The race for Simply Enchanting was being pointed toward did not fill for Friday and was not brought back on the overnight for next Saturday.
We'll consult with Phil D'Mato and come up with a new game plan or see if the race might reappear as an extra on a subsequent card.
We'll report back when we have more.
Sorry for the delayed Secret Crush update. We originally expected Dr. Sutter to perform his re-check a couple of weeks ago, but he conferred with the team at Silver Springs and they decided it was best that he wait until this week, because that makes it a full five months of rest and recovery time.
We should hear more from Dr. Sutter later this week after he performs his examination and will pass along any news at that time.
Fireball Birdie runs his second 2nd place in a row at Remington Park in a night race (R#8) on the same day as the California Crown at Santa Anita.
Catalyst has arrived at Keeneland in good order and has settled in nicely. Her transition from farm to track should be quite seamless as she already has a few works under her belt. This is our Gun Runner x Tapit filly (which is proving to be a phenomenal cross), who is also half-sibling to several stakes horses including Creative Minister. Her dam is a sister to Tapizar!
She needed a bit of time off to allow her body to adjust to a sudden growth spurt and associated weight loss, but she's getting ready to restart her career soon.
SEIZE THE GREY: 2024 G1 PENNSYLVANIA DERBY CHAMPION
Seize the Grey showed what he’s made of last Saturday at Parx with a dominant performance in the $1-million G1 Pennsylvania Derby, triggering a $2-million kicker as part of his stud deal on top of everything else and putting the 3-year-old division on notice.
The beautiful grey broke sharply, and was briefly challenged for the lead, but jockey Jaime Torres and Seize the Grey didn’t blink and managed to establish command down on the fence into the first turn. Seize the Grey seemed to be inching clear of the competition entering the home bend, but the G1 Santa Anita Derby winner Stronghold was among those launching serious bids from the back of the pack. As soon as Seize the Grey saw Stronghold, he turned on the afterburners and kicked clear again with authority to open up several lengths.
This was a pivotal race for Seize the Grey’s career, and he could not have answered the call any more emphatically. He reaffirmed what we all believed to be true, that he is one of the top sophomores in the country. We can't wait to see what is next for our dazzling grey, especially come the first weekend in November. Congratulations to all owners!
HERE'S THE KICKER BREAKS MAIDEN BY 10+ LENGTHS
Here's the Kicker stunned rivals on Sunday to score an easy 10-plus length victory at Gulfstream, officially breaking her maiden! Here's the Kicker has been a fun filly to watch develop. We always knew she had talent, and this year in the hands of trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. she's really come on. The grey has had three starts with the Joseph barn and has improved with each run.
Sunday afternoon, Here's the Kicker always seemed to be going much better than her competition from, and took over at the top of the lane before widening at will with good-looking strides. She was the easiest of winners, earning her diploma by 10 3/4 lengths as the overwhelming favorite. Here’s the Kicker certainly looked on paper like she was sitting on a breakout win like that, but it was exciting nonetheless to see her put it all together and pick up her diploma.
We can't wait to see what is next for our beautiful Liam's Map filly. We believe she'll take her owners on quite a fun journey over the next stages of her career. Congratulations, Here's the Kicker owners!
Good Cop is turned out at Bruce Jackson's Farm at Fair Hill in Maryland while completing the final weeks of his prescribed time off.
Our son of the leading Freshman Sire, Tiz the Law is due to return to an exercise program on 10/1/2024. At that time, he will ease back into aquatreading while remaining turned out for a couple weeks. This will allow him to get a nice cardiovascular workout without 100% of the pounding on his joints.
Good Cop will follow this routine for a couple weeks before returning under tack.
We are excited to get Good Cop back going with eyes on a late Fall campaign.
Caldera seems to be settling in well at the Lukas barn at Churchill. He has run two successive bullet works at 4F since arriving, in very nice times in 46.80 (1/25) and 47.40 (1/9).
A bit of buzz is already starting to build around this guy, but he still has a long way to go.
We'll see what the Coach says in his next update.
