Unbridled Command holds sway over 13 in G1 Hollywood Derby

by Sarah Mace

Lewis G. Lakin’s Unbridled Command (Master Command) came from well off the pace to score a powerful no-doubt-it victory over a huge field the Grade 1, $250,000 Hollywood Derby at Betfair Hollywood Park on Sunday. The Tom Bush-trainee is the fifth New York-bred Grade 1 winner this year.

Drawn in post three in the deep and contentious field of fourteen sophomores signed on for this year’s renewal of the 1 1/4-mile turf contest, and piloted for the first time by Javier Castellano, the grey son of Unbridled Command (7-1) took a back seat to the speed in the early going, running in eleventh position and eight lengths off the pace going in the Clubhouse turn.

Starting to pick off horses in the two-path along the run down the backstretch, Unbridled Command moved up into seventh and had good momentum going three-wide into the far turn.

Rapidly making up ground and taking over second place, in a flash Unbridled Command gained the lead at the top of the lane and kicked away by more than two lengths. Grandeur and Lucky Chappy came closing fast heads apart, but Unbridled Command was still 1 1/2 lengths to the good when he crossed the wire in a final time of 2:01.07 for the 10 furlongs.

Javier Castellano, who earlier on the card was aboard Dayatthespa who unfortunately spooked herself out of contention in the Grade 1 Matriarch, said “I had a beautiful trip this time and everything worked out perfect. I saw the horses start backing out and I chose to go around and it worked out perfect. I knew the closers would show up down the lane, but I was able to get the jump on them. This was my first time on this horse. I watched his race replays and I was very impressed and really liked him.”

Trainer Tom Bush said, “[Unbridled Command] likes to track on the turns. He just matures from race to race to race. I couldn’t dream of a horse developing any nicer than this horse. He’s really gotten special. He’s going to fly to Palm Meadows (in Florida) tonight and we’ll figure out his next race.”

Unbridled Command broke his maiden on the Aqueduct turf in November 2011 in his third and final start at two. As he ascended the class ladder this year in seven starts, his performances have improved with every outing, and his Beyers have steadily climbed. He adds his Grade 1 triumph in the Hollywood Derby, his fifth straight victory, to wins this year in the 1 1/8-mile Grade 3 Saranac at Saratoga on September 2, a 6 3/4-length romp in the Mohawk Stakes on Showcase Day and a pair of state-bred allowance victories. In all, the sophomore has won six of 10 starts with one second and two thirds. His career earnings now stand at $469,040.

Five different New York-breds have won Grade 1 races at five different tracks this year: Willy Beamin took the Foxwoods King’s Bishop at Saratoga; The Lumber Guy won Belmont’s Vosburgh Stakes; and on the same weekend Dayatthespa won the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes at Keeneland and Next Question took the Nearctic Stakes at Woodbine.

Bred by Sequel Thoroughbreds LLC in partnership with A. Lakin & Sons Inc., and foaled at Sequel Stallions New York [5]in Hudson, Unbridled Command was purchased outright by Lewis Lakin for $28,000 at the 2011 OBS Spring 2-year-old sale.

Unbridled Command is the most successful offspring to date of four winners produced by Unbridled Betty, an unraced daughter of Unbridled’s Song, who sold in foal to Master Command to Top Sale for $75,000 at the 2008 Keeneland November sale. Unbridled Betty is a half-sister to two stakes winners and to Astaire Step, dam of multiple Grade 1 winner Manistique (Unbridled), who earned over $1.3 million.

The mare currently has a 2-year-old colt by Freud named Mr. Panda, who has not started, a yearling colt by Freud and a weanling filly by Read the Footnotes. She was bred in the spring to Girolamo, who entered at stud at Sequel Stallions New York[6] in 2012.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2012/11/26/unbridled-command-hollywood-derby/

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Willet runner-up by a game neck in G2 Go for Wand

by Sarah Mace

Willet, runaway winner of the Iroquois Stakes on Showcase Day, put true grit on display in the stretch run of the Grade 2, $200,000 Go for Wand Handicap at Aqueduct on Friday to finish second by just a neck to Nefertini.

Out of the gate well from her rail post, Willet (2-1 second choice) moved quickly up into second behind heavy 3-5 favorite Fantasy of Flight, who immediately struck the front.

During the long run up the backstretch for the one-turn mile, Willet lost two spots as Nefertini (9-1) moved up into second in the two path and R Gypsy Gold advanced at the rail. Regaining third in the two-path in the far turn, Willet seemed to break again with a new rival to fix on – Nefertini, who had taken over from a sputtering Fantasy of Flight at the quarter pole.

Willet came at Nefertini with determination in the stretch, engaged her fully with a furlong to go and reached her throatlatch in the final sixteenth, but Nefertini, in the words of her jockey, Alan Garcia, “was fighting and didn’t want to get beat.” Willet never gave up the fight either, finishing just a neck short of the winner by the wire. After opening fractions of 23.99 and 46.92, the final time for the mile was 1:35.80.

