Mind Your Biscuits goes from post 14 to the top of the world in Dubai’s Golden Shaheen

By Sarah Mace

New York-bred, New York-sired Mind Your Biscuits (Posse) absolutely sparkled on the international stage Saturday. The 4-year-old chestnut broke from the outermost post of 14 in the Group 1 US$2m Dubai Golden Shaheen at Meydan Racecourse, covered the most ground with a wide trip, and still managed to post a much-the-best open-length win.

Joel Rosario, who had the riding assignment, had a well of prior success aboard Mind Your Biscuits to draw on. In three previous efforts, the pair finished a good-looking third in the Breeder’s Cup Sprint (eventually collecting second money due to a disqualification), won the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes, and came up only a neck short in the Gulfstream Park Sprint on February 25.

Chad Summers, the colt’s 32-year-old conditioner and part-owner, is a veteran horseman, but newly-minted trainer, and was looking for his first victory. In the days leading up to the race, he was brimming with confidence.

After the draw, Summers said, “The outside post is what it is. You can’t change it and there are horses with much worse post positions in relation to their running styles than ours. I think that on paper the race sets up well for us otherwise and we’re not going to change our running style. We can be tactical enough but he is a little better making one sustained run from farther behind and he should like the longer straight here. He’s shown us every sign that he’s sitting on his lifetime best race and I think his lifetime best wins this by three lengths.”

On race day Mind Your Biscuits broke cleanly from his outside berth and was content to drop back into tenth position for the next 800 meters.

The colt raced at least seven-wide down the backstretch and took the turn wide. When Mind Your Biscuits and Rosario hit the head of the long stretch, they put Summers’ plan  of “one sustained run” into action.

Six wide, with nine horses yet to pass, Mind Your Biscuits stormed down the middle of the racetrack. He swept past his first five rivals rivals by midstretch, then tackled the remaining four after the 200-meter mark,  gaining the top spot for the last 100 meters. He drew off to win by approximately three lengths in a final time of 1:10.913 over a muddy track.

Fellow US runner Comicas, who also raced outside, finished second, followed across the line by British competitor Morawhij.

“The post position was way outside,” commented Joel Rosario. “I think I got some ground in the turn, not much, and then for a second I thought we might not get there. But he showed that he was the best horse in the race.”

[2]Continued Rosario, “I was so wide on the outside. I was thinking ‘is this is going to work’? But as I said he was the best horse in the race and I’m proud of him. He’d showed us the last couple of times, he ran very well in the Breeders’ Cup and he won the Malibu. It was a very good race in America and every time he runs he improves a little bit more.”

Summers, who appeared astonishingly calm after breaking his training maiden in such a remarkable way, said,  “This is what we planned. It’s a storybook ending to a story. It’s a remarkable horse and it was a remarkable ride. I think he is the best sprinter in the country, in the world. He proved it today. It’s unbelievable. Everything here is first class, it means a lot.”

Despite the muddy track, Mind Your Biscuits, who had been kept in the clear for the length of the race, arrived at the winner’s circle for the celebration with a clean coat

Bred by Jumping Jack Racing LLC and foaled at Sue and Gary Lundy’s Cedar Ridge Farm in Pine Plains, Mind Your Biscuits is one of three winners from three foals to start out of Jazzmane, an unraced Kentucky-bred daughter of Toccet and a half-sister to Canadian champion 3-year-old filly Kimchi (Langfuhr).  The mare has two more reported foals in the US, a 2-year-old filly by Posse and yearling colt by Officer.

Mind Your Biscuits was purchased as a short yearling by Machmer Hall at the 2014 Keeneland January sale. Offered at auction twice more, he RNA’d both times for $47,000 at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred preferred yearling sale and at last year’s OBS Spring 2-year-old sale, after which Chad Summers, who had previously bought an interest in Mind Your Biscuits with his father and brother, acquired the colt privately on behalf of J Stables. Mind Your Biscuits. Liz Crow of BSW Bloodstock then purchased a minority interest in the colt on behalf of clients Head of Plains Partners and Michael E. Kisber. In 2016 the colt was trained by Robert Falcone Jr.

Mind Your Biscuits’ second career Grade 1 tally and most lucrative score by far, improves his record to five wins, six seconds and a third from 15 starts and brings his earnings to whopping $2,015,166.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2017/03/25/mind-your-biscuits-golden-shaheen/

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Bluegrass Flag puts one in the win column in open Cicada

By Sarah Mace

Short fields can be tricky, so it takes nothing away from Bluegrass Flag that she faced only two rivals Saturday afternoon in Aqueduct’s $100,000, 6-furlong Cicada Stakes for 3-year-old fillies. Avoiding all the potential pitfalls, she posted an elegant gate-to-wire victory, garnering a first black type win for owners Thomas C. Albrecht and Vincent J. Fusaro.

After the Cicada drew five entrants, early morning temperatures forced even-money favorite Sounds Delicious (103.8 degrees) and 4-1 third choice Wilburnmoney (102 degrees) to scratch the morning of the race, as reported by the Daily Racing Form.

After the remaining three exited the gate at the bell, Bluegrass Flag, the 1-5 favorite under Kendrick Carmouche, Bluegrass Flag hustled a little to gain the lead, then settled down three wide, a length ahead of Heavenly Score to her inside who was intent on applying pressure. Tiz Rae Anna chased in third not far behind.

Rationing out her speed through early fractions of 23.66 and 47.31, Bluegrass Flag began to shake off the persistent Heavenly Score in the turn, widened her margin under some urging and romped home a 6-length winner in a final time of 1:11.99. [VIDEO REPLAY[2]]

Carmouche said, “I don’t take her out of her stride. She broke good, the track looked like it was playing the outside speed, so I just kept her in contention and let her relax going on the backside. She just went on from there. I asked her a little and put the stick away.” The pilot added, “[Trainer] Tom [Morley] and his team did a good job of getting her relaxed for this race.”

Bluegrass Flag, a daughter of former New York sire Bluegrass Cat, broke her maiden by three lengths at second asking in a New York-bred maiden special weight at Aqueduct on January 14. In the February 19 Franklin Square, she ran a persistent second to Wilburnmoney in the Franklin Square after setting the pace.

After she got the job done in the Cicada, trainer Tom Morley observed, “With each start, she’s becoming more relaxed and professional. She ran a very good race in her first start. She was hooked extremely wide after missing the break and ran against a very good maiden field and ran a solid seventh. I wasn’t here when she ran second to Wilburnmoney. Apparently, she was a little hot beforehand, but today she was extremely relaxed.”

Continued Morley “I was kind of pleased when Terranova’s horse [Heavenly Score] came to us halfway around the turn because it almost looked like she was half-idling in front. Kendrick said she never really came out of third gear.”

Morley has the Park Avenue division of New York Stallion Stakes series on April 22 in mind for the filly’s next start. “She didn’t have a hard race today as well. It shouldn’t bring too many fears. Hopefully she’s all good tomorrow morning and one work and into the stallion series at 6 1/2 [furlongs].”

Bred by Susanne Hooper, James Hooper and Thomas Albrecht, and foaled at Haven Oaks Farm in Fort Edward, Bluegrass Flag is one of four winners of four to start, and first stakes winner out of No More Flags, a New York-bred multiple winner bred by the Hoopers. The mare has a juvenile by Posse and a yearling by Dublin on the ground, and was bred in 2016 to Stephanoatsee.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2017/03/25/bluegrass-flag-cicada/

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