Fourstar Crook repeats in John Hettinger Stakes

By Sarah Mace

At Belmont Park on Sunday, for the second year in a row, Michael Dubb, Bethlehem Stable and Gary Aisquith’s Fourstar Crook (Freud) won the 1 1/8-mile, $125,000 John Hettinger Stakes for New York-bred fillies and mares. To do so this time around, however, the mare had to overcome a 22 1/2-length deficit behind a blistering pace.

The dramatic victory, which Fourstar Crook made look easy in the end, was a more-than-fitting tribute to the race’s namesake, who bred her dam Avril a Portugal.

A Chad Brown-trainee, Fourstar Crook had an eight-race winning streak snapped at Saratoga on August 25 when she was beaten 1 1/4-lengths by Bar of Gold in the Yaddo Stakes, but was well-backed at .75 cents on the dollar to find her way back to the winner’s circle in the Hettinger.

For the first half-mile of the race, Barrel of Dreams spurted off to lead a spread-out field through testing opening fractions of 23.38 and 46.07, while Fourstar Crook trailed by nearly 23 lengths. Even with just three furlongs to go after Barrel of Dreams clocked six panels in 1:09.17, Fourstar Crook still had nearly 20 lengths to make up. She entered the stretch three wide with lots still to do.

Fourstar Crook inhaled the deficit in the stretch and, at the sixteenth pole, overhauled the leg-weary pacesetter, as well as Tizelle, who had been chasing 10 lengths behind in third. Edging clear, Fourstar Crook kicked away to win by 3 1/2 lengths. After a blistering mile in 1:33.73, the final time was 1:46.05.

Tizelle kept a nose ahead of Brown-trainee Ack Naughty in third, while Barrel of Dreams hung on for fourth. Next across the finish line were Feeling Bossy, Flipcup, Summersault, Jc’s Shooting Star and Bonita Springs. [VIDEO REPLAY[2]]

“It was kind of a funny race,” said jockey Javier Castellano. “I didn’t expect [it] to be that way on paper. I was kind of concerned the horses in front spread the field and I had to use my filly a little before than I’m used to.”

Castellano continued, “I had start going by the half-mile pole and she had a good, strong kick. I’m very fortunate to be the pilot because no matter what you do she always shows up and gives you a consistent race. I really have to give credit to Chad and his team for how good she’s been this year.”

Brown also felt uneasy as the race unfolded. “I was a little concerned with the pace in front. Both of our horses were so far back and the turf’s been very firm this week. We were concerned as they were heading for home that [Fourstar Crook] might not be able to reel them in, but she’s something else.”

“She’s amazed me,” Brown continued. “She has a big strong kick and she got there in plenty of time.” The conditioner is considering Woodbine’s Grade 1 E.P. Taylor on Sunday, October 15 for the mare’s final start of the year.

The 2017 Hettinger was Fourstar Crook’s fifth career stakes victory. She also earned graded black type this year on July Fourth when she won the Grade 3 Dr. James Penny Memorial Stakes at Parx. From nine wins and two seconds in 13 starts, she has earned $649,050.

Bred by Kathleen M. Feron, Fourstar Crook sold as a yearling to Allied Bloodstock at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred preferred yearling sale for $55,000. Michael Dubb bought her the following year at the 2014 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Spring sale of 2-year-olds for $110,000.

Of her five winning siblings out of the Hettinger-bred mare Avril a Portugal by D’Accord, Coaltown Legend (Jump Start), earned over $325,000. Avril a Portugal mare currently has a yearling filly by Freud and delivered a Freud colt on April 19, 2017.

The renowned Hettinger breeding program also stamped the male division of Sunday’s paired New York-bred turf races. The Ashley T. Cole run earlier on the card was won by Get Jets[3], out of Sunny, another Hettinger-bred mare. Both horses were foaled at Hettinger’s Akindale Farm[4] in Pawling.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2017/09/24/fourstar-crook-hettinger-2017/

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Highway Star picks up second Grade 2 in Gallant Bloom, heads to Breeders’ Cup

By Sarah Mace

Chester and Mary Broman’s homebred Highway Star (Girolamo), who has gone from strength to strength this year for trainer Rodrigo Ubillo, picked up a second Grade 2 stakes victory Sunday with a strong finish in the featured Gallant Bloom Stakes at Belmont Park. The win was Highway Star’s fifth career stakes score and fourth graded win overall.

