Pegasus Winner Mucho Gusto ‘The Gift Who Keeps On Giving’

Courtesy of the Paulick Report

by Ray Paulick | 01.29.2020 | 6:41pm

Mucho Gusto, under Irad Ortiz Jr., in the Gulfstream Park winner’s circle after the Pegasus World Cup

 

 

Everyone whose hands have touched Mucho Gusto, 4 ½-length winner of Saturday’s Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational, were smiling in the wake of the Mucho Macho Man colt’s performance in the $3-million race at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

And a lot of people have had a hand in the success of Mucho Gusto, who was bred in Kentucky by a Peruvian family, offered at public auction on four different occasions and finally sold privately to a Saudi prince months before his biggest career victory.

The Pegasus winner’s story begins at Ted Kuster and Matt Koch’s Shawhan Place in Paris, Ky., where Mucho Gusto was born and raised. His breeders are Teneri Farm Inc., and Bernardo Alvarez-Calderon. The latter is a horseman from Peru who has been breeding Thoroughbreds in his native land for nearly 50 years and was formerly an accomplished show-jump rider who represented Peru in international competition. Father of six children, some of whom followed Alvarez-Calderon into the equestrian world, he named his farm Teneri because of his appreciation for the legendary Italian breeder Federico Tesio and two of the most significant horses he bred, Nearco and Ribot. (Teneri consists of the first two letters of the three names.)

Mucho Gusto, produced from the Giant’s Causeway mare Itsagiantcauseway (bred by Zayat Stables), brought $14,000 when Shawhan Place consigned him to the 2017 Keeneland January Sale of Horses of All Ages.

The colt’s buyer was Kelly Lively of Ocala, Fla., daughter-in-law of retired jockey John Lively. He was the only horse purchased that year by Lively, who prepped Mucho Gusto for the fall yearling sales on her five-acre farm near Ocala.

“Me and a couple of friends try to buy one or two horses each year to re-sell,” said Lively, who works for consignors Select Sales and de Meric Stables and Sales when she isn’t selling real estate in Central Florida.

“The only problem I ever had with him, a week or so before the sale (Keeneland September Yearling Sale), a hurricane was coming through Florida and the barn flooded. He cut open his shoulder.”

That didn’t seem to hurt the colt’s sale price when offered by Select Sales at Keeneland, where California attorney Steve Schwartz bought him as agent for $95,000 – the eighth highest price of 35 yearlings sold from the first crop by Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Mucho Macho Man, a son of the Holy Bull stallion Macho Uno. Lively turned a nice profit with the pinhook.

Schwartz turned Mucho Gusto over to Kip Elser, whose Kirkwood Stables are based in Camden, S.C., to prepare for a juvenile sale. “He’s a good judge of a yearling,” Elser said of Schwartz, who trained horses for a few years in Southern California. “He does two or three a year.”

Elser entered Mucho Gusto in the 2018 OBS March Sale and there were no takers. Bidding stopped at $55,000 and a mystified Elser bought him back.

“He breezed in 10 flat (for one furlong) and went well, but was completely ignored,” Elser remembered. “He got no attention.”

When Elser entered Mucho Gusto in Fasig-Tipton‘s Midlantic Sale of 2-year-olds in training in Maryland two months later, it was a completely different story. After zipping a quarter mile in :21 1/5 on a sloppy Timonium racetrack, he brought a final bid of $625,000 from Donato Lanni on behalf of a relatively new owner, Michael Lund Petersen, the Pandora Jewelry magnate who resides on a farm nearby in suburban Baltimore.

That’s some serious inflation from March to May. What happened?

Bob Baffert, Mucho Gusto’s trainer, said he remembers seeing the colt’s OBS workout and was not impressed.

“He never switched leads,” Baffert recalled of the work over the OBS synthetic track. “A lot of times when they never switch, you can get turned off.”

Lively, who watched her pinhooked colt breeze at OBS, agreed.

“They don’t really separate on the synthetic,” Lively said. “There were a bunch of 9 4/5 works and he went in 10 flat. I thought he looked great, but he didn’t switch leads.”

“When he worked at Timonium it was a wet track and he blitzed around there,” Baffert said. “He went unbelievably well. That’s why when I entered him at Gulfstream (for the Pegasus), I was hoping it would rain.”

