Horse of the Week: Personal Ensign

Posted on by DerbyMateo

We usually pick a horse from the previous weekend to highlight as our Horse of the Week. We went back a little further this week, to 1988 to be exact. Long before Zenyatta came to the Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs in search of perfection, it was unbeaten Personal Ensign who provided as dramatic a finish to a horse race as you’ll ever see. And her impact on the Breeders’ Cup didn’t end there.

A product of the famed Ogden Phipps breeding program, Personal Ensign was dominant in a Maiden Special and the Grade 1 Frizette Stakes at Belmont Park in the fall of 1986. She would have gone favored in that year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies but a fracture to her left hind pastern put those plans on ice and threatened to end her career.

The brave filly’s return to the races in September of 1987 helped put renowned equine surgeon Dr. Larry Bramlage on the map. She won her comeback, an allowance, along with the Rare Perfume Stakes (G2) and the Beldame Stakes (G1) over older mares. She didn’t even notice those five metal screws Dr. Bramlage had put in her pastern. With another Grade 1 secured, trainer Shug McGaughey elected to bypass a cross country trip to the 1987 Breeders’ Cup at Hollywood Park.

McGaughey’s patience was rewarded with a longer and more sensational 1988 campaign. She made her first start on May 15 in the Shuvee H. (G1) and won with her typical ease. Two more graded wins against females followed before a tilt against males in the Whitney H. (G1) at Saratoga. Only two dared face Personal Ensign that day, the tough gelding King’s Swan and the top sprinter/miler Gulch. An early afternoon monsoon turned the Saratoga strip into a lake and Personal Ensign seemed to struggle early on, a portent of things to come on Breeders’ Cup day. But she simply had more class than her male rivals and got to the wire first. Her record was now a perfect 10 for 10.

A filly named Winning Colors won the Kentucky Derby in 1988 and it was only a matter of time until she crossed paths with Personal Ensign. The showdown came in the one-mile Maskette Stakes (G1), now called the Go For Wand S. on September 10, 1988. In one of the greatest races nobody saw (attendance that day was under 10,000, no national TV) Personal Ensign and rider Randy Romero reeled in a loose-on-the-lead Winning Colors.

Personal Ensign added another Beldame win to her resume and brought a pristine 12 for 12 record into her final start, the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Winning Colors was there again too, along with Kentucky Oaks/Mother Goose/Coaching Club American Oaks winner Goodbye Halo.

The rains also came that Breeders’ Cup Saturday and Personal Ensign would have to conquer a sloppy track again to retire with a perfect record. I was at Saratoga the day Personal Ensign won the Whitney over that water-logged surface and I was half a country a way watching the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on TV. About half way through both races I said out loud:

“Uh oh.”

In both contests Personal Ensign just didn’t seem comfortable running over those soggy surfaces. But she was a champion and, watching the replays over a quarter of a century later, I almost get the sense she was using each stride early on to figure out how to navigate the slop. Each time her legs hit the soggy ground they gave her just a little more comfort and confidence. Or maybe she just couldn’t stand to see other horses in front of her. All I know is that it looked pretty hopeless at the top of the stretch in the Distaff. Winning Colors was rolling, Personal Ensign had put herself in the race but still had too much to do, still five lengths away. A gallant second or third on a track she hated would be her final salvo.

But no. She would dig deeper, stretch her stride to the limit, even if she felt like she was running on taffy. That that big gray Derby-winning filly is in front of me. And that’s not acceptable.

Personal Ensign got there first. I don’t know how. I still can’t tell who won when I watch that race but the photo tells the story: “Personal Ensign, you’re the first major runner to retire undefeated in 80 years.”

Personal Ensign was just as incredible in her second career and produced, among others, 1995 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner My Flag, who in turn is the dam of 2002 Juvenile Fillies heroine Storm Flag Flying. Not many other horses, male of female, have had a greater impact on racing’s Championship weekend. Or the thoroughbred breed for that matter.

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

Breeding Watch – July 24

Posted on by DerbyMateo

It’s easy to take stallions like Lemon Drop Kid and Tale of the Cat for granted, but the last two weekends we were reminded that they’re still two of the most consistent and underrated sires and broodmare sires in North America.