$1 million Pennsylvania Derby tops weekend horse racing (pre-race)
D. Wayne Lukas Looking for Rebound from "Blue Collar" Seize The Grey (pre-race)
Preakness Winner Seize The Grey Scores Front Running Pennsylvania Derby Win
Bloodhorse: Seize The Grey Wins Pennsylvania Derby
Seize the Grey wins the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby for 89-year-old trainer D. Wayne Lukas
Thoroughbred Daily News: Tiz the Seize-n
US Racing: Seize The Grey Soars to Victory in the Pennsylvania Derby
Jaime Torres (Jockey):
Fancy Quality had a very impressive debut. Unfortunately, it was the same day Seize The Grey won the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby and her effort got a little lost in the shuffle. So circling back...
FANCY QUALITY had a very nice debut at Belmont at the Big A (Aqueduct) Saturday! She came from last and made a monster run approaching the wire to take 3rd by only about half a length! What an absolutely HUGE move! Even her jockey was impressed.
Can't wait for her next start!
This is our imported daughter of top Euro sire, Wootton Bassett, who's kids are making quite a bit of noise both here and across the pond. This girl has had her share of setbacks that got her to the track late in her 3YO year, but what an entrance she made for her first start!
The man who scouted her out at a sale in France is also her trainer, and just happened to win both the Kentucky Derby (with Mystic Dan) and Kentucky Oaks (with Thorpedo Anna, who will possibly be the 3YO Eclipse Champion this year), Kenny McPeek. :)
Seize the Grey, and his Pennsylvania Derby flower blanket, made it safely back to Churchill Downs this afternoon.
The Breeders Cup will definitely be a consideration for his next start, but which race is yet to be determined. Most likely options will be the Classic or the Mile.
UPDATE:
Seize the Grey has exited Saturday's big win in good order and was shipped back to Churchill Downs. He will train up to the Breeders' Cup from there.
We will now have a decision to make as far as which race run in--the G1 Dirt Mile or G1 Classic--but have some time to weigh those options.
Seize the Grey earned a 97 Beyer Speed Figure for Saturday's run.
Isle Blue had follow-up X-rays taken as planned by Dr. Larry Bramlage to monitor her progress. She is not quite ready at this time to do anything further and as a result, will receive another month of turnout.
Following another 30 days, we don’t expect there to be any additional delays and at that time she should be ready to begin jogging under tack.
Here's the Kicker Broke her Maiden in a Huge Way!
Here’s the Kicker earning her much-deserved maiden victory at Gulfstream Park today in a very impressive way (10-3/4 lengths!). She absolutely crushed it coming off the turn and the daylight she gained on the field just kept growing! What an amazing turn of foot she showed, and a good indicator that she can run longer and use that fabulous closing kick to great advantage. (This race was 6-1/2 furlongs and we're guessing she'll be looking for a mile or closer to that distance in the future.)
Many thanks to trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. for his excellent work with her, and to jockey Edgard Zayas, who put in a masterful ride.
We’ve got plenty of reason for further optimism moving forward for our Liam’s Map filly.
Congratulations to all of her owners.
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Post Race
Here’s the Kicker bounced out of Sunday's win in good physical order and returned to Palm Meadows Training Center. She earned a career-best 80 Beyer Speed Figure.
Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. is very pleased with her progression and looks forward to getting her stretched out in distance as he's mentioned on multiple occasions. Our plan will be to look for a first-level allowance next at Gulfstream.
Well, it's been quite a day. Seize The Grey turned in another stellar performance in winning the G1 Pennsylvania Derby virtually wire-to-wire.
His record is now G1 G1 G2 and two allowance wins! We think this may have moved him into the top money earner sired by Arrogate (to date), but we'll see how the numbers shake out once Equibase updates.
Here's the race:
After a short rest so she could recover from some aches and pains associated with beginning more advanced exercises, Nakoma has handled her return to jogging without issue and is reportedly happy to be back to work. :D
With the barn preparing to ship out of Saratoga, Jena Antonucci will weigh the options of sending Nakoma to either Keeneland or Belmont, but Keeneland is very likely to be her next spot.
Vekoma continues to be super hot as a freshman sire. On Saturday, he was represented by G3 Iroquois Stales romper Jonathan’s Way, who earned 10 of the first 2025 Kentucky Derby qualifying points! Vekoma also narrowly missed siring his first Grade 1 winner in Woodbine’s Natalma Stakes! He also had a five-length debut winner at BAQ. Victories and strong performances from many of his first crop have been a very good sign of things to come.
