FAIR HILL TRAINERS WEATHER EMOTIONAL STORM
Michael Matz and Graham Motion combined for one victory, two seconds and many what-ifs.
Stories by Sean Clancy Photographs by Lydia A. Williams.

After two tough second-place finishes at the Breeders’ Cup World Championships on November 4, Graham Motion stood amid a bustling crowd in the Churchill Downs paddock, simultaneously accepting congratulations and shaking his head in frustration.
“I thought he might get there,” Motion said immediately after saddling Better Talk Now to finish second in the Breeders’ Cup Turf-G1. “I can’t believe I’m disappointed to be second, but I am. They were just doing so good and everybody had done such a good job—they rode them great, quite a day. How could you ever imagine you’d be disappointed in being second in the Breeders’ Cup?”

Motion, based at Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland, had continued his November tradition, polishing off his two Breeders’ Cup soldiers, Film Maker and Better Talk Now, for the third straight year.

Film Maker, in what was to be her final start, at age 6, finished a valiant second to world leader Ouija Board (GB) in the Filly and Mare Turf-G1, while gelding Better Talk Now, still in peak form at 7, ran hard to the line, missing by a half-length to European Red Rocks (Ire) in the Turf.

In six Breeders’ Cup starts, from Lone Star Park to Belmont Park to Churchill Downs, Motion’s varsity duo missed the board once when Better Talk Now finished seventh in the 2005 Turf. Motion swatted at the two little men on his shoulders: Be happy for two great efforts by two great horses—or kick the cat after two agonizing losses.

Then Motion saw Michael Matz, his compatriot at Fair Hill, walking through the paddock crowd. Motion congratulated Matz for winning the Breeders’ Cup Distaff-G1 with Round Pond and paused.

“It’s a tough game,” Motion said, shaking his head.
Matz smiled methodically and nodded in agreement. The 23rd Breeders’ Cup rocked both men. Rocked any trainer, any fan, for that matter. Matz had returned to Churchill Downs with his first Breeders’ Cup starter, six months after winning the Kentucky Derby with Barbaro. The once undefeated colt’s name hung in full view over the paddock where Motion, Matz, their families, owners and friends stood. Barbaro broke his right hind leg in his next start, the Preakness, and Matz has weathered the perfect storm of emotions and attention ever since.

Winning the Distaff with Fox Hill Farms’s Round Pond should have provided a needed respite for Matz, a moment to bask in the glory of a stellar training performance on racing’s biggest stage. Instead, it was another dose of bitter reality after Pine Island suffered a dislocated left fetlock joint as the field turned down the backside and favorite Fleet Indian broke down on the far turn. Pine Island, winner of the Alabama and Gazelle (both Grade 1) in her last two starts, was euthanized, while Fleet Indian suffered a suspensory injury and was retired.

Round Pond and Ogden Mills Phipps’s Pine Island lived two stalls away from each other on the Churchill Downs backside all week. Friends before the Breeders’ Cup cauldron, Matz and Pine Island’s trainer, Shug McGaughey, spent each morning together, watching each filly train lights out. As the two fillies, a combined 10 for 16, left the barn for the walk to the paddock, the trainers exchanged final pleasantries.
“Wow, this would be a nice exacta,” Matz said.

“It sure would, and I don’t even mind being second,” McGaughey said.
After the race, Matz found himself again talking about the fragility of horses: “She was obviously quite a nice filly. It’s a hard situation for everybody.”

Matz took over Round Pond from trainer John Servis during the Barbaro maelstrom and set out a schedule leading to the Breeders’ Cup. The daughter of Awesome Again made her first start for Matz in the Molly Pitcher Breeders’ Cup Handicap-G2 at Monmouth in August. Sent off the favorite, she missed by a head to Mary­land-bred Promenade Girl.
Matz pointed for the Grade 1 Beldame on October 7 at Bel­mont, where Round Pond pressured a brisk pace before finishing third to Fleet Indian and Bal­letto (UAE). Matz had tinkered with Round Pond’s feet, going back and forth between glue-on and regular shoes. He blamed himself for the Beldame loss.

