Honey Creek Farms

Unofficially, there is one starting spot left for the lineup for the GI Pegasus World Cup, and it appears that it will be given to Fear the Cowboy (Cowboy Cal), the recent winner of the GIII Harlan’s Holiday S. at Gulfstream.

Trainer Efren Loza Jr. told the TDN that owners Kathleen Amaya and Raffaele Centofanti have committed to running in the race but are awaiting notification from The Stronach Group that they will be allowed to take the remaining spot. Considering that Fear the Cowboy is a recent stakes winner at Gulfstream and may just be the top older male horse in training who is not yet officially in the Pegasus, it seems unlikely track management would grant the spot to another horse.

“It looks like it’s 99% true that he will be running in that race, we just haven’t signed a contract with The Stronach Group yet.” Loza said. “They are in negotiation with some other people and we haven’t signed a contract yet, so I don’t want to make any official statements.”

Loza said he expected an official notification on Fear the Cowboy’s status either Tuesday or Wednesday.

After nine of 12 starting spots, costing $1 million each, were purchased at the Dec. 15 deadline for the $16-million race, The Stronach Group, the owners of Gulfstream, secured the remaining three spot and went shopping for horses to fill out the field. According to a recent report in the Daily Racing Form, two of three starting berths have been handed out to War Story (Northern Afleet) and Giant Expectations (Frost Giant).

“I believe we will be the top choice among the horses they are considering for the last spot,” Loza said.

Fear the Cowboy has proven himself to be an overachiever during his career. Purchased for just $1,500, at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky February Mixed Sale 2013, he has won 9 of 27 career starts while earning $570,869. Also the winner of the 2017 GIII Skip Away S. at Gulfstream, he seems to just now be hitting peak form.

“We know it will be a really tough race and a challenge for us, but we know our horse is in really good form and he really loves Gulfstream” Loza said. “But, obviously, he’ll be running against a different kind of horse [in the Pegasus] and it will be a big challenge. Our horse comes from the back and there is a lot of speed, so that will help. This is a race everyone wants to run in and our horse is in really good form. I know he’s a 6-year-old horse, but his last race was his best race ever.”

Javier Castellano rode Fear the Cowboy in the Harlan’s Holiday, but is already committed to West Coast (Flatter). Loza said he has some riders in mind but is not certain yet who will get the mount.

The owners of those horses that are taking over The Stronach Group spots are not required to pay the $1-million entry fee. However, they will be running for only 50% of the purse money and any money they earn above $1 million will be distributed to the nine owners who were in by Dec. 15.

Horses running at Ascot this year will be competing for a record prize-money fund of almost £13.5-million. This figure, which excludes the industry-owned QIPCO British Champions Day, represents an increase of £1.2-million, 10% up on the 2017 figure of £12.2-million. The track’s headline festival Royal Ascot will this year benefit from a prize-money pool of over £7-million while the G1 QIPCO King George VI & Queen Elizabeth S. will be worth an all time high of £1.25-million. The minimum race value at the Royal meeting in June will be up £10,000 to £90,000 while the benchmark for Group 1 races that week will be £500,000, up from £400,000 in 2017.

Commenting on the increase, Nick Smith, director of racing at Ascot Racecourse said, “Our total prize-money this year is over £13-million for the first time, with Royal Ascot well over £7-million, which are important milestones. Royal Ascot prize money has increased 62% since 2012 [£4.5-million], with the annual programme having increased 46% in that period. This has been important in terms of maintaining the international appeal of Royal Ascot and the King George and in terms of appropriately funding the rapid development of the racing programme in recent years, headlined by the inauguration of the Group One Commonwealth Cup in 2015 and the elevation of the Queen’s Vase to Group Two last year, both with excellent results.”

Guy Henderson, Ascot’s chief executive added, “Under our statutory racing trust, all of Ascot’s returns are invested for the benefit of horsemen, our race-goers and off course followers, both in the UK and internationally. In order to continue to attract the best horses to run at Ascot, and with the Royal Meeting a shop window for international investment in British racing, it is important that we offer as competitive prize money as we can, particularly at the high end.”

OXO Equine LLC’s Instilled Regard (Arch) emerged from his victory in the GIII LeComte S. at Fair Grounds Saturday in fine condition, according to Christina Jelm, assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. Acquired by owner Larry Best for $1.05 million at the OBS March 2-year-old sale, the colt continued to return on the investment with a convincing 3 3/4-length score.

“I would say he came out better than he did going in,” Jelm said. “He was not tired at all and it was as if he went out for a regular morning gallop. He wouldn’t have blown out a candle after the race. He wasn’t breathing hard and he kind of wanted to go around there again. He took to the track very well.”

