English Jubilee Breaks Maiden in a Thrilling WIN!

English Jubilee had a very tough trip tonight at Woodbine, but showed amazing heart first in being shuffled back, then making a terrific bid to pass in a tight spot on the rail, and once through the very narrow gap, went after the leader and ran her down to win by a neck. 

All in all a brilliant win, but sadly one that will end our ownership of the daughter of English Channel, as she was claimed out of the race this Halloween night.  

New connections:

1 Claimed horse: English Jubilee   

New trainer: Darwin D. Banach  

New owners: Hiller, John and Lofts, John

As with our previous horses, we will continue to follow her. Her page will be marked as CLAIMED and moved down with our other previous horses.

STG Stallion Career News

Gainesway announces stallion roster for 2025. 

Seize The Grey is on there, but TBD at the conclusion of his career. 

 

Nakoma Update

Nakoma will ship to Gulfstream today to continue her training. She’s progressed in her pitstop at the farm, but has gotten a bit tough to handle there and clearly wants to do more. Her trainer, Jena Antonucci, reported she's been growing and doing well, but has been a bit sassy.

Her sire, Vekoma, is set up for another potentially big weekend. He’s got major G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile contender Jonathan’s Way—a convincing winner of the G3 Iroquois S. last out—plus live longshot Vixen in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. He’ll also be represented earlier on Friday’s BC card in the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance S. and on the same day has the favorite in the Atlantic Beach S. at BAQ.

On Saturday, Vekoma has two of the five runners in the Nashua S. (Jena  Antonucci also has one in there), and another in the Tempted S. in New York. 

Catalyst Update

Catalyst worked a half-mile in :49.40 inside of unraced 2-year-old filly Mila Rose. She continues to progress following her return from her layup. 

This was her first half-mile work since her return, so she still has a ways to go, but it's a positive step in the right direction toward a return to the track.

The Royal Duet -- Guinevere and Straight to Glory -- are being Retired!

Our two horse package -- "The Royal Duet" -- so named because they were at one point being pointed to Royal Ascot, are both retiring. 

Guinevere 

Our lovely chestnut filly will be sold in the Keeneland sale. Our 3YO multiple winner by Justify, although she has found limited success on the track, is probably more valuable as a broodmare at this point. We'll post updates on her sale when we get them. 

Straight to Glory

On the other half of the package, a 3YO bay gelding, has had some difficulty with getting his career started and at this point, his trainer does not feel it would be effective to pursue a racing career any further. If it was an option, he would probably be running at a smaller track with lower level purses that would not cover his training costs. Our son of Cotai Glory showed a lot of promise and was a very exciting addition to our stable, but it seems that finding him a second career would be the best option at this point. MRH is looking into a second career for him now.

We will be marking The Royal Duet package as "Retired" very soon and moving their page down with our other retired, claimed or no longer owned horses. All of these non-active pages will be left on our site for the foreseeable future so we can post any further updates as we hear more. 

Seize The Grey has Drawn Post #6 in the BC Dirt Mile

Seize The Grey has drawn post #6 -- a repeat of his Preakness post when he won going away - for the G1 Breeders Cup Dirt Mile on Saturday. The partnership is quite enthusiastic about the draw! 

So far, so good, and it appears all systems are go. Seize The Grey will have a gallop tomorrow morning, but it will not be a timed work.

In other news, D. Wayne Lukas is not planning to attend the Breeders Cup races, due to having several first time starters at Churchill Downs this weekend, including our Caldera. We're secretly hoping he hops a jet and surprises everyone, even though we know that's not likely to happen. Assistant Trainer Baz will be overseeing Seize The Grey and all preparations at Del Mar. 

CALDERA TO DEBUT ON NOVEMBER 1ST

CALDERA, our son of Liam's Map has been training well at Churchill Downs under trainer D. Wayne Lukas. He'll make his debut at his home track on Friday, November 1st, the same day the Breeders Cup Future Stars (2YO) races are run at Del Mar on the West Coast. 

