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By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Okay, so probably we're just running these animals in sufficient circles for the squeaking of the hamster wheel eventually, randomly, to yield something that seems curiously meaningful. But there are times when horses give the impression that they are participating in some mysterious wider scheme in human affairs. Last week, however inadequately, I joined the many in our community grieving the abrupt loss of one of its great horsemen, and gentlemen. The very next day, at Fair Grounds, a colt saturated with the legacy of John Shirreffs missed Olympiad's track record by the narrowest possible margin in routing an allowance field by seven lengths. The resulting speed figures confirmed a GI Kentucky Derby trial to be imperative for Reagan's Honor (Honor A.P.), and you can but wonder whether somebody up there–though barely installed–is watching over a horse who combines so much of his own work with the skills of those missing him most. Be all that as it may, here we only have a page to consider! This time, however, I want to start with the sire. That's because Honor A.P. is doing something pretty heroic here. He stands, unmistakably, in an hour of need. But until more people finally wake up to his potential, as they never did during his first career, he's having to do the hard yards himself. Last spring, with a single crop of juveniles behind him, he received just 19 mares. It was hardly as though he had ever been very likely to produce a bunch of maiden winners at Keeneland in April. But with some maturity behind them, Honor A.P. has actually assembled his eight stakes scorers at a clip superior to every other stallion in a competitive intake. He has still only fielded 99 starters, half as many as Authentic (216), Vekoma (201) and McKinzie (200). Only Complexity, who has punched above weight throughout, can match Honor A.P.'s 6.1% black-type winners to named foals, his dozen coming at an even 6%. And the soaraway Vekoma is just a whisker behind (19 at 5.7%). But the rest of the top 10 (by this measure) comprises Tiz The Law (13 at 4.6%, apparently good enough to warrant 274 mares in 2025), Thousand Words (eight at 3.7), Win Win Win (three at 3.0), McKinzie (nine at 2.8), Volatile (seven at 2.7), Authentic (eight at 2.4) and Instagrand (five at 2.1). Honor A.P. beat the Horse of the Year on merit, the only time he got a clean run at him, while for a son of Honor Code to bring $850,000 as a yearling tells you everything about his shimmering physique (though a millionaire, Grade I-winning dam also helped). His unfortunate derailment essentially left the horse with unfinished business, but these things become self-fulfilling. Honor A.P. started at one-fifth of his big rival's fee, had a fairly old-fashioned debut book of 110, and must now fight his way out of a corner at just $7,500. While Margie's Intention (GII Black-Eyed Susan Stakes) for now remains his only graded stakes winner, his debut crop also includes A.P. Kid, sidelined after winning the Pennine Ridge Stakes by six lengths; and Heart Of Honour (GB), who missed the G2 U.A.E. Derby by a nose last year. Among his newly minted sophomores, meanwhile, Hollywood Import has won consecutive stakes at Laurel this winter, while Counting Stars did the same at Oaklawn. Romeo disappeared after the GI Hopeful, but had certainly impressed in the Bashford Manor. And now we have Reagan's Honor, as yet not even a stakes winner, but potentially best of the lot. John Shirreffs | Sarah Andrew His maternal family carries the sublime touch of Shirreffs no less than his sire. The colt was co-bred by his stepson David Ingordo and long-standing patron Jerry Moss, for whom Shirreffs trained the dam's half-brothers Giacomo and Tiago to win the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Santa Anita Derby, respectively. Those had been among eight males in the first 10 named foals out of Set Them Free (Stop the Music), a triple stakes-winning sprinter (dirt and turf) purchased as a 2-year-old for just $45,000 by her trainer Brian Mayberry. (Whose family, of course, played their part–along with Ingordo–in giving this program its finest hour with Zenyatta). It was a blessing, then, that Set Them Free consented to deliver three fillies among her final four named foals. Middle of these was Rutile (Medaglia d'Oro), who tested even the famous patience of Shirreffs in making a single start at ages four, five and six! But you could see why everyone had persevered when she won on debut in 1:10 flat. Rutile has evidently required patience in her second career, too. There's a poignant three-year interval between her first foal, a son of Quality Road who made $950,000 as a yearling, and the $140,000 Honor A.P. colt bought by West Point Thoroughbreds alongside Ingordo's daughter Reagan at the 2024 Keeneland September Sale. The Quality Road ended up winning under a $5,000 tag at Penn National, but brought the money he did with a legitimate stallion's page. For Set Them Free's daughters have played an ample part, alongside Giacomo and Tiago, in the page now decorated