Hangover Kid kicked off a sensational mini-run for Lemon Drop Kid when he earned his first graded stakes victory in the Grade 2 Bowling Green Handicap July 12 at Belmont Park. The 6-year-old horse is out of a mare by Rakeen, a Northern Dancer half-brother to Saint Ballado and Devil’s Bag, and he’s Lemon Drop Kid’s 33rd career graded stakes winner.

The following afternoon at Woodbine, Unspurned went gate-to-wire in the $250,000 Bison City Stakes, the second jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown for fillies. Unspurned is her sire’s 77th stakes winner and is out of a mare by the Storm Cat grandson Snow Ridge (by Tabasco Cat).

Fast-forward to July 19 and it was Aurelia’s Belle who received her second graded stakes trophy in the Grade 3 Arlington Oaks and Somali Lemonade who reached the highest level in the Grade 1 Diana Stakes at Saratoga. The latter makes it six Grade 1 winners for Lemon Drop Kid, who stands at the Farish family’s Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Kentucky, and she’s on the verge of becoming his third millionaire.

Somali Lemonade is out of a mare bred Nureyev over Mr. Prospector, the reverse of the cross that produced Lemon Drop Kid’s sire Kingmambo. She’s among 11 Grade or Group 1 winners around the world that show a double of Nureyev and one of the five total Lemon Drop Kid stakes winners that show this pattern.

Lemon Drop Kid’s 2014 scorecard reads: nine stakes winners, six graded stakes winners and a No. 4 ranking on the North American general sire list. It’s worth noting that in addition to Unspurned, another three of these stakes winners are also out of Storm Cat-line mares: Grade 3 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap winner Lemon Drop Dream is out of mare by Storm Cat while graded stakes winner Kid Cruz and listed winner Candy Kitty are both out of daughters of the Storm Cat son Tale of the Cat. In fact, of the five foals by Lemon Drop Kid out of Tale of the Cat mares, all are winners, three are stakes winners (two graded) plus an additional Grade 2-placed runner.

Tale of the Cat, who stands at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Versailles, also added another Grade 1 winner to his resume during Saratoga’s opening weekend.

Repole Stable’s Stopchargingmaria (out of a Montbrook mare) was already a three-time graded winner when she broke from the gate in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks July 19. When she crossed the wire 5 lengths ahead of Unbridled Forever, she became Tale of the Cat’s 10th lifetime Grade 1 winner. Stakes winner Unbridled Forever (by Unbridled’s Song), incidentally, is out of Lemon Drop Kid’s Kentucky Oaks winner Lemons Forever.

Tale of the Cat also figures prominently in the pedigrees of two big opening weekend winners across the country at Del Mar. His multiple Grade 1-winning son, Lion Heart, is the sire of Tom’s Tribute, who scored the Grade 1 Eddie Read Stakes July 20. The 4-year-old is the third Grade 1 winner for Lion Heart, who now stands in Turkey, and the sixth Grade 1 winner out of a mare by the late El Prado.

A day earlier down at old Del Mar, the Grade 2 San Clemente Stakes fell to Istanford one of the 34 stakes winners so far out of mares by Tale of the Cat. Istanford is by the Airdrie Stud stallion Istan, a son of Gone West out of a mare by the Storm Bird stallion Bluebird. Tale of the Cat is a product of the reverse of this Mr. Prospector/Storm Bird cross and Istanford shows a double of Storm Bird at 4×4. She’s among the 77 stakes winners inbred to Storm Bird within four generations (3.5% from starters).

We saw Tiznow and Unbridled’s Song combine on a couple of stakes winners during the Opening Day card at Saratoga. Fashion Alert, by Unbridled’s Song’s very promising second crop son Old Fashioned, made it two stakes wins in two starts in Grade 3 Schuylerville Stakes. She’s the third graded stakes-winning filly this year for the Taylor Made Farm stallion who ranks as the third leading second-crop sire in North America. Fashion Alert is among the six stakes winners and three graded winners out of mares by WinStar Farm’s Tiznow.

Later that afternoon at the Spa, Tourist, by Tiznow out of an Unbridled’s Song mare, navigated his way to the winner’s circle for the Sir Cat Stakes. He’s the first stakes winner from five starters on this cross along and is Tiznow’s 52nd lifetime stakes winner and the 68th for the daughters of the late Unbridled’s Song.