Unfortunately, jockey Jaime Torres will not be available to ride in his debut because he'll be at Del Mar for the mount on Seize The Grey for the Breeders Cup Dirt Mile on Saturday.

Here's the race info (which also will appear in the Upcoming section above until the race is run).

FRIDAY 11/01/2024

Churchill Downs 

R#5 Maiden Special Weight $120K 

6 Furlongs 

P#6 of 12 

Ramon Vasquez up

3:13 PM ET / 1:13 PT MT

BREEDERS CUP POST POSITION DRAWS ON MONDAY

The official fields for the Breeders’ Cup races will be locked in Monday when the post-position draws are conducted beginning at 7:15 p.m. EDT at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club (FanDuel TV, BreedersCup.com).

Jon White on Seize The Grey, D. Wayne Lukas and MRH

An insightful and interesting video of an interview with racing legend and Washington Hall of Famer, Jon White prior to the Breeders Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar on November 2, 2024 on our boy's chances, and a glimpse into The Coach's legend, and MyRacehorse.

Secret Crush Update

Our team checked in on Secret Crush this morning at Silver Springs. He’s doing well and looks good with about two weeks of jogging under his belt. He’ll have another scan around the 45-day mark and, as mentioned previously, the plan is for him to jog for a total of approximately 60 days and then start galloping again.

The team also discussed gelding Secret Crush and everyone is in agreement that it’s the right move for his comeback. He’ll be a bit easier on himself as a gelding, and it’ll help keep some weight off. He doesn’t have much stallion potential at the moment, so giving him the best possible chance to be the most useful racehorse he can be seems the proper course of action. That procedure will likely take place on the farm in the coming weeks. 

Seize The Grey Chasing the 3YO Champion Male Title

An article about the Eclipse Award Championship standings mentions Ceasar (Seize The Grey) several times. The Breeders Cup Dirt Mile is going to be a very tough challenge for him, where he'll be meeting older horses and those with international resumes for the first time. 

Three Year Old Champion Male Title On the Line at Breeders Cup

If Seize The Grey can pull off a win on November 2nd, he'll be joining some very talented horses on the winners' list. 

Prior winners of the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile race:

2023: Cody’s Wish

2022: Cody’s Wish

2021: Life Is Good

2020: Knicks Go

2019: Spun to Run

2018: City of Light

2017: Battle of Midway

2016: Tamarkuz

2015: Liam’s Map (the sire of our Caldera)

Here's The Kicker Entry

Here's The Kicker has been entered on Saturday, October 26th at Gulfstream Park in R#7. It's a 6-1/2 F dirt AOC sprint at 6-1/2 furlongs. She will start from P#4 with Edgar Zayas up. Post time is 4:04 ET which is 2:04 MT.

There are currently 8 horses entered and she will NOT be running for a tag. 

Although Saffie Joseph Jr. preferred to enter her in a longer race, this is the one available that suited her. In her last out at this distance, she won by 10-3/4 lengths. 

Good Luck, Here's The Kicker!

Blue Devil Works Third Bullet in a Row

Blue Devil turned in his third-straight 5 furlong bullet breeze this morning at Ellis Park, this time working inside of fellow MyRacehorse-owned stablemate Chasing Time. 

He's certainly looking sharp and getting close to being race ready.

Nakoma Arrives Safely at Gold Mark Farm in Florida

Our Vekoma filly, Nakoma, has made the journey from Saratoga and arrived safely to Gold Mark Farm near Ocala, Florida, where she is expected to spend the winter.

We were sent a video of her galloping on the Gold Mark track, and she looks fit and sound, if a bit feisty. 

Our Horse Locations list will be updated. 

SEIZE THE GREY Opts for BREEDERS CUP DIRT MILE

It's officially been decided that Seize the Grey will point to the November 2nd G1 BREEDERS' CUP DIRT MILE. Trainer D. Wayne Lukas and the MRH team agree that the Dirt Mile could potentially give Seize the Grey his best shot at Champion 3YO Male honors, depending on the outcome of both the MILE and the CLASSIC this year. 

Seize The Grey and National Treasure are expected to face off in the Dirt Mile -- a showdown between the Preakness winners of the last two years. 

