Midlantic Two-Year-Olds in Training catalogue now online

Fasig-Tipton has catalogued 600 entries for its Midlantic Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale, to be held on Monday and Tuesday, May 20-21, at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, Maryland. 

“We will have a barn area full of two-year-olds once again next month in Timonium,” said Midlantic Sales Director Paget Bennett.  “Successful results in the sales ring and on the racetrack continue to improve the profile of this sale each year.  Our consignors have once again stepped up to support us with quality horses for buyers of all budgets.”

Sales graduates continue to win the nation’s most important races, and are doing so in significant numbers.  This year’s catalogue cover showcases recent Grade 1 winning sales graduates DISCREET LOVER (Jockey Club Gold Cup), FOURSTAR CROOK (Flower Bowl S.), and most recently SECRET SPICE, who captured the Beholder Mile on March 30. 

Other recent graded stakes winning graduates featured are AMERICA’S TALE, CALL PAUL, CONCRETE ROSE, EPICAL, MAXIMUS MISCHIEF, MUCHO GUSTO, and PRINCESS WARRIOR.

 “This year’s catalogue features graded stakes winners at two and three, and as older horses,” noted Bennett.  “Our graduates are winning from coast-to-coast, and over all surfaces.”

The under tack show will be held over three sessions, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, May 14-16.  Each under tack show session will begin at 8:00 am.  The 144th Preakness Stakes will be held at nearby Pimlico on Saturday, May 18 and the sale will follow on May 20 and 21. Each sale session will begin at 11 am.

The catalogue may now be viewed online and via the equineline sales catalogue app.  Print catalogues will be available beginning April ___.

For further information:
Paget Bennett
(410) 392-5555

Congratulations to Virginia horse owner Douglas Daniels, whose three-year-old gelding Shelly Island kicked off Preakness day festivities at Pimlico with a big win the first race!

The son of Caleb’s Posse was best in a $37,000 maiden claiming event that featured 13 horses. Shelly Island was in eighth at the 3/8ths mark, moved to fifth at the top of the stretch, then came on strong to beat Cyclobomb by 1 1/4 lengths at the finish. The victor completed the five furlong turf race in :58.07.

The Kentucky-bred is out of Whywhywhy mare, Zennin Girl. With the victory, Shelly Island has earned $40,500 in purse monies. John Salzman trains for Daniels, whose stable name is Virginia Equine, PLLC.

The following appeared in The Paulick Report on May 16th. Trainer Jonathan Thomas, a Virginia native and son of Virginia Equine Alliance Track Superintendent John Dale Thomas, will send his star horse Catholic Boy out in Saturday’s Grade 2 Dixie Stakes at Pimlico. The race is part of a stellar undercard on Preakness Day.

It has taken more than six months but Catholic Boy, a Grade 1 winner on both dirt and turf, will make his seasonal debut as he returns to grass in the $250,000 Maker’s Mark Dixie (G2) Saturday at Pimlico Race Course.

The 118^th running of the 1 1/16-mile Dixie for 3-year-olds and up is one of nine stakes, five graded, worth $2.8 million in purses on a 14-race program highlighted by the 144^th running of the $1.65 million Preakness Stakes (G1), the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

Robert LaPenta, Madaket Stables, Siena Farm and Twin Creeks Racing Stables’ Catholic Boy has not raced since being eased following a rough trip in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) Nov. 3 at Churchill Downs. It was the end of a six-race campaign that produced three wins, all in graded-stakes, and pushed the bay ridgling over $1 million in career earnings.

Catholic Boy wintered with trainer Jonathan Thomas Bridlewood Farm in Ocala, Fla. where he got a well-deserved break before returning to training in February. He has worked consistently for his return both at Bridlewood and Belmont Park, where he breezed five furlongs in 1:02.19 on the inner turf May 11, the fastest of five horses.

