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Tom’s Ready, New At Spendthrift For 2018

Courtesy of the Paulick Report

by Paulick Report Staff | 04.02.2018 

Tom’s Ready at Spendthrift 3.31.18

Our spotlight on new stallions for 2018 shifts to Spendthrift Farm, where Tom’s Ready took up stud duty this year.

On the track, the 5-year-old son of More Than Ready was a multiple graded stakes winner who won the Grade 2 Woody Stephens in one of the fastest times in recent memory. During his sophomore year, on his way to the Kentucky Derby, Tom’s Ready was second to eventual star Gun Runner in the Louisiana Derby.

Bred in Pennsylvania by Blackstone Farm, Tom’s Ready was a $145,000 purchase at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Sale. He retired with earnings over a million dollars.

We hope you enjoy the latest edition of In the Stud presented by Kentucky Equine Research. We would once again like to thank our friends at EquiSport Photos for the excellent video.

Tom’s Ready ITS from EquiSport Photos on Vimeo.

Conquest Big E Breaks Through in Hardacre Mile

Courtesy of the Blood Horse

Conquest Big E Inside) wins the Hardacre Mile over Always Dreaming (blue cap) at Gulfstream Park
Conquest Big E Inside) wins the Hardacre Mile over Always Dreaming (blue cap) at Gulfstream Park

Coglianese Photos/Andie Biancone

Conquest Big E Breaks Through in Hardacre Mile

Son of Tapit upset Always Dreaming to earn first graded stakes win.

  • By Alicia Wincze Hughes

Daniel Hurtak was adamant he knew what he was talking about.

Based on what he had seen from his mercurial gelding Conquest Big E in training, the owner was insistent that if the son of Tapit  could get himself forwardly placed in one of these graded stakes, he would have enough mettle to keep himself in front by the time the wire rolled around.

“For two months, I’ve been asking for him to make the lead and couldn’t get a jock to make the lead with him,” Hurtak said. “I told the jockey today (Jose Batista), ‘If you make the lead, he gets really game because in the mornings, nobody beats him.'”

Batista took that sage advice to heart in the $300,000 Gulfstream Park Hardacre Mile Stakes (G2) March 31, and, indeed, Conquest Big E made an honest man out of his owner when he earned an upset, front-running victory over 2017 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) winner Always Dreaming.

In leading every point of call en route to a three-length victory and first graded stakes score, Conquest Big E completed a long, strange trip toward finally living up to his potential. Initially purchased for $700,000 by Conquest Stables out of the 2014 Keeneland September yearling sale and trained by Mark Casse, the gray runner was put on the 2016 Kentucky Derby trail but dashed those aspirations with off-the-board efforts in that year’s Lambholm South Holy Bull Stakes (G2) and Gotham Stakes (G3).

When he sold to Tommy Roberts for $110,000 as part of the Conquest Stables dispersal at the 2016 Keeneland November breeding stock sale, he had only two wins from nine starts and was toiling in the allowance optional claiming ranks. Though he dropped his next three starts for his new connections, he had a resurgence last summer with back-to-back wins at Gulfstream Park, including a gate-to-wire, seven-length score in the Coast Is Clear Handicap going one mile.

“I knew that he can run with these horses,” said trainer Donna Green Hurtak, who celebrated her first graded stakes victory in the Hardacre Mile. “He’s a very talented horse. He’s also a Tapit, and they can be a little quirky. We’re just pleased he got to show his ability today.”

One of the things his conditioner said she worked on was breaking Conquest Big E of his habit of hopping out of the gate, an issue that cost him position during his runner-up effort in the Jan. 27 Fred W. Hooper Stakes (G3) and fourth-place finish in the Hal’s Hope Stakes (G3) Feb. 24.

“We did a little gate work with him, trying to get him out of the habit,” Green Hurtak said. “It’s great when you’re a trainer and things work, because it’s not easy to get them out of bad habits.”

The patience paid off as Conquest Big E got away well from the inside post in the six-horse Hardacre Mile field and clicked off the opening quarter-mile in :23.57 with Always Dreaming—making his first start in seven months—sitting just off his flank in second. Conquest Big E put a length on the classic winner as he reached the half-mile in :45.88, then got really brave on the final turn, opening up by nearly three lengths.

With Batista giving him some right-handed urging in the lane, Conquest Big E kicked on handily to cover the distance in 1:35.92 over a track rated fast, rewarding those who backed him at odds of 12-1.

Always Dreaming held for second in his first outing since running ninth in the Aug. 26 Travers Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1), with stablemate Tommy Macho 1 1/2 lengths back in third.