Our boy is expected to ship to California next week. We’ll report back when we know further details. 

Catalyst Works

This morning at Ellis Park, Catalyst had her first timed workout since returning to the barn of Steve Asmussen. 

Our daughter of Gun Runner worked three furlongs in :39.00 ranked 4/4 on the day. Being her first work back since returning from the farm, she will likely have a few more of these slower works to ease her back into the rhythm of training at the track.

Simply Enchanting Race Results

Not an inspiring effort from our Nyquist daughter, but she did hit the board in 3rd place after a duel, though far behind the leaders.

She apparently wasn't even tired after the race, which seems to indicate she didn't put in a full effort. Still, she has hit the board in all but one race, and won convincingly on her debut followed by a 3rd in a Kentucky Oaks qualifier at Sunland Park. 

Maybe just an off day for her. Hopefully she'll show a bit more enthusiasm next out. 

Current stats:

Starts	Firsts	Seconds	Thirds	Earnings
6	1	2	2	$112,316

Simply Enchanting Race Recap

Simply Enchanting checked in third this afternoon at Santa Anita. She settled into a good stalking spot along the inside early as eventual runner-up Jubilant Joanie showed the way while chased by heavy favorite Cavalieri.

That pair posted honest splits, but Simply Enchanting required some encouragement to keep up with them heading into the turn for home. She dropped back pretty abruptly around the bend, and at that point we wouldn’t have expected even a third-place run, but she kept grinding in the lane despite struggling with her leads to win the battle for a distant third.

Ultimately, the very expensive now two-for-two winner was simply too good, and the runner-up—who came in off a four-race win streak—handled the class hike, but it seemed as if we didn’t get a full effort today from Simply Enchanting. She wasn’t tired at all coming back, which is a clear sign she didn’t put forth 100% effort.

We’ll see how she comes back and huddle up with Phil in the coming days to determine what’s next.

Nakoma Update

Nakoma had her next follow-up scan this morning, and everything continues to trend in the right direction. She’s been given the green light to pick up the pace a bit more, but on Jena’s recommendation she’ll do that at Jena’s home base at GoldMark Farm in Ocala. The barn will be dispersing from Keeneland in the coming weeks, with some horses heading up to New York and some going to Gulfstream Park, and either way Nakoma was going to go to Florida next.

With Nakoma not being super close to a race yet, Jena feels GoldMark is a better place to continue her forward progression. The sand-based track there is very forgiving, and there also tends to be a bit less rain in Central Florida vs. South Florida. Jena was quick to point out that this is not a step backwards for Nakoma, and that heading to the farm is just the best way to keep ramping up the intensity of her training and getting her closer to race fit. Once she’s got some speed work under her belt, she’ll head to Gulfstream to finish off her preparations for a debut.

Having her own farm operation that horses can seamlessly transition to is a big asset for Jena and was a key factor in the development of her champion trainee Arcangelo, so we think it’s definitely the right move. Nakoma will ship south as soon as a van becomes available.

Since our update the other day, Vekoma got another stakes win at Delaware with a colt who is now three-for-three, and had two more MSW winners at Keeneland.

We’ll report back with more soon once Nakoma makes it down to Florida. Check out the accompanying clips of some of Nakoma’s owners meeting the filly and Jena at Keeneland this morning.

Blue Devil Working Well and May Be Approaching Race Ready

Blue Devil breezed a bullet five furlongs in 1:00.60 this morning at Ellis Park. Your son of Uncle Mo is making solid progress and we would expect him to be race-ready in November. 

Steve would like to get a few more fitness drills into him with the likelihood of his return race going around two turns.

Fancy Quality Update

Fancy Quality had her final breeze in preparation for next Friday’s race at Belmont at the Big A, covering five furlongs in 1:03.69. 

Our daughter of Wootton Bassett worked in company with stablemate Bottomless Mimosa. 

Pending all is well in the morning, Fancy Quality will be entered tomorrow for the maiden special weight on October 18th.

FOLLOW UP NOTE: The race was not carded for 10/18. Hopefully it will be on the card for the following week. We'll update when we receive more info. 