Round Pond missed a breeze before the Beldame but got everything right, including two breezes over Keeneland’s Polytrack, leading up to the Breeders’ Cup. Under Edgar Prado, Round Pond drew off to a commanding four and a quarter-length score over Happy Ticket and Balletto, who moved up after stewards disqualified Asi Siempre from second for interference in the stretch.

“We were a little rushed for her first race; we had some problems going into the second race and we got them straightened out by the time we got to the third race,” Matz said. “She came into the Breeders’ Cup and never missed a work. She was in good physical condition, and it shows that when you want to run and everything leads up to the race the proper way, she’s a very talented filly. You could make a good point that maybe she could have been champion 3-year-old filly last year and champion this year. But Fleet Indian went the whole year and she didn’t go the whole year.”

Purchased for $105,000 by Rick Porter, of Fox Hill Farms, at the 2003 Keeneland September Yearling sale, Round Pond began her career in February of her 3-year-old season at Oaklawn Park, where she broke her maiden and followed up with wins in the Honeybee and Grade 2 Fantasy Stakes. Brought back to the East Coast, she beat eventual Eclipse Award winner Smuggler in the Grade 1 Acorn before finishing second in the Grade 2 Delaware Oaks as the favorite in her final start of 2005.

She won her first two starts of 2006, both at Oaklawn Park, including a thrilling neck score over Happy Ticket in the Azeri Breeders’ Cup Stakes-G3, before joining Matz’s stable.

Fleet Indian, trained by Todd Pletcher, strung together six straight stakes wins (two Grade 1) from March to October, in her six starts in 2006 leading up to the Breeders’ Cup, including the $1,000,000 Delaware Handicap-G2, and will most likely collect the Eclipse Award for older fillies and mares. Owner Paul Saylor had purchased the New York-bred daughter of Indian Charlie for $290,000 at the 2006 Keeneland January Horses of All Ages sale and then watched her bank $1,473,720 during the year. He had plans to sell her back at Keeneland two days after the Breeders’ Cup, but withdrew her because of the injury.

As for Round Pond, she’ll be back for more next year.
“We’re going to give her a little time, pick a prep race and go to the Apple Blossom,” Matz said. “Rick [Porter] would like to make another bid at the Breeders’ Cup.”
Ah yes, Porter. Somewhere lost in the Pine Island/Fleet Indian saga, the Matz/Motion exploits, was Delaware native Porter. The 66-year-old father of three earned his biggest victory in a career that began with a couple of claimers in 1994. Porter, owner of a Newark, Del., automobile dealership, owned 2000 Alabama Stakes-G1 winner Jostle and the fleeting prodigy Rockport Harbor, but this was the Breeders’ Cup.

“It certainly felt like the best day of our career—it was the most exciting and thrilling race I’ve ever won,” Porter said. “Obviously, when you get something as horrible as what happened, it puts a different perspective on it. You feel bad for the connections; it made me think about how I felt when Barbaro broke down in the Preakness, like nothing else mattered.

“It put a damper on it; you feel sorry for the other people, but then you’ve got to go on and start enjoying what a great thing happened for Round Pond, for us, for Michael and all the people who put so much time into getting Round Pond to run the best race of her life.”

Porter traveled to Keeneland for Round Pond’s final breeze before the Breeders’ Cup. The Kentucky-bred blazed five furlongs in 59 seconds over the Polytrack a week before the Breeders’ Cup. Porter was impressed.

“I knew they had her just right, but there’s 14 horses in there and you don’t just win because your horse is doing great and she’s got a lot of talent,” Porter said. “The fun I get out of this business is the racing. That’s why I want to race her as a 5-year-old. She’s sound right now. We should be sitting on go and hopefully we won’t have any hiccups. I’ve been going to Delaware Park since I was 8 years old; I love Delaware and I’m hoping to win the Delaware Handicap, but the ultimate goal is the Breeders’ Cup.”

Motion will try for another bid at the Breeders’ Cup with Bushwood Stable’s Better Talk Now. His sidekick (or was it the other way around?), Film Maker, retired after pushing her career earnings to more than $2.2 million with another typically superb effort in the Filly and Mare Turf. She went straight from Churchill Downs in Louisville to Lane’s End in Versailles and will be bred to the great Storm Cat.