The Midlantic Sale takes place the week after the Preakness and Baffert recalls looking at the colt in Elser’s consignment the day after Justify won the middle jewel of the Triple Crown. “He was one of the standouts,” Baffert recalled, “but I didn’t think he’d bring that much.”

So Schwartz, like Lively before him, scored a pinhooking home run when the horse he bought for $95,000 sold for $625,000.

Mucho Gusto went straight into stakes company after breaking his maiden for Baffert at Los Alamitos on Sept. 20 of his 2-year-old season. He won the G3 Bob Hope Stakes going seven furlongs at Del Mar Nov. 17, then finished second behind Improbable in the G1 Los Alamitos Futurity at 1 1/16 miles on Dec. 8.

Mucho Gusto continued on the Kentucky Derby trail after winning his 3-year-old debut at Santa Anita, the G3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes, contested over a sloppy track Feb. 2. But Petersen’s hopes of getting to Churchill Downs with his second Kentucky Derby starter (Mor Spirit carried his silks to a 10th-place finish in 2016) were dashed when Mucho Gusto finished third after setting fast fractions in the G3 Sunland Park Derby in New Mexico.

After a summer campaign that saw victories in a pair of G3 stakes at Santa Anita, Mucho Gusto finished second behind eventual 3-year-old champion Maximum Security in the G1 Haskell, then was third behind Code of Honor and Tacitus in the G1 Travers.

His final start of 2019 was something of a puzzler, finishing fourth as the 9-10 favorite in the G3 Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park.

In between the Travers and the Oklahoma Derby, an individual acting on behalf of Saudi Prince Faisal Bin Khaled contacted Baffert in an effort to buy Mucho Gusto from Petersen. The offer was turned down.

“They kept upping the price,” Baffert said. “I said, ‘It’s got to be a good offer because Michael Lund really likes this horse.’”

A deal was struck after the Oklahoma Derby in October to sell Mucho Gusto for an undisclosed sum. Petersen’s colt had won $779,800 on the track, and the price of the private transaction clearly put him in the black.

Victory in the Pegasus gave Prince Faisal Bin Khaled the winner’s share of $1,662,000, which probably gave him a healthy share of the price he paid to acquire Mucho Gusto. More importantly, the triumph gave him a runner in his country’s inaugural $20-million Saudi Cup, where Baffert will also be saddling G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic runner-up McKinzie.

“I love a horse who does well for everybody,” said Lively, who went to Gulfstream for the Pegasus, calling it “probably the most exciting day of racing in my life. He’s such a sound horse. He may not be the best horse, but he always tries.”

You might think the breeders of Mucho Gusto are the only ones who didn’t make out okay in the various transactions, since he sold for just $14,000 as a January yearling.

But Gus Koch of Shawhan Place was quick to remind that the Alvarez-Calderon family still owns the mare who produced the Pegasus winner. “The plan is go to Medaglia d’Oro with her,” said Koch. “They are longtime clients, fantastic people, and we are over the moon for them and their success. Mr. Alvarez-Calderon has been breeding horses his entire life, and to win a race like the Pegasus in a thrilling moment for all involved.”

As Kelly Lively put it, “Much Gusto is the gift who keeps on giving.”

Mucho Gusto Returns to California in Good Order

Courtesy of the BloodHorse

Mucho Gusto the morning after winning the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park
Mucho Gusto the morning after winning the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park

The Gulfstream Park back side was crowded with vans during the early morning hours Jan. 26 as horses shipped out of the South Florida base following the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes Presented by Runhappy (G1).

Mucho Gusto, who won the Jan. 25 race by 4 1/2  lengths for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert and Prince Faisal Bin Khaled, looked well loading into the trailer bound for California.

“He was training well, and I was trying not to get too excited about him because he always came up a little short in the big races this last year,” Baffert said. “The freshening really helped him. He needed to run the best race of his life, and he basically ran the same race as he did in the Haskell (Invitational Stakes, G1). He ran his heart out.”

