Highcliff in the News

2005 Highcliff Breeding & Racing News
(Courtesy of NY-breds.com)
Track Photo Credits: Saratoga, Belmont, Aqueduct- Adam Coglianese ; Finger Lakes-Tom Cooley

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(10/13) NY-bred Bold Jeweller ($54.40) wins Laurel maiden special for amateur riders (Courtesy nybreds.com)
Apparently 140 pounds does not faze Hardwicke Stable's New York homebred, BOLD JEWELLER, who won a Laurel Park maiden special for three-year-olds and up ridden by amateur jockeys on Thursday, October 13, scoring as the 26.20-to-1 ninth choice among 10 starters with French pickup rider Nathanaelle Artu on board. The one-turn muddy main track mile contest originally had been scheduled for a two-turn mile and a sixteenth on turf, with three-year-olds carrying 140 pounds and older competitors carrying 145, but had been taken off the grass. For most of the race, Bold Jeweller chased 9.50-to-1 fifth choice Stahlman's Tribute while in second place, prematurely switching to his right lead and drifting out slightly coming out of the turn, but he finally caught his front-running four-year-old rival inside the final sixteenth and prevailed by a half-length. The three-year-old New York-bred was coming off a second-place effort 15 days earlier at Delaware Park, and his maiden victory improved his record to 1 - 2 - 0 in eight starts for the Hardwicke Stable of his owner-breeder, Elisabeth Jerkens of Bellrose.
Trained by Michael Rea, Bold Jeweller is the 26th winner in 2005 and 86th winner overall sired by syndicated Grade 1 winner Key Contender (Fit to Fight - Key Witness, by Key to the Mint), whose progeny earnings exceed $5.2-million and appear ready to top $1-million annually again in 2005. Key Contender stands at Carl Lizza Jr.'s and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson, where Bold Jeweller was foaled as the second New York-bred winner produced from winner Touch of Tiffany, by Air Forbes Won, being a half-brother to 10-time winner (through 2004) Tiffany Gold. Touch of Tiffany is a half-sister to New York-bred multiple stakes winner and graded-placed Touch of Love ($185,932 and dam of French stakes winner and Grade 1-placed Alyzig), stakes winner Lady Ack, stakes-placed winner Urgency ($214,102), and to the winning dam/granddam of stakes winners in Sweden and South Africa.

(10/5) XTREME SPEED (Courtesy nybreds.com)
Joseph Parisi's homebred XTREME SPEED, sent off as the odds-on favorite, had all to do to hold off long shot (57-1) Esoteric Trick in deep stretch to break his maiden against an 8-horse field of state-breds. Making his second career start, Xtreme Speed was under strong left hand urging by jockey Jorge Chavez through the stretch prevailing by a neck crossing the finish line. The race was run over the main track at seven and one-half furlongs. The three-year-old bay gelding is by Key Contender, and is third foal to race out of the allowance winning Lordly Love mare, Bound to Love. Mr. Parisi, as breeder, qualifies for a breeder's award of $4,960, and the connections Key Contender qualify for a $1,722 stallion owner's award. The Grade 1 winning and multiple graded stakes performing son of Fit to Fight stands at Highcliff Farm, in Delanson, N.Y. and with 7-crops to race has progeny earnings exceeding $5-million.
The New York Breeding and Racing Program provides incentives in the form of purse enrichment, open owner awards ($30,000 claimers and up), breeder awards and stallion owner awards for horses finishing first through fourth in pari-mutuel races run in New York State.

