Horse of the Week: Crown Queen

Posted on by DerbyMateo

As a sister to Royal Delta, a multiple champion and Breeders’ Cup winner, Crown Queen was always worth a lot of money. Now that she’s won the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, her $1.6 million weanling price tag looks like a downright bargain.

Crown Queen’s owner, Benjamin Leon, went on a torrid shopping spree at the 2011 Keeneland November Breeding Stock sale. He fought off all challengers to secure Royal Delta for $8.5 million just three days after she captured her first Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Mr. Leon also shelled out $3 million for Grade 1 winner Quiet Dance and another $2.6 million for her weanling filly by Medaglia d’Oro. So $1.6 million for Crown Queen wasn’t so bad, especially considering her dam, Delta Princess, also sold for $2.6 million to Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs Farm.

Crown Queen is a daughter of Smart Strike, one of America’s very best stallions. In fact, she is the 15th Grade 1 winner sired by the son of the great Mr. Prospector (Curlin, English Channel, Lookin at Lucky and My Miss Aurelia are among the others).

While Royal Delta took more after her sire, Empire Maker, and was excepional on dirt, Crown Queen takes more after her dam and has made all of her starts on grass. Delta Princess earned over $380,000 on that surface and her resume shows a trio of graded victories on turf. Bill Mott trained Delta Princess in her racing days as well as her dam, Lyphard’s Delta.

To their credit Mott and Mr. Leon didn’t lose patience with Crown Queen after a pair of third place finishes against Maiden Special company last year in New York. She was put away to let develop physically and mentally and didn’t return to the races until mid-June at Belmont Park. She coasted home in a Maiden Special that day and collected two more victories in as many starts en route to winning the QE II.

“She’s answered absolutely every question we’ve asked,” Mr. Leon said after the QE II. “So now I think it’s just a matter of sitting back and enjoying her… I’m looking forward to her 4-year-old year. That should be an exceptional year, I’d think.”

We couldn’t agree more.

-originally posted on http://www.myfantasystable.com

Horse(s) of the Week: Treve & Wise Dan

Posted on by DerbyMateo

Racing fans were treated to some thrilling stretch runs on both sides of the Atlantic last weekend. The performances of Treve taking her second straight Arc and Wise Dan winning…again…were most remarkable. So let’s honor both greats in this week’s Horse of the Week post.

Both champions have overcome physical ailments to climb back to the pinnacle of the racing world in North America and Europe. Treve, the victim of hoof and back issues, had been absent from the winner’s circle until Saturday at Longchamp. Wise Dan landed on the operating table after a serious bout of colic over the summer.

The Blood-Horse lead their coverage of Treve’s Arc triumph with this sentence: ‘Treve left both detractors and admirers in awe’. Those words equally apply to Wise Dan’s performance in the Shadwell Turf Mile, the first seven figure race ever run at Keeneland. While he had previously returned a winner in Saratoga’s Bernard Baruch Handicap his razor-thin victory that day left many wondering if he was still the same animal. Some doubts began to manifest even before his surgery when he downed Seek Again by just a head (after a brutal trip) in the Turf Classic on Derby Day.

Treve goes out a winner. Her owner, Sheikh Joaan confirmed via Twitter on October 7 that his great mare was done racing and would visit the court of leading European stallion Dubawi next year. Wise Dan, however, is on to the Breeders’ Cup. But which race? Wise Dan’s connections have flirted with the Breeders’ Cup Classic in the past before collecting a pair of Breeders’ Cup Mile trophies. After the Shadwell Turf Mile trainer Charlie LoPresti was interviewed by Mike Battaglia and said ‘you don’t know how many more Breeders’ Cups he has left’, indicating that a run on dirt in the Classic is being more seriously considered this time around.

Imagine a Breeders’ Cup Classic with the unbeaten Shared Belief, dual Classic winner California Chrome, Belmont/Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Tonalist, the speedy Bayern AND Wise Dan? It’s easy if you try. Let’s hope LoPresti and owner Morton Fink are dreaming along with us.

So we say ‘merci, au revoir’ to Treve and ‘thanks for another thrill, see you in Cali’ to Wise Dan, two all-time champions riding off to different sunsets.

-originally posted on http://www.myfantasystable.com

Horse of the Week: Beholder

Posted on by DerbyMateo

There were a number of standout performances last weekend all over the good ole U. S. of A. But we felt it most appropriate to highlight the magnificent Beholder, who we’ll see just one more time before she heads off to her second career as a broodmare.

