MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 2020 FIGHTING MAD CAPS FAVES FAIL TO SHOW ON SATURDAY, BUT EXCUSES ABOUND ANOTHER BIG WEEKEND The Week in Review, by T.D. Thornton This past Saturday wasn=t a great day to be a favorite in an FOR BAFFERT open stakes race at the nation=s premier race meets. Chalk horses went a collective one-for-seven at Saratoga and Del Mar, and the list of excuses included stutter-step starts, bumps leaving the gate, stretch-run roughhousing, getting disqualified, and being dueled into defeat in internal pace battles. Tight finishes in several stakes elevated the interest level, although the results in general did not lend clarity to the nationwide divisional races with the GI Kentucky Derby inside the five-week mark and the Breeders= Cup Championships now three months out. At the Spa, faves went zero-for-five, with the GI Personal Ensign S. setting the tone early in the day. Cont. p5 Fighting Mad | Horsephotos IN TDN EUROPE TODAY Lightly raced Fighting Mad (New Year=s Day) zipped away early WATCH ME WINS THE ROTHSCHILD and held sway late to take Sunday evening=s GI Clement L. Hirsch Watch Me (Fr) (Olympic Glory {Ire}) saluted in the G1 Prix de S. at Del Mar and stamp her ticket to the GI Breeders= Cup Rothschild at Deauville on Sunday. Click or tap here to go Distaff. Looking to add to another productive weekend for Hall straight to TDN Europe. of Fame trainer Bob Baffert that included Saturday scores in the GI Whitney S. and Shared Belief S., the Gary and Mary West homebred was backed down to 9-5 favoritism from a 4-1 morning line quote and wasted little time seizing command. Under a tight Abel Cedillo hold, the bay doled out splits of :23.15 and :46.55 before being asked to kick away from her competition heading for home. Defending champion Ollie=s Candy (Candy Ride {Arg}) and MGISW Ce Ce (Elusive Quality) were scrubbed on to try and reel in the leader approaching the stretch, but Fighting Mad began to open up at the head of the lane as Ce Ce was the first to capitulate. Ollie=s Candy kept on gamely to cut things close late, but Fighting Mad found the wire with a half-length to spare. Ce Ce held on for a distant third, while the accomplished Hard Not to Love (Hard Spun) never reached contention and brought up the rear. AI had the same instructions today that I had yesterday [for Thousand Words {Pioneerof the Nile} in the Shared Belief]--get her out of there and see if you can get to the front,@ Cedillo said. AShe really broke sharply and wanted to go right away. I got her to relax some on the backside, then she went right on with it. She=s just an amazing filly.@ 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 Monday, August 3, 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 Champion Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) was among a number of noteworthy Churchill Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew Downs breezers Sunday morning. She covered four furlongs in :49.80 (39/75) and has [email protected] her sights set on the GI La Troienne S. Sept. 4. | Coady Social Media Strategist Justina Severni NODA TAKING BIG SWING IN TRAVERS Director of Customer Service 9 Vicki Forbes Young trainer Orlando Noda has confirmed recent maiden breaker [email protected] First Line (First Samurai) for the GI Runhappy Travers S. “I'm entering to win." he told Bill finley. "He might surprise some people." Marketing Manager Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen Director of IT/Accounting BIG FEW MINUTES FOR NYQUIST RR Ray Villa First-crop sire Nyquist went from one winner to three in a matter of [email protected] minutes Sunday. First second timer Gretzky the Great dominated [email protected] at Woodbine, and then well-backed firster Lady Lilly held off fast-finishing Mo Dean, by Nyquist’s sire Uncle Mo. Uncle Mo WORLDWIDE INFORMATION got his own juvenile winner Sunday in the form of longshot International Editor Roll Up Mo Money at Del Mar. Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN [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 MONDAY • AUGUST 3, 2020 3--Ce Ce, 125, f, 4, by Elusive Quality 1st Dam: Miss Houdini, by Belong to Me Sunday, Del Mar 2nd Dam: Magical Maiden, by Lord Avie CLEMENT L. HIRSCH S.