(10/1) WESTERN GALAXY (Courtesy nybreds.com)
Joseph Parisi's homebred WESTERN GALAXY came from seventh among 11 to win Belmont's seven-furlong Saturday nightcap, a restricted N1X allowance for three-year-olds and up, scoring in the final stride. The three-year-old broke from the 10th post as the 7.30-to-1 fourth choice and looked hopelessly beaten at mid-stretch, but he increased his earnings by $25,800 to $91,485 and improved his record to 2 - 0 - 3 in nine starts while qualifying Parisi of Maspeth for an additional $5,160 breeder award. Thirty-six days earlier, Western Galaxy had finished fifth among nine in a turf experiment at Saratoga in which he was bumped at the start, and afterwards trainer Dominick Schettino had given him six-furlong (September 17) and five-furlong (September 25) workouts at Belmont. Two starts earlier (August 3), he had placed third in Saratoga's $250,000 New York Stallion Cab Calloway Stakes at a mile and an eighth on a sealed sloppy track. The dark bay colt is among 17 winners in 2005 and 20 overall sired by Western Expression (Gone West - Tricky Game, by Majestic Light), who stands at Carl Lizza Jr.'s and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson. Western Expression, whose two-year-old daughter Artistic Express had won Belmont's restricted Joseph A. Gimma Stakes on September 25, is owned by Lizza's Flying Zee Stables, which qualified for a $1,806 stallion award. Western Galaxy's victory pushed Western Expression's 2005 progeny earnings to close to $800,000, with cumulative earnings from two crops of racing age approaching $1.2-million. Western Galaxy is the third winner produced from New York-bred multiple allowance winner Galaxy Spirit, who is by Galaxy Guide and had raced for Marie and Joseph Parisi, winning six-furlong Aqueduct and Saratoga sprints before scoring by 6-1/2 lengths at a mile and a sixteenth at Belmont. Western Galaxy's maternal granddam (second dam), Golden Spirit, by Plugged Nickle, was a multiple stakes-placed winner as a two-year-old.

(10/1) BLUTARSKY (Courtesy nybreds.com)
Odds-on (.60-to-1) despite coming off a 10-week layoff, Saul and Max Kupferberg's BLUTARSKY led at all calls in a six-furlong restricted maiden special that was for three-year-olds and up but in which only three-year-olds competed, holding off all challengers to win his third start confidently. It was the bay gelding's first outing under jockey Edgar Prado, who also piloted a three-year-old to victory in the next (fourth) race on Belmont's Saturday card, and his first start with Lasix medication. Blutarsky had debuted with a six-furlong second-placing at Belmont on July 2 and had followed up three weeks later with a third-place effort at that distance, in which he had led early as the favorite before weakening. Turned over to trainer John Parisella, Blutarsky had been given Belmont workouts on August 20, September 18, and September 21, and his first effort under Parisella's care increased his earnings by $24,600 to $36,900 in three starts. The speedy New York-bred campaigns for Saul and Max Kupferberg, c/o Kepco, Inc. in Flushing, and had been a $6,000 purchase as a yearling at the J. T. Minton Auctions' 2003 October mixed sale on the Saratoga track grounds. He was bred by William Garbarini of Quarter Keg Stable in Westfield, New Jersey and the Tri-Noble Stables of Carl Lizza Jr. of Wharton, New Jersey, who collectively qualified for a $4,920 breeder award. Blutarsky is at least the ninth winner of 2005 sired by Aqueduct graded winner Mighty Magee (Cormorant - Final Vows, by Halo), a New York-conceived stallion currently standing at State University of New York (SUNY) at Cobleskill. The Kupferberg standard-bearer was conceived at Dr. Jerry Bilinski's Waldorf Farm in North Chatham, and Mighty Magee's partnership owners at that time qualified for a $1,722 stallion award as a result of the gelding's Saturday victory. Blutarsky is a half-brother to multiple New York Stallion Stakes winner Rush Chairman Bill ($127,692), who won three of four starts as a juvenile in 1992, and to the indestructible (12 wins in 104 starts) six-figure-earner On Holiday. He is the sixth winner produced from winner La Broker, who is by Blues Alley (by Angle Light) and is a half-sister to New York-bred stakes-placed winner Raven.

(9/29) INCREDIBLE SPEED (Courtesy nybreds.com)
Flying Zee Stable's homebred INCREDIBLE SPEED took a state-bred allowance field from gate to wire in a mile and an eighth furlong race run over the inner-turf course, listed "good". Ridden by journeyman jockey Edgar Prado and trained by Carlos Martin, Incredible Speed added $26,400 to his lifetime earnings now at $79,368 in 10-starts. Flying Zee Stables of Carl Lizza Jr. of Wharton, New Jersey qualified for an additional $5,280 breeder award and the connections of the sire Incurable Optimist qualified for a $1,848 stallion owner's award. Incurable Optimist, a graded winner at Belmont and Hollywood Park, was voted the New York Thoroughbred Breeders 1998 Horse of the Year and Champion Two-Year-Old Male. The son of Cure the Blues stood the 2000 breeding season at Highcliff Farm in Delanson before shipping to Argentina. Incredible Speed is the first named offspring produced from five-time winner Speed of Front, who is by Entropy (by What a Pleasure) and is a half-sister to stakes-placed winner Squire out Front.

