Keeper Ofthe Stars Upsets Jolie Olimpica in Buena Vista
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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2020 KEEPER OFTHE STARS THE NOMINATION STRUGGLE: LUCAS MARQUARDT UPSETS JOLIE OLIMPICA IN Chris McGrath's Value Sires series in the TDN has frequently touched on the difficulty in selling nominations to stallions in BUENA VISTA their third-year at stud, as well as to solid, established stallions standing for a moderate fee. We asked stallion managers and nominations teams as well as bloodstock agents what changes could be made, if any, to help the situation. This has been a great, informative series often approached as a supply-side issue. That is, viewed from the perspective of breeders and stallion farms, mostly through the lens of book size. As Carrie Brogden Saturday, and others before her have pointed out, breeders embrace first and second-crop stallions so enthusiastically for one reason: because buyers do. Obviously that's the primary driver of book size. Cont. p4 IN TDN EUROPE TODAY Keeper Ofthe Stars | Benoit COOLMORE SIRE POWER DIVERSELY ENHANCED Keeper Ofthe Stars (Midnight Lute) forged past previously Alayna Cullen checks in on Coolmore’s trio of new sires: undefeated 3-5 favorite Jolie Olimpica (Brz) (Drosselmeyer) late Calyx (GB), Magna Grecia (Ire) and Ten Sovereigns (Ire). to pull off a shocker in the GII Buena Vista S. at Santa Anita Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. Saturday. Away well from the far outside post in this 11-horse affair, the 35-1 shot kept tabs from fourth as the heavy favorite cruised along on the front end, clocking early splits of :23.23 and :46.49. Ranging up two wide to tackle the pacesetter turning for home, the gray pushed past Jolie Olimpica in the final strides to spring a big upset. AWhen Tom and Debi [Stull] from Tommy Town Thoroughbreds gave her to me, it felt like the best horse we have ever had,@ said trainer Jonathan Wong, who was winning his first Grade II. AWe thought she would come from off the pace. She is better when she has something to chase and when she on the outside and clear, because she has such a long stride [and] it takes her a while to get going.@ As for the beaten favorite, Hall of Fame pilot Mike Smith said, AGoing from a sprint to a route today, she just didn=t relax. She was pulling and when she does that, she=s not breathing the way she needs to.@ Transferred from Jerry Hollendorfer after winning three in a row last spring at Golden Gate, Keeper Ofthe Stars was fourth in her first two starts for Wong in the GII San Clemente S. and GI Del Mar Oaks last summer. Cont. p3 PUBLISHER & CEO Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Managing Editor Sunday, February 23, 2020 Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN Deputy Editor Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Associate Editors Christina Bossinakis @CBossTDN Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN News and Features Editor In Memoriam: Ben Massam (1988-2019) ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Best Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Assistant/Dir. Of Distribution Rachel McCaffrey Advertising Assistants Amie Newcomb Kristen Lomasson Photographer/Photo Editor Dawn at Oaklawn host Nancy Holthus chats with guests Randy and Sara Patterson of Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew Cedar Run Farm on Saturday morning. Every Saturday, Dawn at Oaklawn invites fans [email protected] to watch horses train, enjoy free coffee and pastries, and take guided tours through the Social Media Strategist barn area. | Coady Justina Severni Director of Customer Service Vicki Forbes [email protected] JACKSON UPSETS WORLD OF TROUBLE SPRINT 5 Marketing Manager Jackson (Kantharos) sprung the upset in the GIII World of Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen Trouble Sprint S. at Gulfstream Saturday afternoon. Director of IT/Accounting Ray Villa [email protected] JAPAN ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY 6 [email protected] RETURNS TO TOKYO Tokyo will play host to the Hyacinth S. Sunday, the third of WORLDWIDE INFORMATION four races on the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby. The race International Editor Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN includes two runners by American Pharoah in Café Pharoah [email protected] and Nile River. 