“I thought he ran well first time off a layoff,” trainer Todd Pletcher said of Always Dreaming. “Gulfstream can be a tricky track when a horse gets loose like that. We got the trip we were hoping for. We got a nice, clean trip. I thought he fell into a good rhythm and ran steadily. The horse on the lead never came back.”

“It was a positive effort. A mile is a tough distance to start off a layoff. I know the horse that won had a couple troubled trips here. He was a horse I was concerned about shaking loose.”

Veteran Page McKenney, Mr. Jordan, and multiple graded stakes winner Irish War Cry completed the order.

Bred in Kentucky by Gainesway Thoroughbreds, Conquest Big E is out of the Carson City mare Seeinsbelieven. He improved his record to five wins from 20 starts with $393,515 in earnings.

“I’m very proud of him today,” Green Hurtak said.

CONQUEST BIG E wins the GULFSTREAM PARK HARDACRE MILE S.-G2

Courtesy of the TDN
Gulfstream Park GULFSTREAM PARK HARDACRE MILE S.-GII, $300,0001m,  CONQUEST BIG E,  g, 5, (Tapit)
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN.
O-Daniel C. Hurtak
B-Gainesway Thoroughbreds Ltd. (KY)
T-Donna Green Hurtak
Lifetime Record: 20-5-2-1, $393,515.
Conquest Big E sprung a big upset in the Gulfstream Park Mile with a front-running victory over come-backing GI Kentucky Derby hero Always Dreaming. Away well from his rail draw, the gray seized the early advantage, ticking off opening splits of :23.57 and :45.88 with favored Always Dreaming stalking from second. Turning for home in front, Conquest Big E surged clear in the stretch and proved not for catching, skipping home to a decisive victory.
“When we got in position, I knew that he can run with these horses,” winning conditioner Donna Green Hurtak said. “He’s a very, very talented horse. He’s also a Tapit and they can be a little quirky. We’re just pleased he got to show his ability today.”

A $700,000 KEESEP yearling buy, Conquest Big E was initially campaigned by Conquest Stables and trainer Mark Casse He was purchased for Tommy Roberts for $110,000 from the Conquest dispersal at the 2016 Keeneland November sale.

Kirkwood trainee REASON TO SOAR wins 2018 debut

REASON TO SOAR is back with a vengeance in his 2018 debut! Owned by West Point  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. Today at Gulfstream, he rated, got the lead at the quarter pole and held it to win by a length to win his first allowance condition. The 4-year-old gelding is trained by George Weaver.

Galloping Success for Kirkwood

Kip Elser’s Kirkwood Stables bucked the trend for speed at the under-tack preview Monday and instead offered five juveniles specifically purchased as yearlings with the intention of only galloping prior to the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale.

Three of the five sold Wednesday, with a colt by Noble Mission (GB) (hip 2) starting off the afternoon selling for $120,000 to Caves Farm. Bloodstock agent Dennis O’Neill purchased the final offering from Gulfstream Gallop LLC when he bid $100,000 to take home a filly by Blame (hip 137).

In between, a filly by Data Link (hip 26) brought $65,000 from Martin Racing Stable. Colts by Exchange Rate and Liaison were bought back.

Elser purchased all five as yearlings last year on behalf of an undisclosed client. “I think we had a good solid day,” Elser said after congratulating O’Neill on his purchase.

“It was an experiment. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for a very brave man who wanted to try something, I won’t say completely new, but certainly something that hadn’t been tried recently. He’ brave. He doesn’t cry when he loses, he doesn’t crow when he wins. He just loves the game. I think it was a very worthwhile experiment and I think we can build on in it from here. I think we’ll do it again next year.

O’Neill has had plenty of success buying at 2-year-olds sales. He purchased subsequent GI Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist (Uncle Mo) for $400,000 at the Fasig-Tipton sale in 2015 and paid $35,000 for 2012 Derby winner I’ll Have Another (Flower Alley) at the OBS April Sale.

After signing the ticket on the galloping Blame filly, who was a $30,000 purchase at the Fasig-Tipton Turf Showcase, O’Neill said, “It goes back to how they move. She moved really good down the lane and I really liked the way she galloped, as strange as that might sound. We probably stretched a little bit. We were thinking $70,000 or $80,000. But she’s a really pretty filly and we’ve had luck with Blame fillies. So we thought we’d give it a shot.” O’Neill continued, “Kip let them roll a little bit- it wasn’t like it was a nice easy gallop. They were going pretty good. So you got to see how they were going to go. Which is the big thing for me, just to see their action. She was rolling pretty good down the lane.”