“We’ve been very pleased with the time. He had three months off, a well-deserved break over the winter, and he seemed to have done really well for having that. He’s had a steady series of breezes to get ready and I thought what he did at Belmont the other day was really nice,” Thomas said. “So, all in all, we’re pretty happy with where we’re at.”

Thomas took his time bringing Catholic Boy back to the races, and had the luxury of looking at various spots given his success on various surfaces. The bay 4-year-old strung together three straight wins last summer, in the 1 1/8-mile Pennine Ridge (G3) and 1 ¼-mile Belmont Derby Invitational (G1) on turf, and the 1 ¼-mile Travers (G1) on dirt at Saratoga.

“They’re horses year-round and sometimes you’re lucky to have won stuff. I don’t think we ever felt lucky; I just felt like we were able to showcase his talent which comes with a big responsibility,” Thomas said. “It’s nice to have a horse like him for various reasons, one of the primaries being the fact that he’s adept at two different surfaces and you can kind of pick and choose a little bit about what’s right for his scheduling.”

Catholic Boy represents all five career graded-stakes wins for Thomas, a former assistant to future Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, winner of the 2012 Dixie with Hudson Steele. Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, who rode Hudson Steele, has the mount on Catholic Boy.

“One of the many benefits of working for Todd was just being around the depth of horses that he had. [Catholic Boy] always trained like a horse to me that was capable of winning a Grade 1,” Thomas said. “To exit the year with two under our belt, one of them being the Travers, which is arguably like a fourth Classic, it felt like quite an accomplishment as a trainer but also just the responsibility of having a horse with that kind of talent to get it done, for him and the owners, was very satisfying.”

With the Breeders’ Cup as a long-range goal, Thomas is hoping to use the Dixie as a stepping-stone to another successful campaign. Among the rivals Catholic Boy will face are graded-stakes winners Flameaway, Have At It, Inspector Lynley, Just Howard, Real Story and Something Awesome, along with local multiple stakes winners O Dionysus and Phlash Phelps.

Catholic Boy and Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano drew far outside Post 12. All horses

“It’s the beginning of what we’re hoping is a long campaign for the remainder of the year. We’re just looking for him to get a good experience, if that’s winning or not winning. That’s not really my primary goal at this stage as much as just getting him back with a positive race under his belt, and that’s all we’re looking for,” Thomas said. “The Dixie looks like, from a timing perspective for the remainder of the year, a good launch pad for him.”

Skeedattle Stable’s Just Howard was Maryland’s champion 3-year-old, turf horse and Horse of the Year following a 2017 season that saw him string together four straight wins, three in stakes, capped by the Commonwealth Derby (G3).

Last year, Just Howard was third in an off-the-turf edition of the Dixie and won an optional claiming allowance in the summer at Laurel Park but was off the board in a trio of stakes. He has raced once this year, finishing a troubled fourth in the Henry S. Clark Stakes April 20 at Laurel.

“To me, this year he has been as good or better than ever,” said trainer Graham Motion, who won the Dixie with Dr. Brendler in 2003 and Better Talk Now in 2006. “I feel like he’s an unlucky horse. We kind of got caught out with the weather last year; we just never seemed to get lucky. Then, his first race back this year he got in trouble, which probably compromised him.

“He got taken up pretty good at the sixteenth pole, so I think if he improves a little bit he can be competitive in here,” he added. “I’m really happy with him. I realize this race is going to come up really tough, but he’s probably going to spend this year in Maryland and this is a race we wanted to run in. This is kind of the race we were pointing for.”

Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey has won the Dixie four times, most recently last year with Fire Away. He returns to defend his title with Stuart Janney III and Phipps Stables’ Inspector Lynley, whose previous graded-stakes wins came in the 2017 and 2019 Tampa Bay Stakes (G3). He enters the race off a one-length victory in the one-mile Danger’s Hour Stakes April 7 at Aqueduct.