“That’s what he always wanted to do,” Motion said of owner Don Adam’s plan. “You know me; I get emotional about everything. It’s a big deal to retire her sound. They both came out of their races great. It’s amazing with Film Maker—she’s been so sound. It’s nice for her to go home like that, without a pimple on her and in good shape.”

Film Maker met Ouija Board in her first Breeders’ Cup try in 2004. Ouija Board outsprinted Film Maker, who finished second. A year later, Film Maker raced in 11th place early before finishing third to Intercontinental (GB) and Ouija Board. In 2006, she tried it again but fell two and a quarter lengths shy of the globe-trotting, boy-beating champion.

“It’s tough because it’s the same story—she’s running against this filly who is one of the greatest fillies there’s been in a long time,” Motion said. “In any other era, maybe we would have won one of these; maybe she would go down as one of the all-time greats.”
Better Talk Now returned to Fair Hill to begin an almost two-month break before going to Florida where he’ll gear up for another crack at Pimlico’s Dixie Stakes-G2 (he won it in 2006) and his fourth straight crack at the Breeders’ Cup. Three weeks after the Breeders’ Cup, the cave-black gelding lazed around a grass paddock at Fair Hill. What hair his green turn-out rug didn’t cover was covered in mud while the cantankerous son of Talkin Man went after a reporter’s notebook, then his face and even his foot. Better Talk Now knew better than to pester Motion.

“I’m as attached to these two horses as I’ve ever been. They always say don’t get attached to horses, but how do you not get attached to these two?” Motion said. “Certainly there have been other horses that have gotten to me at stages in my career, but these two for their longevity and the fact that they put us on that stage, the Breeders’ Cup.”

Motion and his wife, Anita, seemed dumbfounded in 2004 after Better Talk Now upset the Turf and Film Maker chased home Ouija Board. Since then, the Breeders’ Cup has become a customary stop for the Motions, exercise riders Fenella O’Flynn (Film Maker) and Lisa Davison (Better Talk Now) and all of Herringswell Stable. Motion won his 1,000th career race 13 days after the Breeders’ Cup when Lucky Bachelor swept to an allowance victory at Laurel Park.

“You do get a little spoiled. The first time—it will never be like that again. That was pretty special. It fuels you to want to do it every year. We didn’t have any expectations; we were just glad to be there. Ever since then, we’ve gone back with expectations,” Motion said. “The most fun of the Breeders’ Cup is the build-up, when you’re out there on the turf course with all those nice horses every morning. The day itself is a blur. . . all the different personalities, the horses. That’s what you dream about when you’re a little kid, isn’t it? Then to manage it with the same two horses three straight years. . . hopefully there will be others.”

INVASOR (ARG): CLASSIC
CONQUEROR
Breeders’ Cup Classic-G1 winner caps off extraordinary season, defeating Bernardini
Two days after the Breeders’ Cup, Shadwell Farm’s CEO, Rick Nichols, walked around Keeneland’s sales grounds, shook hand after hand and accepted congratulations for Invasor (Arg)’s victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic-G1.
With every handshake came a question: “What’s he going to do now?”
Nichols made no qualms about what he wanted to do. “We’re in the business of racing horses,” Nichols said.

Pretty good business. In­va­sor chiseled a perfect bookend to an extraordinary year by winning the $5 million Classic over the once-invincible Bernardini.
Invasor, the once-beaten Uruguayan Horse of the Year and soon-to-be American Horse of the Year, threaded his way from eighth to draw away convincingly by a length over Bernardini and Premium Tap. Trained by Kiaran McLaughlin and ridden by 18-year-old Fer­nan­do Jara, Invasor went off as third choice behind 3-year-old Bernardini and Californian Lava Man.

A son of Candy Stripes, In­va­sor capped off a Grade 1 grand slam of the Pimlico Special, Suburban and Whitney Han­di­caps and Breeders’ Cup Classic to hail as the sport’s best.

A few days later, it was announced that Invasor would stay in training for his 5-year-old season—with his sights on the Dubai World Cup in March and the Breeders’ Cup in November. Now that’s a business model.

