MISCHIEVOUS (inside) working a half mile in 47 4/5 seconds for the G1 Acorn at Belmont Park pic.twitter.com/9QL6DAEykg

— Ryan Martin (@RyanMartinNYRA) June 3, 2023

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ELMONT, NY – Did the best 3-year-old in the country run on the undercard?

Unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Jack Christopher (Munnings) put on an absolute show with a jaw-dropping win against five overmatched rivals in Saturday's GI Woody Stephens S. at Belmont Park.

Away in good order from his rail draw, the flashy, blaze-faced chestnut conceded the early advantage to Provocateur (Into Mischief) and was astutely guided by Jose Ortiz to the outside of that rival. Traveling kindly in second through fractions of :22.61 and :45.38, Ortiz took a peek over his right shoulder and had to be feeling mighty good as the 1-5 favorite cruised up to take over leaving the quarter pole. It was only a question of how much he'd win by from there. And the answer was 10 lengths while stopping the timer for seven furlongs in a very sharp 1:21.18. Pappacap (Gun Runner) was second. The pacesetter held third.

Jack Christopher is campaigned in partnership by Jim Bakke, Gerald Isbister, Coolmore Stud and Peter M. Brant.

“I felt really good as he was coming down the lane,” winning trainer Chad Brown said. “Once Jose [Ortiz] was able to extract himself and get this horse out in the clear, I didn't see any way the horse could lose.”

Jack Christopher once again received some awfully high praise from Brown, who also trains the talented 3-year-old duo of GI Preakness S. winner Early Voting (Gun Runner) and GI Kentucky Derby third Zandon (Upstart).

“This horse is an exceptional talent,” Brown said. “This is my 15th year of training and I've never had a dirt horse with this much pure brilliance. He reminds me a lot of Ghostzapper when I worked for Bobby Frankel. He's a brilliant horse that can probably run any distance.”

Brown added, “Everybody wants to have horses like this–horse of a lifetime–including me.”

A no-brainer 'Rising Star' on debut at the Spa Aug. 28, he concluded his juvenile season with a powerful performance in Belmont's GI Champagne S. Oct. 2. Scratched from the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile with a stress fracture in his left shin, he returned with a facile win in the GII Pat Day Mile S. at Churchill Downs May 7.

Jack Christopher will receive his first test around two turns going 1 1/8 miles in the GI TVG.com Haskell S. at Monmouth July 23.

“I'm looking to keep him healthy and looking forward to the next one,” Brown said.

Pedigree Notes:

Jack Christopher, a $135,000 FTKOCT yearling, is one of five Grade I winners for Coolmore's Munnings. He is the lone graded winner for broodmare sire Half Ours. The winner's dam is also represented by an unnamed Mo Town 2-year-old filly and a Complexity filly of this year. The former RNA'd for $145,000 at last week's Fasig-Tipton June Digital Sale. Rushin No Blushin, a maiden of eight career starts, was claimed for $50,000 out of her career finale by owner/trainer Neil Pessin at Keeneland in 2013. The half-sister to MGISW and useful sire Street Boss (Street Cry {Ire}) subsequently brought $70,000 from Castleton Lyons, in foal to Congrats, at the 2014 KEENOV sale.

Saturday, Belmont Park
WOODY STEPHENS S. PRESENTED BY MOHEGAN SUN-GI, $392,000, Belmont, 6-11, 3yo, 7f, 1:21.18, ft.
1–JACK CHRISTOPHER, 124, c, 3, by Munnings
1st Dam: Rushin No Blushin, by Half Ours
                2nd Dam: Blushing Ogygian, by Ogygian
                3rd Dam: Fruhlingshochzeit, by Blushing Groom (Fr)
($145,000 RNA Ylg '20 FTKSEL; $135,000 Ylg '20 FTKOCT).
'TDN Rising Star' O-Bakke, Jim, Isbister, Gerald, Coolmore Stud
and Brant, Peter M.; B-Castleton Lyons & Kilboy Estate (KY);
T-Chad C. Brown; J-Jose L. Ortiz. $220,000. Lifetime Record:
4-4-0-0, $841,400. Werk Nick Rating:  Click for the
   eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Pappacap, 124, c, 3, Gun Runner–Pappascat, by Scat Daddy.
O/B-Rustlewood Farm, Inc. (FL); T-Mark E. Casse. $80,000.
3–Provocateur, 118, c, 3, Into Mischief–Cayala, by Cherokee
Run. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE.
($600,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-My Racehorse Stable and
Spendthrift Farm LLC; B-Kingswood Farm & David Egan (KY);
T-Todd A. Pletcher. $48,000.
Margins: 10, 1 3/4, 2 1/4. Odds: 0.35, 11.50, 19.20.
Also Ran: Wit, Chasing Time, Morello. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo), who defeated GI Preakness S. hopeful Early Voting (Gun Runner) in the GII Wood Memorial S. Apr. 9 ahead of a closing fifth in the GI Kentucky Derby May 7, breezed a half-mile in the company of his GI Central Bank Ashland S.-winning stable companion Nest (Curlin) in :50.02. Owned by Donegal Racing and Repole Stable, Mo Donegal is pointing for the GI Belmont S. June 11, while Nest is under consideration for a start against the boys in the 'Test of the Champion.' Nest's sire was famously defeated by the Pletcher-trained Rags to Riches (A.P. Indy) in the 2007 Belmont.

