Tag: Lookin At Lucky

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Photogenic Pharoah

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American Pharoah

A dream was fulfilled yesterday when I finally got to meet American Pharoah.  I was lucky enough to be present at Keeneland, this past October, when Pharoah worked his way thru the paddock and then flashed past me to win his final race.  He won the first and only Grand Slam, the combination of all 3 legs of the Triple Crown and the Breeders’ Cup Classic.  With that, Pharoah retired just a few miles further down the road at Ashford Stud in Versailles,KY.

Ashford StudAshford Stud

Ashford Stud is the American division of Coolmore.  Coolmore America acquired the Ashford farm in the 1980s.  The land was developed for cattle farming around 1912 and was called Hereford Farm until the late 1970s.  As the cattle were replaced by stallions some great bloodlines began to prosper here. I was very impressed from the time I traveled thru the gated entry and down the tree lined car path passing lush fields that led us to the start of the tour.  Everything we saw was built with beauty and there is a lot of stone work.

Thunder Gulch

Coolmore added Thunder Gulch to the roster in 1996.  He still lives there today, having retired last year.  He serves as a calming factor to American Pharoah in the paddock now.  Thunder Gulch is the offspring of Gulch and Line of Thunder.  Thunder Gulch was born in March of 1992.  He won the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes in 1995.  He was 3rd in the Preakness Stakes that year.  He was the Eclipse Award winner for Champion 3 Year Old Colt that same year.  By 2001 he was the top sire.  He has produced many fine Thoroughbreds.

Giant's CausewayGiant's Causeway

A farm favorite and North America’s leading sire in lifetime earnings, still standing at Ashford, is Giant’s Causeway.  He shares a barn with American Pharoah but it is Giant’s Causeway’s large statue that is featured just outside of the barn door.  He is accredited with producing 31 Grade 1 winners.  He is the son of Storm Cat and Mariah’s Storm, born in 1997.  Giant’s Causeway had a nice career as a runner but the stud life is for him.  He earned the champion sire title in 2009, 2010 and 2012.

Shanghai BobbyMunnings

Shanghai Bobby said it was much too pretty to look inward towards the barn.  He was enjoying the view of the lovely farm.  His very 1st crop of yearlings are selling now and he has had some nice prices on his Keeneland September Sale grads.  Shanghai Bobby won the BC Juvenile and and Eclipse Award for Champion 2 Year Old Colt both in 2012.  He himself is the son of Harlan’s Holiday and Steelin’.  He was foaled in 2010.

Munnings wasn’t having it either.  He left the hamming to American Pharoah.  Munnings is the 2006 offspring of Speightstown and La Comete.  Munnings was a nice race horse and he is producing great foals.  I’m A Chatterbox is one of my favorite of his progeny.

Uncle Mo

Uncle Mo is having a very significant impact on the industry right now.  He is the sire of our last KY Derby winner, Nyquist.  Indian Charlie and Playa Maya produced Uncle Mo in 2008.  He was the winner of the 2010 BC Juvenile and subsequently the winner of the Eclipse Award for Champion 2 Year Old Colt that same year.

Declaration of WarLookin at Lucky

Declaration of War was born to War Front and Tempo West in 2009.  His sire, War Front along with Tapit took the lead at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale as they have for years.  Declaration of War’s first crop are currently yearlings.

Lookin At Lucky wasn’t necessarily looking at me.  This 2007 son of Smart Strike and Private Feeling was a nice racehorse.  Lookin at Lucky won the Preakness in 2010.  In 2009 and 2010 he took the Eclipse Award for Champion Colt.  Madefromlucky is one of his many graded stakes winning offspring.

Ashford Stud CemeteryAshford Stud Name Plates

The name plaques on the walls and the gravestones in the cemetery remind us of the great horses that have called Ashford Stud home.  Cigar and Scat Daddy are among those memorialized.  Scat Daddy died way to soon.  His last crop of yearlings are making there way through this year’s sales.  Hip 454 at the 2016 Keeneland September Sale was his son.  He was the sale topper hammering $3 million dollars.