Baffert, who did not make the cross-country trip to Florida, said all reports regarding Mucho Gusto were positive Sunday morning and that the Mucho Macho Man  colt would likely ship to Saudi Arabia along with Whitney Stakes (G1) winner McKinzie for the $20 million Saudi Cup Feb. 29. The ban on medication, part of the new structure of the fourth annual Pegasus World Cup, had little effect on Mucho Gusto, Baffert said.

“We scoped him to make sure he didn’t bleed, so that was a positive,” Baffert said. “He’s never shown any signs of bleeding. The Saudi Cup will be next. They bought him to run in the Saudi Cup, and we got word today he was invited. Both he and McKinzie will run.

“Ever since they announced the Saudi Cup, people from the Middle East have been trying to buy horses for the race. They kept pestering me, and I told them if they came back with a big, ridiculous offer, they’d sell him, and that’s what they did. They’re looking good now. Who would know the race would fall apart like it did?”

Hronis Racing’s last-place finisher, Higher Power, who is also based in California with trainer John Sadler, shipped out early Sunday morning with Mr Freeze. Sadler’s foreman, who accompanied the son of Medaglia d’Oro  onto the trailer, said the horse looked good despite Saturday’s finish.

The next start for Jim Bakke and Gerald Isbister’s Mr Freeze—the Pegasus World Cup runner-up—is still up in the a

“He came out great, and he looks really good this morning,” said trainer Dale Romans, who has no target in mind for the son of To Honor and Serve.

“I’ve no idea yet,” Romans said. “I’ll have to think it over.”

Fourth-place runner Diamond Oops, campaigned by Diamond 100 Racing Club, Amy Dunne, D P Racing, and Patrick Biancone Racing, also returned from his Pegasus effort to the delight of his connections.

“He came back awesome and was sound and happy this morning,” said Andie Biancone, daughter of trainer Patrick Biancone. “We’re super proud of his effort, and he’ll probably return to sprinting in the future, but he did his best and we’re super proud of him.”

Biancone said a next race has not been selected for the Mr. Prospector Stakes (G3) winner.

“We’re going to just let him tell us when he’s ready,” Biancone said. “He was fresh walking around the shed row this morning, so it’s a good sign. I think when the horses from Palm Meadows shipped in 72 hours ahead of time, they weren’t used to that. They normally come in 24 hours before, so it was really different for them. He’s not tired, but I’m definitely tir

Baffert Relishes Mucho Gusto’s Pegasus Win From Afar; Colt Earns Invitation To Saudi Cup

Mucho Gusto after his win in the Pegasus World Cup
COURTESY OF THE PAULICK REPORT

Idle since fourth in the Grade III Oklahoma Derby Sept. 29, Bob Baffert’s Santa Anita-based Mucho Gusto ran the race of his life in yesterday’s Grade I, $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream, winning by 4 ½ lengths while getting a mile and one eighth in 1:48.85.

Ridden for the first time in his 11th career start by recent Eclipse Award winning Jockey Irad Ortiz, Mucho Gusto was hustled from the gate, soon found the rail and had a 2 ½ length advantage turning for home.

“Irad Ortiz did a pretty masterful job,” Baffert, who opted not to travel to Gulfstream, said yesterday from Santa Anita. “He had me a little worried the way he was down inside like that, but he knew what he was doing. When he tilted out at the quarter pole, all I could say was ‘Damn, I wish I would have flown down there.

“I am really happy, I was really surprised because it was a last minute thing,” Baffert told XBTV yesterday at Santa Anita. “I just thought about (the Pegasus) and I was watching the race closely. I gave him a good work and I was going to run him next week in the San Pasqual (Grade II, 1 1/8 miles Feb. 1) and I thought, ‘You know what, he worked so well today (Jan. 16), I think I’ll take a shot at it and he hadn’t gotten an invite from the Saudi Cup…So I thought maybe if he runs well (in the Pegasus), he’ll get an invitation.”

As expected, the Saudi Cup invitation has been extended and Baffert said that both Mucho Gusto and McKinzie would depart from Santa Anita on Feb. 18.

“The race is $20 million at a mile and one eighth on Feb. 29,” he said.

