Catching Up on Updates - 2YOs and 3YOs

TWO YEAR OLDS

Black Tie Optional (Not This Time colt)

• Black Tie Optional has remained on a work schedule at Los Alamitos, where he is breezing well, including a 4F in :48 flat in company with his usual mate, Cherokee Nation, in July prompting assistant trainer Mike Marlow to report, “He worked great. Probably his best work to date.” His most recent work was from the gate on August 1st (three furlongs in :37.20). His team is bringing him along slowly and no immediate start date is expected. 

Instant Impact (Upstart colt)

• Instant Impact debuted on July 27th at Saratoga. After his race came off the turf course due to rain, trainer Kenny McPeek opted to keep him in. He ran fourth, notably handled the loading process and broke well—a good sign after some of his gate issues in the mornings. Jockey Kendrick Carmouche allowed Instant Impact to find his rhythm though he did seem to be spinning his wheels a bit on the wet track. He did show good fight when the horse coming up behind him tried to run by, and he galloped out well. Instant Impact departed Saratoga for Churchill Downs last week, and ran a bullet work at Churchill on August 11th going 4F in 47.20. He is expected to make his next start at Ellis Park in approximately 9-10 days.  

Misstrial (Constitution filly)

• Misstrial had her first start at Del Mar (the same day Seismic Beauty won the G1 Clement L. Hirsch), but stumbled badly out of the gate, almost going to her nose, and then colliding with the horse to her inside. In spite of her troubles, she still made a valiant effort, but was tiring by the time she hit the stretch. She was back on the work tab on August 11th at Del Mar, covering 5F in 1:00.60 while on the inside of stablemate Falcon Jet (2nd on debut on 8/3). We were glad to see Misstrial no worse for the wear after her debut and expect to see her get one more run at Del Mar before the summer meet ends. There are two maiden special weight options remaining at the meet, on August 30th and September 6th.

Munny Problem  (Munnings colt)

• Sadly, Munny Problem was being trained by D. Wayne Lukas who's sudden passing on June 28th left him trainerless. He was sent to Highlander training center with the Coach's two other trainees, Caldera (stakes placed 3YO) and Trust But Verify (unstarted 2YO). Munny Problem is doing well at Highlander during his R&R period. He should be started back in training in approximately 60 days.

Native Brew (Yaupon colt)

• Native Brew made his first start and ran 5th. Unfortunately, the race took a toll on this first time starter, and he will need time off before running again. 

Sirius Pursuit (Knicks Go filly)

• Upcoming possible debut dates - Saturday, August 23 at Ellis Park or a later date at Saratoga. Her workmate, Amended Dreamer, will make her debut at Saratoga on Saturday, August 16th, in the 4th race. This will give a better indication of Sirius Pursuit's standing among 2YOs. Her trainer is Jena Antonucci.

Trust But Verify (Into Mischief colt)

• Trust But Verify was transferred to Highlander Training Center after the death of D. Wayne Lukas, who had been training this promising colt. A decision was made to send Trust But Verify to "Coach's" good friend Kenny McPeek. Trust But Verify had his final breeze at Highlander Training Center where he covered 3F from the gate in :37.72. Highlander’s Jeff Hooper reported “Everything went smoothly and [he] worked a nice 3/8ths from the gate in company, outworking his work mate comfortably.” Trust But Verify was sent to the McPeek barn at Keeneland and is currently awaiting the next van to join his string at Saratoga.

THREE YEAR OLDS

Good Cop (Tiz The Law colt)

• Has transferred from Fair Hill to Todd Pletcher's barn at Belmont Park (open for training during renovations) and has been putting in a works there. 

Isle Blue (Speightstown filly)

• After the death of Christophe Clement earlier this year, she is now being trained by his son, Miguel Clement who has done much of her hands-on training to this point. Isle Blue ran a stunning bullet work on 8/9/25, running 4F in 47.40 for the fastest work of 76 that morning.

Nakoma (Vekoma filly)

• Currently turned out. Expected to return to racing later this year. Trained by Jena Antonucci.

OTHER HORSES

Caldera (Liam's Map colt)

• Since losing his trainer (D. Wayne Lukas -- "Coach"), Caldera was sent to Highlander where he has been cooling his heels. After a valiant run at qualifying for the Kentucky Derby which didn't pan out due to stumbling and grabbing a quarter out of the gate in the Louisiana Derby (a Kentucky Derby qualifier), Caldera ran back 2nd in a minor stakes at Oaklawn hoping for a Preakness berth, then went through a growth spurt/weight loss period and other issues that required a rest. No new trainer has yet been selected.