by Reagan's Honor. One became a graded stakes winner, another was Grade II-placed, and a third is granddam of the flying Nashville, now at WinStar. Set Them Free herself, incidentally, represents a strong European family. She was out of a half-sister to the dam of Baiser Vole (Foolish Pleasure), a champion juvenile and Classic winner in France. In other words, it's all there on paper. All that remains to be discovered is whether some benign hand is directing the celestial traffic. Volatile Consequences of Synthetic Route Whatever alienation you might perceive between the corporate interests of Churchill Downs and those held dear by certain others in the industry, the loading of Derby starting points into another of its tracks is a perfectly understandable strategy. But it is worth wondering, A) whether the synthetic Turfway program, in the long term, might materially alter the kind of horses that can make the Derby gate; B) how that may alter the character of the race, and therefore of the type of horse we breed to get there. Already Turfway has produced Final Gambit (Not This Time) and Two Phil's (Hard Spun) as prominent supporting players in the Derby since Rich Strike (Keen Ice). In some ways, favoring synthetic performers takes to a new level the elimination of raw dirt speed from the race. In the old days, trainers used one-turn races to sharpen and condition Classic prospects. Now that trainers run horses so sparingly, they won't do that when they also need starting points. Great White | Coady Media Mind you, Great White (Volatile) evidently drew on some pretty wholesome reserves in banking 20 points in the John Battaglia Stakes. If his sales provenance is unusual, a $55,000 yearling out of a Fasig-Tipton digital sale, so is the way his sire's speed has been balanced by second and fourth dams who both won the G1 Premio Diana, or Brazilian Oaks. The earlier of those, Sweet Eternity (Brz) (Effervescing), was imported to California, but repatriated by Stud TNT–whose work Great White extends into a fourth consecutive generation. Sweet Eternity's dam and granddam each had wholly indigenous parentage. The names mean zilch to me, and I have no idea whether they condense the kind of robust genes we so often admire in South American pedigrees. Even if they do, however, the family has meanwhile been seeded by plenty of U.S. commercial speed, with the three dams below Sweet Eternity, respectively, by Woodman, Elusive Quality and Uncle Mo. Volatile certainly contributes more of the same. He now has four graded stakes winners, all from his debut crop. Speed King banked Derby points in the GIII Southwest Stakes last year, but lived up to his name by returning to sprinting for his only win since. His trainer feels that Great White will handle distance, and we must respect that, given the fine job he has done with inexpensive horses. Returning to our earlier point, however, it's worth noting that his Epic Ride (Blame) reserved his big payday for turf at Kentucky Downs last year. If the Turfway trials continue to produce horses of that type, a Derby already shorn of pure dirt speed will continue to evolve in another direction. Gone but Not Forgotten Before departing for Korea, where he sadly died, Preservationist was one of the most culpably neglected young sires I've seen. Having duly left only a few horses behind, to preserve his legacy, he nonetheless managed a startling posthumous flourish at Laurel last Saturday. Peach Tie's second stakes success took him to five wins in six; while Bring the Smoke's 18-length maiden score was nationally the second fastest of the week (91 Beyer). It may yet be, then, that the $2,500 yearling Chunk of Gold (earnings to date $893,311) and Grade I-winning millionaire Antiquarian will not represent Preservationist's last word. Not that even I can pretend that bad luck and judgement together denied Preservationist some breed-shaping influence. For that, we make our compulsory weekly visit to La Troienne (Fr). Latest to mark the matriarch's centenary is Fairy Glen (Fr) (Farhh {GB}), a Group 2 winner in Dubai. Her fifth dam is the great Allez France (Sea-Bird {Fr}), who was out of a granddaughter of La Troienne's daughter Big Hurry. The post Breeding Digest: Timely Memorial to a Man of Honor appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Sprinters–dirt and turf–dominated the week's best female performances. 5–KAPOOR, GP, 2-19, Alw, 6f (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure-90 (f, 4, Uncle Mo–Kareena, by Medaglia d'Oro) O/B-Godolphin (Ky). T-Bill Mott. J-Taylor Kingsley. Kapoor has rolled to three consecutive frontrunning sprint wins by a combined 14 1/4 lengths, and she practically snuck into this allowance in the cover of darkness: the conditions were for non-winners of $20k once other than maiden/claiming, and her winners' take from a Tampa allowance score four weeks earlier was $19,175. As expected, the Godolphin pedigree is strong, especially from the Beyer angle. Dam Kareena recorded Beyers of 96 and 98 in her brief career, and second dam India once had back-to-back Beyers of 100 and 103. 