“It was a good maintenance breeze,” said Pletcher's New York-based assistant Byron Hughes. “They both were moving well and galloped out well. They were on even terms throughout and we were happy with the breeze.”

'TDN Rising Star' Wit (Practical Joke) went five furlongs in the company of fellow 'Rising Star' Malathaat (Curlin) in 1:01.58 Friday morning. Wit most recently returned from a six-month break to take out the GII Bay Shore S. by a nose Apr. 9 and will remain at the seven-furlong distance for the GI Woody Stephens S. on Belmont S. day. Malathaat also made a victorious return to action in Keeneland's GIII Baird Doubledogdare S. Apr. 22, besting Friday's GII DuPont Distaff romper Super Quick (Super Saver), and faces a mouthwatering matchup with champion Letruska (Super Saver) in the GI Ogden Phipps S. the same afternoon.

“Both are good breeze horses and made a good matchup,” Hughes said. “They went head-and-head throughout in 1:01 and change and had a good, solid gallop out.”

Highland Chief On to Manhattan…

Highland Chief (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}), who caused a 19-1 upset in the May 14 GI Man o' War S., is likely to make his next appearance on the Belmont S. undercard in the GI Manhattan S.

“I think we'll point to the Manhattan if he's doing well,” trainer Graham Motion said. “The timing is right and I don't have a concern whatsoever about the mile and a quarter for him. I think he's pretty tactical and I think we're certainly going to keep him over here and not consider taking him over to England anytime soon. It had been mentioned to me before the race, but after we all got together, I think we'll keep him for an American campaign.

BC Champ Possible for Met…

Trainer Wayne Catalano has told the NYRA racing office that his GI Breeders' Cup Sprint hero Aloha West (Hard Spun) could make the trip to the Big Apple for the GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. June 11. The Maryland-bred 5-year-old made his seasonal debut in the GI Churchill Downs S. May 7, finishing third behind Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) and Reinvestment Risk (Upstart).

“He went on the dead rail and got pushed a little early,” Catalano said. “It was a tough race. The only horse that went up the rail the last eighth of the mile was the Derby winner [Rich Strike]. From what I saw, everyone else was on the middle of the racetrack.”

The Met is also likely to attract undefeated 'TDN Rising Star' Flightline (Tapit) and GI Carter H. hero Speaker's Corner (Street Sense).

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He was puzzled: it wasn't yet the weekend, and he wasn't aware of any stakes being run that day. Seven lengths in a hand ride. Then they told him that this was just a maiden race out at Santa Anita. Sikura couldn't believe his ears. He wasn't alone: a 114 Beyer for this son of Distorted Humor was the highest ever awarded for a debut.

To Sikura, this was an epiphany comparable to the time he was making a fishing trip in Argentina and hooked Candy Ride (Arg) running a mile in 1:31 flat. In the event, that horse would only start his stud career at Sikura's farm before moving on; but Maclean's Music has conversely initiated a relationship, with breeder Barbara Banke of Stonestreet, that has meanwhile only strengthened through the arrival at Hill 'n' Dale of Curlin, Good Magic and Kantharos.

Sikura remembers arranging to meet Banke and her advisor John Moynihan at the September Sale and asking himself how he could adequately convey his zeal, despite the fractured splint bone that had confined Maclean's Music to that single, dazzling excursion. After all, Banke had herself shown extraordinary belief in retaining the colt at $900,000 as a yearling; and Sikura's soundings with the horse's trainer had drawn a commensurate endorsement.