Here's The Kicker (Liam's Map filly)

• After her last start in the G1 Ruffian Stakes, which didn't go well for her, she was transferred to Saratoga to try her hand at the spa. While her first work there was an eye-opening bullet running 35.03 for 3F on June 30th, her next three works were not as impressive. Unfortunately, the deep surface at Saratoga does not seem to be to her liking. Trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. has opted to send her back to Florida where she has done her best running, so her next start will most likely be at Gulfstream Park. 

Black Tie Optional First Work is a Bullet

Black Tie Optional's first work this morning was a bullet! 

Los Alamitos Quarter Horse 5/28/2025 Dirt 2F 23.60 Handily 1*/6

Summary by Team Baffert

Black Tie Optional had his first official breeze this morning at Los Alamitos, covering two furlongs in :23.60 while on the outside of unnamed stablemate, Front Range ’23 (Authentic). Our son of Not This Time was a bit green around the turn, but straightened out nicely in the stretch, showing plenty of competitiveness to the wire. He seemed to be traveling better over the Los Alamitos surface than he had the surface down at Wavertree (Florida).

Assistant trainer Mike Marlow is happy with the improvements your colt has made mentally since first arriving to the barn. Fingers crossed he only continues to move forward from here.

2YO Updates This Week: All Now With Trainers

There's a lot going on with our 2YOs in the last couple of weeks as most have now gone out to their trainers' barns, for those who weren't in their trainer's care already, as are Sirius Pursuit (Jena Antonucci) and Instant Impact (Kenny McPeek). Here's an update on several: 

Sirius Pursuit (by Horse of the Year Knicks Go - in fact, his first foal)

Sirius Pursuit put in a nice breeze at GoldMark Farm (Florida) this morning, May 9th, covering three furlongs in :36.84. Jena Antonucci and her team remain very happy with how she’s responded to the period of backing off some on speed work and focusing on open gallops to build fitness. We’ll make sure she bounces out of this breeze in good order and then likely start making plans to ship to the racetrack.

In a follow-up video of her exercise, Jena Antonucci said "She did very well. We're pleased. She came back nicely." 

Black Tie Optional (by Not This Time)

The team checked in on Black Tie Optional this morning, May 9th, at Los Alamitos. He did not train this morning as it was discovered he has a scratch on an ankle—having likely nicked himself on track or in his stall. Assistant trainer Mike Marlow does not have any concerns about it, but still wanted to limit him to walking today to be on the safe side. 

We would expect to see him back in a normal routine in the next few days. Not to continue to beat the drum on this, but minor issues like this aren’t going to hurt his training progress, especially as we strongly believe that time is going to be his friend.

Native Brew (by Yaupon)

May 6, 2025: Native Brew was spotted galloping at Keeneland where he continues his early preparations towards an eventual debut. Mitch, Steve Asmussen’s assistant at Keeneland, has been happy with your colt since he has come in, noting that he has yet to miss a beat. He seems to be a very straightforward horse who knows his job.

May 8, 2025: Native Brew checked off another milestone, putting in his first published work since shipping in to Keeneland. He covered three furlongs in :38.00 (13/36). This move was fairly easy, as you'd expect at this stage, and he stuck to the outside of his workmate and galloped out nicely. His mate was another son of Yaupon named Picked, who was a $375K graduate of the OBS April sale. This will be the first in a series of workouts before your son of Yaupon is fit to race. It comes down to trainer (Steve Asmussen) preference, but typically anywhere from 6-12 consistent on-track works is the usual range prior to debut.

Instant Impact (by Upstart)

Instant Impact turned in his first published breeze on May 8th at Keeneland, and it was a sharp one—he was clocked in a bullet :36.40 working outside of a horse from another barn. He showed good fight to collar the other horse. Considering this was just his first breeze at the racetrack, and that he’s more of a two-turn horse, we're very pleased with that.

We had expected him to head up to New York already, but Keeneland’s a great place for him to train as well, so we’ll just let Team McPeek sort out those logistics and report back with more as it comes to us.

Munny Problem (by Munnings)

Munny Problem had his first published breeze the morning of May 6th at Churchill Downs. Working outside of speedy 3-year-old Improbable Luck, our colt went an easy half-mile in :50.40.

Neither horse was asked for much effort in this drill and that was by design—with this being Munny Problem’s first breeze for the Lukas barn and first at the racetrack, he definitely didn’t need to do more than that.

We caught up with Mr. Lukas after the work and he really raved about the colt physically, saying if he was at a 2-year-old sale and saw Munny Problem, he’d have to have him.

We’ll let Team Lukas bring the colt along at the pace that they see fit, but knowing the typical Lukas training style, we’d expect to see them start tightening the screws pretty quickly.

2YO Update: It's GO Time

 Here we are again, this time with several promising youngsters about to make the ship to their respective trainers/tracks. We don't know if there will be another Seize The Grey in this bunch, but we have high hopes. Here's a status on a few of our 2YO "Class of 2025."

