Nothing Improbable About It One-Dimensional Speed Sire
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2018 Q&A: TODD PLETCHER TALKS GULFSTREAM NOTHING IMPROBABLE by Christina Bossinakis ABOUT IT A well-established fixture in the lead up to the Triple Crown, trainer Todd Pletcher is attempting to secure a record 16th training title during Gulfstream Park=s 2018-2019 championship meeting, while diligently working to unearth another jewel who can join his roster of five prior Classic victories. As recently as 2017, the seven-time Eclipse Award winning trainer employed his South Florida base of Palm Beach Downs as a launching pad for a pair of Classic wins: Always Dreaming (Bodemeister; GI Kentucky Derby) and Tapwrit (Tapit; GI Belmont S.). The TDN caught up with Pletcher, who provided a glimpse into his success at Gulfstream Park and offered a closer look into the development of the stable=s youngest and brightest racing talent. TDN: Why do you think Gulfstream Park suits your program so well? Improbable | Benoit photo TP: Well, Gulfstream traditionally has a lot of 3-year-old races, now that it starts in December. (Click to continue to p5) by Andrew Caulfield As his odds of 1-5 make perfectly clear, there was nothing IN TDN EUROPE TODAY improbable about Improbable (City Zip)'s victory in the GI Los PIVOTAL MOMENT FOR CHEVELEY PARK SIRE Alamitos CashCall Futurity. Nor was there anything improbable John Boyce takes a deeper look at Pivotal (GB)’s outstanding year about a colt of his pedigree establishing a record of three wins as a broodmare sire. from three starts as a 2-year-old. Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. His sire, the ultra-tough City Zip, won five of his 11 juvenile starts, including the GI Hopeful S., and this son of the fast Carson City has also been represented by the Breeders' Cup 2-year-old winners Bulletin (2018 Juvenile Turf Sprint) and Catch A Glimpse (Juvenile Fillies Turf). It was on the undercard of the opening day of the Breeders' Cup that Improbable had earned >TDN Rising Star= status with his effortless victory in the Street Sense S., over a mile of the Kentucky Derby course. Sadly, City Zip had to be euthanized at the age of 19 in July 2017, and his long-standing foot problems appear to have prevented him carrying out his stallion duties that year. At least he had been able to cover 129 mares in 2016, so we can look forward to a final crop of nearly 100, which will race in 2019. No fewer than seven members of this 2017 crop sold for prices between $250,000 and $500,000 as yearlings, which illustrates the progress City Zip made after starting his stallion career in 2002 at a fee of $7,500. He was originally based at Contemporary Stallions in New York in 2002, before being moved to Lane's End Farm at the end of 2004. Cont. p3 IT’S HE CAN GET YOU: Champion 2-YEAR-OLDS Classic 3-YEAR-OLDS Outstanding OLDER HORSES High-priced YEARLINGS 2018 YEARLINGS include: Price Buyer $575,000 Alex & JoAnn Lieblong $500,000 Zedan Racing Stables $485,000 Christine & Phil Hatfield / CHP Racing $475,000 Ben McElroy/Simon Callaghan, agent $450,000 Courtlandt Farm $400,000 Albaugh Family Racing; Barry Berkelhammer, agent Fee: $50,000 S&N (859) 873-1717 | WinStarFarm.com PUBLISHER & CEO Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] V.P., INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Managing Editor Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Tuesday, December 11, 2018 Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN News and Features Editor Ben Massam @BMassamTDN Associate Editors Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Best Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Assistants Alexa Reisfield Amie Morosco Advertising Assistant/Dir. of Distribution Rachel McCaffrey In case you missed it. A group gathers in the Hawthorne Race Course winner’s circle on Saturday to celebrate the 2,000th training win for Mike Reavis. | Four Footed Fotos Photo Editor Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew [email protected] Social Media Strategist ELSER GEARING UP FOR GALLOP YEAR TWO 7 Justina Severni Kip Elser, who had five horses gallop into the Fasig-Tipton Director of Customer Service Gulfstream Sale last spring, is busy preparing his next group Vicki Forbes of yearlings specifically purchased to gallop at the boutique [email protected] auction next March. Marketing Manager Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen SO...WHO’S HORSE OF THE YEAR? 11 Director of Information Technology Trainer Dale Romans gets into the debate with his pick for Ray Villa Horse of the Year. [email protected] Bookkeeper Terry May SCAT DADDY COLT SHOWS PROMISE 12 [email protected] Peter Redekop’s Anothertwistafate (Scat Daddy) made amends WORLDWIDE INFORMATION for his lackluster debut at Santa Anita last month with an International Editor effortless maiden score at Golden Gate Sunday and trainer Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN Blaine Wright said he was ‘relieved’ by the victory. [email protected] European Editor Emma Berry [email protected] Associate International Editor Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | 732-747-8955 (fax) www.