That final start will come in the Breeders’ Cup, an event Beholder is well-acquainted with. She earned her very first stakes victory in the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and then held that top form throughout her sophomore season. As a three-year-old in 2013 the Richard Mandella-trained lass rolled through the Las Virgenes S. (G1) and the Santa Anita Oaks (G1) en route to a tough-luck loss in the Kentucky Oaks (G1). She was a close second that day to Princess of Sylmar but took her revenge on that one later in the year. Beholder was smooth as silk as she cruised to a 4 1/4-length win over multiple Grade 1 winner Close Hatches in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff with multiple champion Royal Delta and Princess of Sylmar farther back. Her victory was a historic one as she became the first filly to win both the Juvenile Fillies and the Distaff.

Beholder is taking the similar path back to this year’s Breeders’ Cup, having prepped with a repeat win in Saturday’s Zenyatta Stakes (G1) (formerly the Lady’s Secret Stakes). She’ll likely face a streaking Close Hatches again in her bid to etch her name deeper into the Breeders’ Cup history books. Close Hatches, of course, defeated a troubled Beholder in the Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1) on Belmont Stakes Day. Beholder ‘grabbed a quarter’ during the race and wasn’t 100% and we’ll find out in four weeks time if Beholder can avenge that defeat just as she avenged Princess of Sylmar last year.

Only Royal Delta and Bayakoa have won back-to-back editions of the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Should Beholder join that club she’ll find herself not only in the winner’s circle but squarely in the Hall of Fame as well (if she hasn’t earned her way in already). Win, lose or dead heat, Beholder goes through the ring at the November 3 Fasig-Tipton November Breeding Stock sale. She’ll certainly set off some fireworks there, just as she has in her three years on the racetrack.

-originally published at http://www.myfantasystable.com

Horse of the Week: Untapable

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Just a few years ago the Cotillion Stakes and Pennsylvania Derby were just two of several fall options for the three-year-old set. But Pennsylvania casino revenue has transformed the stakes schedule at Parx Racing (formerly Philadelphia Park) and on the east coast in general. Now these races are attracting the cream of the crop of the sophmore filly and colt divisions annually. The Cotillion, in particular, has graduated to Grade 1 status and was won by yet another Kentucky Oaks winner this year in Untapable.

A daughter of the red-hot sire Tapit, Untapable has been the consensus leader of the three-year-old fillies ever since her dominating performance in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes (G3) in late February. She had been compared to that race’s namesake after ulta-easy scores in the Fair Grounds Oaks (G2), Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Mother Goose Stakes (G1). However, unlike Rachel, she couldn’t beat the boys when sent to Monmouth Park for the Haskell Invitational (G1) in July.

The streaking multiple Grade 1 winner Stopchargingmaria was originally entered in the Cotillion but was re-routed to Saturday’s Beldame Stakes (G1) by trainer Todd Pletcher after the retirement of Princess of Sylmar. Some suggested Stopchargingmaria could overtake Untapable for year-end honors with a Cotillion victory but that seems unlikely now. Untapable may not have been brilliant last Saturday at Parx but she was professional in defeating fellow Grade 1 winner Sweet Reason and the up-and-coming Jojo Warrior.

Untapable joins Ashado and Plum Pretty as Oaks/Cotillion winners in the past 10 years. The Cotillion has also been won by champions Havre de Grace and My Miss Aurelia in that time span as well as likely 2014 champion Close Hatches, last year’s winner. No wonder the race chased NYRA’s Gazelle Stakes from the September schedule. That former Grade 1 fixture for three-year-old fillies was moved to Thanksgiving weekend in 2009 and has served as a Aqueduct’s Kentucky Oaks prep for the past two seasons.

Untapable is scheduled to face her elders, including Close Hatches and Beholder, in the upcoming Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1). A win there would sew up championship honors and maybe, just maybe, put Untapable back in the conversation as one the all-time greats.

-originally published on http://www.myfantasystable.com

Horse of the Week: Trade Storm

Posted on by DerbyMateo

Trainer Charlie LoPresti gave someone else a chance to win this year’s Woodbine Mile (G1) when he opted to point 2012 & 2013 winner Wise Dan to Shadwell Turf Mile (G1) at Keeneland. Trainer David Simcock and the well-traveled Trade Storm were the beneficiaries.

Rider Jamie Spencer deserves a good deal of the credit for Trade Storm’s breakthrough victory too. He exhibited perfect patience while the three-year-old Bobby’s Kitten set strong fractions on the front end. Saving all the ground into the stretch, Spencer tipped Trade Storm out to the two path at just the right moment to surge past the tiring Bobby’s Kitten with enough left to hold off another late-charger in Kaigun.

