Therapist returns at four to win Elusive Quality
[1]
NYRA/Coglianese Photos
By Sarah Mace
Returning from his winter vacation at Payson Park where he underwent a personal makeover – being gelded – Therapist returned to the races a winner Saturday at Belmont Park. The chestnut son of Freud[2], looking fit and svelte after his break, managed to overcome traffic trouble in upper stretch and get up in time to win $125,000 Elusive Quality for 4-year-olds and up going seven furlongs over the Widener turf course.
Bred by Richard Leahy’s Oak Bluff Stables, who co-campaigns Therapist with trainer Christophe Clement, the 4-year-old was looking for his sixth stakes victory while preserving a perfect three-for-three in turf sprints on the Belmont green. He was also looking for a turnaround in form after tailing off last fall.
After Therapist won the open Cutler Bay and two divisions of the New York Stallion Stakes Series in 2018 – the Spectacular Bid at Belmont and Cab Calloway at Saratoga – he stretched out to two-turn races for his final two starts of the year. He finished a well-beaten seventh in the Grade 3 Saranac and third in the Tropical Park Derby on December 29. The turnback in distance in the Elusive Quality to kick off this year’s campaign would prove to be right up his alley. One question mark, the “yielding” condition of the Widener Turf, ultimately posed no challenge.
Breaking cleanly as the co-second betting choice at odds of 5-2 under Eric Cancel, Therapist settled at the rear of the six-horse field, six lengths off the pace set by frontrunner Fixed Point, who led the group through an opening quarter in 23.46 and half in 47.60 while being chased by odds-on favorite Big Handsome and Abiding Star.
Approaching the far turn Therapist picked up his tempo, while Abiding Star and Big Handsome began to gang up on Fixed Point.
Cutting the corner, Therapist got mired down inside in traffic at the head of the stretch and was forced check. The agile runner came out a path and advanced between horses into third tracking English import Emmaus, now second behind Big Handsome. He angled out one more path in the final furlong.
Therapist found another gear in deep stretch. He swept past his last two rivals in the final strides to win by a neck, stopping the clock after seven furlongs over the “yielding” turf course at 1:24.75. Big Handsome finished 1 1/2 lengths back in third. More than 10 lengths back Abiding Star, V.I.P. Code and Fixed Point completed the order of finish. [VIDEO[3]]
“I tried to follow Jose [Ortiz, aboard Emmaus],” explained jockey Eric Cancel. “I saw that he was the horse that I needed to beat. It looked like he was in a perfect spot, and I just tried to follow him. The trip worked out well. Once he found the hole by the quarter pole, I just followed him in. From there on, my horse did the job.”
A jolly Christophe Clement said, “He’s a fun horse and he tries very hard. He had a great finish. He’s owned by Dick Leahy of Oak Bluff Stable, who also bred the horse, and has always been a pleasure to train for. We waited all winter long to run him back. He ran a very good race today and I’m happy.”
Team Therapist is pointing next to the Kingston Stakes on Belmont’s May 27 Showcase card on Memorial Day.
Foaled at Berkshire Stud in Pine Plains, Therapist is one of two winners out of Lady Renaissance, a winning Kentucky-bred daughter of Sharp Strike who was purchased by Leahy’s Oak Bluff Stables for $15,000 at the 2009 Keeneland November sale.
Lady Renaissance has produced a juvenile full sister to Therapist, and a yearling colt by Temple City. At the 2018 Keeneland January sale she was purchased by Dennis Yokum for $52,000. The only time Therapist was offered at public auction, fortunately for his connections, he left the grounds as a $8,000 buyback. From seven wins and two thirds in 11 starts, Therapist has earned $441,550.
Endnotes:- [Image]: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Therapist-The-Elusive-Quality.jpg
- Freud: https://www.bloodhorse.com/stallion-register/nytb/stallion/119270/freud
- VIDEO: http://www.nytbreeders.org/includes/video-player.cfm?date=20190427&track=BED&race=9
Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2019/04/27/therapist-elusive-quality-19/
New York-bred juveniles finish with a flourish at OBS April with $200,000-plus quartet
By Sarah Mace
Saving the best for last, the New York-bred juvenile contingent at OBS April saw a cluster of premium sales during Friday’s fourth and final session. A quartet of horses – three colts and filly – sold for price tags of $200,000 and up, including a pair by New York based sires Central Banker and Mission Impazible.
Buyer interest on Day 4 also improved the cumulative sale indicators for Empire State-breds across-the-board. In all, of 89 offered, 71 New York-breds sold (including 12 private sales to date) for a much improved buyback rate of 20.2%, comparable to the 19.7% overall figure for the auction. Following the opening session, New York-bred RNAs stood at 33.3%. The final cumulative New York-bred average was $73,451 and median came in at $50,000, which made up ground on the record-breaking overall sale average of $108,903 (up 10.9% from the prior year) and median $60,000 (up 9.1%).