“He’s already down at Palm Meadows in Florida,” McLaughlin said a few weeks after the Breeders’ Cup. “We’ll look to bring him back in the Grade 1 Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park on February 3. After that, we’ll point him to the $6 million Dubai World Cup on March 31. I remember, after he won the Pimlico Special, saying, ‘From Uruguay’s horse of the year to America’s horse of the year.’ I was kind of kidding and now look where he is.”

And look where he’s been. Bred in Argentina by Haras Clausan in Areco, in the province of Buenos Aires, the bay colt was originally sold to Pablo Hernandez and brothers Juan Luis and Luis Alberto Vio Bado. They paid $20,000 for the yearling colt and brought him to Uruguay where he progressed to win five straight, including the Uruguayan Triple Crown. Discovered by Hassan Ben Ali, who was in Uruguay to buy endurance horses for Shadwell owner Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum, Invasor was purchased for $1.5 million and delivered to McLaughlin in early 2006.

McLaughlin shipped Inva­sor to Dubai for the UAE Derby for his debut under the Shad­well blue silks. Under Richard Hills, Invasor hit a flat spot during the mile and an eighth Group 2 race, appeared to be plummeting to the back, and then regained his momentum to finish a respectable fourth behind burgeoning phenom Discreet Cat.

McLaughlin brought him back to these borders and set his sights on Preakness weekend, where he almost opted for the $100,000 William Donald Schaefer Handicap-G3, until Nichols stepped in and asked what was that going to prove? Instead, they took a shot at the $500,000 Pimlico Special-G1, and well, it’s been perfection ever since.

“Rick Nichols said, ‘Well, how are we going to find out how good he is if we don’t run him against better horses? Let’s run him in the Pimlico Special.’ No problem, I’m with you, we’ll enter and take a look. It was one of my biggest wins ever, for great people in Sheikh Hamdan and Shadwell [Stable],” McLaughlin said. “It was a huge win for many different reasons: being a Grade 1, the horse being a champion in Uruguay and it set us on our way. At the time, we didn’t know how the horse stacked up in America.”
Uh, like a brick wall. Invasor beat up on an East Coast contingent of older horses, the best being Sun King, who fell a nose short in the Whitney. As it was designed to do, the Breeders’ Cup answered all questions. Bernardini (owned by Sheikh Hamdan’s brother, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum) was indeed, mortal. Premium Tap was solid. Lava Man couldn’t carry his game outside of California. Europeans David Junior and George Washington (Ire) need turf. And the rest were either too old, too young or too slow to threaten Invasor.

Earlier on the Breeders’ Cup card, McLaughlin sent out Henny Hughes as the favorite in the Sprint-G1. The 3-year-old colt broke a step slowly, spun like an exercise bike and wound up last. The affable McLaughlin swallowed hard and looked forward.
“To win the Classic with Invasor, it just goes to show you the immediate highs and lows you can have in this sport,” McLaughlin said. “This win was really for all of my staff and help that has worked so hard getting this horse ready. And to win it with my parents, all my brothers and sisters, and my kids there, that made it a day I will never forget.”

In the winner’s circle, it looked as though parents, brothers, sisters and kids from around the world had converged to celebrate the horse who broke the mold. They chanted his name, something that sounded like “Eeeen-va-Sor,” over and over.

Bred in Argentina, raced in Uruguay, owned by a sheikh from Dubai, trained in New York, ridden by a Panamanian . . . Rand McNally and Fodor’s together never covered so many miles, topographies or cultures.

With their one-two finish in the Classic, brothers Sheikh Hamdan and Sheikh Mohammed had officially scaled the American racing mountain. Nichols liked the view.
“Sheikh Hamdan left us a few more yearlings this year, but he’s kind of on the conserva­tive side. We only maintain a stable of about 40 head,” Nichols said.

“The good year that we’ve had has been due to his patience. He’s given us time to build a good foundation and found the right type of horses that can compete in America. The Maktoum family is going to be a force to be reckoned with for a long time to come.”