Instilled Regard’s win gave Best his first ever graded stakes victory.

“[Best] educates himself to the extreme and he really does his research,” Jelm said. “After this the I think he’ll come up with some ideas and then Jerry will have some ideas since he has done this for a while, but they will come up with a plan for the next step moving forward. It’s apparent that the horse gets over this surface well and it didn’t take anything out of him. If anything, it put a lot more into him. It put a lot more confidence into him and took his fitness level to a higher level. He’s a very professional horse and very classy.”

Following his LeComte score, Instilled Regard currently sits sixth on the Kentucky Derby qualifying points leaderboard with 14 points. Trainer Steve Asmussen ran second, third and fourth in the LeComte with favored Principe Guilherme (Tapit), Snapper Sinclair (City Zip) and Zing Zang (Tapit), respectively, and said the trio would all be considered for the Feb. 17 GII Risen Star S., among other spots.

The task facing Stronger Than Ever (Congrats) in Saturday’s Silverbulletday S. looked on paper to be a stiff one and the public bet her accordingly. But the grey filly rallied stoutly from the rear and outslugged MGSW and ‘TDN Rising Star’ Wonder Gadot (Medaglia d’Oro) to take this first local step towards the GI Kentucky Oaks.

Void of early speed, Stronger Than Ever dropped out to the rear of the field before actually working her way into the picture at the midway stage. She gained ground under a Florent Geroux hold on the turn, was steered out wide and looked as if she was going to run away with it a furlong from home. Wonder Gadot boxed on gamely down on the inside, but Stronger Than Ever did slightly the better work late to post a narrow success. Missive (Alternation) stayed on at one pace for third ahead of GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ third Blonde Bomber (Fort Larned).

Winner of a Churchill maiden Sept. 16 and a one-mile Keeneland allowance Oct. 20, Stronger Than Ever was never in it when seventh in the GII Golden Rod S. in Louisville Nov. 25 and was exiting a distant third in the Dec. 17 Trapeze S. at Remington Park.

The 30th black-type winner for her sire, Stronger Than Ever was the most expensive of her sire’s 11 foals to sell in 2015 and was the priciest of 49 yearlings to sell in 2016. Produced by a stakes-placed daughter of SW Stellar Affair, Stronger Than Ever descends from the female family of Curlin. Broken Silence was sold in foal to Ghostzapper for $170,000 at the 2015 Keeneland November sale. The produce she was carrying at the time, a filly, fetched $435,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale. The mare was represented by a colt of 2017 by Verrazano and was most recently bred to the latter’s sire More Than Ready.

SILVERBULLETDAY S., $148,500, FG, 1-13, 3yo, f, 1m 70y, 1:44.28, ft.
1–STRONGER THAN EVER, 122, f, 3, by Congrats
1st Dam: Broken Silence (SP), by Broken Vow
2nd Dam: Stellar Affair, by Skywalker
3rd Dam: Fawn and Hahn, by Grey Dawn II
($150,000 Wlg ’15 KEENOV; $310,000 Ylg ’16 KEESEP).
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O-Fern Circle Stables; B-J Stuart, P Bance, J Amling & C Noell (KY); T-Kenneth G McPeek; J-Florent Geroux. $90,000. Lifetime Record: 5-3-0-1, $174,846.
2–Wonder Gadot, 122, f, 3, Medaglia d’Oro–Loving Vindication, by Vindication. ($80,000 Ylg ’16 KEESEP; $325,000 2yo ’17 OBSAPR). O-Gary Barber; B-Anderson Farms Ont Inc (ON); T-Mark E Casse. $30,000.
3–Missive, 116, f, 3, Alternation–Bedanken, by Geri. O/B-Pin Oak Stud LLC (KY); T-Michael Stidham. $15,000.
Margins: NK, 4HF, 1 3/4. Odds: 33.20, 1.10, 23.50.
Also Ran: Blonde Bomber, Heavenly Love, Terra’s Angel, America’s Tale, Shes Our Fastest. Scratched: Saguaro Row, Stellar Moon, Remember Daisy, Noblame.
Click for the Equibase.com chart.

INSTILLED REGARD (c, 3, Arch–Enchanting, by Forestry), put up from third to second via the DQ of ‘TDN Rising Star’ and recent GIII Sham S. winner McKinzie (Street Sense) in the GI Los Alamitos Futurity Dec. 9, provided Larry Best’s big-spending OXO Equine with its first stakes victory since bursting onto the scene some 18 months ago. Sitting in a good stalking spot behind splits of :23.48 and :47.52, he came to challenge the leader at the head of the stretch and kicked clear by some five lengths in 1:42.59. Highly regarded ‘Rising Star’ Principe Guilherme (Tapit) completed the exacta over his stakes-winning stablemate Snapper Sinclair (City Zip). The winner was a $110,000 KEESEP RNA who blossomed into a $1.05-million OBS March juvenile after a :20 4/5 breeze. Lifetime Record: GISP, 5-2-2-1.
O-OXO Equine LLC. B-KatieRich Farms (Ky). T-Jerry Hollendorfer.

