BIG DAY FOR KIRKWOOOD: a winner and 2 stakes placed

Five-year-old First Dude gelding WINE NOT second last out in allowance company, ran second again this time in the Saginaw S at Belmont Park He was wide throughout and made a bid in the stretch which earned him his first black type.  FIRST DUDE is owned by  West Point Thoroughbreds and has earned $236,000. Following him across the wire in third was the 5-year-old Hard Spun colt MSW HIT IT ONCE MORE  winner of the  Haynesfield Stakes at Aqueduct and third in the Stymie. HIT IT ONCE MORE was purchased from Kirkwood Stables for $90,000 as a two year old by his trainer Gary Sciacca. He is owned by Yellow Moon Stable and was bred by  JMJ Racing Stables, LLC. His bankroll stands over $523,000.

Also a winner was ONEBALLNOSTRIKES (Include) who took an allowance race at Monmouth by 4 lengths.  Trained  by  John C. Servis, he is owned by  Final Turn Racing Stable LLC and earned over $179,000.  ONEBALLNOSTRIKES was started and then consigned and sold by Kirkwood at Timonium in 2016.

I’M BETTY G wins the Lady Canterbury S

The well-traveled I’M BETTY G (f, 4, Into Mischief- Lady in Ermine, by Honour and Glory) cleared the field early and drove on to a win in the Lady Canterbury S. at Canterbury Downs racing a mile on the turf to make it 2 visits to the winner’s circle in a row. Last year she won the  Pearl Necklace S.  at Laurel and added a pair of thirds in the South Beach S. at Gulfstream and the  Albert M. Stall Memorial at the Fair Grounds.
Sales history: CONSIGNED BY KIRKWOOD STABLES)$150,000 2yo ’16 EASMAY.
Lifetime Record: SW, 14-4-1-5, $270,465.
O-Three Diamonds Farm
B-Carol Kaye & Boyce Stable (MD)
T-Michael J. Maker.

Westpoint’s REASON TO SOAR makes it 3 in a row

REASON TO SOAR has now made it 3 in a row in allowance company at Gulfstream for owner West Point Thoroughbreds and trainer George Weaver. Today he found s tiny seam, slipped through and nailed them at the wire,  He won his 2018 debut and underlined that victory with another win in his next out. As a 3-year-old,  REASON TO SOAR broke his maiden right off the bat with a huge come from behind rally. Next, he ran third in the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Sophomore Stakes at Tampa Bay, and then back in NY,  he added another third in the New York Stallion Stakes at Aqueduct. The 4-year-old gelding has earned over $150,000.

Mucho Macho Man Colt Lights Up Bid Board Late for Kirkwood

A Mucho Macho Man colt consigned as Hip 278 brought the second-highest price of Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic sale on Day 1
A Mucho Macho Man colt consigned as Hip 278 brought the second-highest price of Fasig-Tipton’s Midlantic sale on Day 1Fasig-Tipton Photos

The second-highest price of the first session of Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale.

A speedy colt from the first crop of Mucho Macho Man  was purchased by Michael Lund Petersen for $625,000 late during the first session of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds in training sale.

Consigned as Hip 278 by Kirkwood Stables, the colt breezed the fastest quarter-mile of :21 1/5 during the under tack workouts leading up to the sale. The colt had been a $55,000 buy-back at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales March juvenile sale and was previously acquired for $95,000 from Select Sales at the 2017 Keeneland September yearling sale.

“He matured a little bit,” Kirkwood’s Kip Elser said of the difference between the OBS sale at which the colt was bought back and the result Monday.

Elser said the colt had worked well both over the synthetic surface at OBS and on dirt at the Maryland State Fairgrounds where the Fasig-Tipton sale takes place.

“He was good on the poly and he was spectacular on the dirt,” the South Carolina-based trainer said. “He was brilliant here and he stood out and sold.”

Produced from the winning Giant’s Causeway  mare Itsagiantcauseway, the colt is from the extended female family of Canadian Horse of the Year and sire Peaks and Valleys and multiple grade 2 winner Alternation . He was bred in Kentucky by Teneri Farm and Bernardo Alvarez Calderon.

Mucho Macho Man Colt Flashes Speed in Sale Workout: Bullet work for Kirkwood

Courtesy of the BloodHorse

Hip 278, a Mucho Macho Man colt, breezes a quarter-mile in :21 1/5 after rains fell May 16
Hip 278, a Mucho Macho Man colt, breezes a quarter-mile in :21 1/5 after rains fell May 16Allison Janezic/Lydia A. Williams

Mucho Macho Man Colt Flashes Speed in Sale Workout

Colt breezed an eighth-mile in :21 1/5.

With intermittent showers—some heavy at times—and moderate temperatures in the mid-70s, the May 16 second session of the under tack workouts for the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-old sale was in stark contrast to the previous day’s sunny, sticky weather with temperatures in the 90s.

Despite the elements, which began with a severe thunderstorm late Tuesday and continued off and on throughout the day Wednesday, the workouts in preparation for the May 21-22 auction at the Maryland State Fairgrounds near Timonium went off without a hitch, and the track seemed a little zippier as a result of the additional moisture.

Highlighting the day’s works was the fastest quarter-mile breeze during the first two days of :21 1/5, turned in by a Mucho Macho Man  colt consigned by Kirkwood Stables as Hip 278. On Wednesday, nine juveniles cataloged for the sale shared the under tack show’s fastest eighth-mile time of :10 1/5.

Kirkwood’s Kip Elser said the bullet work was not a surprise, noting the colt had also worked fast in preparation for the Ocala Breeders’ Sales March 2-year-olds in training sale before being bought back for $55,000.

“He was at OBS in March and breezed very well and was ignored,” Elser said of the colt, who was a $95,000 purchase from Select Sales at the 2017 Keeneland September yearling sale. “He was a nice horse then, and he’s a nice horse now.”

With a Noble Mission  colt (Hip 365) sharing the second-fastest quarter-mile breeze time Wednesday, the speedy presence by the Kirkwood horses at Midlantic was a change from the consignment’s workout protocol prior to this year’s Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale in South Florida. Rather than subject his Gulfstream sale entrants to the rigors of timed workouts, Elser opted to showcase the group to buyers by having them gallop over the track.

“It wasn’t that the (Gulfstream) sale horses couldn’t (work fast),” Elser said, adding the gallop-only horses were well-received by buyers and sold well. “We chose to show people that they shouldn’t have to. It turned out very well. For this sale, we turned it up a notch and had some horses that performed well.”

Elser was among those who gave high marks to state fairgrounds maintenance director Don “Chief” Denmeyer and his crew for sealing and then harrowing the track and maintaining it throughout the trying conditions.

“You never feel good when you have (rain) jump up like that, but these guys have always done a good job at keeping this track safe,” he said. “So was I worried about it being safe? No.”

BERNED wins the Serena’s Song at Monmouth

Courtesy of the TDN
Winner of the Safely Kept S. in November, Berned checked in third in the GII Barbara Fritchie S. Feb. 17 and was sixth last time in the GIII Distaff H. at Aqueduct Apr. 6. Running near the back of the pack early, the dark bay advanced on the backstretch run and charged through to take the lead in the lane, splashing home an easy winner.  Berned hails from the family of GI Arkansas Derby hero and Magnum Moon (Malibu Moon), GISW Harmony Lodge (Hennessy) and MGSW & GISP sire Graeme Hall (Dehere).

She is owned by Three C Stables, West Point Thoroughbreds & Robert Masiello and was bred by AR Enterprises, LLC (KY). Trained by Graham Motion, she has earned over $292,000.