When asked by the NYRA Communications team about whether he was planning to ship Highway Star out west to compete in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint on Saturday, November 4, Ubillo said, “We’ll have to sit down and talk to [the Bromans about her next start]. Probably the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, but we’re not certain as of yet.” The conditioner had a more definitive answer ready when asked by the DRF’s Dave Grening: “I had a hint, but I wasn’t sure, I was going to wait until after this race. Now, we make it official.”

Jockey Luis Saez had the call on Sunday, subbing for regular rider (and cousin) Angel Arroyo because, as Ubillo explained, “Unfortunately, Angel took a spill [on Friday] and he wasn’t ready. Luis is his cousin and he talked to him about the filly so I felt pretty good.”

Highway Star broke from the inside post of six as the 2-1 second choice and navigated the backstretch at the rail in fourth, then fifth, losing a spot to fellow New York-bred Absatootly while pinned down inside.

Moving out into the two path in the approach to the turn, then three-wide around the bend, Highway Star made up ground and was set down for the drive four wide. She set her sights on odds-on favorite and Chad Brown-trainee Carina Mia, who took over the lead just past the quarter pole after Lucy N Ethel set early fractions of 22.59 and 45.94.

Asked for another gear in the lane, Highway Star found it. She closed the gap to Carina Mia, got the lead with less than a sixteenth of mile to go and inched away to win by a neck.

New York-bred Quezon finished a half-length back in third and, after a gap of more than six lengths, Absatootly, Friend of Liberty and pacesetter Lucy N Ethel completed the order of finish. After six furlongs in 1:10.31, Highway Star Stopped the clock at 1:16.91. [VIDEO REPLAY[2]]

Saez said, “They told me to break and see how I was and go from there and see what happens. I was a little worried because I had the one hole and I knew everyone was going to come down and we’d be stuck down [on the rail].”

Saez continued, “As soon as I got the opportunity, I came out and followed [Carina Mia] for Javier [Castellano]. When we came into the stretch, [Highway Star] took off. I was watching the replay of how she ran last time [second by a head in the Grade 1 Ballerina on August 26]. That was a big race she ran and I knew she was going to be tough to beat.”

Said Ubillo, “She broke good and then something happened on the backside so she fell back a little bit farther back than I wanted her to. Luis then took her to the outside and she made up a little ground. By the end of the race she came on again to finish strong.”

Highway Star is now five for six over Big Sandy. As Ubillo explained, “She trains here and I gallop her in the mornings and you can tell she really loves this track.”

Highway Star, who has won eight of 13 lifetime starts, finished second once and third twice, has made her last five starts in graded company. The Gallant Bloom victory brings Highway Star’s earnings in the neighborhood of $1 million ($969,000).

Unraced at two and winner of five of seven starts at three, Highway Star has blossomed at four, holding her own with the best female sprinters in the country. In the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps Stakes, she finished third to Songbird and Paid Up Subscriber. She missed winning the Grade 1 Ballerina by just a head to By the Moon.

Highway Star is one of three winners out of Stolen Star, a multiple stakes-placed homebred for the Bromans by Cat Thief, and is a half-sister to the Bromans’ multiple stakes winner and Friend or Foe, now a sire. Chester Broman purchased Stolen Star’s dam, Unbridled Star (Unbridled), for just $115,000 at the 2002 Keeneland November Sale.

Stolen Star currently has an unraced juvenile colt by Into Mischief named Fast Getaway and a weanling colt by Forty Tales. She was breed to Alpha in 2017.