This year’s ITM Irish Stallion Trail caught me slightly unawares as it was brought forward two weeks from its original end of January slot. As this was my third year to follow the trail I decided that having concentrated on Leinster based studs the previous two occasions – as one who is based near The Capital, would be inclined to do – instead I would check out what some of our rugby rivals had to offer all the way down in Munster. My plan was to start with Tipperary’s finest then travel north east stopping off at some significant markers before getting back to ‘The Pale’ in the evening. An early start had me passing through Fethard at 9.30 a.m., ahead of schedule to begin the day at Coolmore and I resisted the temptation of knocking on the door of McCarthy’s Pub on the off chance they would be serving a full Irish, instead trusting that sustenance would be available a few miles down the road. I needn’t have worried.

Driving through the majestic entrance to Coolmore one is reminded what a global and aesthetically stunning enterprise has been forged by John Magnier and his associates in the last thirty years. My initial awareness of brand Coolmore stemmed from their former national hunt stallion Deep Run (GB), sire of that legendary race mare Dawn Run (Ire) and who just seemed to be champion national hunt sire every year in the eighties. Since then it has morphed into a global colossus. People say Ireland is renowned for brands like Guinness or U2, I say Coolmore.

Friday’s visit to the stud allowed me the opportunity to see arguably the best and factually the most expensive stallion in the world. Galileo (Ire), who has just turned 20 years of age and who now has a 24 hour bodyguard, will stand this season at a covering fee of €600,000. Is it any wonder that he has round the clock protection as he has now become a national institution and as Maurice Moloney, our host for the morning said, “Firstly aren’t we lucky here in Coolmore to have him, secondly, isn’t Tipperary lucky to have him and finally isn’t Ireland lucky to have him.” His staggering covering fee is at least twice as high as any other stallion in the world and not surprisingly the majority of his covers will be allocated to Coolmore’s own mares with about 30 paid nominations in his book for 2018. Moloney confirmed Darley to be among the list of the customers under the ‘paid nomination’ column and also that Coolmore would be utilising Darley’s flagship stallion Dubawi (Ire) for a number of their mares this year. All is well in the bloodstock world as simple business principles have come to the fore.

As Galileo is in the twilight of his career there were a number of young pretenders to his throne on parade in Coolmore and one who is built very much in the mold of his father is Gleneagles (Ire). The dual Guineas winner, who stands a shade under 16 hands, also inherited the same panther walk from Galileo and given his first foals averaged just over a £100,000 in 2017 it is safe to say his stock have been well received so far. Another of Galileo’s sons Churchill (Ire) is an entirely different model and Ryan Moore must have felt a long way from the ground whenever he rode this fella and he has that great laid back attitude one often seems to associate with big horses. Looking at him it is a surprise that he was a European champion 2-year-old but no surprise that he was a top class 3-year-old. Galileo’s other son recently retired to Coolmore is Highland Reel (Ire) and several of the other trail hoppers in attendance expressed their surprise that a seven-time Group 1 winner of over €9-million would be introduced to stud at a relatively low fee of €17,500. Maurice Moloney had to agree that they may have erred on the side of caution when setting his fee as he noted he was also “one of the soundest horses that Aidan ever trained.”

This being my first visit to Coolmore in over three years I had not seen Australia (GB) since he retired from racing and I must say it is amazing how a stallion can transform from a wiry athlete to a masculine bull of an animal within a couple of season’s of covering and Australia is a fair example. He never exactly ‘filled the eye’ when racing but this regally bred horse now ticks almost every box and with his first runners set to grace tracks this year it will be fascinating to see if that final, most important box gets ticked; hard to imagine it won’t.

While only time will tell if any of these stallions step up to the mark and emulate their father just as Galileo has done his own sire Sadler’s Wells, Coolmore are also seeking to fill the void left by the untimely death in America of Scat Daddy. In Caravaggio they might just have a successor and this steel grey speedster certainly looked the part as he strode out for viewers. Maurice Moloney predicted his coat will be a lot whiter this time next year after a season’s covering, as he simultaneously removed his cap to reveal his own greying thatch, as if trying to prove similar strenuous activity affects us men in the same way.