Black Tie Optional (Not This Time - Stylishly by Speightstown)

This big, strapping chestnut already has a series of on farm 3/8ths breezes under his belt, and is headed to Bob Baffert on the West Coast, to join our recent sensation, Seismic Beauty. He'll first be sent to Los Alamitos with the trainer's other incoming 2YOs to go through initial on track training and evaluation. Black Tie Optional recently went through another growth spurt and is not expected to start in the near future, as he'll need more time to mature, but this big boy looks to be a two-turn colt, so maybe we'll be hearing from him for the Derby preps next year. 

Misstrial (Constitution - Blip Says Bye by Fed Biz [Giant's Causeway])

The team had a chance to check in on Misstrial while in Ocala last week for the OBS April sale. Our daughter of Constitution looks to be doing extremely well and galloped strongly for them during the visit. Trainer Ciaran Dunne has been very pleased with the filly, giving her the green light to ship to trainer Bob Baffert this coming Thursday, April 24th. She will also ship into Bob’s string at Los Alamitos where most of his 2-year-olds start off. We'll follow up after her arrival.

Munny Problem  (Munnings - Malibu Bonnie by Malibu Moon)

The flashy bay with some striking chrome (who still reminds us so much of Dornoch in the looks department)  will soon be headed to the D. Wayne Lukas barn at Churchill Downs to begin his on track training. The colt has made some solid progress both mentally and physically over the last month, which farm trainer Ciaran Dunne has been happy with. He has always been a strong-bodied horse, but has now really developed into his frame. He'll be joining Caldera at that iconic barn (at least until the Coach decides the next step for Seize The Grey's look-alike protégé). With Munny Problem's breeding and foundation, we are hoping he may be a "big horse on campus" once he starts racing.  

Sirius Pursuit (Knicks Go - Seeking A Star by Pioneerof the Nile

This young lady was quite literally a star from the moment she was foaled, being the very first foal sired by Horse of the Year and racing sensation, Knicks Go. She has started her initial training at a different location in Florida-- Jena Antonucci's farm. Jena is best known as the trainer of Arcangelo (Arrogate) and the first female trainer to win a Triple Crown race when he won the Belmont in 2023. Sirius Pursuit remains on course to ship up to Kentucky in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, the filly’s half-sister, Paula’s a Star, is entered in a Laurel allowance on Friday. This may be in preparation for another stakes try for Paula's Star. 

Our 2YO class is also rounded out by Native Brew (Yaupon - Spanxamillion by Street Cry) and Instant Impact (Upstart - Perfect Impression by Shackleford [Forestry]. We'll catch up with them in separate posts.

It's That Time Again: The 2YOs are Shipping Out

It was just about this time two years ago (in 2023) that we got word Seize The Grey was headed to trainer D. Wayne Lukas at Churchill Downs to ready him for his career after his initial training had been completed by Ciaran Dunne at Wavertree in Ocala. 

Things went extremely well, and with a bit more seasoning, "Ceasar" made his first start on July 1, 2023 at Ellis Park. His performance was not so wonderful, finishing in 8th place after a distracted sightseeing trip down the home stretch. 

Four weeks later, on July 29th, he was entered in a maiden special weight at Saratoga and won wire-to-wire, beating a very promising Good Magic colt named Dornoch! Little did we know, we'd just seen the future Preakness and Belmont winners finish 1 and 2 in what turned out to be one heckova MSW race. 

As you know...the rest is racing history.

Here we are again, this time with several promising youngsters about to make the ship to their respective trainers/tracks. We don't know if there will be another Seize The Grey in this bunch, but we have high hopes. Here's a status on a few of our 2YO "Class of 2025."

Black Tie Optional (Not This Time - Stylishly by Speightstown)

This big, strapping chestnut already has a series of on farm 3/8ths breezes under his belt, and is headed to Bob Baffert on the West Coast, to join our recent sensation, Seismic Beauty. He'll first be sent to Los Alamitos with the trainer's other incoming 2YOs to go through initial on track training and evaluation. Black Tie Optional recently went through another growth spurt and is not expected to start in the near future, as he'll need more time to mature, but this big boy looks to be a two-turn colt, so maybe we'll be hearing from him for the Derby preps next year. 

Misstrial (Constitution - Blip Says Bye by Fed Biz [Giant's Causeway])

The team had a chance to check in on Misstrial while in Ocala last week for the OBS April sale. Our daughter of Constitution looks to be doing extremely well and galloped strongly for them during the visit. Trainer Ciaran Dunne has been very pleased with the filly, giving her the green light to ship to trainer Bob Baffert this coming Thursday, April 24th. She will also ship into Bob’s string at Los Alamitos where most of his 2-year-olds start off. We'll follow up after her arrival.