The session’s top New York-bred seller was a dark bay/brown Violence colt out of Bear Now, the Sovereign Award champion older mare in 2008. Hip 960[1] was bred by Town & Country Horse Farms, LLC and foaled on April 9, 2017. Offered as a yearling at the Keeneland September sale, the colt brought a relatively modest $65,000 from Jeffrey Bloom. After breezing a sharp furlong of :10 flat in the under tack show for consignor by Randy Miles, Agent XV, he was purchased by Red Oak Farm, Inc. for $250,000. (VIDEO[2])
His dam Bear Now, who has produced two winners from four foals to start, is a highly accomplished Kentucky-bred daughter of Tiznow, who earned $1.1 million on the race track. Out of stakes winner Controlled, she won seven stakes, including a trio of graded contests, on her way to her 2008 championship. She was purchased by Town & Country for $950,000 at the 2008 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky winter mixed sale and has since been resold.
Following not far behind with a $240,000 price tag was Hip 1009[3], a filly by New York sire Central Banker[4], currently sitting third in the national second-crop sire rankings and standing at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds[5] for a 2019 fee of $7,500. Purchased as a yearling at OBS by Sunshine Equine for $55,000, the sale filly breezed a furlong on :10 1/5 in the under tack show for consignor Mayberry Farm, Agent, before trainer Linda Rice signed the ticket for an undisclosed client. (VIDEO[6])
Bred by Klaravich Stables, the filly is a full-sister to Klaravich Stables’ New York-bred stakes winner Sassy Agnes, who won a trio of stakes as a juvenile last year for Rice, topped by Aqueduct’s Key Cents Stakes. The fillies are the first and second foals out of Bullish Sentiment, who issues from a familiar New York family.
An unraced daughter of Stormy Atlantic, Bullish Sentiment is a full sister to graded stakes-placed and multiple stakes winner Stormy’s Majesty who was bred in New York by Majesty Stud, LLC and earned $336,649. The mare’s second dam is New York-bred stakes performer Raffie’s Dream, who is a full-sister to graded winner Stormy’s Majesty. Bullish Sentiment has produced yearling full-brother to her first two foals and foaled a colt by Constitution on March 24, 2019. In 2018 she was sold to McMahon and Hill Bloodstock for $5,000.
The two other New York-bred juveniles to make the Friday honor roll fetched $205,000 each.
On behalf of Repole Stable, trainer Rudy Rodriguez signed the ticket for Hip 1172[7], a grey/roan colt named Neversayimpazible by Mission Impazible[8], who stands at Sequel Stallions New York for a 2019 stud fee of $7,500. Bred by Sequel New York, Twin Creeks Racing & Pamela Zielinski, the colt is out of Kentucky-bred winner Downtown Daria (Sky Mesa), a daughter of of stakes winner Hongkong Charley. This is the third time the colt has changed hands at public auction. A $15,000 weanling purchase by Northface Bloodstock at the Fasig-Tipton New York fall mixed sale, he brought $65,000 at the Fasig-Tipton preferred New York-bred yearling sale when purchased by Whetstone Farm. He was consigned by Paul Sharp, Agent I, at OBS for whom he breezed an eighth in :10 1/5 at the under tack show. (VIDEO[9])
Last but not least, Sallusto and Albina, Agent, paid $205,000 for Hip 1169[10], a dark bay/brown colt from the first crop of Grade 1 Champagne winner Daredevil (More than Ready). Bred in partnership by Hidden Lake Farm LLC, 3C Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds, Inc., et al, he too is a veteran of the sales ring and followed the same path as Neversayimpazible, also gaining value with each transaction. A $60,000 weanling at the Fasig-Tipton New York fall mixed sale, he brought $100,000 from Grand Oaks at last year’s Fasig-Tipton preferred New York-bred yearling sale before being consigned by Bobby Dodd at OBS, where he posted a :10 1/5 eighth. (VIDEO[11]). His dam Dorm Fever is a Virginia-bred daughter of Stormin Fever who was acquired by Hidden Lake Farm at Keeneland in November in 2016. She has a yearling colt by Japan and was bred to Unified last year.
Endnotes:- Hip 960: http://obssales.com/aprcatalog/2019/960.PDF
- VIDEO: http://obssales.com/aprcatalog/2019/960.mp4
- Hip 1009: http://obssales.com/aprcatalog/2019/1009.PDF
- Central Banker: https://www.bloodhorse.com/stallion-register/nytb/stallion/168640/central-banker
- McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds: http://www.mcmahonthoroughbreds.com/
- VIDEO: http://obssales.com/aprcatalog/2019/1009.mp4
- Hip 1172: http://obssales.com/aprcatalog/2019/1172.PDF
- Mission Impazible: https://www.bloodhorse.com/stallion-register/nytb/stallion/166076/mission-impazible
- VIDEO: http://obssales.com/aprcatalog/2019/1172.mp4
- Hip 1169: http://obssales.com/aprcatalog/2019/1169.PDF
- VIDEO: http://obssales.com/aprcatalog/2019/1169.mp4
Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2019/04/27/obs-april-19-final-wrap/