-GI, $250,500, Del Mar, 8-2, 3yo/up, f/m, 3rd Dam: Gils Magic, by Magesterial 1 1/16m, 1:43.46, ft. O/B-Bo Hirsch LLC (KY); T-Michael W. McCarthy. $30,000. 1--FIGHTING MAD, 123, f, 4, by New Year's Day Margins: HF, 4 3/4, 3 1/4. Odds: 1.80, 3.40, 2.40. 1st Dam: Smokey's Love, by Forestry Also Ran: Hang a Star, Dogtag, Hard Not to Love. 2nd Dam: Smokey Mirage, by Holy Bull Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free 3rd Dam: Verbasle, by Slewpy Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by 1ST GRADE I WIN. O-Gary & Mary West; B-Gary & Mary West Fasig-Tipton. Stables Inc. (KY); T-Bob Baffert; J-Abel Cedillo. $150,000. "I was a little bit worried about her because she was getting Lifetime Record: 8-5-1-0, $444,008. Werk Nick Rating: B+. pretty warm in the paddock, but Abel knows her pretty well and Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. he knows speed is her weapon,@ Baffert said. ATo look at her you wouldn't think she could go [a distance], but when she started 2--Ollie's Candy, 123, m, 5, by Candy Ride (Arg) opening up, I figured he must know what he's doing. Basically, 1st Dam: Afternoon Stroll, by Stroll she ran them off their feet. The way she acted in the paddock, 2nd Dam: Gertie, by Danzatore she ran an incredible race. She was trembling and sweating and I 3rd Dam: Granny Ruth, by Key to the Mint was worried, but once the race started she was pretty serious. " ($45,000 RNA Ylg '16 KEESEP). O/B-Paul & Karen Eggert (KY); A nose graduate on debut here in her lone juvenile start two T-John W. Sadler. $50,000. years ago, Fighting Mad resurfaced at Churchill to take an allowance last April. Cont. p4 TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 13 • THETDN.COM MONDAY • AUGUST 3, 2020 Clement Hirsch cont. She faded to seventh in Pimlico=s GIII Miss Preakness S. that May, and resurfaced back at Del Mar to be a close second in an optional claimer July 19. Fighting Mad=s first two-turn attempt resulted in an eight-length romp in the GIII Torrey Pines S. Aug. 17, but she was again sidelined after that. The bay crossed the wire fourth in Santa Anita=s six-furlong GIII Desert Stormer S. May 17 before being moved to fourth by the stewards, and belied 10-1 odds last time when running away with the GII Santa Maria S. in Arcadia May 21 over Hard Not to Love and Ce Ce and recent GIII Molly Pitcher S. scorer Horologist (Gemologist). FIGHTING MAD WIN AND YOU’RE IN ™ Fighting Mad | Benoit Photo connection earnings include: $ Automatic berth into #BC20 Distaff $ $60,000 in pre-entry & entry fees Pedigree Notes: $ Travel award up to $10,000 for domestic Fighting Mad becomes the second highest-level winner for her starters and $40,000 for international exported sire, following in the hoofsteps of now stablemate and starters +$10,000 nominator award to Gary & fellow West homebred Maximum Security. That champion Mary West 3-year-old took the GII San Diego H. under Cedillo last Saturday. The Wests and Baffert campaigned New Year=s Day (Street Cry Click HERE for the full 2020 {Ire}) to a victory in the 2013 GI Breeders= Cup Juvenile. #WINANDYOUREIN rules and race schedule. Cont. p5 The ultimate Sarago-to stallion Moretti in the Birdstone takes Medaglia d’Oro to 20 Black Type winners at Saratoga. He’s the Spa’s greatest ever stallion. Start spreading the news. STALLIONS BY SARATOGA BLACK TYPE WINNERS 1 MEDAGLIA D’ORO 20 2 A.P. INDY 19 3 DANZIG 16 GIANT’S CAUSEWAY 16 STORM CAT 16 Making history: it takes foresight Darley TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 5 OF 13 • THETDN.COM MONDAY • AUGUST 3, 2020 Fighting Mad Pedigree Note cont. Week in Review cont. from p1 Fighting Mad is the sixth Grade I winner out of a Forestry mare The 9-1 Vexatious (Giant=s Causeway), who hadn=t won since among a group produced by a diverse list of sires (Rushing Fall scoring in a 1 3/8 miles turf stakes at Del Mar two summers ago, {More Than Ready}, Nyquist {Uncle Mo}, Turbulent Descent ran the race of her life at age six while attending the pace over {Congrats}, Instilled Regard {Arch} and Bobby=s Kitten {Kitten=s nine furlongs on dirt.