(9/25) Sharp Humor & Artistic Express win Bongard and Gimma under Prado (Courtesy nybreds.com)
Jockey Edgar Prado rode SHARP HUMOR and ARTISTIC EXPRESS to front-running victories in Belmont's Bertram F. Bongard Stakes for New York-bred two-year-olds and Joseph A. Gimma Stakes for New York-bred two-year-old fillies, respectively, on Sunday, as both juveniles scored mild upsets in the seven-furlong events. The last time the same jockey had ridden the winners of both events, Jose Santos had guided Funny Cide and Beautiful America to Bongard and Gimma scores in 2002, and both were later named New York Thoroughbred Breeders (NYTB) champions in their respective two-year-old divisions.
Allowed to cruise in front in the same fashion that he had won first-out at Belmont on July 1 with an 88 Beyer rating that was superior to any of his rivals' ratings, Purdedel Stable's homebred Sharp Humor captured the $107,700 Bongard as the 8.20-to-1 fifth choice among six starters. The bay colt overcame an awkward start to turn back repeated challenges from 7.90-to-1 fourth choice Raw Cat, odds-on (.65-to-1) favorite Parkhimonbroadway, and 11.70-to-1 sixth choice Trading Pro in his second career outing under Prado. The effort boosted his earnings by $64,620 to $116,410 while advancing his record to 2 - 0 - 1 in four starts and also qualified his breeder and part owner, Dr. Patricia Purdy of Ivy League Farm in Ithaca, for an additional $6,462 breeder award. Sharp Humor had won his Belmont debut while racing for Dr. Purdy, who was selected NYTB 2002 Breeder of the Year and together with husband Dr. Chris Purdy operates Ivy League Farm, where New York-bred Grade 1 winner Carson Hollow was foaled. Following Sharp Humor's impressive debut, Chicago real estate developer Edwin (Ed) Edelberg had acquired majority interest in the colt, who subsequently has raced in the name of Purdedel (combining names of Purdy and Edelberg) Stable under the care of trainer Dale Romans. Twenty days prior to the Bongard, Sharp Humor had placed a weakening third among six in Finger Lakes' $248,400 New York Breeders' Futurity at six furlongs, after which Romans had given the colt a sharp half-mile workout over Belmont's training track on September 18.
Romans suspected that Sharp Humor had not handled the track effectively in the New York Breeders' Futurity: "I didn't see his race at Finger Lakes, but it sounded like he didn't care for the racetrack. It just wasn't his day. His race before against First Samurai (when Prado had ridden him to a fourth-place finish against open allowance company at Saratoga on August 7), he got checked pretty hard. I think he'll stretch out. He can run long on the lead and relax. We'll see how he comes out of it and pick something out."
Prado expressed mild surprise that there had not been more challenges to Sharp Humor's front-end cruise: "I thought there was going to be more speed in the race. He broke sharp, so I let him go. The first time he ran here (at Belmont, July 1, in his winning debut), he ran pretty good. I think he really likes this track."
Inbred 3 x 4 to Mr. Prospector, Sharp Humor is by Distorted Humor -- sire of 2002 Bongard winner Funny Cide among other New York-bred graded winners -- and is the second winner that Dr. Purdy has bred from Bellona, who is by former New York stallion Hansel. Bellona, whom the Purdys had purchased for $4,000 as a three-year-old broodmare prospect through agent Hooper Roff at Keeneland's 1997 January mixed sale, is a half-sister to stakes-placed winner Melting Gold. Her winning dam is by Believe It and is a half-sister to English Group 1 classic winner Shadeed.
In the $113,500 Gimma, Prado employed the tactics that had worked with Sharp Humor to pilot Chester and Mary Broman's homebred Artistic Express to a front-running length and a half victory as the 17.10-to-1 seventh choice among 10 starters even though his mount had to break from the eighth post. Four weeks earlier at Saratoga, the chestnut filly had won her debut in the mud under Prado, and her second victory increased her earnings by $68,100 to $95,100 while qualifying the Bromans, of Babylon, Long Island and Chestertown Farm in Chestertown, for the maximum $10,000 breeder award. The Bromans were honored as NYTB Breeders of the Year for 2004 and were named by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association as outstanding New York breeders for 2003. They had won the 2002 Gimma with Beautiful America, who -- like Artistic Express -- was conditioned by NYTB 1979 Trainer of the Year Ramon (Mike) Hernandez. This was the third Gimma victory for Hernandez as a trainer and the second for Prado as a rider, and both were impressed with Artistic Express's speed and resoluteness.
Hernandez feels certain that Artistic Express will successfully compete at longer distances: "The bottom line is she can run all day. She's got a lot of speed, and it seems like she's got a lot of courage. We're going to try to make the Maid of the Mist ($100,000, for New York-bred two-year-old fillies, one mile, at Belmont on New York Showcase Day, Saturday, October 22)."
Prado pointed out that Artistic Express responded to every filly that challenged her in the Gimma: "She's got a lot of speed. She was cruising along nice and easy. Any time a horse came to me, she picked it up more. She tried real hard."
Artistic Express is from the second crop of New York stallion Western Expression (Gone West - Tricky Game, by Majestic Light), whose cumulative progeny earnings have just gone over $1.1-million and whose 2005 progeny earnings can easily be projected to top seven figures as well. Western Expression, a Grade 1-placed winner whose owner, the Flying Zee Stables of Carl Lizza Jr. of Wharton, New Jersey, qualified for a $4,767 stallion award as a result of Artistic Express's Gimma victory, stands at Lizza's and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson. Artistic Express is the second starter and second New York-bred winner produced from the Bromans' New York homebred Nureyev mare, Dancing Marylee, whose dam, Rich Marylee, had been purchased by Robert Folsom for $90,000 at Keeneland's 1995 November sale when she was carrying Dancing Marylee.
Unnerving Belmont's last two Sunday races must have pleased Carl Lizza Jr. of Flying Zee Stable, whose homebred UNNERVING, born at Highcliff Farm, captured the nightcap -- a restricted N1X turf allowance for three-year-olds and up going a mile and a sixteenth -- and whose stallion, Western Expression, is the sire of Gimma Stakes winner Artistic Express. Although Unnerving has never finished worse than fourth following a fifth-place April 2004 debut and had been on the board in six of 10 outings prior to Sunday's nightcap, he had not won since breaking his maiden in his turf debut at Belmont in June of 2004. In November of 2004, Unnerving had placed a close, gamely-finishing third in Aqueduct's $100,000 New York Stallion Cormorant Stakes at a mile on grass. Although he was the leading earner in the nightcap, the four-year-old went off as the 5.40-to-1 third choice among nine starters with apprentice jockey Julien Leparoux -- whose allowance is 10 pounds -- race-riding him for the first time. He broke on top, pressed the pace of 4.40-to-1 second choice Power Link from second place for most of the way, and won the turn-and-a-half contest in the respectable time of 1:42.22, giving "double-bug" jockey Leparoux his second winning ride of the day. The victory increased Unnerving's earnings by $26,400 to $96,330 and improved his record to 2 - 2 - 3 in 11 starts and also qualified Lizza's Flying Zee Stables for an additional $5,280 breeder award. The Flying Zee Stable homebred campaigns under the care of trainer Philip Serpe, who after the chestnut gelding's tiring fourth-place effort going a two-turn mile on Saratoga turf 34 days earlier had given him one easy five-furlong workout over Belmont's main track on September 10. Unnerving is by the late New York stallion Dixie Brass, qualifying the estate of Dixie Brass's recently-deceased owner, Michael Watral of Central Islip, Long Island, for a $1,848 stallion award. His dam is Anxious Moment, by Conquistador Cielo.

(9/21) Angel Dancer captures state-bred allowance (Courtesy nybreds.com)
ANGEL DANCER, under a patient ride by journeyman jockey Jean Luc Samyn, captured a NW-2X condition allowance today at beautiful Belmont Park. The one turn mile affair was run over the main track, listed "fast". Behind a wall of horses at the top of the stretch, Samyn guided Angel Dancer between horses before angling to the middle of the track and once under way charged past Zero Probability and Tiffany's Rodeo for a one-length victory. Angel Dancer is owned by Castle Village, a racing partnership, and is by Incurable Optimist, who was voted the 1998 two-year-old New York-bred Divisional Champion and Turf Champion. The son of Cure the Blues was North America's only juvenile to win graded stakes in New York and California in 1998, capturing Belmont's Grade 3 Pilgrim Stakes by 4-lengths prior to winning the Grade 3 Generous Stakes by 9-lengths. Raced by John and Theresa Behrendt, Incurable Optimist formerly stood at Highcliff Farm in Delanson, N.Y. before being exported to South America and thus qualified the Behrendts for a $1,932 stallion owner's award. Trained by James Ferraro, Angel Dancer was bred by Ms. Vivian Amiriati, who qualifies for a $5,520 breeder's award, and is out the 5-time winning Waquoit mare, Cotuit Bay.

(9/5) Filly by NY stallion Key Contender - Ask Queenie - gets 3rd successive stakes win by Rab Hagin (Courtesy nybreds.com)
NYRA racing fans may never see just how good New York-conceived Ask Queenie -- by syndicated New York-based stallion KEY CONTENDER -- is, because the Massachusetts-bred filly is not eligible for the New York Stallion Stakes Series, but according to her breeder, she is a, "hard-knocking filly who always wants to win." On Labor Day Monday, September 5, the four-year-old filly shouldered top weight of 124 pounds and cruised to a 4-1/2-length victory as the heavily odds-on (.30-to-1) choice among six Massachusetts-bred fillies and mares, three-year-olds and up, in Suffolk's mile and a sixteenth Sunset Gun Stakes on turf. It was her third consecutive outing under jockey Winston Albert Thompson and third consecutive stakes victory, boosting her earnings to $241,200 and improving her record to 9 - 5 - 5 in 20 starts, which includes seven stakes victories and five stakes-placed efforts. On August 20, Ask Queenie had beaten males -- including odds-on (.70-to-1) 11-time stakes winner Jini's Jet ($418,340), who was coming off back-to-back stakes victories and has placed second in the New York Stallion Stakes Series -- in Suffolk's August 20 mile and a sixteenth Thomas F. Moran Stakes on turf. On August 6, she had won Suffolk's First Episode Stakes at a mile and a sixteenth on the main track by 10-3/4 lengths, and in May she had captured Suffolk's six-furlong main track Isadorable Stakes. Last November, the chestnut filly had spotted actual weight to males while winning Suffolk's mile and 70-yard John Kirby Stakes, even though she was forced to alter course at the sixteenth pole.
Ask Queenie races for Laurine Barreira, who is the granddaughter of the filly's breeder, Lloyd Lockhart of Somerset, Massachusetts, and the daughter of Ask Queenie's trainer, Lori Lockhart. She is among 83 winners (of 266 races won) sired by syndicated Grade 1 winner Key Contender (Fit to Fight - Key Witness, by Key to the Mint), who stands at Carl Lizza Jr.'s and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson and has cumulative progeny earnings of more than $5.1-million. Ask Queenie is one of at least 14 six-figure-earners sired by Key Contender and is a half-sister to two other Highcliff-conceived stakes performers: multiple stakes winner Little Time ($119,884 through 2004) and multiple stakes-placed winner Puddle Time. Although she is the third offspring and third stakes-performing winner produced from stakes-placed winner Time to Ask, by L'Amour Rullah, Ask Queenie is her dam's only juvenile winner. Time to Ask, who is inbred 3 x 3 to Relic as revealed by Hypo-Mating, is a half-sister to Suffolk stakes winners Ask a Nice, Iasku, and Please Answer.

(9/5) Carlow wins fourth straight to take $75,000 New York Oaks (Courtesy nybreds.com)
Seahorse Stable's CARLOW gained the lead in midstretch from Brushme On and then under steady pressure from jockey Joe Badamo turned back late running Line Memory to score by a head in today's $75,000 New York Oaks. Carlow was listed as the 6 to 5 morning line favorite and paid a cool $7.20. Gary Contessa's trained Brushme On was sent off the choice at $1.65 to 1. This was Carlow's fourth straight win and second Stakes victory here. Trained by Karl M. Grusmark, Carlow scored those three races over three different ovals. The three year old daughter of Forever Silver started her win skein here on July 4 by rallying to take the six furlong $50,000 Niagara Stakes by three-quarters of a length at $6.80 to 1. On August 5 at Saratoga, Carlow ran against $49,000 NW2X allowance foes going six furlongs, where Badamo was again along for the ride and they came from far back to get the money at odds of $13.10 to 1. Carlow then was entered at Suffolk Downs in a wide-open $22,000 allowance race at one mile. In that test, Dyn Panell was aboard, but they used different running tactics. Panell put Carlow on the front-end and they wired a field of seven to score five and one-quarter lengths.
As a three year, Carlow has started 4 times, won three, and finished second in her debut at Belmont Park to Cassette Cassie and already has $81,200 in money earned. In Carlow's only defeat this year, she was making a solid run late but was forced to steady late and only got beat a length and one-quarter with a gap of three lengths to the third place runner. Today's test was for three year old fillies bred in the state of New York going one mile and one-sixteenth. Eight three year old fillies went to the post and all were shooting for the $75,000 up for grabs. Brushme On with Eibar Coa astride went out to contest the lead with Carlow. The duo got the opening quarter in 23.65 with a gap of one length back Line Memory. Brushme On gained a half length advantage over Carlow and got the half mile in 46.79. They continued on matching strides to the quarter pole in 1:11.72 with a two length lead over Sydsational and four lengths back to Line Memory. Approaching the eighth pole it looked like a two horse race. Carlow put Brushme On away but Line Memory was full of run on the outside and Milly La Foret B B was in gear along the fence. Badamo got his mount to dig in and they narrowly turned back Line Memory for a head decision. Milly La Foret B B finished a solid third while beaten only a length a half for all of it at $80.75 to 1. Carlow covered the one mile and one-sixteenth distance over a fast track in 1:45.59 and earned $45,000. Bred by Dr. Cary Shapoff, the three year old daughter of Forever Silver (who stood at Highcliff Farm) out of Folly Go Rightly by Distinctive Pro now has five career wins and $161,305 in money won. Also, Carlow qualified for $9,000 in breeders' awards.

(9/3) NY stallion Kelly Kip's 1st SW is unbeaten & unchallenged 2yo filly Bettarun Fast by Rab Hagin (Courtesy nybreds.com)
A three-length debut winner on Calder's main track, Windermere Racing LLC's two-year-old filly Bettarun Fast scored by 5-1/2 in a Calder turf allowance in August and romped by 4-1/2 in Calder's grassy five-furlong Catcharisingstar Stakes on Saturday, September 3, becoming the first stakes winner sired by New York-based KELLY KIP. The bay filly was odds-on (.90-to-1) among 12 juvenile distaff starters in the unrestricted black-type event and chased the pace while three wide before gaining command exiting the second turn and pulling away for her third victory in three starts -- all under jockey Dante Scocca. Now with earnings of $64,800 and trained by Kathleen O'Connell, Bettarun Fast was bred by Shamrock Thoroughbreds in partnership with Helen and Michael Reynolds and had been a $9,500 purchase at the OBS 2004 August yearling sale. The undefeated filly is among three juvenile winners from the second crop of eight-time graded winner Kelly Kip (Kipper Kelly - Marianne Theresa, by John's Gold), who earned $1,157,142, set four track records, and was the only sprinter with Daily Racing Form Beyer figures of 120-plus for three consecutive seasons. Despite all of Kelly Kip's accomplishments, he never raced on turf, making Bettarun Fast's lawn-loving alacrity -- she covered five furlongs in 56.93 over a firm course in her allowance victory and 58.59 over a "good" grass surface in the Catcharisingstar -- all the more intriguing. Kelly Kip has stood in New York at Carl Lizza Jr.'s and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson since the 2003 season as the property of Jack Dreyfus's Hobeau Farm and also has sired three-year-old multiple stakes-placed winner Memories of Pa from his first crop. The stallion's first New York-conceived offspring are current yearlings.
Bettarun Fast is the third starter and third winner produced from Split Decision, by Dispersal, and her half-siblings include Semoran's Decision ($164,771), who has won six races from two to five in 2005. One of her breeders, Michael Reynolds, had purchased dam Split Decision for $8,000 at the OBS 1999 October mixed sale when she was carrying her first foal, who turned out to be Semoran's Decision. A Hypo-Mating check of Bettarun Fast's pedigree reveals that she is inbred 4 x 4 to In Reality, who is inbred 3 x 3 to War Relic, who is inbred 3 x 3 to Rock Sand and Fairy Gold -- maternal grandsire and paternal granddam, respectively, of Man o' War.