Of the concept of skipping furlong breezes in favor of gallops, O’Neill added, “I have mixed feelings on that. I tend to feel like an eighth of a mile at this point, is not going to hurt them. We bought two Derby horses that worked a decent eighth and they never took a bad step in their whole career. We=ve had a lot of success buying at the 2-year-old sales and had very few problems out of it. I don=t think an eighth of a mile is that much to ask.”

Elser said he has received plenty of positive feedback on the idea. “There have been a tremendous number of people who have wished us luck and said, I hope it works for you because it might help us broaden our market down the road.”

‘Trying To Change Market Thinking’: Kirkwood Offers ‘No-Breeze Show’ At Florida Sale

Courtesy of the Paulick Report

by  | 03.22.2018 | 11:13am

Kirkwood horses galloping at Springdale Training Center

 
Plenty of casual race fans and bloodstock professionals alike have expressed concern about the rule of the stopwatch at 2-year-old sales. In a feature by the Thoroughbred Daily News earlier this month, veteran consignor Niall Brennan said he’s seen a change in breeze-up sales over the past few years. Speed has always been important, but the market has become obsessed with the bullet and employed “Quarter Horse training methods” in which horses have to go flat-out to meet expectations that have little to do with the racetrack.

One unnamed investor is hoping to push back against the tidal wave of speed obsession.

Last year, Kirkwood Stables’ Kip Elser was approached by a longtime friend and former client at Saratoga who was frustrated by the problem of intense speed at juvenile sales.

“He said, ‘Let’s give this a try. Go buy me some horses and let’s take them to Gulfstream and not breeze them.’ It was really no more complicated than that,” said Elser. “He said, ‘I think maybe the pendulum has swung too far.’ We’re hearing rumblings about ‘How fast can you get them to go? We’re down to :9 4/5 (for a furlong) and what’s next.’ We said, ‘Let’s just take a step back and see if the market will accept it.’ This is very much a roll of the dice, and we’re aware of that.”

The result is a five-horse consignment offered by Kirkwood that will be shown to clients at a gallop, not breezing at the upcoming Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale. Elser emphasizes the horses have not been breezed at any point in their sale preparation, and the choice to show them at a gallop is not based on the horses’ abilities, but on a plan.

“They were bought in the name of Gulfstream Gallop specifically for this project,” he said. “I bought the same horses I would have bought any other year, whether they were going to the 2-year-old sales or the races, and I bought horses I like.
Elser says the group is coming along on equal footing, but if he had to pick favorites, he’d highlight Hip 137, a Blame filly from the family of multiple French group stakes winner Colour Chart and Hip 2, a Noble Mission (GB) colt whose half-brother Yulong Warrior won the Al Bastakiya Stakes at Meydan recently.Elser is not the first to try galloping horses at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale; Adena Springs did the same in 2015 and 2016 with mixed results under the hammer. But Elser said based on racetrack results, those groups of juveniles have done quite well – multiple graded winner Shakhimat and multiple stakes winner Winter came from those consignments, as did graded stakes-placed Scholar Athlete, Jamyson ‘n Ginger and Born To Be a Winner. Some of those horses are still running.

Elser agrees with his client that the 2-year-old auction system has created a bit of a monster – but it’s not easy to change market currents single-handedly.

“It remains to be seen if we can stay away somewhat from the clock,” he said. “I think my outlook is the same as everybody else that’s getting horses ready for the 2-year-old sales: it is very definitely market-driven. It’s what buyers want. This is a conscious effort to change the way buyers look at horses. If I didn’t have this friend and client that wants to do this, I don’t think I’d be taking this risk on my own of trying to change market thinking.”

He also says that to really make a difference, he may have to try this approach for several years. As long as his client is on board, Elser is fine with that.

“I would hope so. That’s the intention right now,” he said. “We’re certainly getting a response. I hope it translates into people watching them and looking at them on a shank and buying them, but it’s too early to tell that yet. We’ve certainly stirred the pot and I’m getting a very positive response from a lot of people saying they like the idea.”

MSW HIT IT ONCE MORE adds black-type in the Stymie S

Newly turned 5-year-old Hard Spun colt MSW HIT IT ONCE MORE  started his 2018 campaigned with a strong allowance win at PARX, followed by a win in the Haynesfield Stakes at Aqueduct. Back again in stakes company in the Stymie also at Aqueduct, he added to his resume with a third.  HIT IT ONCE MORE was purchased from Kirkwood Stables for $90,000 as a two year old by his trainer Gary Sciacca acting as agent for August Dawn Farm. He was bred by  JMJ Racing Stables, LLC. His bankroll stands over $509,000.