Kirkwood Grad and Baffert-Trained Mucho Gusto Makes It Look Easy In Pegasus World Cup

Courtesy of the Paulick Report
by  | 01.25.2020 | 6:04pm

Mucho Gusto wins the 4th running of the Pegasus World Cup

 

Several weeks ago, it looked like Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert wouldn’t have a horse in the fourth running of the G1 Pegasus World Cup. When 4-year-old Mucho Gusto put in a particularly good work from the gate on Jan. 16 at Santa Anita, Baffert decided to send the colt over to Gulfstream to contest the race.

Scratched down to a field of 10 with the loss of probable favorite Omaha Beach and of Breeders’ Cup winner Spun to Run, the $3 million Pegasus was billed as a wide-open betting affair.

Instead, His Royal Highness Prince Faisal bin Khalid’s Mucho Gusto made it under the wire an easy winner, pulling away from Mr Freeze by 4 1/2 lengths. The son of Mucho Macho Man, sent to post as the second choice at odds of 3-1, gave jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. his third win on Saturday’s card, running nine furlongs over the fast main track in 1:48.85.

“You know what, the horse shipped really well and I wasn’t really planning on taking him there, but he worked really well the other day,” Baffert said by phone from California. “I was going to run in the San Pasqual next week but after he worked so well I thought, ‘You know what, I’m just going to take a shot at the mile-and-an-eighth and maybe that will get him ready.’ He didn’t get an invite to the Saudi Cup, so I thought maybe if he runs well enough he’ll get an invitation.

“Who would know that the race fell apart there [with the scratch of Omaha Beach and Spun to Run], unfortunately. But he looked great in the warm-up; Irad Ortiz did a pretty masterful job. He had me a little bit worried the way he was down inside like that, but he knew what he was doing. When he tilted out at the quarter pole, all I could say was ‘Damn, I wish I would have flown down there!’ But it was pretty exciting.

Mucho Gusto was extremely quick out of the starting gate, making his way to the lead and the rail in the short run up to the clubhouse turn. Mr Freeze rushed up on his outside to demand the early lead, followed by Bodexpress and Higher Power, leaving Ortiz and Mucho Gusto to settle in a perfect stalking position in fourth.

Mr Freeze set fractions of :23.37 and :47.78 on the front end, with Ortiz saving ground at the rail on Mucho Gusto. Bodexpress was always tugging hard at the bridle, and he was the first to challenge Mr Freeze in the far turn.

When Ortiz tipped Mucho Gusto out to the three-path to make his run, it took the colt a few strides to increase his momentum. Meanwhile Mr Freeze had managed to pull away from Bodexpress, but Mucho Gusto got to rolling by the head of the lane and the race was over.

“I had a great trip,” said Ortiz, just crowned with the Eclipse Award for leading jockey in 2019. “He got a great start and felt good. He relaxed so well and we were able to save ground. At the three-eighths pole I tipped him out and he took off. He was much the best. I think he just took off and opened up easy. He’s a nice horse.”

Cruising under the wire an easy Winner, Mucho Gusto defeated Mr Freeze by 4 1/2 lengths. War Story closed from the rear of the field to finish third, while Diamond Oops checked in fourth.

The remaining order of finish was: Bodexpress, Tenfold, Seeking the Soul, True Timber, Tax, and Higher Power.

Bred in Kentucky by Teneri Farm Inc. and Bernardo Alvarez Calderon, Mucho Gusto is out of the winning Giant’s Causeway mare Itsagiantcauseway. A sales veteran, Mucho Gusto went under the hammer four times in his formative years, eventually bringing $625,000 from Michael Lund Petersen at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-old in training sale.

The colt broke his maiden on debut, then won the G2 Bob Hope in just his second career start. He closed out his juvenile season with a second-place finish in the G1 Los Al Futurity, and started out his 3-year-old campaign with a win in the G3 Robert Lewis. After finishing third in the Sunland Derby, he returned to Santa Anita to win both the G3 Laz Barrera and G3 Affirmed before striking out east to run in the G1 Haskell.

Second behind Maximum Security in the Haskell and third in the Travers, Mucho Gusto’s last start of 2019 came in the form of a fourth-place finish in September’s G3 Oklahoma Derby. The layoff appeared to work in his favor as Mucho Gusto dominated the Pegasus, improving his overall record to 6-2-2 from 11 starts for earnings of well over $2 million.