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 7 • THETDN.COM SUNDAY • FEBRUARY 23, 2020 Buena Vista cont. from p1 Winning a turfy allowance back at Golden Gate Sept. 20, she followed suit with a win in the GIII Autumn Miss S. over this course Oct. 26. Sixth in the GIII Red Carpet H. at Del Mar Nov. 30, the $180,000 KEESEP buy was second to the re- opposing Brill (Medaglia d=Oro) in the Lady Shamrock S. here Dec. 28 and was sixth in the local GIII Megahertz S. Jan. 20. Pedigree Notes: Keeper Ofthe Stars is one of 13 graded winners and 33 stakes winners for her sire Midnight Lute. Her dam Sociable produced a Verrazano colt named Valenzano in 2018 and a Classic Empire colt in 2019. The half-sister to MGISW sire The Factor (War Front) was bred back to Mor Spirit. Saturday, Santa Anita BUENA VISTA S.-GII, $202,000, Santa Anita, 2-22, 4yo/up, f/m, 1mT, 1:34.15, fm. 1--KEEPER OFTHE STARS, 122, f, 4, by Midnight Lute 1st Dam: Sociable, by Run Away and Hide 2nd Dam: Greyciousness, by Miswaki 3rd Dam: Skatingonthinice, by Icecapade ($60,000 Wlg '16 KEENOV; $180,000 Ylg '17 KEESEP). O-Tommy Town Thoroughbreds LLC; B-Olin Gentry, Omar Trevino & Anthony Cappola (KY); T-Jonathan Wong; J-Abel Cedillo. $120,000. Lifetime Record: 14-6-1-3, $321,931. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. 2--Jolie Olimpica (Brz), 122, f, 4, Drosselmeyer--Jolie Celina (Brz), by Trempolino. O-Fox Hill Farms, Inc.; B-Stud T N T (BRZ); T-Richard E. Mandella. $40,000. 3--Mucho Unusual, 122, f, 4, Mucho Macho Man--Not Unusual, by Unusual Heat. ($170,000 RNA Ylg '17 KEESEP). O/B-George Krikorian (CA); T-Tim Yakteen. $24,000. Margins: HF, HF, 1HF. Odds: 36.10, 0.60, 4.20. Also Ran: Lady Prancealot (Ire), Brill, Meal Ticket, Super Patriot, Tiny Tina, La Sardane (Fr). Scratched: Sold It, Muchly (GB), Carressa. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 7 • THETDN.COM SUNDAY • FEBRUARY 23, 2020 Cont. from p1 Lucas Marquardt But I was curious to view the situation from a slightly different angle--from the demand side--and wondered what percentage second-year sires made up 25% of the Top 50 sires. of the most commercial sale yearlings, in any given year, are by A look at the Top 100, which would be more representative of first- or second-year stallions. (First year meaning those with the middle and lower ends of the market, reveals similar their first crop of yearlings; second year meaning it=s the sire=s numbers. From 2015-19, about 18% of the Top 100 commercial second crop of yearlings.) And how that, in turn, influences sires were 1st-year stallions. An even 30% were first- or breeders= decisions. second-year stallions. Looking at the last five years, from 2015 through 2019, it was These numbers lack context if we don=t look at the actual relatively rare for a first-year stallion to break the annual Top 20 number of yearlings sold (table 1). Here things get more sire list by yearling average. That surprised me. Only interesting. Give or take, the Top 100 sires of sale yearlings are Bodemeister, The Factor, Orb, Will Take Charge, American represented by 4,700 yearlings through the ring each year, of Pharoah, Honor Code, Nyquist, Runhappy and Frosted have which an average of 3,853 have sold over the past five years. Of done so. So I broadened the scoped and looked at the Top 50 these, on average, 22% are by 1st-crop sires. If we add in yearling sires by average in that stretch, and then at the Top 2nd-crop sires, about 35% of that group of 3,853 sold yearlings 100. Below are the results. will be by first- or second-crop stallions. In general terms, from 2015-19, around 17% of the Top 50 Thirty-five percent is a lot of weight for buyers to throw commercial sires were 1st-crop sires. Combined, 1st- and behind largely unproven stallions, but is it too much? I=ll leave that to people smarter than me. Some of these stallions will be abject failures, but many more will just be average, and the market will move on to other, younger sires who will be similarly average. The hope, obviously, is to unearth the next Uncle Mo or Constitution in the process. In any case, these numbers represent an interesting facet of the conversation. With all of the TOWN’s success, we are most excited about the arrival of the NEWEST SON WITH RUNNERS. A son so much like the TOWN himself, he is named after him and has been called THE MIRROR IMAGE. TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 5 OF 7 • THETDN.COM SUNDAY • FEBRUARY 23, 2020 Saturday, Gulfstream Park Goldenlion.