Isle Blue Update

Our team checked in on Isle Blue at Miacomet Farm this morning. She continues to do well while on paddock turnout and farm manager Mark McEntee has informed us she will resume training next week. She will jog for approximately 30 days and once she has a solid base under her, they will look to move her onto the next stage of her training.

Seize The Grey - BC Classic or Mile?

The jury is still out on if Seize The Grey will enter the Breeders Cup Classic or Breeders Cup Dirt Mile. The Coach, the MRH team and Gainesway Farms are carefully monitoring both races to see how the fields size up. The recent retirement of Dornoch after a bone bruising injury was detected has changed the complexion of the Classic somewhat, but the team will wait until closer to the deadline to make a final decision and entry for our dual Grade 1 winning son of Arrogate.

Simply Enchanting Entry

Simply Enchanting was officially entered in Saturday’s(10/12/2024)  third race at Santa Anita Park. The one-mile allowance race ended up with a field of six and your daughter of Nyquist drew post #1. 

We needed a new rider due to Antonio Fresu serving a suspension and Armando Ayuso will now take over in the irons. Ayuso and D’Amato have teamed up for three wins from five starts since September and this looks to be a good spot for our filly.

Caldera -- Approaching his Debut!

Our team had a chance to check in on Caldera this morning at Churchill Downs. He looks good and seems to be tucking up as he gets closer to being race fit.

Note that the plan is to wait to debut him during the Churchill Downs Fall Meet (begins Oct. 27) rather than ship to Keeneland. There's really no rush to send him out there sooner than that, and being able to run out of his own stall and over a surface he's clearly handling well is preferred.

Stay tuned for more soon.

Simply Enchanting Update

Simply Enchanting breezed five furlongs in 1:02.40 on the inside of stablemate Sun of Hill. Working under Antonio Fresu, your daughter of Nyquist finished up well and traveled much easier than her mate. While this was not a fast work, she did it the right way, and trainer Phil D’Amato noted that she was intentionally not asked to show much speed since we do know know exactly when that allowance race will be used for her. Entries were taken today for Friday and the race was not used, but we do believe it will be used this coming weekend. If the race is used in that time frame, we will need to make a rider change as jockey Antonio Fresu is serving a suspension through October 18th.

English Jubilee Post Race Update

English Jubilee finished 6th beaten by 6 3/4 lengths, on October 6, 2024, at WOODBINE in Race 2.

Off odds: 2.65

She went off as the favorite, broke well then lost ground out of the gate to be running last by 20 lengths in a ten horse field. Made up ground late, but the best she could do was a 6th place, only 6-3/4 back.

She was not claimed. 

They may try blinkers next time, and another drop in class. 

Catalyst Moves from Keeneland to Ellis Park

Catalyst has been moved from Keeneland to Ellis Park for the time being. The Asmussen barn does a lot of repositioning of horses depending on where in their training they are and other factors, and after evaluating Catalyst since she returned to the barn, determined that she's got some time to go before she'll be race ready again. We'll be back with more information as we receive it.

Secret Crush: Great News! But Slow Road Back

Secret Crush was re-checked and scanned as planned, and he has been cleared to return to training!

That's the good news.

Now, we'll need to have some patience because Secret Crush will require a measured and incremental re-train. His muscles need to be strengthened before his workload can be increased, so his timeline will take longer than just a standard return from a break.

The team at Silver Springs will jog Secret Crush for approximately 60 days and then gallop him for another 60 days before he'll be ready to do speed work. He’ll get regular vet checks during this time to ensure sure everything is trending in the right direction physically. If all goes well, he'll be back for his 4YO campaign sometime in the Spring. 

We’ll continue to monitor his progress at Silver Springs and pass along any news as it arrives.

Seismic Beauty has a Minor Setback

Seismic Beauty came up with some warmth in a knee leading up to what would have been her scheduled breeze day this week, so diagnostics were performed. 

Her X-rays were clean, but a PET scan showed some light bone bruising. The recommended treatment is three weeks of just walking and at that point if everything checks out ok, she can slowly resume training. 