“The way he broke, I told Irad to warm him up well so that he would get away from there, and he did,” Baffert continued. “He could have won from the 12-hole. He just showed up. We’ve always wanted to see him run a race like that, but he got beat by Maximum Security, he’s been chasing some really good horses. It was a different field today. I want give a shout out to Flavien (Prat). He worked him for me and was going to ride him in the San Pasqual.”

Mucho Gusto Fires Another Bullet in Pegasus World Cup

Mucho Gusto wins the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes at Gulfstream Park
Mucho Gusto wins the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes at Gulfstream Park

Coglianese Photos

Baffert-trained Mucho Macho Man colt worked sharply leading up to first grade 1 win.

The mood was light and the spirit even lighter as horses and riders waited to enter the gate for the $2.94 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes Presented by Runhappy (G1) Jan. 25 at Gulfstream Park.

Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano stood on the sideline dressed in a sharp suit, having lost his mount when Pegasus hopeful Spun to Run scratched two days before the race. Castellano called out to his fellow jockeys as they waited to load, heckling them with jibes and jokes that drew smiles from all.

Dressed in the silks of Prince Faisal Bin Khaled astride Mucho Gusto, Irad Ortiz Jr. waved and laughed at Castellano. Less than two minutes later, the two-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey blew past the crowd with astounding ease as he and Mucho Gusto claimed the fourth running of the Pegasus World Cup by 4 1/2 lengths.

“Those are the most exciting ones, when you don’t expect it,” trainer Bob Baffert said via phone after the race. “He just showed up. We’ve always wanted to see him run a race like that, but he got beat by Maximum Security and he’s been chasing some really good horses. It was a different field today.”

Leaving from post 8 in the 10-horse field, Ortiz and Mucho Gusto broke on top before the veteran jockey shifted his mount sharply to the rail to occupy third behind Mr Freeze and Bodexpress, respectively. Despite being crowded by Bodexpress after the break, Mr Freeze set the pace, clicking off easy fractions of :23.77 and :47.78 through the half-mile.

Mucho Gusto dropped back to fourth briefly at the half-mile mark and swung out three wide. Favorite Higher Power moved in to take over the open position left by Mucho Gusto but soon found himself blocked out of the running and began to drift back.

Within striking range of the leaders, Mucho Gusto found another gear and surged forward to overtake Bodexpress and then Mr Freeze. At the top of the stretch, Mucho Gusto held sway by 2 1/2 lengths and increased his margin from there. He blew past the wire with a flourish, completing the 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.85 on a track rated fast for his first grade 1 victory.

“I had a great trip,” Ortiz said. “He got a great start and felt good. He relaxed so well, and we were able to save ground. At the three-eighths pole, I tipped him out and he took off. He was much the best. I think he just took off and opened up easy. He’s a nice horse.”

The hard-running Mr Freeze never wavered and held for second to the delight of trainer Dale Romans.

“That was the plan (to go to the front). He didn’t break as clean as I would have liked, but he got there and he had a good pace and ran a good race,” Romans said. “He was training as good as a horse can train, and he ran huge. I thought he ran a beautiful race. We’ve had confidence in him, and he ran the way we thought he would.”

“He never gave up,” said Mr Freeze’s jockey, Luis Saez. “He was brave. He was trying very hard. I thought we were going to win for a second. He never gave up. He missed the break a little, but then when he saw the clear, he went pretty nice. I felt like he was very comfortable.”

War Story, who broke slowly from the gate, made a late rally to get up for third. Diamond Oops saved ground in the backstretch and had enough in reserve to overtake Bodexpress for fourth. TenfoldSeeking the SoulTrue TimberTax, and Higher Power completed the order of finish.

Mucho Gusto paid $8.80, $5, and $3.80 on a $2 wager.

Bred in Kentucky by Teneri Farm and Bernardo Alvarez Calderon, Mucho Gusto is the third foal out of the Giant’s Causeway mare Itsagiantcauseway. The 4-year-old has made several trips through the sales ring, the last when he was purchased by Michael Lund Petersen for $625,000 from the consignment of Kirkwood Stables to the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. 