They don’t come any more handsome than Camelot (GB) and after admiring him for a while I offered my thanks to my hosts while administering a dose of caffeine before making my way across country towards Ballylinch Stud, passing through some villages and townlands en route that I think may not yet have been discovered.

Ballylinch Stud have no new rookies for 2018 but again I find it interesting to see how young stallions alter from one year to the next. Make Believe (Fr) is one who I thought has developed well in the last twelve months but pride of roster has to go to Lope De Vega (Ire) who at a 2018 covering fee of €60,000, is inching towards elite stallion status. Mark Byrne, who looks after nominations in Ballylinch is predicting a big year for the stallion as his crops bred from his best mares received emerge. Lope De Vega has also found favour in the southern hemisphere where his son Vega Magic (Aus) has become by far the stallion’s biggest earner, with his second placing in last year’s The Everest contributing over £800,000 to his haul. Classic winner and Classic sire Lawman (Fr) has surely become a very good value stallion at a fee of €15,000 while New Bay (GB) isn’t lacking for mare support given his powerful ownership triumvirate of China Horse Club, Juddmonte and Ballylinch who are committed to making him a success. Fascinating Rock (Ire) holds the distinction of being the highest rated son of Fastnet Rock (Aus) and his owner Maurice Regan has also been on a buying spree this past year acquiring numerous choice mares to aid the horse’s second career.

At this stage the Coolmore coffee and cakes seemed like a lifetime ago and once the Ballylinch stallions had strutted their stuff I retreated into their plush marquee for a quick taste of their beef casserole and just in case anyone thought this was a script for John Catucci’s ‘You Gotta Eat Here!’ I can assure readers the objective of the day was to view stallions so I declined dessert and got back on the trail towards Kildangan Stud.

On arrival at Kildangan Godolphin chief executive Joe Osborne enquired if I would be reviewing their food or their stallions so for the record their spicy parsnip soup certainly helped warm the cockles on what was a pretty cold afternoon. However my main reason to visit Darley’s Irish HQ was to see their new boys for 2018, Ribchester (Ire) and Profitable (Ire). Richard Fahey has said he would train 300 horses if he had them but he’d probably need double that number through his hands to unearth one as good as Ribchester and this four time Group 1 winning son of Iffraaj (GB) will begin covering at a fee of €30,000. Profitable (Ire) is pitched a bit lower at €12,000 but as a Group 1 winning sprinter by Invincible Spirit his appeal is obvious. Eamon Moloney (a nephew of Coolmore’s Maurice) was on MC duty in Kildangan and I was delighted when he announced Teofilo (Ire) as the next to parade. The 14-year-old looks magnificent and he has sired a Group 1 winner for every year of his life and with 17 stakes winners in 2017 his top level tally looks highly likely to overtake his age this year. Slade Power (Ire) also looked a picture and he is one of a number of stallions who will make the betting market for leading first season sire in 2018 quite interesting.

I had time for one more stop and with two interesting additions to their roster this year I decided the Irish National Stud would be my final destination. I arrived just as a parade had commenced and I had to battle for a viewing spot as a group of 40 Czech breeders had commandeered all the best vantage points. The stud’s CEO Cathal Beale must be pleased with his first six months in the job; he managed to recruit two very interesting stallions in National Defense (GB) and Decorated Knight (GB) while also launching a new bloodstock investment scheme. Beale was proud to show off his new stallion acquisitions and even though Invincible Spirit (Ire) is showing none of his advancing years – the 21-year-old was keeping his long suffering handler Michael ‘Daffer’ Kelly on his toes – it is important for the stud to establish a potential successor to him. National Defense is a son of Invincible Spirit who Criquette Head-Maarek trained to win the G1 Prix Jean Luc-Lagardere in 2016 and the smooth walking 4-year-old oozes quality and athleticism. In Decorated Knight the stud may just have clinched the deal of 2017. The horse has serious stallion credentials; a three time Group 1 winning son of Galileo, out of a full-sister to both Giant’s Causeway and You’resothrilling, who just happens to be the dam of the Galileo Group 1 winners Gleneagles (Ire), Marvellous (Ire) and Happily (Ire). If that wasn’t enough, Decorated Knight stands for a covering fee of €15,000. Who says there is no value out there? As mentioned earlier a year is a long time in a young stallion’s life and that year has been physically kind to Free Eagle (Ire). While his first foals didn’t really light up the bid boards at the sales last year Beale is confident his yearlings will fare much better at the sales this autumn. We all know how fickle the market can be but it’s way too soon to write off this horse and those who did pinhook a foal by him last year could be sitting on a decent investment.

So having covered the guts of 300km I pointed the chariot home and began to wonder to myself, just how many miles of manicured beech hedging did I drive by during the day?