BREEDERS’ CUP HEROES COME FROM ALL OVER
Red Rocks (Ire) spoils Turf-G1 hopes for Fair Hill-based Better Talk Now
European-based 3-year-old Red Rocks (Ire) proved the spoiler in Better Talk Now’s quest for his second Breeders’ Cup victory. As Better Talk Now, a veteran closer, launched to the outside of the Europeans and Americans alike, Red Rocks was doing the exact same thing. Red Rocks lagged in ninth early and advanced six-wide to the lead; Better Talk Now sat 10th early and spun seven-wide. The difference—a half-length.
The only 3-year-old in the 11-horse field for the Turf, Red Rocks won for the third time in his 10-race career. Owned by J. Paul Reddam and trained by Brian Meehan, Red Rocks had accounted for just a maiden race and a listed stakes in his homeland but had managed to hit the board in his four most recent starts, including a second to eventual Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe-G1 winner Rail Link in the Grand Prix de Paris-G1 at Longchamp in July.
Jockey Frankie Dettori was ecstatic to get it right for a change with Red Rocks. The Italian dynamo blamed himself for three straight seconds on the son of Galileo (Ire) this summer.

“I rode him a few times and messed him up a few times,” Dettori said. “He’s a good starter, but he seemed to idle a lot of times in front. So perhaps I went too soon on a couple of occasions with him. I didn’t expect a furious pace like it did go today, and when I looked up, I thought, ‘Well, there is no way they can keep this up and actually go all the way around.’ They were taking each other on, and I knew it was going to fall in my lap.”
Meehan knew it all along, too. The victory capped a phenomenal year for the 39-year-old conditioner who trains at Manton, former base of the widely accomplished Maryland trainer Michael Dickinson.

After Red Rocks’s third-place effort in the St. Leger-G1 at a mile and three-quarters in September, Meehan told Red­dam that he’d bring Red Rocks over for the “British Cup Turf,” a race dominated by Europeans through the years.

“We thought that would be maybe how we would finish today,” Meehan said. “[Jockey] Richard Hughes was very clear after the [St. Leger] that the horse didn’t get the trip and that he would be comfortable back at a sharp mile and a half, which is what he had here today. He’s always shown a very nice finishing turn of foot, especially in the trial for the St. Leger. So we knew we would be able to do that today.”  
 
Trainer Marty Wolfson doesn’t like to fly. Actually, he abhors it. He gets nervous, frets and would choose a root canal over it. The Florida-based trainer doesn’t hesitate to fly his horses around the country for stakes—very often stakes wins. But as for him, he likes to stay at home and let his wife, Karla, handle race-day duties. Wolfson flew to the Breeders’ Cup to see firsthand what Miesque’s Approval had been doing all year, blitzing home against the best mile turf horses in the country.

The 7-year-old son of Mies­que’s Son went a mile in graded stakes company for the fifth straight time in the Breeders’ Cup Mile-G1. For the fourth time, again under Eddie Castro, he won. This time, he did it by ratcheting outside from 13th in the 14-horse field to win by two and three-quarters lengths over Aragorn (Ire) and Badge of Silver.
Bred and owned by Charlotte Weber’s Live Oak Plantation, Miesque’s Approval languished as an out-of-options mid-range turf horse in late 2005.

Throughout his career, when trained by Bill Mott, Miesque’s Approval appeared to be a little too good for claimers and not good enough for stakes. In November 2005, after finishing a dull sixth in a $50,000 claimer at Aqueduct, the Florida-bred went home to the farm for a freshening. That’s when Wolfson threw his name into the ring about perhaps getting a shot at training him.

Wolfson took over, and the turnaround was immediate as well as dramatic.
“I was very familiar with the horse—he had beat me a bunch of times in Florida. That day [at Aqueduct] you could kind of tell he was on his way out,” Wolfson said. “He really didn’t have any place to go, because with that pedigree (from a turf family, out of the With Approval mare Win Approval), there wasn’t a spot for him in America.”
Wolfson found the ticket that eventually led to a plane ride, and perhaps an Eclipse Award.
 
California-based trainer Doug O’Neill, winner of more than 130 races before the Breeders’ Cup, arrived in Ken­tucky with an arsenal of live horses: the streaking Lava Man for the Classic, Breeders’ Futur­ity-G1 winner Great Hunter for the Juvenile, the game Sharp Lisa in the Distaff, and two Cali­fornia-bred sprinters, Are­you­­talkin­to­me and Thor’s Echo.