This is a frustrating setback for sure, but at this point it looks like a minor one. We’ll remain in frequent contact with the Baffert barn to monitor Seismic Beauty’s condition and recovery and report back with news as it comes to us.

Blue Devil Update and Possible Target Race

BLUE DEVIL is (almost) baaaack! Our veteran stakes horse had a timed work yesterday at Ellis Park, from the gate, where he clocked an impressive 1:00.60. This was his second five-furlong work since returning from the farm and his sixth overall in Steve Asmussen's barn. He is expected to make his next start soon. One option for him could possibly be an upcoming allowance race at Keeneland scheduled for October 20th. [Photo from a previous race courtesy of MRH]

Guinevere Update - The Royal Duet

It's been awhile since we've done an updated on Guinevere (part of The Royal Duet) so this will catch up her latest news. 

Guinevere has won her last two starts by 2-3/4 lengths and 3 lengths respectively.

This was a 1-1/6 mile Maiden Special Weight 16K on August 2nd, and a 1 mile and 70 yards Allowance 18.3K on September 25th, both run at Belterra Park on dirt.

We expect her next start will be at Keeneland, but no date has been set. 

The update after her last race:

Guinevere has exited her race in good order and is back at Keeneland with trainer Wesley Ward. She will get back into training this week to prepare for what could be her third win in a row. She earned a career-best 66 Beyer Speed Figure and a copy of her updated lifetime past performances can be seen above. It's been a nice turn around for our daughter of Justify.

Update on 10/03/2024: (Which came with some surprising news)

In an effort to keep all options open, Guinevere was entered in the Keeneland November sale and that catalog was released today. Your daughter of Justify was cataloged as hip 1008, meaning if she were to sell, she would sell on Thursday, Nov. 7 as part of Book 2.

Please note that we have no concrete plans to sell her or not sell her at this time, and the immediate focus is to test the waters at Keeneland and see if she can grab a third-straight win. It is standard practice to enter fillies like her in the November sale to have that option and, again, absolutely nothing is set in stone.

Our take: This took us by surprise. Along it was stated this is common practice, we aren't sure if "test the waters" means they intend to place a reserve on Guinevere to see if she will bring a particular price, or if they have another plan in play. 

Guinevere is not owned outright by MRH, and has two other partners involved, including a major Kentucky farm. 

We shall see what we shall see in the coming month. 

Blue Devil Works a Bullet at Ellis Park

So great to see our veteran back in training and now running his first bullet back. This was from the gate. He's an older horse with a stakes win and lengthy list of stakes places and he is trained by Steve Asmussen.

Blue Devil (5-Year-Old Gelding)

Date: October 3, 2024
Track: ELLIS PARK
Distance: Five Furlongs
Time: 1.00:60 Handily
Track Condition: Fast
Surface: Dirt
Rank: 1/6

Here's The Kicker: After Race Update

Here’s the Kicker has resumed training off of her impressive 10 3/4-length win. There is a first-level allowance race going a mile on the dirt at Gulfstream Park on October 20th that we are considering. She will likely have a work or two between now and then. 

It would be her first time stretching out, which as we've mentioned before is something trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. is keen to try.

We're Seeing Some Good Signs from Caldera!

Caldera turned in another very impressive breeze this morning at Churchill Downs, completing five furlongs in 1:00.40. In an accompanying video, he outworked his overmatched mate (most likely Cowboy Code) by many lengths before galloping out strongly.

MRH had a chance to chat about Caldera with trainer D. Wayne Lukas between his last breeze and this one, and The Coach could not have been more complimentary of our colt, even saying, "It looks like you've done it again," of course referring to G1 Preakness and G1 Pennsylvania Derby winner Seize the Grey. 

Lukas noted that Caldera possesses a particularly impressive combination of speed and stamina and at this stage he expects him to make an impact on the 2025 Triple Crown trail!

As many of you are aware, you never truly know what kind of horse you have until they're asked to compete in a race, but coming from the legend himself, those are some exciting statements that MRH couldn't help but share.