FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2016 REID FILLY EARNS TICKET TO BIG DANCE NYQUIST HEADS TRIPLE by Steve Sherack CROWN NOMINEES With an 8-1 morning-line quote on Disco Rose (Weigelia) in Saturday’s GII Forward Gal S., Butch Reid may have them right where he wants them. The trainer’s last three wins in graded stakes company? Poseidon’s Warrior’s 36-1 upset in the 2012 GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. at Saratoga and a pair of shockers by Afleet Again at 41-1 in the 2011 GII Breeders’ Cup Marathon and at 24-1 in the 2010 GIII Withers S., respectively. With a sneaky good third-place finish after a wide journey throughout the 1 1/8-miles distance of the GII Demoiselle S. at Aqueduct Nov. 28 (video) and a bullet four-furlong move in :47 (1/102) in the interim at Palm Meadows Jan. 24, Disco Rose merits a very long look while cutting back in distance to seven furlongs in Hallandale this weekend. Cont. p4 Nyquist | Coady Photography ASIAN RACING CONFERENCE CLOSES The relationship between vets and trainers, as well as the One year after Zayat Stables’ 2015 Horse of the Year American problem of illegal gambling, were among the topics of Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile)’s historic Triple Crown sweep, a discussion on the final day of the ARC in Mumbai Thursday. total of 368 3-year-olds were nominated for the 2016 Triple Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. Crown during the first nomination phase. The series will consist of the 1 1/4-mile, $2 million GI Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands at Churchill Downs May 7, the 1 3/16-mile $1.5- million GI Preakness S. at Pimlico Race Course May 21 and the 1 1/2-mile $1.5-million GI Belmont S. at Belmont Park June 11. The early nominations total was the smallest since 2011, when there were 364 nominees. Later nominees will be required to pay a $6,000 nomination fee open until Mar. 21 at 11:59 p.m. Supplemental nominations after the first two nomination phases during the time of entry for each race will be $200,000 for the Kentucky Derby, $150,000 prior to the Preakness S. and $75,000 before the Belmont S. The nominations list is headed by the Doug O’Neill-trained, Reddam Racing LLC-owned, undefeated 2015 Eclipse champion juvenile male Nyquist (Uncle Mo), who is campaigned by the same connections as 2012 Eclipse champion 3-year-old male and Kentucky Derby/Preakness S. hero I’ll Have Another (Flower Alley). Cont. p3-4 PRESIDENT & CO-PUBLISHER Retirees Declan's Moon (14), Barry Weisbord @barryweisbord Alden's Malibu (15), and Mosby's [email protected] Raider (18), find the snow in their SR. V.P. & CO-PUBLISHER paddock at Maryland's Country Sue Finley @suefinley Life Farm is a veritable Fountain [email protected] of Youth V.P., INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS Gary King @garykingTDN Ellen Pons photo [email protected] EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief: Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN NATALMA UPGRADED 5 Managing Editor: Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Woodbine's Natalma S., which was used by Catch a Senior Editor: Glimpse (City Zip) as a stepping stone to victory in the Steve Sherack @Steve SherackTDN GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf last year, has been Racing Editor: Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN upgraded to Grade I status by The Jockey Club of Canada. Associate Editor: "Woodbine is extremely proud to be the home of the now Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Assistant Editors: Grade I Natalma S.," said Jim Lawson, CEO of WEG. 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Director of IT: Ray Villa [email protected] How about Kevin Blake’s piece on whether or not in-foal mares should be declared while still racing? Head over to the TDN Op/Ed archive to read more analysis of important WORLDWIDE INFORMATION International Editor: Kelsey Riley industry issues from around the world. [email protected] Click here for the TDN Op/Ed archive. European Editor: Emma Berry [email protected] 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.thoroughbreddailynews.com www.thetdn.com HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 6 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • JAN. 29, 2016 Nyquist Heads Triple Crown Nominees cont. trainer to 12, leads all trainers with 35 3-year-old nominations, among them the aforementioned Mor Spirit, GIII Sham S. one- Other young hopefuls include Albaugh Family Stables’ two Collected (City Zip) and Let’s Meet in Rio (Flatter); GSW and GI Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity hero Brody’s Cause (Giant’s GI Los Alamitos Futurity runner-up Toews On Ice Causeway); Michael Lund Petersen’s GI Los Alamitos Futurity (Archarcharch), and ‘TDN Rising Star’ Drefong (Gio Ponti). scorer Mor Spirit (Eskendereya); St. Elias Stable, MeB Racing Seven-time champion trainer Todd Pletcher fields 28, down Stables LLC and Brooklyn from 34 in 2015. Chad Brown has 12 nominees, Mark Casse 11, Boyz Racing LLC’s GI D. Wayne Lukas, who holds the record of American Classic Champagne S. winner victories at 14, trains 10, as does Mike Maker. Greenpointcrusader Zayat Stables leads the owners’ list with 15 nominees, while (Bernardini); Reddam Calumet Farm, who leads all owners with 18 American Classic Racing LLC’s GI Hopeful S. wins, has 11 horses nominated. Charles Fipke (10) rounds out hero Ralis (Square Eddie); the owners with double-digit entries. John C. Oxley’s GII Of the 368 nominees, 327 are colts, 30 are geldings, eight are Kentucky Jockey Club ridglings and three fillies. With Eclipse champion juvenile filly Mor Spirit | Benoit Photo winner Airoforce (Colonel Songbird (Medaglia d’Oro) not among the first-phase nominees, John); Goldolphin Racing LLC’s GII Belmont Futurity S. victor undefeated ‘TDN Rising Star’ Royal Obession (Tapit) leads the Annual Report (Harlan’s Holiday); Shadwell Stables’ undefeated way for the fairer sex. MGSW Mohaymen (Tapit); Big Chief Racing LLC’s MGSW The top overseas representative of 17 is GI Breeders’ Cup Exaggerator (Curlin); and MGISP Swipe (Birdstone) runner-up in Juvenile Turf hero Hit It a Bomb (War Front). the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, racing for Big Chief Racing LLC, To view the complete list of nominees click here. Fizzy Racing LLC, Rocker O Ranch LLC and Desormeaux et al. Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, one year removed from sending out American Pharoah to bring his lifetime Classic victories as a HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 6 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • JAN. 29, 2016 Reid Filly Earns Ticket to Big Dance cont. 2016 Triple Crown Nominees -- Leading Sires “She ran really well in that last spot and came out of it really well, too,” Reid offered. “We brought her down here [to Florida] Sire #Nominees Uncle Mo 19 two months ago with the idea of Tapit 16 giving her a little freshening and Bernardini 13 being selective about our spots. Candy Ride (Arg) 12 We were actually looking to come Smart Strike 11 back maybe in the [GII] Davona Flatter 10 Dale [Feb. 27], but she’s just been Tiznow 9 so sharp and had a really Eskendereya 8 monstrous breeze the other the Giant’s Causeway 7 day that we decided to go at it in Malibu Moon 7 here and take a shot.” Scat Daddy 7 Butch Reid | Horsephotos After campaigning Disco Rose’s War Front 7 Awesome Again 6 multiple stakes-placed Harlan’s Holiday 6 full-sister Fat Kat, Reid didn’t hesitate to sign the ticket on her Quality Road 6 younger sibling for $25,000 as a yearling at the 2014 EASSEP Street Sense 6 sale. Disco Rose, bred in Pennsylvania by Wynoaks Farm LLC and Tale of Ekati 6 St Omers Farm, was produced by the Disco Rico mare Katarica Birdstone 5 Disco. Ghostzapper 5 “She looked like a twin sister of Fat Kat, who ran in some Unbridled’s Song 5 stakes and made almost $250,000 for us,” Reid explained. “That’s what really caught our eye.” Cont. p5 HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 5 OF 6 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • JAN. 29, 2016 A runaway maiden winner going two turns at Parx at fifth asking Oct. 6, Disco Rose was fourth in the GIII Tempted S. in Ozone Park Nov. 4 before closing out her juvenile campaign finishing only 2 3/4 lengths adrift the promising Lewis Bay (Bernardini) after a less-than-ideal trip in the Demoiselle. “We wanted to give her a little time and put some weight on her--she was never really the most robust filly,” Reid said of Disco Rose. “My wife [and assistant trainer] Ginny has really The CBA Education Symposium done a nice job with her down here.