Cross-entered in Friday’s historic $300,000 Pimlico Special (G3) at 1 ¼ miles on dirt, John Oxley’s Flameaway was a graded-stakes winner at 2 and 3 who has two previous tries on the grass – running eighth in the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) and winning the 2018 Kitten’s Joy Stakes. Thirteenth in last year’s Kentucky Derby, he won the Challenger Stakes in March and was sixth last out in the Ben Ali (G3) April 13 at Keeneland.

Robert Evans’ Have At It is also entered to make his 2019 debut, last finishing sixth after setting the pace in the Hollywood Derby (G1) Dec. 1. While in California he also finished second by a half-length in the Twilight Derby (G2) after winning Belmont Park’s Hill Prince (G2) last fall.

Real Story has not won since taking the American Derby (G3) last summer at Arlington Park, but has run second in both his races this year including a neck loss to Just Howard’s stablemate Irish Strait in the Henry Clark.

Stronach Stables’ multiple graded-stakes winning millionaire Something Awesome, winless since his upset victory in the Charles Town Classic (G2) last April, finished off the board in his one career try on the grass. The 8-year-old Awesome Again gelding was most recently sixth in defense of his win at Charles Town.

Marathon Farms’ O Dionysus was third by a neck in the Clark, just his second loss in five career tries on turf after winning dirt stakes as a 2 and 3-year-old. Fourth in last year’s Dixie, he won an optional claiming allowance and the 1 ½-mile Cape Henlopen Stakes last summer on the grass at Delaware Park. He finished sixth in the BWI Turf Cup (G3) last fall at Laurel, contested over a yielding course.

“If the turf is good and firm and has a good footing to it, he likes it and he’s been right there. I did run him on a soft turf last year and he didn’t run well. That was my fault,” trainer Gary Capuano said. “It was against my better judgment but I did it anyway and it didn’t work out.

“The last race was great off the layoff. He was coming. He was grinding it out and he just couldn’t nail them. I was real happy with it and he came out of the race real good and breezed real nice, so he’s ready to go,” he added. “We’ve kind of been shooting for this race since he’s been back. We wanted to get a prep race into him, which we did, and then go in that. We’re on target.”

Completing the field are Phlash Phelps, a two-time winner of the Maryland Millon Turf, Admission Office, Paret and Twenty Four Seven.

With two Colonial Downs – Rosie’s Gaming Emporium sites up and running in New Kent and Vinton and two more planned to open this year in Richmond (June) and Hampton (fall), the Virginia horse racing industry continues its rebirth in grand fashion. 

The recent Kentucky Derby Day festivities at Rosie’s New Kent and the four VA-Horseplay OTBs only reinforced the direction where the industry is headed. The New Kent facility, which held an official grand opening celebration on May 3rd — Kentucky Oaks Day —  handled $147,748 on Derby Day. The four VA-Horseplay OTBs located in Richmond (Ponies & Pints), Henrico (Breakers Sports Grille), Chesapeake (Buckets Bar & Grill) and Collinsville (The Windmill Sports Grill) combined to handle $577,162 on Derby Day and another $213,020 on Oaks Day. For Derby week, the four handled $1,0896,141 in wagers.       

“The vibe on Kentucky Derby Day at Colonial Downs reminded all who attended of how racing felt during the good old days,” said Colonial Downs GM John Marshall. “In that moment, all were reminded of more to come with the return of live racing in August.”

The Rosie’s at Colonial Downs Racetrack in New Kent opened April 23rd and features 600 Historical Horse Racing (HHR) terminals along with an OTB area on the third floor which carries live simulcast races seven days and evenings per week. The Rosie’s in Vinton, located just several miles from downtown Roanoke, opened May 9th with 150 HHR machines and an OTB area as well. 

“We have always been grateful for the way the equine communities embrace our plans to revive racing in Virginia,” said Marshall. “We never expected to see such an overwhelming response at Rosie’s New Kent and Vinton. We are thrilled with the early reception of Rosie’s at both locations. HHR and simulcast handle exceed expectations so far,” added Marshall. “Given early acceptance of Rosie’s classical brand and the enthusiasm behind Rosie’s high energy vibe, be assured the return of live racing to Colonial Downs has made a clean break out of the gate.”