4–GRATEFULLY, SA, 2-21, Wishing Well S., 6fT (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure-91 (f, 4, Laoban–Selflessly, by More Than Ready) O-Adelphi Racing Club and Shelly and Russell Hume. B-WinStar Farm. T- Rob Falcone. J-Florent Geroux. Matt Cutair and his Adelphi partners had a 2 1/2 hours to remember Saturday, striking first with unbeaten Gratefully after a Santa Anita stretch duel and again 2,700 miles away with Twirling Beauty (below). Gratefully has now survived three “gut checks” during her 5-for-5 career launch. She's the first foal of Selflessly, a two-time GSW for Seth Klarman and Chad Brown. WinStar acquired Selflessly following her racing career, bred her to Laoban, then sold mother and daughter–Selflessly, first for $875k to Ireland's Barronstown Stud and Gratefully the following year for a bargain $155k as a yearling to Adelphi. 3–TWIRLING BEAUTY, AQU, 2-21, Alw, 6f (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure-91 (f, 4, Twirling Candy–Strategic Dreams, by Archarcharch) O-Adelphi Racing Club, Anthony Amarosa, Shelly and Russell Hume and Anthony Peters Jr. B-WinStar Farm. T-David Duggan. J-Ricardo Santana. The excitement of Gratefully's victory at even-money odds still hadn't subsided for Adelphi and the Humes when Twirling Beauty unexpectedly came through as the 12-1 longest shot in a five-horse allowance field. By contrast, her win had few tense moments as she opened up through the lane by 5 1/2 lengths. Also a $150k yearling buy as the first foal of a two-time stakes winner, her racing resume isn't as accomplished as her stablemate, but that 91 Beyer is equally strong. 2–HAULIN ICE, OP, 2-20, Downthedustyroad Breeders' S., 6f (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure-98 (m, 5, Coal Front–She's Smoke, by Half Ours) O-C2 Racing Stable, WSS Racing and Agave Racing Stable. B-Eugenia Thompson-Benight (Ark). T-Saffie Joseph. J-Francisco Arrieta. As a two-time GSW, she can hang with the big girls. But a free square against Arkansas-breds for a $150k purse is too enticing to pass. Haulin Ice has won this race in back-to-back years by a combined 17 3/4 lengths, and this one put her over $1 million in earnings. C2's Mark and Clint Cornett (White Abarrio) bought her from the breeders after her fifth start. She RNA'd in October for $875k in a digital auction after which Bill and Tammy Simon and Agave's Mark Martinez bought out C2's three previous partners. 1–SHINING STAR, FG, 2-17, Mardi Gras S., 5 1/2fT (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure-103 (m, 5, Saraha Spirit–Green Power {Chi}, by Dublin {Ire}) O-Sumaya U.S. Stable. B-Haras Sumaya. T-Brad Cox. J-Jose Ortiz. Fair Grounds has hosted more than its share of powerful turf sprinters–Shining Star's dominant score marked the 10th triple-digit Beyer in a 5 1/2-furlong turf dash during the track's last five seasons. Since Cox switched her to turf last fall, the Oussama Aboughazale owned-and-bred mare is 3-for-3 by an average margin of 5 1/4 lengths. Aboughazale stands unraced Tapit stallion Saraha Spirit (half-brother to Giant's Causeway stallion Protonico) in Chile. Notably, he's out of Wild Spirit, who Aboughazale imported in 2003 to win the GI Ruffian Stakes with trainer Bobby Frankel. And speaking of triple-digit Beyers, five of Wild Spirit's six American starts featured figs of 110, 109, 109 and 106. The post Five Fleet Fillies of the Week, Feb. 16-22 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Jay Rooney REFUSETOBEENGLISH - R9 (7) Gets chance to break through from an improved draw Owen Goulding HUGE WAVE - R3 (2) Near miss in C&D G3 two back and much better than bare result latest Trackwork Spy SPIRIT OF PEACE - R8 (11) Running consistently well and makes plenty of appeal from a low draw Phillip Woo FORTUNE STAR - R6 (2) Won well last start and has repeat claims from the inside barrier Shannon (Vincent Wong) GREATER BAE - R8 (4) Won impressively over C&D last start and looks...View the full article -
The conclusion. My evaluation of the cause and circumstances surrounding Taiki’s tragic death, is that it was an avoidable incident had the other offending jockey not ridden recklessly. -
Because I like you guys and you like a punt more than enjoying the Big prize racing . here's one for you to admire. In the photo above in previous post, to the far right, is a very nice NZ trotter (formally of McGowans about a year ago in NZ in the North ) that Keayang Zahara was flat out to get past here in the Group 1 Great Square trot in December. SUNSET HILL has had that close 2nd to 'Zahara' (by 2 metres in that photo above) and has Three Wins in Australia from his other 3 starts. winning each one by 4 lengths or more each time and twice in 1.55 MR. tiz a very good trotter. I think SUNSET HILL well worth a ticket or 2 in the Interdominion . and is currently 50-1 in the early markets, and is being kept in cottonwool ready to spring a surprise . ( For the place punter Brodster is 14-1 for the place) . just beautiful to throw in a multi here and there. e.g a Leap To Fame - Sunset Hill Interdominion double is 150-1 . Thank me later when we're all rich and collecting 😆😂💰👍
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