Ashford Stud trophiesAshford Stud mementos

The property is stuffed with awards and memorabilia affiliated with the champion sires that have called Ashford home. Pictured here are just a few of the wonderful collection I saw.

Ashford Stud Breeding Shed

The least fancy building on the tour holds the most important rooms.  This is the breeding shed where every live mount at Coolmore America takes place.

American Pharoah

I’ll conclude the tour recap with a few more photos of Ashford’s and America’s champ.  American Pharoah brought an end to our 37 year quest for a Triple Crown Winner.  He is our only living champion horse of just 12 Thoroughbreds to ever win the series.  American Pharoah was born in 2012.  He is the son of Pioneerof the Nile and Littleprincessemma. Pharoah began breeding for the 1st time this year.  I can not wait to see his foals.  I hope they inherit every bit of his talent.  He has put on a little weight and he seemed calm and comfortable for a stallion.  To arrange for your own tour go to Horse Country Tours

American Pharoah

In other news, California Chrome races again Saturday.  Look for my Chrome story any day now.

 

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Preview Pimlico’s Preakness

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The 141st running of the Grade I Preakness Stakes will take place this Saturday, 5/21/16.  I will be betting on Nyquist (update: that is him pictured above), our latest Kentucky Derby winner!  He was just announced as the morning line favorite with 3/5 morning-line odds immediately following the post position draw.  Here is the full field:

Post Position: Horse/Jockey/Trainer/Owner/M-L Odds

  1. Cherry Wine/Corey Lanerie/Dale Romans/William Pacella and Frank L. Jones, Jr./20-1
  2. Uncle Lino/Fernando Hernandez Perez/Gary Sherlock/Tom Mansor, Purple Shamrock Racing and Gary Sherlock/20-1
  3. Nyquist/Mario Gutierrez/Doug O’Neill/Reddham Racing/3/5
  4. Awesome Speed/Jevian Toledo/Alan Golberg/Colts Neck Stables/30-1
  5. Exaggerator/Kent Desormeaux/Keith Dersormeaux/Big Cheif Racing, Head of Plains Parteners, Rocker O Ranch, et al./3-1
  6. Lani/Yutaka Take/Mikio Matsunaga/Yoko Maeda/30-1
  7. Collected/Javier Castellano/Bob Baffert/Speedway Stable/10-1
  8. Laoban/Florent Geroux/Eric Guillot/McCormick Racing and Southern Equine Stable/30-1
  9. Abiding Star/J.D. Acosta/Edward Allard/Stonehinge, LLC/30-1
  10. Fellowship/Jose Lezcanno/Mark Casse/Jacks or Better Farm/30-1
  11. Stradivari/John Velazquez/Todd Pletcher/John Gunther, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith and John Magnier/8-1

While the Preakness Stakes is eligible to 14 Thoroughbreds only these 11 will be participating.  That is 3 more than last year’s small field when American Pharoah became the 14th horse to take the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes.  He went on to win at the Belmont Stakes and the Breeders’ Cup Classic to become our 12th Triple Crown winner and our first Grand Slam winner.  The competition is tough to see if Nyquist can follow in those horseshoes.

Cherry Wine was an “also eligible” as the 22nd horse in a 20 post position race for the Kentucky Derby but he did not get his chance that day.  He is a lovely grey late bloomer.  It took him 5 starts to break his maiden.  His last 2 of 8 career races were graded stakes.  He finished 4th in the Rebel Stakes and then 3rd in the Blue Grass Stakes.  In all he has 2 wins, 1 place and has come in third twice.  American Pharoah won from post position 1 in last year’s Preakness.