Mucho Gusto impressed off the bat at 2 and has been remarkably consistent ever since. The Mucho Macho Man colt broke his maiden on debut for Baffert and then-owner Petersen before taking the Bob Hope Stakes (G3) at Del Mar next out. He ran second in the Los Alamitos Cash Call Futurity (G1) at Los Alamitos Race Course and followed with another victory at 3 in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Park.

After running third in the Sunland Park Derby (G3) at Sunland Park, Mucho Gusto scored back-to-back wins in the Lazaro Barrera Stakes (G3) and Affirmed Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita. He placed second in the TVG.com Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park behind champion 3-year-old Maximum Security before hitting the board once more in the Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course. He closed his sophomore season with a fourth in the Oklahoma Derby (G3) at Remington Park.

Before making his start in the Pegasus World Cup, Mucho Gusto was purchased privately by Prince Faisal Bin Khaled, governor of the Asir Region of Saudi Arabia and a member of the House of Saud.

With new connections and a new goal to start his 4-year-old campaign, Mucho Gusto trained well leading up to the Pegasus, posting four bullet works at Santa Anita between Dec. 29 and Jan. 16 ahead of shipping to Florida.

“He has just been training so well,” Baffert’s assistant Jimmy Barnes said. “After that freshening, he really seemed to grow and get back to the way he was when we first got him. Did I think he was going to crush them like that? No. That was impressive.”

“The horse shipped really well and I wasn’t really planning on taking him there, but he worked really well the other day,” said Baffert, who also won the inaugural running of the Pegasus in 2017 with Arrogate . “I loved his work, and I was going to run him in the San Pasqual (G2) next week. But after he worked so well, I thought, ‘You know what, I’m just going to take a shot at the mile-and-an-eighth and maybe that gets him ready.’ He didn’t get an invite to the Saudi Cup, so I thought if he runs well enough, he’ll get an invitation, and who would know that the race fell apart there at the end (with the scratch of Omaha Beach  and Spun to Run), unfortunately.

“That’s the best he’s ever looked. He looked great in the warm-up, and Irad Ortiz did a pretty masterful job. He had me a little bit worried when he was down inside like that, but he knew what he was doing. When he tilted out at the quarter pole, all I could say was, ‘Damn, I wish I would have flown down there!’ But it was pretty exciting.”

Mucho Gusto’s win boosted his earnings to $2,579,800. He has a 6-2-2 record from 11 starts.

VIDEO: PEGASUS WORLD CUP INVITATIONAL S. PRESENTED BY RUNHAPPY (G1)

KIRKWOOD GRAD: Mucho Gusto Too Tough in Pegasus World Cup

Mucho Gusto | Lauren King
Courtesy of the TDN

 

Following the high-profile defections of Omaha Beach (War Front) and Spun to Run (Hard Spun) earlier this week, the GI Runhappy Pegasus World Cup appeared to be a wide-open affair. But apparently nobody told Mucho Gusto (Mucho Macho Man). Sent off the 3-1 second choice behind Higher Power (Medaglia d’Oro), who went off at 5-2, Mucho Gusto took over with consummate ease, strolling home an 4 1/2 -length winner over Mr Freeze (To Honor and Serve). It was 3/4 of a length farther back to War Story (Nothern Afleet).

“Those are the most exciting ones, when you don’t expect it,” said Baffert, speaking via telephone from California. It was Baffert’s second win in the race since taking the inaugural edition with Arrogate in 2017.

Mucho Gusto broke like a shot from post 10 and was hustled over to the inside by the piping hot Irad Ortiz Jr. navigating the first turn. Soon headed by Mr Freeze and Bodexpress (Bodemeister) through an opening quarter in :23.77, Higher Power ranged up to the outside flank of Bodexpress following a :47.78 half. The two front runners spurted a length clear approaching the quarter pole, and while Mucho Gusto appeared to keep pace with the leaders, High Power began his backward retreat. Three-abreast with the pacesetters at the quarter pole, the chestnut quickly vaulted past those two, was clear at the top of the lane and was given a pair of left handers and one on the right, but those seemed more for reassurance as he glided home a much-the-best winner.