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 13 • THETDN.COM TUESDAY • DECEMBER 11, 2018 Cup Classic didn't seem particularly relevant, as his sire Awesome Again possessed much more stamina than Carson City. However, City Zip proved to be much more than a Nothing Improbable About It one-dimensional speed sire. He proved very proficient at siring smart performers on turf, as well as dirt, and quite a few of his (cont. from p1) progeny have been effective around two turns. City Zip wasn't just a 2-year-old. Although his Two who combined turf prowess with a degree of stamina tough juvenile campaign might have drained a were Catch A Glimpse, who added the GI Belmont Oaks over a less durable individual, City Zip made a further 12 mile and a quarter to her Breeders' starts at three Cup success, and Dayatthespa, a and he was good enough to win multiple Grade I scorer who landed four more stakes races, the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf including the GIII Jersey Shore over the Kentucky Derby distance. S. and GII Amsterdam S. All four Another who enjoyed Grade I of his 3-year-old victories came success over a mile and a quarter over six furlongs. Add in the was City Zip's admirable son fact that his sire Carson City had Collected, who defeated Arrogate gained all of his three graded and Accelerate to take the 2017 successes over six furlongs and Pacific Classic, prior to his second to it seemed fair to assume that Gun Runner in the Breeders' Cup City Zip would primarily be a Classic. source of speed. The late City Zip | Lee Thomas photo At the other end of the distance The fact that his spectrum were Work All Week, winner of the GI Breeders' Cup two-year-younger half-brother Ghostzapper was versatile Sprint, and Finest City, who landed the Breeders' Cup Filly & enough to win the Vosburgh, the Met Mile and the Breeders' Mare Sprint. Cont. p4 TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 13 • THETDN.COM TUESDAY • DECEMBER 11, 2018 It is a measure of City Zip's talent that Work All Week, Finest City and Dayatthespa were all sired at $15,000, while Catch A Glimpse was the result of a 20,000-dollar season. City Zip also enjoyed Grade I success with Palace (Forego S. and Alfred G. Vanderbilt H.), Bustin Stones (Carter H.), Personal Diary (Del Mar Oaks) and Zipessa (First Lady S.). In the process of siring all these good winners, City Zip established an Average Earnings Index of 1.68, whereas his mares' Comparable Index stood at only 1.41, which is another way of saying that City Zip often succeeded in upgrading his mares. It is going to be interesting to see whether City Zip can pass on his prowess as a sire to his sons. Although City Zip is easily the most successful of Carson City's sons, with his 10 Grade I winners, four other sons of Carson City succeeded in siring a Grade I winner, these being Pollard's Vision, Flying Chevron, Hear No Evil and Cuvee. As yet, no son of City Zip has been responsible for a Grade I winner, but that looks set to change. The precocious Run Away And Hide has a creditable record with six graded winners, despite never standing at more than $7,500. Another of City Zip's fast sons, the dual Grade I winner Palace, is based at Spendthrift, and will have his first runners next year. Collected is well placed to make a much bigger impact, as he begins his stallion career at Airdrie at a fee of $17,500, and Improbable has already done enough to be taken seriously as a stallion prospect. There is also good reason for thinking that Improbable has a good chance of becoming another good performer at up to a mile and a quarter for City Zip, as there is stamina in the bottom half of his pedigree. The one possible weak link is Stravinsky, the champion European sprinter who sired Improbable's second dam Our Rite of Spring, who won the Exogenous S. over one mile 70 yards at Aqueduct. It is interesting that Improbable's dam, the four-time winner Rare Event, is a daughter of the Belmont and Breeders' Cup Classic winner A.P.