The six-year-old Trade Storm finished third to Wise Dan last year and hadn’t had his picture taken since the Zabeel Mile (G2) in Dubai in early March of 2013. Primarily based in England, the son of Trade Fair now has five wins from his 34 globe-trotting starts and earnings over $1.4 million.

Trade Storm’s triumph capped off a spectacular day for trainer David Simcock who also took the Grade 1 Northern Dancer Stakes with Sheikhzayeroad.

“They are two good old boys aren’t they?” Simcock said after his second trip to the Woodbine winner’s circle. “Trade Storm has been frustrating, but even when he gets beaten, he is one of those horses you don’t get disappointed with – he is just a lovely horse to be around.”

Simcock also indicated that owner Sheikh Fahad will make the final determination on Trade Storm’s next start with the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) or a trip down under for the rich Australian fixture the Cox Plate (G1) the options. Stay tuned to see where this ‘good old boy’ shows up next.

-originally published on http://www.myfantasystable.com

Horse of the Week: Vicar’s in Trouble

Posted on by DerbyMateo

In the late 1980’s the Super Derby featured some of the decade’s best runners. Hall of Famer and champion Alysheba won the then Grade 1-fixture in 1987. Seeking the Gold won the next year followed by another Hall of Fame champion Sunday Silence. This year’s winner, Vicar’s in Trouble, will probably never be mentioned with those greats but he has developed into a very useful runner whose best days may still lie ahead.

The colt in one of the leading runners by the Harlan’s Holiday stallion Into Mischief and he did make a little history in his Super Derby victory last Saturday. He’s the first Louisiana Derby winner to come back to bayou country and take the state’s most important fall race. And he’s won both races by a combined 10 1/2 lengths after his 7 1/2-length Super Derby runaway. Vicar’s in Trouble has now won or finished third in eight of his nine starts. The Mike Maker-trained colt’s only off-the-board finish came on the first Saturday in May with a last-place run in the Kentucky Derby.

While he didn’t fulfill owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey’s long-held dream of Kentucky Derby glory, he has earned $1,110,000 for the stable this year. Th Ramseys once again lead all North American owners with nearly $6.5 million in earnings and Vicar’s in Trouble has accounted for about 17% of that total.

The bulk of the Ramsey’s success on the track over the years has come with homebreds by their top stallion Kitten’s Joy and by runners plucked from the claiming ranks. Vicar’s in Trouble, on the other hand, was purchased out of the 2013 Fasig-Tipton Maryland Two-Year-Old in Training sale. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Ramsey’s become even more active at the sales in the future as a way to diversify their bloodstock holdings and to clear the way for more outside breeders to send mares to Kitten’s Joy.

Vicar’s in Trouble may very well end up at Ramsey Farm in Nicholasville, Kentucky standing alongside Kitten’s Joy. But for now the Ramsey’s are no doubt focused on having a much fun as possible with the colt. And no owner has more fun in the winner’s circle than Ken Ramsey.

-originally posted on http://www.myfantasystable.com

Horse of the Week: Itsmyluckyday

Posted on by DerbyMateo

Not all Grade 1 horses actually win a Grade 1 race. Horses like Broken Vow and Tale of the Cat come immediately to mind as runners who ran huge races at the Grade 2 and 3 levels but fell a little short of their best when on the Grade 1 stage. Itmyluckyday was in danger of falling into that category until his gutsy win in the August 30 Woodward Stakes (G1) at Saratoga.

Itsmyluckyday was first on our radar 18 months ago after he upset the Holy Bull Stakes (G3) on the 2013 Triple Crown trail and he’s been a remarkably consistent runner since. The Eddie Pleasa trainee has been first or second in seven of his subsequent 10 starts, including completing the exacta in a trio of Grade 1 events prior to the Woodward. He was actually sent off as the public choice in last year’s Florida Derby (G1), only to succumb to the late rush of eventual Derby champ Orb. He bested that rival in the Preakness Stakes (G1) but still had to settle for second behind Gary Stevens and Oxbow. He made his Saratoga debut in the Whitney Handicap (G1) earlier in August and was second again, this time to Moreno, who he defeated after a bumpy stretch duel in the Woodward. Itsmluckyday has now won nine of his 19 lifetime starts, earned over $1.6 million and has at least two stakes victories in each of his three seasons on the track.