Highway Star’s sire Girolamo, a Grade 1-winning son of A.P. Indy owned by Darley, began his stud career in 2012 at Becky Thomas and Dennis Narlinger’s Sequel Stallions New York[4] before relocating to Kentucky.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2017/09/24/highway-star-gallant-bloom/

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Get Jets all determination in Ashley T. Cole

By Sarah Mace

With only yards to go in Sunday’s running of the $125,000, 1 1/8-mile Ashley T. Cole for New York-bred turf runners three and up, five of six horses were stacked across the track and the three main contenders were rallying with intent.

Eight-year-old millionaire Kharafa (5-1) had good momentum at the fence, odds-on favorite Get Jets was rallying from fourth four-wide, and, on the outside, Call Provision (5-2) was surging toward the finish line in the clear.

In the end, Get Jets (Scat Daddy) had “that little extra something,” and edged Call Provision by a nose for the win. Kharafa finished 3/4 lengths back in third. Cloontia (9-2) completed the superfecta, followed across the line by longshots All Is Number, who set the pace for the first three-quarters of a mile, and Pat On the Back.

The race, which began in a leisurely way (24:19, 49.06 and 1:13.26), ended with a rush. The final furlong was clocked in 11.27, and the final time was 1:47.74. [VIDEO REPLAY[2]]

Before launching his winning rally, Get Jets traveled in fourth place in the four path around both turns and into upper stretch.

“Perfect trip. I landed where I wanted to be,” said winning jockey John Velazquez. “I had two horses coming from behind and one [Kharafa] got to the inside and the other one [Call Provision] went to the outside. I liked the one coming on the outside, so I stayed out there.”

Velazquez also loved Get Jets’ competitive spirit in the drive: “He put in a really good fight down the lane. As soon as we got head and head, I got after him.” The pilot continued, “I like that feeling when you get after the horse and your horse is giving it to you. They give a really good fight and as soon as they put a head in front, they’re like, ‘Nah uh, you’re not passing me.’”

Tony Dutrow, who is the colt’s trainer as well as a partner in Get Jets’ ownership group, Team D, commented, “I thought Jets broke well. On paper, it set up the way the race went. He settled some four or five lengths behind the speed of the race. Johnny [Velazquez] was content to keep him in that position and he knew the horses behind him we’re going to be the competition, so he waited for them and when they made their move, Get Jets did as well.”

Dutrow, like Velazquez, singled out Get Jets’ final push for praise. “When Call Provision came to Get Jets there at the eighth pole, they ran to the wire together and Get Jets maybe was a little too much today. I’m very happy with his effort today. I felt really good about [the distance]. But it was a test. He was also picking up some weight. I have to feel good about the result of today.”

As the 123-pound highweight in the race, Get Jets spotted rivals 3-11 pounds. The Ashley T. Cole was also the colt’s longest distance test to date by a sixteenth of a mile. Following a brief freshening, Dutrow will target the 1 3/8 Grade 3 Red Smith on November 11.

Winner of his debut at Saratoga and the Sleepy Hollow at Belmont in 2015, both on dirt, Get Jets did not revisit the winner’s circle until he switched over to turf in his final race of 2016. In six starts on grass, he has four wins and two seconds. Get Jets was last seen on August 25 at Saratoga closing like a rocket to collect a second career stakes victory in a highly competitive edition of the West Point at Saratoga.

Bred by Pat Pavlish and foaled at Akindale Farm in Pawling, Get Jets, whose earnings are $525,850 from 11 starts, with six wins and three seconds, fetched a gaudy $300,000 purchase price at the 2015 OBS April sale of 2-year-olds in training. Consigner Cary Frommer bought the colt originally for $162,000 at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred preferred sale in Saratoga.

The chestnut colt is one of two winners from two foals to start out of Sunny, a winning New York-bred daughter of Dixieland Band bred by John Hettinger. Sunny is a half-sister to multiple stakes winner and Grade 1 producer Wake Up Kiss and is from the family of Grade 1-winning millionaires Dare and Go and Go Deputy, and sire Quiet American.

Sunny has a 2-year-old colt by Caleb’s Posse named Ride to the Sunset who has not yet started, a yearling Broken Vow colt and foaled a Tapit colt on April 18. In the spring, Sunny was bred back to Tapit.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2017/09/24/get-jets-ashley-t-cole/

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