“Steve [Asmussen] told me that this was not only the fastest horse that he's ever trained,” Sikura recalls. “He said, 'This is the fastest horse I've ever seen.' And from someone like Steve, that really stuck with me. I felt bound and determined to buy that horse, because I believed him to be a supernatural talent. It took about two years of conversation. And when the horse was finally retired, I made what I thought at the time a ridiculous offer–as if he was a Grade I horse. But what you bid should show your commitment. So we struck a deal quickly. I jokingly say that I know I offered too much, because once I made the offer, we discussed everything else–but we never discussed money again.”

Yet whatever Sikura put on the table that day is now proving good value. For one thing, he felt certain that Maclean's Music, but for his injury, would have put himself way beyond reach. As it was, Sikura and his partners started Maclean's Music at just $6,500. Last Saturday, two of his sons finished a street clear of the rest in a stirring duel for the GI Woody Stephens S. The winner, Drain The Clock, is his fourth at the elite level. The first, of course, had been 2017 GI Preakness S. scorer Cloud Computing from his debut crop.

Over the years, the example of Danzig has inspired many failed speculations on talents that had flared only briefly on the track. But Maclean's Music, now up to $25,000, already has Cloud Computing and Complexity at stud; while the two protagonists at Belmont, Drain The Clock and Jackie's Warrior, will presumably follow them in due course. Other recent credits include a first graded stakes success, after consecutive Grade I podiums, for Estilo Talentoso; and a :55.3 track record for Pimlico stakes winner Firecrow. All this when priced for mares who could bring little to the table.

But then one of Sikura's axioms has always been that “the genetic switch” is either on or off. “I think Quick Temper (A.P. Indy) was 16, she'd never had a black-type horse,” he notes. “And then she has a Preakness winner. Complexity's dam is by Yes It's True. Okay, a good broodmare sire, and he was a lovely type–but I didn't see Grade I. Jackie's Warrior is out of an A.P. Five Hundred mare. So credit to the horse, these mares have just been a conduit of his success.”

And whereas Into Mischief was required to seal his rise by stretching his trademark speed to Classic distances, Maclean's Music had addressed that challenge straight off the bat with Cloud Computing. True, his highest achievers since have been dashers, consistent with the overall branding of his family: his remarkable dam Forest Music (Unbridled's Song), who last year came up with her third graded stakes winner in Uncle Chuck (Uncle Mo), made all in the GII Honorable Miss and extends a branch of the Lady Be Good (Better Self) dynasty also decorated by the dashing sprinter Mining (Mr. Prospector).

Remarkably, despite soaring to 181 mares in 2017 after clocking 20 winners from just 40 freshman starters, Maclean's Music had slumped to 57 by last year–and of these, Sikura supplied maybe 35. Fortunately, that bumper 2018 crop is the one that has already produced Drain The Clock and Jackie's Warrior. It seems safe to say that Maclean's Music has now ridden out the bump in his road.

“This year we've had more than 300 requests to breed the horse,” Sikura reveals. “His fee will definitely rise next year: I believe he's emerging as an important young sire that has proven he can get the utmost quality without the coveted mares. And when a horse like this starts breeding graded winners, or three dams deep in black type, then the possibilities are endless. He's getting patronage from serious breeders that hadn't considered the horse before.”

That, he stresses, is not intended as criticism. After all, he himself didn't use Into Mischief until he had reached $100,000. Yet everyone in the business knows that Sikura mixes his colors on a different palette. Yes, he knows that the sums will only add up if you ultimately achieve commercial traction. As he often says: “The market is always right–even when you disagree with it.” Nonetheless a different mindset is required when prospecting for stallions. Otherwise you find yourself in a long line for the obvious horse, with the last guy standing guaranteed to have overbid.

“Everything I do in my life, every time I have big decisions to make, I try very hard not to listen to the chatter,” Sikura remarks. “Without being reckless, I think you have to believe in yourself and heed your intuition. That's the way I've always been: I'm not driven by projections, or odds. I've certainly been wrong plenty of times, and will be wrong again. But when it's all over, I wouldn't have changed anything. Because making decisions that way has served me well even in defeat. The reward is always the journey. Successes are only fleeting. But my failures, my disappointments, have taught me lessons. If you're in the middle of the road, you're going to get run over by a car going one direction or the other. So you have to act and think boldly.”

