SUNDAY, JULY 15, 2018 ‘RISING STAR’ RELISHES TWO TURNS ELATE OUTCLASSES ‘EM ‘TDN Rising Star’ Once On Whiskey (Bodemeister) was let go at odds of 7-1 trying a route of ground for the first time in IN DEL ‘CAP Saturday’s GIII Los Alamitos Derby in Orange County, but belied his inexperience at two turns to peg back Draft Pick (Candy Ride {Arg}) in the shadow of the wire. Exiting an apparently excuse-free third in a seven-furlong Churchill allowance test May 5, the $150,000 Keeneland September purchase raced at the back of the Los Al Derby field alongside Blended Citizen (Proud Citizen) as favored stablemate Ax Man (Misremembered) set the pace from Draft Pick in the middle and a three-wide King Cause (Creative Cause). Ax Man was never given a breather and Draft Pick put him to the sword with three-eighths of a mile to travel, having won that battle. Once On Whiskey picked up the slack for his fading stablemate, and soon emerged as the fresh challenge entering the final furlong. Draft Pick kept plugging away as he was looking for the line, but Elate | Hoofprints, Inc. Flavien Prat shoved Once On Whiskey home narrowly in front. She’s still got some work to do if she’s going to catch up with Cont. p4 (Click here) the accomplishments of former fellow Bill Mott trainee and two- time Delaware H. heroine Royal Delta (Empire Maker), but Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider’s ‘TDN Rising Star’ Elate IN TDN EUROPE TODAY (Medaglia d’Oro) kicked off her 4-year-old season with her own FLAG TAKES FLIGHT IN JULY CUP emphatic score at the Wilmington oval Saturday. Off at even- U S Navy Flag has a trip to Australia on the horizon for The money in this first running of Delaware’s signature race since it Everest after winning Saturday’s G1 Darley July Cup. Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. lost Grade I status, last year’s GI Alabama S. and GI Beldame Invitational S. romper was making her first afternoon appearance since finishing fourth as the favorite in the GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar in November. Void of early speed behind a tempo that was very slow for the opening half-mile, the dark bay was clicked up by rider Jose Ortiz with about five furlongs to race and was in a share of the lead as they entered the turn. Held together as long as possible, Elate was allowed to open up at the top of the lane and proved not for catching from there as she cruised away by 3 1/4 lengths. Sneaky Betty (Mineshaft) plugged away for second at better than 85-1 ahead of Teresa Z (Smart Strike) in third. “The horse outside of me [Nikki My Darling {Creative Cause}], I thought she had speed, but she stumbled out of there so I didn’t know what to do--whether to go or take back,” said Ortiz. “But then I saw her rushing up there so I kind of took back. I had Johnny [Velazquez on Unbridled Mo {Uncle Mo}], the other horse to beat, in front of me; and Mario [Gutierrez on Mopotism {Uncle Mo}] in front of me, so I was looking at them. On the backside, I thought they were going really slow, so I decided to make a move.” Cont. p3 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 Sunday, July 15, 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 Rachel McCaffrey Amie Morosco Photo Editor/Dir. of Distribution Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew [email protected] Social Media Strategist Grade I winner Brass Hat (left, Maria Kabel up) and Zenyatta’s first foal, Cozmic One Justina Severni (Isabella de Sousa up), two of the horses serving as ambassadors for Thoroughbred aftercare Director of Customer Service at this weekend’s BreyerFest, pose for a photo at the Kentucky Horse Park. For more about Vicki Forbes Cozmic One, click here see this month’s issue of TDN Weekend . | Jen Roytz [email protected] Marketing Manager Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen AXELROD, TALK VEUVE TO ME SCORE AT INDY 5 Director of Information Technology Indiana Grand’s signature evening of racing Saturday Ray Villa featured an upset win in the GIII Indiana Derby by [email protected] Axelrod (Warrior’s Reward) and a dominant victory in the GIII Indiana Oaks by Talk Veuve to Me (Violence). Bookkeeper Terry May [email protected] TODAY’S GRADED STAKES WORLDWIDE INFORMATION EST Race Click for TV International Editor 2:45a Hakodate Kinen-G3, HAK -------------- ----- Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN Prix Eugene Adam-G2, MLF -------------- ----- [email protected] European Editor Prix de Ris-Orangis-G3, MLF -------------- ----- Emma Berry 10:15a Meilen Trophy-G2, COL -------------- ----- [email protected] 5:00p Ontario Matron S.