The latter saved the day for O’Neill in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Owned by Pablo Suarez and Royce Jaime, Thor’s Echo hadn’t won a race since the summer of 2005, but consistently ran well enough to warrant stabs at Grade 1 competition. The son of Swiss Yodeler took O’Neill, Suarez and Jaime to Dubai in March 2006, and finished second in the Dubai Golden Shaheen-G1.

For the Breeders’ Cup, O’Neill put two preps into the 4-year-old gelding, and Thor’s Echo produced his biggest effort on the biggest day. Ridden by Corey Nakatani, Thor’s Echo drew off to win by four lengths over Friendly Island and Nightmare Affair.

“Every trainer, owner and jockey dreams of being part of a day like this. We had the time of our lives. With all their experience, they put on a Grade 1 show,” O’Neill said. “Winning the Sprint was just an unbelievable feeling. It was definitely one of the highlights of my career. It’s what everyone is hoping to achieve. And it’s not just about the purse money, which is obviously great. It’s about being on the center stage with everyone watching.”

In his next start, Thor’s Echo captured the Grade 1 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel Park, earning another important peg up the Eclipse Award voting chart. (See article on page 36.)
 
Two days before the Breed­ers’ Cup, Lord Derby went into one of the trailers on the backstretch to retrieve credentials for the weekend.
“Hi, I’m Lord Derby. . . ”

Before he could finish, three people in the trailer blurted their enthusiasm for Derby’s globe-spanning Ouija Board, who was readying for her third straight Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf-G1. Everything in the trailer stopped for a pep rally.
Lord Derby smiled. He’d heard it all before.

“Yes, she’s special,” Lord Derby said. “There will never be another one like her.”
Two days later, the great Ouija Board swept to her second Breeders’ Cup victory and her 10th career win from 21 starts. It was never in doubt for Ouija Board, who traveled easily throughout the mile and three-eighths three-turn stakes, easing away to a two and a quarter-length score over Film Maker and Honey Ryder.

Ouija Board, a dark bay mare by Cape Cross (Ire), runs more often against the boys than the girls and usually beats them. She’s earned $5.7 million while tackling the world’s best. In 2006, she competed in Dubai, Hong Kong, England, Ireland, Kentucky and Japan.
Trained by Ed Dunlop and ridden by Frankie Dettori, Ouija Board graced Churchill Downs for the final time. Then, after earning the title of Europe’s Cartier Horse of the Year for a second year (she also took the honors in 2004), Ouija Board was off to Japan, where the hickory mare once again proved her prowess by finishing a fast-closing third to Japan’s superstar Deep Impact in the Japan Cup-G1 on November 26. Expected to defend her title in the Hong Kong Vase-G1 at Sha Tin and training superbly—for what would have been her third start in just over a month—Ouija Board suffered a minor injury and was promptly retired.
 
Jockey Calvin Borel had one piece of advice for his agent after working Street Sense leading up to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile-G1: “Put your suit on, we’re getting the money.”
And that’s exactly what Borel did with James Tafel’s homebred Street Sense, who decimated a robust field of 2-year-olds. The son of Street Cry (Ire) never left the rail, rallying from 13th to win by an ever-increasing 10 lengths over Circular Quay and Pennsylvania-bred Great Hunter. Ridden by Borel and trained by Carl Nafzger, Street Sense burst up the rail at the head of the stretch and the race was over.
“He was a perfect weanling, a perfect yearling,” Nafzger said. “The first time I saw him gallop, he hit the ground good, but it was his mind—he’s got a mind on him, a mind you’d die for. A kid could ride him, he’s got a mind like that. That’s all I can tell you, he’s got the mind.”

Nafzger won the 1990 Ken­tucky Derby with Unbridled and knows better than to get too high on a horse. After the Breeders’ Cup, Nafzger couldn’t help but admit his confidence in Street Sense.