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

Breeding Watch, June 11

Posted on by DerbyMateo

There are Grade 1 winners and then there are classic winners and Tonalist’s gritty victory in the Belmont Stakes filled out the last remaining hole in Tapit’s spectacular resume.

Tonalist is the first classic winner and 14th Grade 1 winner from six crops for Tapit, who already holds a nearly $2.7 million lead on the 2014 North American general sires list. The Gainesway Farm stallion now has three Grade 1 winners to his credit this season, including another 3-year-old colt in Florida Derby hero Constitution. Tonalist is one of only five starters by Tapit out of daughters of Pleasant Colony and he’s the first Grade 1 winner produced by the larger A.P. Indy-Pleasant Colony cross.

Classic winners A.P. Indy and Pleasant Colony both stood atLane’s End Farm, which is also home to North America’s current leading sire of stakes winners, City Zip. The son of Carson City has been on quite a roll with four stakes winners since Memorial Day.

That afternoon his 3-year-old daughter Red Velvet won her stakes debut in the $100,000 Jersey Girl Stakes at Belmont Park. She’s out of a mare by Honour and Glory who, like City Zip’s dam, is by Relaunch. That makes her the eighth black-type winner (from 197 starters or 2.2%) that show a double of Relaunch within four generations.

Another City Zip 3-year-old filly, City by the Bay, earned her second stakes victory in the June 1 Seattle Handicap at Emerald Downs to stay unbeaten in three starts. Out of a mare by Glitterman, City by the Bay is inbred to Relaunch’s sire In Reality at 4×4.

Just five days later Palace, who is out of a mare by End Sweep, graduated to the Grade 2 level with a score in the True North Stakes at Belmont. The following afternoon, Sweet Emma Rose, who is out of a daughter of Deputy Minister, earned her first stakes victory in the Crank It Up Stakes at Monmouth Park. Those victories give City Zip 12 stakes winners for the year, three more than Tapit and Medaglia d’Oro.

The nine 2014 stakes winners by Medaglia d’Oro include Coffee Clique, winner of the Grade 2 Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile and the Just A Game Stakes (G1) on the Belmont Stakes undercard. The four-year-old filly is the Darley America stallion’s second new Grade 1 winner of the season after Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap victory by the gelding Lochte. He now has a total of 11 Grade 1 winners on his ledger. Out of mare by the Nijinsky II stallion Royal Academy, it’s surprising to note that Coffee Clique is the only stakes winner by Medaglia d’Oro out of a Nijinsky II-line mare to date.

Of the Medaglia d’Oro Grade 1 winners only four are males, but one of them, Warrior’s Reward, is the early headliner among the 2014 first-crop sires. TheSpendthrift Farm stallion was represented by a trio of sparkling debut winners May 30.

Most impressive of all was Unbridled Reward, who is out of Unbridled Appeal, by Unbridled. She rolled to a 7 3/4 length win going 4 1/2 furlongs on the main track at Churchill Downs. A $330,000 purchase by owner John Oxley at the OBS March sale of selected 2-year-olds in training, Unbridled Reward is the most expensive juvenile by Warrior’s Reward.

About an hour earlier Warrior’s Reward’s first winner bounded down the stretch as Liatris, who is out of Miss Brickyard, by A.P. Indy, scored a 3 3/4-length debut victory over males in a 5-furlong maiden special on the dirt.

Another filly, Strawberry Baby, who is out of Kendall Hill, by Theatrical, completed the hat trick for her sire later that evening at Lone Star Park. She won by 2 3/4 lengths in a 5-furlong dash on the main oval.

That makes three starters and three winners by a combined 14 1/4 lengths out of mares by Mr. Prospector, Northern Dancer and Bold Ruler/Seattle Slew-line mares. Not a bad start at all for the first major son of Medaglia d’Oro with runners on the track.

The Relaunch-A.P. Indy cross has been sneaky good in recent years and two more stakes winners bred on this cross have emerged in late May and early June.