We look forward to Nakoma's continued advancement and will post further updates as she progresses.
We are excited to announce Seize the Grey was officially entered for this Saturday's G1 $1M Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing on September 21st.
Our colt drew post 2 of (11) and has regular rider and Preakness winning jockey Jaime Torres back in the irons.
The 13th race has a post time of 6:10 PM ET / 4:10 PM MT.
Other entries include Dragoon Guard, another talented son of Arrogate who has won his last four races, including G3 level stakes. Past competitors and Triple Crown contenders include Stronghold, Resilience, and Uncle Heavy.
Seize The Grey has continued to train beautifully. Help us cheer him on in Saturday's race.
Blue Devil, the talented horse we bought into who has already competed at the stakes level, has now completed his fourth work back since his rest and train back. Info as follows...
Ellis Park 9/16/2024 Dirt 4F 50.60 Breezing 19/23
Ellis Park 9/9/2024 Dirt 4F 50.20 Breezing 11/23
Ellis Park 9/2/2024 Dirt 4F 51.60 Breezing 25/26
Ellis Park 8/27/2024 Dirt 3F 39.80 Breezing 5/5
Although he appears to be off to a slow start, he's in the hands of one of the best -- Steve Asmussen -- and his works indicate that the Asmussen team may be working on rebuilding his stamina, wind and overall fitness before advancing to faster works.
So far, so good.
Seismic Beauty worked a strong half mile in :48 flat this morning at Santa Anita Park. Trainer Bob Baffert was extremely pleased with today’s breeze. We’re still ironing out our next race target but will report back as soon as a plan is finalized.
Although the Dogwood Stakes at Churchill Downs was a potential target, it does not appear that Seismic Beauty has been entered. Not surprising since she's still on the West Coast, and the trip logistics probably didn't make sense at this time. With Santa Anita opening soon, our guess is she'll likely target a West Coast stakes if all goes well.
Here’s the Kicker had her first work back this morning, covering four furlongs in :49.80. We caught up with trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. at the yearling sale this week who reported your daughter of Liam’s Map continues in great order.
She will be entered today for a maiden special weight going six and one half furlongs which is an extra on the overnight. We will follow up once the overnight is released.
English Jubilee overcame a hard check early on in her race at Woodbine today that put her into last place, but she rallied for 3rd in the stretch. (We thought she might have grabbed second but she got caught by another closer before the wire.) All-in-all, a pretty nice effort, and best of all, it does not appear she was claimed, so she'll be back to race for us another day. Good Job, English.
English Jubilee finished 3rd beaten by 5 1/4 lengths, on September 14, 2024, at WOODBINE in Race 1.
FOLLOW UP:
We received an update that cast a lot more light on English Jubilee's failure to mount a strong rally. Since the channel was so focused on the paddock activity, post parade, warm up and gate load of a MSW at Churchill Downs instead of the live feed at Woodbine, they didn't broadcast her race until nearly 20 minutes after it had run, and didn't cover any of the pre-race hijinx we were just filled in on.
"English Jubilee threw a wing-ding before the race, as she can do on occasion, and she blasted Patrick Husbands in the face, causing Patrick to require concussion protocol after the race and it probably rung the filly’s bell, too.
They were both dull around the oval and made just a mild bid to be a non threatening 3rd behind the filly we knew would be tough..."
So, as they say, there's the "rest of the story."
It would have been helpful if we could have actually viewed the issues with the gate load at Woodbine, instead of the channel droning on and on for nearly 25 minutes about some random maiden special weight at Churchill while a LIVE RACE was going off at Woodbine, but that's the issue we face with television coverage on certain channels these days.
Caldera arrived safely at Churchill Downs to join the D. Wayne Lukas barn this week and has settled in nicely. The son of Liam’s Map will have a few easy days. We'll follow up once he returns to the track.
OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FROM MRH
We are thrilled to announce Caldera, our big son of Liam's Map, has officially joined "Coach" D. Wayne Lukas's string at Churchill Downs!
Caldera has been working beautifully at Dave Scanlon's Oak Ridge Farrm. So far, he has been a star student in his training. Nearly every work he's had, Scanlon's noted it was either "a walk in the park" or "he makes it look easy" with his natural athleticism and good mind.