Live thoroughbred racing will return to Colonial Downs this summer for the first time since 2013. A 15-day meet will be held over a five week period from August 8th – September 7th. Racing will be conducted on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 5 PM and on Labor Day at 1 PM. The Grade 3 Virginia Derby and Virginia Oaks will be held on a stakes filled card on August 31st. 

“Our entire team can not wait to welcome horsemen from Virginia and throughout the country back to Colonial Downs in August.,” added Marshall.  “Colonial Downs + Rosie’s is arguably the most positive and exciting movement in the entire industry.  It will be our pleasure to extend a hand to the Virginia racing community in August and say, welcome home.”

The following appeared in The Paulick Report May 14th.

It was a hundred years ago that Sir Barton became the first horse to sweep what would become to be known as the Triple Crown.

A small colt, Sir Barton won the Kentucky Derby (G1) in his first start as a 3-year-old, and then the Preakness Stakes (G1), Withers and Belmont Stakes (G1). After being named Horse of the Year in 1919 and racing through November of 1920 – and getting beat in a match race that Fall by Man o’ War – Sir Barton was retired and stood less than 100 miles away from Pimlico Race Course at Audley Farm in Berryville, Va.

Today, Audley Farm remains one of the Mid-Atlantic’s oldest and most historic farms. It also continues producing Thoroughbreds while keeping the memory of racing’s first Triple Crown winner alive.

A statue of Sir Barton was unveiled at Audley in 2008 in front of the stallion barn. And in 2012 Audley was the breeder of Bodemeister, second in the 2012 Kentucky Derby and Preakness.

It’s that history that “makes you get up every day,” said Audley Equine Manager Jamie McDiarmid.

“He obviously started kind of a crazy history with [the Triple Crown] if you think about it, because we’re all desperate to win it.”

Watch below.

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Copyright © 2019 Paulick Report. This entry was posted in NL List, Triple Crown and tagged audley farm, historic breeding farms, Mid-Atlantic breeding, Pimlico Race Course, Preakness Stakes, sir barton, Thoroughbred breeding, Triple Crown, Virginia breeding by Press Release. Bookmark the permalink.

Congratulations to eight Virginia-Certified horses who won a race in the Mid Atlantic region the first week of May! The respective victories provided their owners with a 25% bonus.

Questionoftheday is a 3-year-old The Factor filly that is owned/bred by Larry Johnson and trained by Mike Trombetta. She captured a $35,000 allowance at Laurel on May 3rd. The Maryland-bred spent her six month Virginia residency at Legacy Farm in Bluemont and the win provided her owner with a 25% bonus. She also won an allowance optional claimer at Laurel last August and a waiver maiden claimer at Pimlico last May. In 10 career starts, she has earned $93,390.

Punk Rock Princess, who spent her residency at the Chance Farm in Gordonsville, captured her first lifetime start — a $40,000 maiden special weight race — May 2nd at Laurel. The 2-year-old Bourbon Courage filly won the 4 1/2 furlong race by one-half length in :52.53. Owners Trevor Johnson, Jeremiah Dwyer and Dan Slattery collected a 25% bonus from the triumph.

I Saw It All won a six furlong $41,000 maiden claimer at Belmont May 4th, one of five Virginia-Certified wins on Derby Day. The 3-year-old The Lumber Guy New York-bred saw his bankroll exceed $50,000 with the win. He is owned by Team Stallion Racing and Windhorse Thoroughbreds LLC. I Saw It All spent his six month residency at Ingleside Training Center in Montpelier Station.