Not that he senses any imperative to quirkiness or unorthodoxy. Charlatan, for instance, he notes as a very obvious specimen–and, sure enough, potentially the best he has ever recruited for the farm. But what Sikura does resent is when that herd mentality denies a stallion a fair chance to show his potential. He wants people to think for themselves. Deriding their meek obedience to trends, he recalls a period when every middle-aged man of his acquaintance bought a Harley Davidson and smoked Cuban cigars. (Never mind that some dude in Miami had stuck on a fake label.)

“And when most breeders hear the same opinion often enough, they start to think it's their opinion too,” he says. “It's against human nature to be independent: to support a horse until your belief is either proven out, or proven wrong. We have such a commercial business, everybody wants to be so current that they ignore a body of work. Yet the reality of breeding to a stallion who's hot in 2021 is that your foal will not be born until 2022, or sold until 2023. And by then all the drive behind him will most likely have transferred to another horse of the moment.”

Any horse can have a good or bad year. Sikura feels they get overpraised for one, overpunished for the other. Like so many of us, he is depressed by a “travelling caravan” from one new stallion to the next; by the stigma of familiarity against the proven horse; by breeders paying extra for the unknown, only to find themselves competing with each other on a flooded market.

But every now and then you get a young stallion that does make it over the crossroads. At 13, Maclean's Music now looks like he is the latest to weave through the traffic of fashion. “You can't pinpoint the moment,” Sikura says. “There's just a sort of energy in the pavilion that changes.” Sure enough, the top colt of the opening session at OBS this week was a $350,000 Maclean's Music that had failed to meet his reserve as a $6,000 weanling.

It's a rare stallion, though, that can beat the odds in an environment where farms must throw so many incentives into getting people aboard. Sikura feels that a left-field proposition like Lost Treasure would have been given a far better numerical opportunity 10 years ago. Nonetheless he will keep rolling the dice, for instance by backing Army Mule just the way he did Maclean's Music.

“I have to be very cautious, very selective, in doing anything 'obscure,'” he accepts. “Because I will have to do all the heavy lifting myself. If it works out, good. But it's a lot of time, money and effort to invest, if the only believer is yourself. Do that too often, and you'll go broke finding the mares to prove a point. And I'm not just trying to be contrary or counterintuitive.”

When things do work out, however, there is a corresponding sense of fulfilment. “It is rewarding,” Sikura says. “If the odd time you're the only one with that strong belief, then you should go for it. Because most good horses, there's a story behind them. It wasn't easy or obvious, wasn't always A.P. Indy topping the sale. American Pharaoh was out of a Yankee Gentleman mare. So many good horses come from a place where opinion hasn't identified them–but they've always been right there. So the only thing changing is the momentum of support.

“There will be mockery and ridicule, usually from those that never take risks or were born with enough that they really don't have to create for themselves. But my passion and my commitment will always take priority over commerce. If you do it right, commerce follows.”

Especially if people see that you have done something once, and then do it again. They figure that you might just keep doing it. That applies as much to maverick horsemen, like Jim Bolger, as to stallions themselves.

“I think every year it gets harder,” Sikura concedes. “Every year opinions narrow. But I was taught to be authentic–in what you do, and in the business that represents who you are–and that's the way I want to stay. I'm not saying it's enlightened or better or smarter. It's just my way. You have one life to live. And this is a hard business. But it's one where you can express yourself uniquely. You can find the mare that piques your interest in Book 6 as well as Book 1. And I think it's more enriching if you can make your own path rather than follow the trodden highway all the time.

“You can set trends or follow them. But when you follow them, the opportunity to make money is gone. I always say that when everybody knows, it's too late. Maclean's Music was possibly a reckless pursuit. But there's a very pure litmus test: his offspring competes against the offspring of others, and we can judge them on performance. A smalltown kid that shows up in the big city won't get much initial opportunity. But the one that eventually wins out is recognized for what he is. So for Maclean's Music I hope this is just the beginning.”

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The 7-year-old, trained by Dallas Stewart for Gayle and Tom Benson’s GMB Racing, was runner-up in the GIII Lecomte S. and GII Louisiana Derby in 2015, but cut back to one turn to win the GII Woody Stephens S. over seven furlongs and the GIII Ack Ack S. going a mile that season. Winner of the GIII Bold Ruler H. in 2016, the Pennsylvania-bred originally entered stud at Spendthrift and was later relocated to Red River Farms in Louisiana.

“It gives us great pleasure to have our wonderful Tom’s Ready retire to Old Friends,” Gayle Benson said. “He was our first purchase, he is a Grade II winner, and he raced in the Kentucky Derby and the Breeders’ Cup, so we are very proud of him and he is deserving of the great care that Old Friends will provide.”

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