(9/2) Show Ready shows her speed - wins Spa 6F by 8 (Courtesy nybreds.com)
Overlooked as the 6.20-to-1 fourth choice among seven starters, SalEd Stables' New York-bred SHOW READY showed nothing but backside to her competition in a six-furlong open sprint for fillies and mares, three-year-olds and up, with claiming prices of $22,500 and $25,000, pulling away to an eight-length victory. The four-year-old filly was ridden for the first time in competition by jockey Rafael Bejarano and competed with a $22,500 tag as the youngest starter (foaled April 28, 2001) in a race that was contested exclusively by older fillies and mares even though three-year-old fillies were eligible. Her surprisingly easy victory boosted her bankroll by $19,200 to $177,322 and improved her record to 7 - 4 - 4 in 31 starts, bringing her earnings for the SalEd Stables of Kathy D'Agostino -- daughter of Joe D'Agostino of Amsterdam -- to $36,062 since being claimed for $20,000 at Aqueduct in March. For jockey Bejarano, it was the second of two winning rides on Saratoga's Friday card. Twenty-six days earlier, trainer Neal Terracciano had tried Show Ready in a 5-1/2-furlong Saratoga turf sprint with a $35,000 tag, in which she had tired to fifth among 11, but prior to that experiment she had placed second once and third twice in June-July main track outings. The chestnut filly has five wins at Aqueduct, one at Belmont, and now one at Saratoga. She was among four New York-breds -- picking up 74 percent of the total purse -- in her latest outing, with fillies and mares bred in the Empire State also qualifying for an additional $6,048 in breeder and stallion awards. Award qualifiers included the Flying Zee Stables of Carl Lizza Jr. of Wharton, New Jersey (breeder) and The Billings Partnership of Robert and Michele Billings of Naples, Florida, which had stood Show Ready's now-deceased sire, Prosper Fager, at Highcliff Farm in Delanson that Lizza owns in partnership with Joseph Bartone. Show Ready, who was a $13,000 purchase at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's (OBS) 2003 June sale of two-year-olds in training in Florida, is the first winner produced from Pilfer Proof, who is by Gate Dancer and out of six-time stakes winner Tri Bowl ($205,221).

(7/26) G2 SW Best of Luck now standing at NY's Highcliff Farm by Rab Hagin (Courtesy nybreds.com)
Belmont Grade 2 and Aqueduct Grade 3 winner BEST OF LUCK has been acquired by Elisabeth Jerkens' Hardwicke Stable and moved from Kentucky to stand in New York at Carl Lizza Jr.'s and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson. The announcement came shortly after three-year-old Looking Best from the stallion's first crop had scored an open allowance victory going a one-turn mile at Belmont on Friday, July 15, adding to a racing record that includes a 4-1/2-length maiden-breaking score going a two-turn mile at Gulfstream on March 2. Other first-crop winners by the son of Broad Brush include group stakes-placed Alphabest and 2005 allowance winners Hardcount and Sidney's Sham -- both of whom also have earned stakes money -- and his first two-year-old starter of 2005, My Juicy Couture, debuted in June with a three-length maiden special score. A 2006 stud fee for Best of Luck will be decided at a later date.
A homebred for Mrs. Richard C. DuPont's Bohemia Stable conditioned by Hall of Fame trainer H. Allen Jerkens -- husband of Elisabeth Jerkens of Hardwicke Stable -- Best of Luck also placed in four graded stakes at Belmont and Aqueduct, registering seven Daily Racing Form triple-digit Beyer figures and earning $616,790. He beat future Eclipse Champion Lemon Drop Kid by 2-1/2 lengths while winning Belmont's Grade 2 Peter Pan Stakes in 1:47 and change for a muddy mile and an eighth and later as a three-year-old captured Aqueduct's Grade 3 Stuyvesant Handicap despite giving actual weight to older rivals. As a four-year-old, Best of Luck overcame a rough trip to close to within a nose of winning Aqueduct's Grade 3 Excelsior Breeders' Cup Handicap -- even though he broke a sesamoid in that event and was vanned off afterwards. Trainer Jerkens, who has seen his share of outstanding horses, emphasized that Best of Luck was a, "generous, honest horse that always put forth a good effort.