“I had a great trip,” said Irad Ortiz Jr., who earned his second consecutive Eclipse Award Thursday night. “He got a great start and felt good. He relaxed so well and we were able to save ground. At the three-eighths pole I tipped him out and he took off. He was much the best. I think he just took off and opened up easy. He’s a nice horse.”

Baffert was equally pleased with his charge’s performance, “[Mucho Gusto] looked great in the warm up, and Irad Ortiz did a pretty masterful job. He had me a little bit worried the way he was down inside like that, but he knew what he was doing. When he tilted out at the quarter pole, all I could say was ‘Damn I wish I would have flown down there!’. But it was pretty exciting.”

A graded stakes winner and Grade I placed at two, the chestnut took the Robert B. Lewis S. at Santa Anita in February before finishing third in the GIII Sunland Derby the following month. Victorious in the GIII Laz Barerra S. and GIII Affirmed S., he found subsequent 3-year-old champion Maximum Security (New Year’s Day) too tough in the July 20 GI Haskell Invitational S. Third in the 10-furlong GI Travers S. Aug. 24, he rounded out the season with a fourth-place finish in the GIII Oklahoma Derby Sept. 29. Given time some time off and purchased privately by HH Prince Faisal bin Khaled in the interim, Much Gusto recorded three consecutive bullet breezes recently, including a five-furlong move in :59 4/5 (1/58) Jan. 4 (XBTV) followed by a six-panel work in 1:12 4/5 (1/4) Jan. 10 (XBTV).

“The horse shipped really well and I wasn’t really planning on taking him there, but he worked really well the other day,” said Baffert, explaining the decision to ship in for the race. “I was going to run in the [GII] San Pasqual next week, but after he worked so well, I thought you know what, I’m just going to take a shot at the mile and an eighth and maybe that will get him ready. He didn’t get an invite to the Saudi Cup, so I thought maybe if he runs well enough, he’ll get an invitation. Who would know that the race fell apart [with the scratch of Omaha Beach and Spun to Run], unfortunately.”

When asked about his pre-race instructions, Baffert added, “The way he broke, I told Irad to warm him up well so that he would get away from there and he did. He could have won from the 12 hole. He just showed up. We’ve always wanted to see him run a race like that, but he got beat by Maximum Security, he’s been chasing some really good horses. It was a different field today. I want give a shout out to Flavien [Prat]. He worked him for me and was going to ride him in the San Pasqual.”

The win was the first Grade I score for Mucho Gusto’s sire, Mucho Macho Man, who stands at Adena Springs. Purchased for $625,000 by Michael Lund Petersen at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale in 2018, he was the highest-priced offspring by the sire that season. This is one of two winners for the mare, Itsagiantcauseway.

PEGASUS WORLD CUP INVITATIONAL S. PRESENTED BY RUNHAPPY-GI, $2,940,000, Gulfstream, 1-25, 4yo/up, 1 1/8m, 1:48.85, ft.
1–MUCHO GUSTO, 124, c, 4, by Mucho Macho Man
http://www.fasigtipton.com/ 1st Dam: Itsagiantcauseway, by Giant’s Causeway
2nd Dam: Countervail, by Seeking the Gold
3rd Dam: Strike a Balance, by Green Dancer
1ST GRADE I WIN. ($14,000 Ylg ’17 KEEJAN; $95,000 Ylg ’17
KEESEP; $55,000 RNA 2yo ’18 OBSMAR; $625,000 2yo ’18
EASMAY). O-HRH Prince Faisal Bin Khaled; B-Teneri Farm Inc.
& Bernardo Alvarez Calderon (KY); T-Bob Baffert; J-Irad Ortiz,
Jr. $1,800,000. Lifetime Record: 11-6-2-2, $2,579,800.

The 2-year-old Thoroughbred had been bred to race, but Kip Elser of Kirkwood Stables in Camden, South Carolina, believed a sport horse career was ..

Danta And Robertshaw Still Believe In The Thoroughbred Hunter

Jan 23, 2020 – 2:58 PM

It didn’t take Ron Danta more than a few minutes to decide he wanted Lucca in his barn. The 2-year-old Thoroughbred had been bred to race, but Kip Elser of Kirkwood Stables in Camden, South Carolina, believed a sport horse career was more his speed.