Zonda prevailed handily in her May 4th start at Laurel, winning by 11 3/4 lengths. She was tops in a $33,000 waiver maiden claiming race, crossing in 1:37.05. The 3-year-old daughter of Scat Daddy is owned by Matthew Schera and was bred by Willow Oaks Stables. She spent her six months in Virginia at the Braeburn Training Center in Crozet.

Other Certified winners were Misty Fly (Christ Is King Stable), Ellyb (Audley Farm Stable), Fish To Fry (Erin McLellan and Judith Barrett) and Shakeshacklenroll (Mark Russell).

For details on the Certified Residency program and a list of participating farms and training centers , visit www.vabred.org.

Congratulations to Lady Olivia Northcliff’s 5-year-old gelding Accountable, who captured Saturday’s 1 1/4 miles, $35,000 Virginia-Bred, Sired or Certified Flat Race at Great Meadow.

The Carla Morgan trainee prevailed in a nail biter as he battled a stubborn Balistes through the final turn and entire stretch in the afternoon’s last race on Gold Cup Day. Accountable raced in second through the first mile behind Dragonthorn Steed but when the frontrunner tired, Lady Olivia’s 5-year-old Cosa Vera gelding took over and dueled with Sara Collette’s Balistes head for head to the wire. Accountable was a head better at the finish in 2:23.80.

In four starts at Great Meadow, Accountable has won three times and finished third in the other. His other triumphs there came in allowance races in the 2017 and 2018 fall meets. Ross Geraghty rode the Virginia-bred, who is out of Seeking Allie by Seeking Daylight.

“It was a challenge to get the horse ready to go that distance because he had been off for so long,” said trainer Carla Morgan. “Great Meadow has some up and downhill areas so you never know if the horse is ready and how they’re going to react. A lot of planning went into that race,” she added. “It was a big task. He gave a gritty performance and Ross gave him a solid ride.”

Morgan said Accountable could be pointed to a race at Monmouth in a month or so, at 1 1/8 miles on the turf, and then to a Virginia-bred stakes at Colonial Downs. And of course, he’ll make another appearance at Great Meadow on October 26th during the International Gold Cup card to go for his third straight fall win in The Plains.

Gostisbehere and Deposit each won won a $40,000 allowance flat race Saturday at Great Meadow before Accountable recorded his triumph.

The former, ridden by Willie McCarthy in the red cap, was his first since capturing a $50,000 claimer at Churchill last fall. The latter, a Doug Fout trainee owned by Beverly Steinman, made just his second career start and is now 2-for-2.

Both winners are by former Virginia Derby champ, Gio Ponti. The two races were presented by the Virginia HBPA.

For details on the fall International Gold Cup, visit www.vagoldcup.com.

Edit

The following appeared on the National Steeplechase Association website and wax written by Don Clippinger.

Ballybristol Farm’s Andi’amu, on the lead for much of Saturday’s $100,000 Virginia Gold Cup, turned back a strong challenge at the last fence by Le Chevalier and drew clear in the stretch to win the classic timber race by three lengths.

Michael A. Smith’s Le Chevalier, who had lingered toward the back of the seven-horse field for the first three miles of the four-mile Virginia Gold Cup, took second, 15 lengths clear of Irv Naylor’s Super Saturday in third.

Race favorite Doc Cebu, who had led briefly in the early stages, stumbled badly three fences out and nearly tossed jockey Hadden Frost. The two-time timber champion tried to make up ground into the last fences but tired and finished fourth, another three lengths back.

Trained by Leslie Young, Andi’amu benefited from a savvy ride by Jack Doyle, who allowed the nine-year-old to break easily and set the pace under light restraint over the first several fences.

Doc Cebu, trying four miles for the first time in his career, was clearly unhappy with Frost’s restraint and had his neck bowed through the early fences as Andi’amu showed the way and even after Frost allowed him to take the lead for a few fences.

Andi’amu took back the lead after a mile and set a solid pace with Super Saturday and Doc Cebu in his wake. Le Chevalier, ridden by Kieran Norris, began to advance toward the leading trio after three miles, and he began his serious challenge three fences out, just as Doc Cebu eliminated himself from the race with his stumble.