"I don't know why he (Best of Luck) preferred coming from behind in races," Jerkens added, "because he had a lot of speed, which he showed in workouts. He was really coming along when he got hurt (in the Excelsior)."
Best of Luck is among 86 stakes winners sired by pensioned Grade 1 winner Broad Brush ($2,656,793), who ranks as North America's third-leading active sire (2005 runners) in lifetime percentage of stakes winners (behind Danzig and Nureyev; ahead of El Gran Senor and Storm Cat, among the top five). His dam is Grade 2 winner Crowned ($605,323), who is by Chief's Crown and is a half-sister to multiple graded winner Betty Lobelia ($463,512 and granddam of Grade 2 winner My Trusty Cat) as well as to the winning dam of German Group 2 and Group 3 winners. The nine-year-old bay stallion stands 16.2 hands tall.

(6/11) NY stallion Catienus now 9th-ranked 2nd-crop sire following Belmont-placing by Nolan's Cat by Rab Hagin (Courtesy nybreds.com)
When Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey announced that maiden Nolan's Cat would start in the 2005 Belmont Stakes, they emphasized that this was no Great Redeemer (last, 1979 Kentucky Derby) or Ricks Natural Star (last, 1996 Breeders' Cup Turf) maiden stunt -- but an assertion of the colt's New York-based sire, CATIENUS. No claim was made that the obviously talented and late-running three-year-old would pull off a colossal upset, but quiet confidence was expressed that he could hit the board, achieving Grade 1-placed status and earning more money than if he had won most graded stakes. The wagering public regarded the venture with a jaundiced eye, making Nolan's Cat the 20.50-to-1 tenth choice among 11 starters in the $1-million mile and a half classic while preferring him marginally over Gulfstream route winner Watchmon, who had finished fourth among six in Pimlico's Federico Tesio Stakes.
The wagering public was wrong; the Ramseys were dead-on right. Under jockey Norberto Arroyo Jr., Nolan's Cat closed from last, circled eight wide on the second turn, and rallied under a late hand ride to place a clear third, beating -- among others -- Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo, recent graded winner Southern Africa, and recent $100K stakes winner Pinpoint. The effort by the Ramsey homebred boosted his earnings by $110,000 to $136,450 in six starts, which consist of three second-placed and two third-placed outings along with one fourth-finishing effort against nine rivals.
"If this horse didn't have some unfortunate events along the way, I think he would have been a contender throughout the entire Triple Crown," commented trainer Dale Romans in reference to Nolan's Cat. "I was real pleased with the way he ran. He just had some nagging injuries as a two-year-old and got caught up in quarantine early this year. I couldn't give him enough seasoning. I was pleased with his race...We didn't have the pace that we had last year in this race. But he still ran good into a slower pace. He's the best maiden in the country."
Nolan's Cat, who is inbred 4 x 4 to Raise a Native, is out of Single Goer, a route-winning daughter of Eclipse Champion and Belmont Stakes winner Easy Goer and a half-sister to Grade 2 Remsen Stakes winner Comeonmom ($230,350). He is the fifth stakes performer from the first crop of the Ramseys' New York-based stallion Catienus (Storm Cat - Diamond City, by Mr. Prospector), who has a total of 26 winners (19 in 2005) from his first crop plus a couple of 2005 juvenile winners already from his second crop. Other 2005 stakes-performing three-year-olds from Catienus's first crop are 2004-2005 stakes-winning filly Kathern's Cat ($119,833), 2005 $100K stakes-winning colt Cat Shaker, and recent stakes-placed winning filly Kera's Kitty Cat. Stakes winner Catienus, who won in England and the U.S. -- dirt and turf -- and was Grade 1-placed, currently ranks ninth among North American 2005 second-crop sires and is the only stallion among the top 10 standing for less than $10,000 (his 2005 fee is $6,500, live foal, to approved mares). Now with progeny earnings of more than $1.1-million, Catienus has stood the 2004 and 2005 seasons at Carl Lizza Jr.'s and Joseph Bartone's Highcliff Farm in Delanson.