Danta and his partner Danny Robertshaw also base out of Camden at their Beaver River Farm, so Danta went to Kirkwood to take a look. Danta watched Lucca (Fit To Fight—Fraulino, Alwasmi) pop over his first couple of logs and liked what he saw.

“It’s kind of sad nowadays—you look back, and so many of the great, great hunters we had over the years were Thoroughbreds,” said Danta. “Danny had Protocol, who was undefeated in the 4’ regular working hunter and champion at [the Pennsylvania National], Washington, Madison Square Garden [New York] and the Royal Winter Fair [Toronto] in the same year. So many of those horses were such great show horses, and now the trend is people won’t even look at a Thoroughbred. They all want to go to Europe to look at warmbloods.”

13/03/2019 ; Wellington FL ; Winter Equestrian Festival - Week 10

Lucca showing with Hunter Kay at the Winter Equestrian Festival. Sportfot Photo

Natural jumping form is important to Danta when looking at an off-track Thoroughbred, as are the usual conformation basics—a nicely-angled shoulder, a hindquarter that isn’t too upright.

Danta and Robertshaw don’t get too hung up on a Thoroughbred’s pedigree. There are some families that carry the same genetic stamp, but Danta has seen people become crazed over a racing pedigree, only to realize that sire’s success rate is as variable in the show ring as it was on the racetrack.

These days, Danta leans toward a horse with a natural lead change. Lucca checked all the boxes, and longtime client Pauline Lampshire agreed to purchase him.

“As we’re getting older, we’re finding with the young horses we buy, if they don’t have a natural lead change in them we don’t really want to look at them because, unfortunately, lead changes affect the jump,” Danta explained. “They land, and then they want to get nervous about the lead change at the end.”

From the beginning, it seemed Lucca had found his calling. He had the “fun,” laidback attitude that made the horse show environment a breeze.

Now 16, the chestnut has shown in the open divisions as well as the Take2 Thoroughbred hunter classes with Hunter Kay, bringing home championships from venues like the Winter Equestrian Festival (Florida) and the Tryon International Equestrian Center (North Carolina). Last September Lucca won the hunter final at the inaugural $20,000 Take2 Hunter and Jumper Finals held during the Kentucky National.

Danta said he wishes there were even more opportunities for horses to compete in Take2. He also expects he’ll make the Take2 Finals in Kentucky a part of the stable’s schedule again in 2020. While in Florida for the winter season, Danta expects he and Robertshaw will make the rounds to local training centers to look at Thoroughbreds that may be ready for a career change.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to go home with a few more than we came with,” he said.

SHE’S MY TYPE adds black-type in the GINGER BREW at GULFSTREAM

Courtesy of the TDN

GINGER BREW S., $100,000, Gulfstream, 1-4, 3yo, f, 7 1/2fT, 1:28.12, fm.
1–SHE’S MY TYPE (FR), 118, f, 3, by Dunkerque (Fr) 1st Dam: Theoricienne (Fr), by Kendor (Fr) 2nd Dam: Theorie (Fr), by Anabaa 3rd Dam: Timber Nymph, by Woodman ($27,000 Ylg ’18 KEESEP).
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O-Ghislaine Head
B-Haras Du Quesnay (FR)
T-Christophe Clement
Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $82,280.

She’s My Type graduated on debut here Dec. 7 and added Lasix for this step up to black-type company. Showing good early initiative from the 12-hole, she was wrestled back into seventh by Tyler Gaffalione through early fractions of :23.09 and :46.24. Splitting horses to move into contention on the backstretch run, the dark bay seized command in the lane and held off a late charge from More Reasoning for a narrow victory.

“She’s a really talented filly. She overcame a lot today. I didn’t give her the best of trips,” rider Tyler Gaffalione said. “I moved a little early on her. I tried to get out on the turn. I didn’t want to wait too long and get boxed in. She had such a turn of foot and so much raw ability. All the credit goes to Mr. Clement. He’s been telling me for a while how nice she is. She proved it today.”

The winner has a juvenile full-brother named Sensible (Fr) and a yearling half-sister by Anodin (Ire). Her dam is a half-sibling to MGSW Blacktype (Fr) (Dunkerque {Fr}), who was also trained by Christophe Clemenet.