These are great qualities you want to see in a young horse heading into the next stage of their training.
Although Seize the Grey is currently at Saratoga and not in the same barn as Caldera, we can't help to get a little bit of déjà vu with Caldera since last year around this time, Seize the Grey was at Churchill himself. Caldera has huge hoofprints to follow, but there's nothing more exciting than a grey starting their career with D. Wayne Lukas (Seize the Grey, Oxbow, Winning Colors, and Lady's Secret would all agree).
It's now up to Coach and Caldera!
The team checked in with the Silver Springs staff earlier this week regarding Secret Crush. Farm manager Kevin Notlemeyer reported he is a happy horse on turnout and has been very sound since moving out to a large paddock. Dr. Sutter plans to perform a re-check this coming week which will be his 30-day check since being turned out.
English Jubilee has been entered in Race #1, a $40,000 Maiden Claiming with a purse of $65,700, on Saturday at Woodbine.
English Jubilee has drawn post #3 with Patrick Husbands on board. Mark Casse is her trainer. Post time is 1:10 PM ET / 11:10 AM MT.
The MRH team has been in touch with trainer D. Wayne Lukas over the last few days while they've been at the Keeneland September yearling sale together. The Coach reports our son of Arrogate remains in great order and will have one final breeze this coming weekend in preparation for the G1 Pennsylvania Derby. Mr. Lukas continues to be full of confidence.
We will report back once our colt returns to the work tab.
Seismic Beauty had her first work back since her maiden victory yesterday morning at Del Mar, covering three furlongs in :36.20. In her solo drill, the daughter of Uncle Mo wasn’t asked for much and went easily throughout.
With the Del Mar meet now closed, trainer Bob Baffert wasn’t looking for anything special and has been pleased with the filly since her race. Seismic Beauty has been nominated to the G3 Dogwood on September 21st at Churchill Downs, however that would require a ship across country and there will also be plenty of options as soon as the Santa Anita meet starts back at the end of the month.
The Baffert barn is expected to ship back to Santa Anita in the coming days and we'll discuss plans with Bob once she returns.
Blue Devil breezed a half mile in :50.20 yesterday morning at Ellis Park. He traveled nicely by himself while not being asked for much.
He’s moving right along, now having two half-miles under him and is making good progress. His works will begin to get more serious over the coming weeks.
Fancy Quality breezed five furlongs in 1:04.21 this morning over the Belmont training track. This week she breezed in company with a stablemate from Argentina, Dia Estelar.
We remain on target for her debut on September 21st at Belmont at the Big A and your daughter of Wootton Bassett will have one additional breeze next Saturday in preparation.
Simply Enchanting has continued in good order since her comeback race on Sunday. She earned a 72 Beyer Speed Figure for her effort. It was great to see her respond well following that head-scratching effort at Churchill but she showed plenty of grit in the stretch and this looks to be a race we can build off of.
The logical next spot would be the same condition on October 4th at Santa Anita but we’ll see how she continues to train out of this race and finalize our decision as we get closer.
The D’Amato barn is scheduled to return to Santa Anita early next week, so her first work back will come there.
Fireball Birdie ran 2nd at Remington Park yesterday evening, two lengths behind the winner. He earned a 91 Equibase speed figure for the race.
Simply Enchanting ran a great race today at Del Mar R#3, closing in on the clear leader deep in the stretch to almost get there, only loosing by a head at the wire and finishing 4 lengths ahead of the 3rd place horse. Very exciting performance and we'll post more when we receive the Equibase and trainer reports.
AFTER RACE REPORT
Simply Enchanting bounced back nicely this afternoon at Del Mar, missing by a head to in-form Edge Racing runner Normandy Queen. (Edge is MRH's other division and Normandy Queen is currently undefeated.)
Your filly took a bump from the horse to her inside at the break, but continued right along to stalk from third. Normandy Queen looked home free heading for home, but Simply Enchanting continued to respond to rider Antonio Fresu’s urging. She found another gear once she switched leads at the top of the lane, gobbled up ground on the leader, but just ran out of room.
Regardless of the tough beat, we have to be very heartened by that performance and excited to see Simply Enchanting build on that improved run next time.
We’ll see how she comes back and weigh options with trainer Phil D’Amato, but another try in a similar spot would be logical.
RACE ON YOUTUBE:
