WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5, 2017 BUBBLER: A STRANGE TRIP McCRAKEN DRAWS TWO IN INTRIGUING BLUE GRASS TO STARDOM McCraken (Ghostzapper), the narrow 5.90-1 favorite in the final GI Kentucky Derby future wager that closed Sunday, faces six formidable foes in Saturday=s $1-million GII Blue Grass S. at Keeneland. The undefeated >TDN Rising Star= was last seen besting Tapwrit (Tapit) by 1 1/2 lengths in Tampa=s Feb. 11 GIII Sam F. Davis S., and was installed as the 7-5 favorite after drawing post two Tuesday. APost two is OK,@ said trainer Ian Wilkes. AI don=t think it will be any problem. Just leave things up to [jockey] Brian [Hernandez Jr.] to ride the race. The goal is the first Saturday in May, and he doesn=t have to win this race. I don=t want to put that pressure on the horse. If he gets the right race and moves forward, we=ll be fine.@ See the end of Headline News for complete Keeneland Saturday graded fields. Bubbler | Fasig-Tipton By Bill Finley She is now the dam of one of the most famous racehorses on IN TDN EUROPE TODAY the planet and worth many millions of dollars. That=s a long way NEWHAVEN PARK HOLDS COURT AT INGLIS from being a horse who was languishing on a farm in Ocala, A Redoute’s Choice (Aus) half-sister to English (Aus) offered unraced because her owners had more or less forgotten about by Newhaven Park topped the first day of trade at Inglis on her. Tuesday. Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. Bubbler (Distorted Humor) is the dam of Arrogate (Unbridled=s Song). Well-bred herself and, as it later turned out, a talented race horse, she should have been on the fast track to the racetrack. Instead, she was caught in limbo as a partnership was dissolving and one of her owners was so focused on his legal problems that he lost track of the horse. The one who caught the mistake was Jerry Szczepanski. He owned a small group of horses with another individual who got caught up in a serious jam involving legal and financial problems. Explaining that he wants to distance himself from the individual as much as possible, Szczepanski will not divulge the partner=s name, but it was his job to handle their horses= affairs until they were ready for the racetrack. Then, Szczepanski would take over, managing their racing careers. Because of the ongoing situation with the one partner, it was decided that the two would get out of the business and all their horses would be sold. That=s what Szczepanski assumed had happened when he realized there was a horse who was unaccounted for, Bubbler. Cont. p3 Into Mischief – Golden Works, The Breeders’ Farm by Banker’s Gold | Fee: $15,000 S&N 859.294.0030 | spendthriftfarm.com PRESIDENT & CO-PUBLISHER Barry Weisbord @barryweisbord [email protected] SR. V.P. & CO-PUBLISHER Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] V.P., INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] Wednesday, April 5, 2017 EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Managing Editor Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN Associate Editors Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Ben Massam @BMassamTDN Assistant Editors Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Countdown to Keeneland. Keeneland’s 2017 Spring Race Meet kicks off on Friday, Alycia Borer April 7. Graded stakes fields are listed at the end of Headline News, including Advertising Manager Saturday’s $1-million GII Toyota Blue Grass S. and $500,000 GI Central Bank Ashland Lia Best Advertising Designer S., which both drew Tuesday morning. | Keeneland Amanda Crelin Advertising Assistants Alexa Reisfield Michelle Benson OPPENHEIM: WHO’S THE GREATEST? 5 Photo Editor/Dir. of Distribution In the wake of Arrogate (Unbridled’s Song)’s G1 Dubai Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew World Cup heroics, Bill Oppenheim breaks down the debate [email protected] of who’s the best among four superstar colts from the past Social Media Strategist decade: Arrogate, Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), American Pharoah Justina Severni (Pioneerof the Nile) or Sea the Stars (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}). Director of Customer Service Vicki Forbes [email protected] MELNYK AMONG 2017 CANADIAN HOF CLASS 9 Director of Information Technology Prominent owner/breeder Eugene Melnyk, who campaigned Ray Villa Eclipse Award winnerSpeightstown (Gone West) and Sovereign [email protected] Award winners Sealy Hill (Point Given), Archer’s Bay (Silver Deputy), Roxy Gap (Indian Charlie) and Leigh Court (Grand Slam), WORLDWIDE INFORMATION International Editor was honored as one of five inductees to the Canadian Horse Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN Racing Hall of Fame Tuesday. [email protected] 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.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 10 • THETDN.COM WEDNESDAY • APRIL 5, 2017 A Strange Trip to Stardom, cont. from p1 bookkeeper, who knew nothing about racing, just kept paying AWe decided to end the business and we sold all the horses we the bills to the farm, and no one asked any questions. He let it had, or at least I thought,@ Szczepanski said. AI got an email from slip. It wasn=t important to him. It was important to me.@= my partner and he said they had all been sold. Then one day, I Once Szczepanski figured out what was going on, he rescued was going through my books and the filly and sent her to trainer Bret thought something was missing. Bubbler Calhoun. had been put on a training farm in Ocala She wound up winning six of nine (Jeanne Mayberry=s Mayberry Farm) starts, including four stakes races while and he had forgotten all about her. It campaigning in the Southwest. In her was a mess. When we finally figured out final start, Bubbler ran a close third we still owned a horse she had already behind multiple graded stakes winner turned three.@ Wasted Tears (Najran) in the G3 Ouija Szczepanski doesn=t believe the Board Distaff Handicap on the turf. partner was trying to cheat him. Rather, AShe had a heart like crazy,@ he says the person was so caught up in Szczepanski said. AShe would run until his own legal troubles that he had there no was no tomorrow.@ Bubbler | Fasig-Tipton stopped paying any attention to the At the conclusion of her 4-year-old comings and goings of his horses. career, Szczepanski decided to sell her as a broodmare prospect AI have no doubt in my mind what happened,@ Szczepanski and turned to the team at Taylor Made. said. AHe was a very wealthy man who lost a lot of money in the AShe was a pretty mare; there was nothing bad about her,@ Florida real estate bust. He stopped paying all attention to what said Leif Aaron, stakes filly recruiter for Taylor Made Sales. AShe we were doing. Because of my role in the partnership, I pretty came to us in good shape and was a nice, solid mare that had much waited until he said horses were ready to go to track and I some quality on the racetrack.@ would take it from there. He wasn=t paying attention and his At least one other Aexpert@ had a different take on Bubbler. Cont. p4 THE FUTURE IS HERE DRIFTING CUBE Purchased for $1.1m at 2014 National Broodmare Sale by John Sikura. First foal tops Keeneland Weanling Sale at US$1.45m SABANCI ESTELLE COLLECTION SWING DANCE Purchased for $180,000 at 2013 National Broodmare Sale Purchased for $1.4m at 2014 National Broodmare Sale Purchased for $360,000 at 2015 National Broodmare Sale First two yearlings sell for gross of $1.625m Resultant foal sells for $1.8m as a yearling Son, Champion 4YO Rapper Dragon, wins HK Derby NATIONAL BROODMARE SALE 30 MAY-2 JUNE | GOLD COAST THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE’S #1 BREEDING STOCK MARKET PLACE “The filly sold really well and to top the Keeneland Foal Sale with the colt was an incredible outcome. I bought two nicely bred maiden mares whose southern hemisphere pedigrees were somewhat unfamiliar however it worked out extraordinarily well. The end result is good for international commerce and hopefully will be a catalyst for more trade with each other in future years.” John Sikura, Hill ’n’ Dale Farm For further info on the sale and enquiries in relation to attending, contact T +61 7 5504 1200 | E [email protected] Catalogue online late April | www.magicmillions.com.au TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 10 • THETDN.COM WEDNESDAY • APRIL 5, 2017 A Strange Trip to Stardom, cont. AOne good friend of mine was into breeding and pinhooking and he went out to Lone Star Park to look at Bubbler and told me she didn=t have much value as a broodmare because she was so small,@ Szczepanski said. AHe said if I ever told a reporter his name he would kill me.@ Bubbler was sold for $170,000 at the 2010 Fasig-Tipton November Sale to Clearsky Farm. They bred her to Unbridled=s Song and the result was Arrogate. It=s hard to say what Bubbler is now worth, but Clearsky put her through the ring at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton November Sale, where she was bid up to $4.7 million, but came back home after not meeting her reserve.