Tiz’naz earned his initial stakes victory in the Grover ‘Buddy’ Delp Memorial May 28 at Delaware Park. The 3-year-old colt is by the Spendthrift Farm Tiznow stallion Tiz Wonderful out of a mare by Pulpit, a son of A. P. Indy, who is the dam sire of Tiz Wonderful’s 2014 Grade 2 winner and Grade 1-placed Scherzinger.

Tiznow’s son Norumbega got up in the final strides to add the Grade 2 Brooklyn Invitational Stakes trophy to owner Stuart Janney’s crowded trophy case. He’s the third stakes winner from 15 starters on the Tiznow-A.P. Indy cross and Grade 1 winner Morning Line is among the others. Two more Relaunch sons, Honour and Glory and Tiznow’s sire, Cee’s Tizzy, have also sired graded winners out of A.P. Indy-line mares.

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

Derby is a Changin’

Posted on by DerbyMateo

I experienced of couple of moments this spring when I watched everything change. The first was at the Coachella music festivalin early April, the second at Churchill Downs on opening night, April 26.

At Churchill, I was sitting in a section of brand new grandstand at the top of the stretch as the sun began to set. The enormous new 4D ‘Big Board’ television on the backstretch had just been unveiled (watch here). From my vantage, I could see the whole infield, now lined with light poles and the newish Jockey Club suites towered above my right shoulder. Over the past decade the Churchill Downs property has undergone a steady metamorphosis (including a new Clubhouse section) and I had seen the changes at every stage. But once the virtual red curtain opened on that ridiculously big and crystal-clear new TV, that’s when it all clicked. Almost like watching a favorite video online that gets temporarily stuck and then fast forwards, my whole twenty-plus history at the storied track flashed before me. In that instant, I watched the Churchill Downs of the future be born.

Earlier in the month at Coachella, I stood in a somewhat sparse crowd of folks swaying to and fro as Arcade Fire closed out the festival on the main stage. I was wondering where the rest of the crowd was as just a few hours earlier a DJ named Calvin Harris had that same field packed with kids frantically dancing around. ‘Wow,’ I thought to myself “Arcade Fire (and bands like them) are over with the next generation.’

It’s not like these changes actually happened in the moments when they finally hit home to me. I never saw the ‘decadent and depraved’ Derby that Hunter S. Thompson wrote about in the 1970’s, but I used to see more than a few fights in the infield. In the ’90’s I used to see a bunch of girls throughout Derby Day get on guys shoulders and, after loud pleadings from the other men in the crowd, pull up or push down their shirts. I can’t remember the last time I saw a boob in the Kentucky Derby infield, much less two. That’s not to say that I condone brawling or boob-baring, but these actions were born of an attitude of reckless freedom and drunken abandon that isn’t acceptable in the real world. Derby became an escape from daily conformity for me and was exactly what I needed in my life in the early 1990’s. At the time Kentucky Derby was my only source.

Nowadays I have Derby and whatever music fests I attend. I haven’t seen many fights or much nudity at music festivals over the past decade but the freedom and happiness vibe and crowd energy is certainly there in spades. I guess I have to thank Derby for opening the door to this world. I’m not only accustomed to large crowds but crave and feed off the energy of tens of thousands of people who have left the outside world behind for a few hours or days of uninhibited fun.

Like I said, it’s been awhile since the Derby infield has been truly depraved but this year it seemed its gentrification became complete. I spent my 23rd Derby in the Churchill Downs infield last Saturday and can’t recall an infield scene so lacking in crazed energy. The giant frat party on the third turn was nowhere to be found. You could actually walk on the grass in that area, where in the past it was a major effort just to take a few steps. Only a year before, in the pouring rain, a throng danced at a nearby DJ stage and mud wrestled and acted like proper infielders. It was a shock to see the 2014 attendance figure announced as the second-hightest in Derby history. The infield certainly didn’t pull it’s weight. Only the middle of the infield, with the best view of the new TV seemed even remotely crowded this year.

Maybe, hopefully, 2014 is an anomaly. Maybe I just happened to be in the wrong parts of the infield at the wrong times. Or maybe this was the year that Derby really did change. Maybe that moment on opening night hit home because you can’t have the same Derby experience in a physical environment that has changed so radically.

Time will tell, just like time will tell if there will more than a handful of bands that play actual instruments at music festivals in 10 years time. I’ll let you know how it turns out.