Munny Problem  (Munnings - Malibu Bonnie by Malibu Moon)

The flashy bay with some striking chrome (who still reminds us so much of Dornoch in the looks department)  will soon be headed to the D. Wayne Lukas barn at Churchill Downs to begin his on track training. The colt has made some solid progress both mentally and physically over the last month, which farm trainer Ciaran Dunne has been happy with. He has always been a strong-bodied horse, but has now really developed into his frame. He'll be joining Caldera at that iconic barn (at least until the Coach decides the next step for Seize The Grey's look-alike protégé). With Munny Problem's breeding and foundation, we are hoping he may be a "big horse on campus" once he starts racing.  

Sirius Pursuit (Knicks Go - Seeking A Star by Pioneerof the Nile

This young lady was quite literally a star from the moment she was foaled, being the very first foal sired by Horse of the Year and racing sensation, Knicks Go. She has started her initial training at a different location in Florida-- Jena Antonucci's farm. Jena is best known as the trainer of Arcangelo (Arrogate) and the first female trainer to win a Triple Crown race when he won the Belmont in 2023. Sirius Pursuit remains on course to ship up to Kentucky in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, the filly’s half-sister, Paula’s a Star, is entered in a Laurel allowance on Friday. This may be in preparation for another stakes try for Paula's Star. 

Our 2YO class is also rounded out by Native Brew (Yaupon - Spanxamillion by Street Cry) and Instant Impact (Upstart - Perfect Impression by Shackleford [Forestry]. We'll catch up with them on another day. 

Black Tie Optional Update

Black Tie Optional was a participant in the MRH 2025 Ocala Showcase event in February, where he trained for owners in attendance. 

Farm trainer Ciaran Dunne notes that your son of Not This Time can be "a bit quirky," but we hope that with time and additional experience he will become more professional. 

He will continue to train at Wavertree in the coming weeks, and will likely ship to his trainer Bob Baffert following the OBS March Sale.

Black Tie Optional is Official Name of Stylishly 23

It's official. Stylishly 23 has now been named Black Tie Optional.

We've updated his page (which is still a work in progress) and will next get to work updating all the tags to date to Black Tie Optional. 

Stylishly 23 in Process to Decide on his Registered Name

The partnership has begun the process of coming up with a registered name for "Stylishly 23" who is sired by Not This Time out of Stylishly by Speightstown. Obviously, we're getting a lot of ideas having to do with Time, Style or a combination of both. 

Here's an interesting story on how his talented sire got his name:

Taylor Made offered his younger half-brother, Liam's Map [the sire of our Caldera and Here's The Kicker] at the 2012 Keeneland September Yearling Sale where the colt by Unbridled's Song sold for $800,000. 

The sellers were excited the colt brought so much, but then Liam's Map went on to become a multiple Grade 1 winner, whose victories included the 2015 Woodward Stakes (Derby prep) and 2015 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. [The race Seize The Grey just competed in.] He won more $1.3 million on the track. 

So when the next foal produced by Liam's Map's dam, Miss Macy Sue, a nice colt by Giant's Causeway, was old enough for the yearling sales, they said 'Not this time.'" And that became his name. 

Not This Time went on to win the 2016 Iroquois Stakes (Kentucky Derby prep) and the Breeders Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita before an injury led to a decision to retire him early. 

He has been a very successful sire producing horses such as Epicenter, Simplification, Up to The Mark, Sibelius, Cogburn and Next. And, of course, our colt.

Malibu Bonnie 23 and Stylishly 23 Training Updates

Our two yearlings in training advanced this last week from working in the round pen to working over grass in an open field at Wavertree in Ocala. 

This is another new experience for the colts, where they work both directions and begin to learn picking up the right lead and balance with a rider on their backs. After this session, they perform figure 8s at a trot -- both directions - in columns of 2, each given a chance to be in the lead and to be a follower. They then formed a line and each backed up a few steps. Both horses did well for big this new step. 

MALIBU BONNIE '23 (by Munnings) was initially a little tense and picked up the wrong lead, but soon switched leads and began to relax and drop his head as the session went on. 

STYLISHLY '23 (by Not This Time) was more relaxed and on the correct lead from the get-go and Ciaran Dunn noted how he was going about his training "very professionally" and has "transitioned nicely." 

If all goes well, the colts will graduate to the training track around the beginning of December, where they will begin developing toward performing speed drills later next spring. 

Around Christmas, they'll be given a break, and then restarted sometime in January. This is where Seize The Grey began to make big moves forward in his early training, so we're obviously a little excited to see how these two come back from their "Christmas Vacation."