Norris pressed Le Chevalier toward the leader over the final two fences and drew closest at the last, but Andi’amu still possesses the speed of the Grade 1-level hurdler he once was, and gradually opened daylight to the finish line.

Andi’amu ran the four-mile distance over 23 fences in 9:12 2/5 on a Great Meadow Race Course rated as soft.

The Virginia Gold Cup was the fourth straight victory for Andi’amu, who has benefited from trainer Young’s well-designed program for him. He started twice last year and won two steeplethons over mixed obstacles, at the Middleburg Spring Races and the Virginia Gold Cup Steeplethon Stakes. Those two wins yielded $36,000 in earnings for Illinois-based Ballybristol.

Young started the French-bred out this year at the Middleburg Spring Races but over timber fences in the Middleburg Hunt Cup. Andi’amu took well to the bigger obstacles and won by 5¾ lengths over Le Chevalier. His 2019 earnings now total $78,000.

Optimus Prime overwhelms David Semmes Memorial (Gr. 2)

Rosbrian Farm’s Optimus Prime, idle since winning the David L. “Zeke” Ferguson Memorial (Gr. 2) at Great Meadow six months ago, showed no signs of rust as he powered to the lead two fences out and won the $75,000 David Semmes Memorial (Gr. 2) by 8¾ lengths.

Irv Naylor’s Sempre Medici, who had set the pace for most of the 2 1/8-mile Semmes, finished second, and Straylight Racing’s Invocation closed ground from the back of the six-horse field to finish third. Harold A. “Sonny” Via’s Hinterland picked up fourth money.

Trained by Ricky Hendriks, Optimus Prime won in 4:06 flat on soft turf.

The highest-ranked horse in the National Steeplechase Association ratings, Optimus Prime was odds-on in the program betting line and went off at 4-5. Even that was generous for his backers, who collected $3.60 on a $2 bet.

The victory margin hardly described the ease with which Optimus Prime won his 2019 debut. Ross Geraghty indicated on Great Meadow’s final turn that it was time to run, and beyond that hardly moved his hands.

Optimus Prime took the final two fences with ease and drew off from Sempre Medici.

The 41st annual Virginia Thoroughbred Championship Awards took place May 3rd at Great Meadow in The Plains on the eve of the of the 94th Virginia Gold Cup Races. Here are photos from the event and of award recipients.

The biggest racing event of the year is right around the corner — Kentucky Derby Day is Saturday May 4th! Did you know there are ten different ways Virginians can bet all the Derby Day action this year at Churchill Downs?

First off, the new Rosie’s Gaming Emporium at Colonial Downs in New Kent is open and in addition to 600 Historical Horse Racing terminals, they offer live simulcast wagering on all the major tracks and races. So yes, the Derby can be wagered at Colonial for the first time in six years!

There are four VA-Horseplay Off Track Betting Centers in the state as well. Breakers Sports Grille is in Henrico, Ponies & Pints is in downtown Richmond, Buckets Bar & Grill is in the Great Bridge area of Chesapeake and The Windmill OTB Sports Bar is in Collinsville, which is adjacent to Martinsville and just a short drive from Greensboro, NC. All sites have Derby parties and will serve mint juleps. Attendees are encouraged to wear fancy — or even outrageous — hats.

Arkansas Derby runner-up Improbable is shown arriving at Churchill Downs April 15th. Photo by Kurtis Coady.

All 70,000 spectators at the Virginia Gold Cup Races in The Plains will have a chance to bet the “Run for the Roses” as well. An afternoon of pari-mutuel steeplechase and flat racing will be followed by the Derby simulcast.

And Virginia residents can bet the big race on line via any of our four industry partners. Simply open a wagering account, fund it, and begin playing at TVG.com, XPressBet.com, TwinSpires.com and NYRABets.com.