Willet’s jockey Rajiv Maragh said, “She tried hard. It was a good horse race at the top of the lane. I think the mile got her at the end. By the sixteenth pole, she was at the end of her rope. It wasn’t for lack of effort. The effort was good.”

A 4-year-old daughter of Jump Start trained by Jimmy Iselin, who owns her in partnership with Charlotte Assoulin and Eli Gindi, Willet burst into the limelight a month ago when she bested an extremely strong field in the Iroquois on Showcase Day by 9 1/4 lengths in the slop. She showed talent before, however, never out of the money in six prior starts and running a strong second to Risky Rachel in the Union Avenue at Saratoga in her stakes debut this summer.

Unraced at two, Willet broke her maiden by 14 lengths at Belmont in September 2011 after a runner-up finish in her Saratoga debut. Starting twice more last year, she won back-to-back allowance races at Aqueduct in November and December by a combined 13 1/4 lengths.

Willet did not return to competition until August of this year when she finished second in the Union Avenue and third in an open entry-level allowance at Belmont on September 23 prior to the Iroquois.

Apt to get wound up pre-race, Willet has become a model of composure since Iselin adopted the practice, learned from his mentor Charlie Whittingham, of having someone ride her over from the barn to the paddock.

With a record of 4-3-1 from eight starts Willet has now earned $245,400.

Bred by the late Michael T. Martin and foaled at Highcliff Farm[2] in Delanson (now Highcliff at Mill Creek Farm), Willet is out of Katina K, a winning daughter of Distinctive Pro out of Grade 3 winner Darlin Momma (Night Invader). Katina K has produced four winners from four starters, including 10-time winner Dr. Quirk (Tomorrows Cat) who earned $159,305. Willet is her most recent foal to start.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2012/11/23/willet-go-for-wand/

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Notacatbutallama heads NY trifecta in Super Mario

by Sarah Mace

Repole Stable’s talented juvenile turfer Notacatbutallama scored his second straight stakes victory in Friday’s $80,000 Super Mario Stakes at Aqueduct, leading fellow New Yorkers James Jingle and Sunlover across the wire for an Empire-bred trifecta.

Heavily favored at odds of 2-5 to win the 1 1/16-mile turf contest for the potent team of Todd Pletcher and John Velazquez, Notacatbutallama was off a beat slow, but moved up to secure a groundsaving position at the rail in fourth in the early stages, while Bernie the Jet, tracked by Sunlover and Noosh’s Tale, led the way through an opening quarter in 24.02 and half in 49.00.

Bernie the Jet maintained a narrowing advantage through the far turn, while Notacatbutallama, directly behind Bernie the Jet and hemmed in by a rival to his right, found himself looking for running room exiting the far turn.

When a seam opened up three wide at the top of the lane, Notacatbutallama responded instantly to prompting, accelerated quickly and took over in upper stretch before drawing off to a 3 1/2-length victory in a final time of 1.44.31 for 1 1/16 miles.

James Jingle (Harlan’s Holiday), last of seven for the first three-quarters of a mile and as much as 10 lengths from the front, threaded his way through rivals with an energetic stretch drive to get the place at 22-1, finishing a neck ahead of Sunlover (Sunriver), a last-out maiden breaker, who kept on well to finish third after contesting the pace at 30-1. The New York-bred trifecta paid $239.00 for a $2 wager.

After breaking his maiden at second asking by an impressive 6 1/2 lengths at Saratoga on August 20, Notacatbutallama ran a solid fourth in the Grade 2 With Anticipation on August 30 on short rest. Second next out in Belmont’s Grade 3 Pilgrim to BC Juvenile Turf runner-up Noble Tune, on October 8, he scored a convincing first stakes victory by 1 1/4 lengths in Belmont’s Incurable Optimist at Belmont on October 28.

With three victories and two seconds in six starts, Notacatbutallama has banked $191,000.

A fourth generation product of Happy Hill Farm breeding, Notacatbutallama was foaled at Sue and Gary Lundy’s Cedar Ridge Farm in Pine Plains. He is one of five foals to start and the third winner out of Self Rising, a stakes-placed daughter of Hansel ($164,931). Her second foal was nine-time winner and six-figure earner Toque by Alphabet Soup ($147,396).

Notacatbutallama first sold as a 2011 Fasig-Tipton New York-bred preferred Saratoga yearling for $50,000 to Nick de Meric, who turned him around as a two-year-old at the OBS Spring sale, where he was purchased by Repole Stables for $105,000.