Spendthrift Farm also saw the Grade 1 quality in Itsmyluckyday before his breakthrough win. In the days leading up to the Woodward the farm that stands Malibu Moon, Tiz Wonderful and Into Mischief among others announced the horse to their 2015 roster. Itsmyluckyday is a son of the late Lawyer Ron, a grandson of the great Danzig, whose sireline has been resurgent in North America the past five years with stallions like War Front and Hard Spun. Itsmyluckyday will get every chance to be the next good one from this line, especially now that breeders see that G1 next to his name.

-originally posted on http://www.myfantasystable.com

Horse of the Week: Shared Belief

Posted on by DerbyMateo

It’s no secret to followers of this blog that I’m a huge fan of Shared Belief. He was first named Horse of the Week back in mid-December of last year after his big win in the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity. The gelding actually landed in this space a few weeks prior to that as one of ‘Three to Watch’ for the 2014 Classics.

For me it all goes back to his second career victory in the November 10, 2013 Hollywood Prevue (G3) on which I commented:

“(Shared Belief) showed an especially explosive turn of foot when let loose just after turning for home in the Prevue”.

Despite his obvious talent there have been questions all along the way for Shared Belief. His first three victories were all on synthetic surfaces and he had to continue his physical development as racing history is littered with top juveniles who did nothing at three and beyond. Having answered the ‘dirt question’ with a typically brilliant performance in the Los Alamitos Derby (G2) over the solid colt Candy Boy, there were still lingering questions about his ability to negotiate a classic distance (even with his own connections).

Shared Belief emphatically countered those distance doubts in Sunday’s Pacific Classic (G1) where he overcame an awkward start and outside post while earning 115 Beyer Speed Figure, highest of any three-year-old in 2014. This horse does everything emphatically, doesn’t he?

“He just ran a terrific race,” said Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith after the race. “He’s a special horse. I heard someone say this might be the coming out of a superstar. I think now this horse deserves that accolade. I’ll tell you what: he’s as good a young horse as I’ve sat on in a while.”

Shared Belief’s brilliant 2013 late-season surge earned him an Eclipse Award as the best juvenile male in North America. Will it happen again in 2014? California Chrome certainly has the more extensive resume so far with runaway wins in the three important Grade 1’s – the Santa Anita Derby (G1), Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1). Art Sherman has ‘Chrome’ pointed to the $1,000,000 Grade 2 Pennsylvania Derby for his return from Triple Crown grind and now the connections of Shared Belief are considering that race as well. I, for one, have my fingers crossed we’ll see this happen. Both fingers crossed, actually.

-originally posted on http://www.myfantasystable.com

Breeding Watch, August 24

Posted on by DerbyMateo

Bayern’s impressive win in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational Stakes two weekends back not only gave trainer Bob Baffert his seventh win in the Monmouth Park fixture, it also extended a rather incredible streak for Dr. William Solomon’s Pin Oak Lane Farm in New Freedom, Pennsylvania.

Stallions that stand or stood at Pin Oak Lane Farm have now sired the winners of the first three Breeders’ Cup Classic ‘Win and You’re In’ races.

Moonshine Mullin, by Albert the Great, took the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap June 14. Two weeks later Majestic Harbor, a son of the late Rockport Harbor, dominated the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita and now comes Bayern, a son of Offlee Wild.

Albert the Great previously stood at Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky while Rockport Harbor and Offlee Wild are both graduates of the Darley USA stud barn. Rockport Harbor sadly lost a battle with laminitis during the first week of August last year but Albert the Great and Offlee Wild still anchor the roster at Pin Oak Lane along 2014 leading Pennsylvania sire Any Given Saturday.

Offlee Wild is a son of Wild Again out of a Seattle Slew half-sister to Dynaformer, so he’s certainly eligible to sire a good one. Bayern is, in fact, his second Grade 1 winner after She Be Wild, winner of the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. The dams of both these top runners are bred along similar lines. Bayern is the third Grade 1 winner out of a mare by the Mr. Prospector (by Raise A Native) grandson Thunder Gulch and his second dam is by another great son of Raise a Native, Alydar. She Be Wild is out of a mare bred Seeking the Gold (by Mr. Prospector) over Affirmed, a Raise A Native grandson.

Bayern wasn’t the only stakes winner for Offlee Wild July 28 either. The 2-year-old filly Ethan’s Baby found the winner’s circle in the Angie C. Stakes at Emerald Downs. She’s the second stakes winner out of a mare by the Unbridled stallion Broken Vow.

A.P. Indy, Giant’s Causeway and Ghostzapper were also represented by a pair of stakes winners the last weekend of July.

A P. Indy is enjoying retirement at Lane’s End Farm, but that doesn’t mean his progeny are taking it easy.