-GIII, WO TJCIS PPs TVG 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 9 • THETDN.COM SUNDAY • JULY 15, 2018 Saturday, Delaware Park DELAWARE H.-GII, $750,000, Delaware, 7-14, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 1/4m, 2:04.83, ft. 1--ELATE, 117, f, 4, by Medaglia d’Oro 1st Dam: Cheery (SW, $172,762), by Distorted Humor 2nd Dam: Yell, by A.P. Indy 3rd Dam: Wild Applause, by Northern Dancer ‘TDN Rising Star’ O/B-Claiborne Farm & Adele B Dilschneider (KY); T-William I Mott; J-Jose L. Ortiz. $400,000. Lifetime Record: MGISW, 11-5-3-1, $1,270,325. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. 2--Sneaky Betty, 116, f, 4, Mineshaft--Tell Some Fibs, by Tale of the Cat. ($100,000 Wlg '14 KEENOV; $110,000 Ylg '15 KEESEP). O-Super C Racing Inc; B-Fred W Hertrich III & John D Fielding (KY); T-Claudio A Gonzalez. $145,000. Sold by Blandford Stud Valerio Bloodstock Yearling Purchase 3--Teresa Z, 117, f, 4, Smart Strike--With Flying Colors, by A.P. Indy. ($635,000 Ylg '15 KEESEP). O-St. Elias Stable; B-Besilu Stables LLC (KY); T-Anthony R Margotta Jr. $75,000. Trained at Crupi’s New Castle Farm Margins: 3 1/4, NK, 1 1/4. Odds: 0.60, 85.40, 5.20. Also Ran: Fuhriously Kissed, Unbridled Mo, Mopotism, Nikki My Darling, Proper Discretion. Scratched: Farrell. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. Ortiz continued, “She’s a really big filly, so I wanted her to find her stride on the backside before we hit the far turn. So, that’s what I did, and when I asked her to go she responded really well. All the credit to Bill Mott to have her ready and a great job by the whole staff.” A head-turning debut winner at Aqueduct in November of her juvenile season, Elate would fail to return to the winner’s circle in any of her next four outings, and as the favorite each time. The light seemed to come on when she aired by 5 1/2 lengths in this venue’s Light Hearted S. last June, and she went straight to Saratoga’s GI Coaching Club American Oaks from there, coming up a head short of eventual champion Abel Tasman (Quality Road) in a roughly run race. She relished this 10-furlong distance when easily defeating subsequent GI Cotillion S. winner It Tiz Well (Arch) and this year’s GI La Troienne S. heroine Salty (Quality Road) in the Alabama in August, and crushed an admittedly soft group of older foes in the Beldame at Belmont Sept. 10. Cont. p4 TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 9 • THETDN.COM SUNDAY • JULY 15, 2018 Delaware H. cont. Turning in just an even effort at the Breeders’ Cup, she’d been prepping for this up at Saratoga’s Oklahoma Training Track with a tab that included a stamina-building seven-furlong drill in 1:26 2/5 two works back June 30. Pedigree Notes: Elate is the second Medaglia d’Oro-sired 4-year-old filly in as many years to take the Delaware H.--champion Songbird grabbed last year’s renewal in what would be her final career victory. She hails from an extremely productive Claiborne family riddled with noteworthy individuals, including Grade I winners Eastern Echo and Sea Hero and standout sires and full brothers Congrats and Flatter. Her unraced 2-year-old full-brother Haunt (Ghostzapper) breezed three panels in :37.73 (12/27) at the Once On Whiskey | Benoit Photo Oklahoma Saturday morning. She has a yearling half-brother by Blame, but her speedy, stakes-winning dam failed to produce a 3--Ax Man, 122, c, 3, Misremembered--Shameful, by Flying live foal after being bred back to Medaglia d’Oro last year. Chevron. O-Patti & Hal J. Earnhardt III; B-Hal J Earnhardt (KY); T-Bob Baffert. $18,000. Hill ‘n’ Dale Foaled and Raised Saturday, Los Alamitos Margins: HD, 5, HD. Odds: 7.30, 2.10, 0.70.