Self Rising currently has a yearling filly by Mineshaft, no reported foal this year and was bred in the spring to Girolamo.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2012/11/23/notacatbutallama-super-mario/

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Mine Over Matter collects show in G3 Fall Highweight after stumbling start

by Sarah Mace

Making his graded stakes debut in the company of four other tough veterans, Chester and Mary Broman’s Mine Over Matter managed to overcame a bad stumble at the start to finish third in Aqueduct’s traditional Thanksgiving Day feature, the Grade 3, $150,000 Fall Highweight Handicap.

Unbalanced as he broke from post four for the six-furlong dash and stumbling to his right, Mine Over Matter, collected himself at the rail under jockey John Velazquez while racing in fifth, as This Ones for Phil clocked a blistering first quarter in 22.57, chased by Repole Stable’s Caixa Eletronica. Willy Beamin tracked in third in the three path.

Mine Over Matter moved up into fourth going into the turn, then captured third at the quarter pole while This Ones for Phil completed the half in 44.84.

In the final sixteenth, Caixa Eletronica, toting the 133-pound co-highweight, overtook the pacesetter before kicking away to a four-length victory in 1:08.69. Mine Over Matter finished 4 1/2 lengths behind This Ones for Phil. Small Town Talk and Willy Beamin completed the order of finish.

Five-year-old Mine Over Matter has spent 2012 under the care of Mike Hushion, who took over training duties upon the retirement of trainer Ramon “Mike” Hernandez last December at age 86.

Winner of Aqueduct’s Fabersham Stakes with a last-to-first run in the slop on April 22 in his second 2012 start, Mine Over Matter captured the Hudson Stakes on Showcase Day, overtaking odds-on favorite Saginaw.

Also this year, the chestnut has collected a pair of third-place finishes in the Affirmed Success at Belmont and John Morrissey at Saratoga. In 2010, he scored a victory in the Salute Me Sir and in 2010-2011 placed in five additional state-bred stakes. Mine Over Matter’s record now stands at 6-3-10 from 35 starts with a robust $383,184 in earnings.

Mine Over Matter’s dam is Hansel’s Girl, a Grade 2-placed five-time winner by Hansel (Woodman) purchased by Chestertown Farm in 1996 as a Keeneland September yearling for $80,000.

After earning $237,980 for the Bromans on the racetrack, Hansel’s Girl has had a productive career as a broodmare, with four winners from four starters including two more stakes horses – Chestertown Slew, by Seattle Slew ($171,826), and Motor Patrol by Cherokee Run ($148,633). Hansel’s Girl currently has a yearling filly by New York sire Noonmark.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2012/11/22/mine-matter-fall-highweight/

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Discreet Marq wires Lie Low at long odds, Heart of New York completes exacta

by Sarah Mace

Given no better than a 17-1 chance in the contentious field of eight 2-year-old fillies lined up for Thursday’s $80,000 Lie Low Stakes at Aqueduct, Patricia Generazio’s homebred Discreet Marq took the field wire-to-wire, while post time favorite Heart of New York completed an exacta of grey New York-breds.

Quickly into stride under Eddie Castro from post six, Discreet Marq gained the lead by the time she passed under the wire for the first time, then moderated the pace to a 49.37 half-mile after a 24.45 first quarter.

Keeping a comfortable margin down the back stretch run, Discreet Marq was asked for more at the top of the lane when Mariel N Kathy came calling. Discreet Marq dug in to get her first stakes victory by 1 1/4 lengths for trainer James Ryerson. Heart of New York, making a second career start after an electrifying last-to-first run in her debut, closed rapidly to get a head in front of Mariel N Kathy for the place. After three-quarters in 1:13.68, the final time for the mile over the firm Aqueduct turf was 1:37.64. The New York-bred exacta paid $171.50 for a $2 wager.

Discreet Marq broke her maiden by 4 1/2 lengths second time out, running 5 1/2 furlongs on firm turf at Saratoga in 1:02.91 for a Beyer Speed Figure of 80. Moving straight into stakes competition, the grey ran third in the open Voodoo Dancer Stakes at Belmont to two of Thursday’s rivals (New York-bred Flattermewithroses and Coconut Shrimp), then traveled to Laurel Park where she finished fourth by two lengths in the Selima Stakes on October 27. Her record now stands at 2-0-1 in five tries with $98,400 in earnings.

Foaled at Keane Stud[2] in Amenia, Discreet Marq is a daughter of Discreet Cat out of the multiple stakes-winning Marquetry mare To Marquet ($198,236). She is the mare’s first stakes winner, but To Marquet has also produced two successful stakes performers on turf.

Stakes-placed Marquet Cat, a 7-year-old gelded son of Cat Thief, has earned $376,049 from 53 starts, most recently finishing third in the race following the Lie Low on Thursday. Stakes-placed Marquet Madness, a 5-year-old filly by Pico Central (BRZ), has earned $226,994.

To Marquet’s most recent reported foal is a yearling colt by Bluegrass Cat.

 

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2012/11/22/discreet-marq-lie-low/

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