Grade 2 Molly Pitcher Stakes winner Majestic River and Grade 3 Shuvee Handicap winner Antipathy are his two latest graded stakes winners, giving him 82 for his illustrious career.

Majestic River is A.P. Indy’s only starter out of mare by the Caro grandson (and fellow Breeders’ Cup Classic winner) Alphabet Soup. It looks like she’s also his only stakes winner of any kind with the larger Caro broodmare line. Antipathy is a result of the much more ubiquitous and successful A. P. Indy-Mr. Prospector cross. She’s the 22nd black-type winner from the 103 starters by A.P. Indy out of daughters of Mr. Prospector. That’s an incredible 21% strike rate and this sample doesn’t even include the top sire Malibu Moon.

The royally-bred Irish Surf is the 84th worldwide group or graded stakes winner for Giant’s Causeway after roaring home in the Grade 3 Cougar II Handicap at Del Mar. The 4-year-old colt is out of the champion mare Surfside (by Seattle Slew), herself a daughter of champion Flanders (by Seeking the Gold). Both were bred by the late William T. Young’s Overbrook Farm. Fed Biz has been among those 84 graded winners since annexing the Grade 2 San Fernando Stakes in early 2013 and he added the Grade 3 San Diego Handicap to his ledger July 26. Out of a mare by Wild Again, he too hails from a big female line. His dam is a stakes-winning half-sister to Tale of the Cat and to the dam of champion Johannesburg. His second dam is also the grandam of Pulpit.

With a trio of stakes winners literally across the country since July 18, Adena Springs’ Ghostzapper once again finds himself among the leading North American sires of stakes winners with nine.

Ghostzapper’s juvenile daughter My Fiona kicked off the streak in the California Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association Stakes for Cal-breds on the first Friday of the Del Mar meet. She’s Ghostzapper’s second black-type winner from four starters out of mares by the Maryland sire Two Punch.

Ghostzapper has also sired a pair of stakes winners out of a mare by the Two Punch son Smoke Glacken.

Better Lucky, a Grade 1 winner on grass, returned to the main track and ran down a pair of Grade 1-winning millionaires in the July 21 Shine Again Stakes at Saratoga. Five days later in Iowa, Serendip scored in the Prairie Meadows Handicap. The 4-year-old is out of the multiple Grade 1 winner Spoken Fur, a daughter of Notebook, and is Ghostzapper’s 40th lifetime stakes winner

(originally published on http://www.thisishorseracing.com)

Horse of the Week: I Spent It

Posted on by DerbyMateo

Racing fans will likely recall Super Saver’s rail-skimming trip under Calvin Borel to capture the 2010 Kentucky Derby (G1). With his first runners now emerging it appears they also like to ride the rail to victory. At least this can be said of I Spent It, courageous winner of Sunday’s Saratoga Special (G2).

Under a patient ride by Javier Castellano, I Spent It rated in hand behind a wicked early pace in the Special. Castellano decided to stay to the inside, a risky move behind tiring juveniles, but it paid off. I Spent It responded when asked and shot up the rail to score by nearly three lengths over the more seasoned colt Mr. Z.

I Spent It one of several promising runners so far by WinStar Farm’s Super Saver. In fact his first stakes winner emerged eight days earlier when Hashtag Bourbon captured the Mountaineer Juvenile on the August 2 West Virginia Derby card. Super Saver may also have the favorites for the upcoming two-year-old Grade 1’s at Saratoga, the Hopeful Stakes ($750,000 juvenile purchase Competitive Edge) and Spinaway Stakes ($675,0000 juvenile purchase High Dollar Woman).

Like Competitive Edge and High Dollar Woman, I Spent It comes with a high price tag. He was purchased earlier this year for $600,000 at the Fasig-Tipton February sale. He’s out of the mare Rateeba who is by Sky Mesa, winner of the 2002 Hopeful Stakes (G1). Interestingly, Rateeba was exported to the Philippines and bloodstock agents have no doubt been scrambling to bring her back home. She’s a sister to a pair of stakes runners and to the dam of the precocious Zavata, a multiple graded-winning/Grade 1-placed juvenile. A little further back in this pedigree we find the good juvenile (and multiple Grade 1-winning three-year-old) Dixie Union.

The courage and professionalism I Spent It showed in the Saratoga Special certainly bodes well for his future, at least for the rest of the MyFantasyStable.com Fall Champions Challenge season. We hope he sticks around until next year’s Spring Classics Challenge too.

-originally posted on http://www.myfantasystable.com