Uncle Lino wasn’t in the Kentucky Derby.  His last race out was the California Chrome Stakes.  He finished 1st place with his only win since he broke his maiden his second start.  Out of his 7 races he has been twice at each 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.  He has has finished in the top four of all three of his graded stakes, Robert B. Lewis, San Felipe and Santa Anita Derby.  His sire is Uncle Mo, making him a half brother to Nyquist and Laoban and Abiding Star.

Nyquist is the favorite and I have written about him a few times if you want a more complete history on him check on my webpage, ThoroughbredU.com.  He is undefeated in 8 starts and he wants to keep that title.  He just won the KY Derby by 1 and 1/4 lengths on 5/7/16.  California Chrome won the Preakness from post position 3 in 2014.  Secretariat liked this post in 1973.

Awesome Speed has finished 1st in 4 of his 6 career starts however, he was 4th in his only graded stakes race, the Fountain of Youth.  His connections have noted that he has bumped around a lot in his last couple of races.  He is a pacemaker in his running style.

Exaggerator ran an exciting late sprint to earn 2nd to Nyquist in the KY Derby.  He is 1 of only 3 horses from that race to step up to the Preakness challenge.  His sire, Curlin, won the 2007 Preakness.  To read more about Exaggerator, look back to my KY derby story.

Lani is the final horse to return from this past KY Derby.  This lovely grey son of Tapit finished 9th in the KY Derby.  Lani is described in more detail in my former KY Derby story.  His dam sire, Sunday Silence, won the Preakness in 1989.

Collected is trained by Bob Baffert.  Baffert has won the Preakness with Silver Charm, Real Quiet, Point Given, War Emblem, Lookin At Lucky and American Pharoah.  In 6 career starts, Collected has 4 wins and a finish in 2nd place as well.  He has won 2 of his 4 graded stakes races.  These were the Cecile B. DeMille, Sham, Southwest and Lexington Stakes.

Laoban was the other “also eligible” that missed the KY Derby by a post.  One of the 4 sired by Uncle Mo he is a front runner but also he has never won a race!  Despite that, his connections have raced him 5 times and 3 of those where graded stakes, the Sham, Gotham and Blue Grass Stakes.

Abiding Star is the 4th and final horse sired by Uncle Mo in this race.  He has had an amazing 11 career starts in which he has won 5 times and finished at 2nd and 3rd place each once.  It took him 7 times to break his maiden.  He has never ran in a graded stakes race, however he is on a five race winning streak.

Fellowship is trained by Mark Casse.  He is the trainer of one of my favorite Thoroughbreds, Tepin.  Fellowship has had a total of 12 starts.  He has finished 1st two times and 2nd and 3rd three times each.  He raced at Churchill Downs on KY Derby day in the Pat Day Mile where he finished fourth.  That race was his fourth graded stakes race.  He is of the Secretariat lineage.

Stradivari is the final horse in the Preakness.  He has only been in 3 races.  He won the last two.  These were not stakes races.  To my personal surprise, his trainer Todd Pletcher, despite all his fame, has never won the Preakness.  Pletcher was 3rd in 2000 with Impeachment.

Preakness Fun Facts:

  • the food of the day, crabcakes
  • the flower, Black-Eyed Susans
  • the blanket is actually made of Viking Poms
  • the race is “The Run for the Black-Eyed Susans”
  • the song, “Maryland, My Maryland”
  • the trophy, a silver replica of the 1860 Woodlawn Vase
  • the track record, 1:55 set by Secretariat
  • the drink is also the Black-Eyed Susan
  • post time is 6:45 PM EST
  • NBCSN will televise starting at 2:30 PM EST
  • NBC will televise starting at 6:30 PM EST
  • Pimlico starts racing at 10:30 AM EST that day and the Preakness is the 13th race
  • the race is 1 and 3/16 miles or 9.5 furlongs on the dirt
  • the race is for 3YO Thoroughbreds

I hope everyone finds this info useful and helpful for their Preakness Stakes planning.  Check back after the race for another blog post.  Go, Nyquist, go!  Let’s wish the rain holds off this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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