“Before we ever started him, you never know what’s going to happen, but we had all the races in line where we were going,” Nafzger said. “We had to go to Arlington to break his maiden because he hooked Unbridled Express at Churchill. Then we had the Arlington-Washington Futurity-G3, because that’s where Mr. Tafel is from, then the Breeders’ Futurity [because] it’s two turns, then here.

“We had it all laid out. This is the key—a good horse will take you to your schedule, a bad horse you have to take him to his schedule.”
Nafzger has slowly turned his stable over to longtime assis­tant Ian Wilkes. More like father and son than business partners, they have put together a tremen­dous year with stakes wins by Court Folly and Street Sense.

“I love to see people do good, and I like to see them go forward. Ian is a big part of this horse. When he was in Saratoga, I took care of the whole outfit in Kentucky. We work at the farm, we work back and forth. I take the pressure off him, and he takes the pressure off me,” Nafzger said. “It’s been a long time since Unbridled. We’ve had some awfully nice horses in be­tween—Banshee Breeze, Unshaded, Vicar—but you know what the top horses are and he’s one of them: different.”


The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies-G1 started off the eight-stakes extravaganza. Frank Calabrese’s Dreaming of Anna piqued the bettors’ interest and kept it throughout the mile and a sixteenth stakes. The chestnut daughter of Rahy broke from the rail, shook off a few tepid attempts for the lead, and cruised to a flawless length and a half victory over the Todd Pletcher-trained pair Octave and Cotton Blossom.

Dreaming of Anna took a circuitous route to Breeders’ Cup glory. The homebred broke her maiden at Arlington Park in May, zipping through a four and a half-furlong maiden by an easy four lengths. Trainer Wayne Catalano then shipped Dreaming of Anna to Colonial Downs for the Tippett Stakes on the turf, where she scorched eight rivals on the way to a seven and a quarter-length win.

“The Colonial race was the plan all along, actually,” Catalano said. “When you run a 2-year-old that early, after they break their maiden, there is nowhere to run. We felt she had a lot of turf in her pedigree, especially from her mom [Justenuffheart, a turf-loving stakes-winning half-sister to turf champion Kitten’s Joy]. When the race came up [at Colonial], it worked out great.”

Catalano continued to think outside the condition book and sent Dreaming of Anna to Woodbine for her Breeders’ Cup prep. She won the one-mile Grade 3 Summer Stakes, against the boys and again on the grass.

“The race in Canada was a backup plan, actually,” Catalano said. “We wanted to run in the Lassie at Arlington, but it came up an off-track, so we scratched and went to plan B. She beat a real nice Bill Mott horse in Canada [Marcavelly].”

Calabrese and Catalano also produced Dreaming of Anna’s full brother for the Breeders’ Cup. Lewis Michael never threatened in the Sprint, but at least he made the dance.
“It’s pretty special, having two full siblings entered on the same Breeders’ Cup card,” Catalano said. “They tell me it’s the first time it’s ever happened, but I don’t know. Any time you run in these kinds of races, it’s pretty good. It’s the reason we get up at 4:30 in the morning every day and why we work seven days a week.”

BREEDERS’ CUP 2006 RESULTS

Breeders’ Cup Classic Powered by Dodge-G1
$5,000,000-guaranteed, 3-year-olds and up, 1 1/4 miles, 2:02 (2:02.18), track fast.
Invasor (Arg), 126, b.c., 4, Candy Stripes—Quendom, by Interprete. Owned by Shadwell Stable; trained by Kiaran P. McLaughlin; bred by Haras Clausan (Argentina). $2,700,000.

Bernardini, 122, b.c., 3, A.P. Indy—Cara Rafaela, by Quiet American. Owned and bred by Darley Stable (Ky.); trained by Thomas Albertrani. $1,000,000.
Premium Tap, 126, b.c., 4, Pleasant Tap—Premium Red, by Thirty Six Red. Owned by George Kline, Peter Alevizos and David Whelihan; trained by John C. Kimmel; bred by Machmer Hall and W.S. Farish (Ky.). $500,000.
Margins—1, 2 1/2, 1.
Others—Giacomo 126 ($255,000), Brother Derek 122 ($125,000), George Washington (Ire) 122, Lava Man 126, Perfect Drift 126, Lawyer Ron 122, Sun King 126, Flower Alley 126, Suave 126, David Junior 126. Winning jockey—Fernando Jara.
Mid-Atlantic connections:
• George Washington (Ire)—bred by Pennsylvania residents Roy and Gretchen Jackson
• Suave—dam Urbane, a G1-winning millionaire by Maryland sire Citidancer, was bred in Maryland by Frank J. Zureick and Violet Cleveland and sold through the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Eastern Fall Yearling sale

Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Distaff-G1
$2,000,000-guaranteed, fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, 11/8 miles, 1:50 2/5 (1:50.50), track fast.
Round pond, 123, b.f., 4, Awesome Again—Gift of Dance, by Trempolino. Owned by Fox Hill Farms Inc.; trained by Michael R. Matz; bred by Trudy McCaffery and John Toffan (Ky.). $1,220,400.
Happy Ticket, 123, b.m., 5, Anet—Love and Happiness, by Septieme Ciel. Owned and bred by Stewart M. Madison (La.); trained by Andrew Leggio Jr. $452,000.
Balletto (UAE), 123, ch.f., 4, Timber Country—Destiny Dance, by Nijinsky II. Owned and bred by Darley Stable (United Arab Emirates); trained by Thomas Albertrani. $226,000.
Margins—4 1/4, 1/2, 1.
Others—Asi Siempre 123 (disqualified from second) ($115,260), Lemons Forever 120 ($56,500), Sharp Lisa 123, Baghdaria 120, Spun Sugar 123, Pool Land 123, Hollywood Story 123, Bushfire 120, Healthy Addiction 123, Fleet Indian 123 (dnf), Pine Island 120 (dnf). Winning jockey—Edgar Prado.
Mid-Atlantic connections:
• Round Pond—owned by Delaware resident Richard Porter; trained by Mid-Atlantic-based Michael Matz
• Happy Ticket—dam Love and Happiness bred in West Virginia by John T. L. Jones Jr. and H. Smoot Fahlgren
• Asi Siempre—second dam, Group 3 winner Turkish Treasure, bred in Virginia by Hickory Tree Farm
• Bushfire—sire Louis Quatorze stands at Murmur Farm in Darlington, Md.
• Fleet Indian—owner Paul Saylor maintains a residence in South Carolina

Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf-G1
$2,000,000-guaranteed, fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, 1 3/8 miles, turf, 2:14 2/5 (2:14.55), course firm.
Ouija Board (GB), 123, dk.b./br.m., 5, Cape Cross (Ire)—Selection Board, by Welsh Pageant. Owned by Lord Derby; trained by Edward Dunlop; bred by Stanley Estate and Stud Co. (Great Britain). $1,188,000.
Film Maker, 123, dk.b./br.m., 6, Dynaformer—Miss Du Bois, by Mr. Prospector. Owned by Courtlandt Farms; trained by H. Graham Motion; bred by TAC Holdings Inc. (Ky.). $440,000.
Honey Ryder, 123, gr./ro.m., 5, Lasting Approval—Cuando Quiere, by Affirmed. Owned by Glencrest Farm LLC, David Allen and John Greathouse; trained by Todd A. Pletcher; bred by Wimborne Farm, Inc. (Ky.). $220,000.
Margins—2 1/4, nk, 1 3/4.
Others—Wait a While 119 ($112,200), Satwa Queen (Fr) 123 ($55,000), My Typhoon (Ire) 123, Mauralakana (Fr) 119, Dancing Edie 123, Quiet Royal 119, Germance 119. Winning jockey—Lanfranco Dettori.
Mid-Atlantic connection:
• Film Maker—trained by Mid-Atlantic-based H. Graham Motion; dam Miss Du Bois bred in Virginia by John W. Kluge

Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile-G1
$2,000,000-guaranteed, 2-year-old colts and geldings, 1 1/16 miles, 1:42 1/5 (1:42.59), track fast. Weight: 122 pounds.
Street Sense, dk.b./br.c., Street Cry (Ire)—Bedazzle, by Dixieland Band. Owned and bred by James B. Tafel (Ky.); trained by Carl A. Nafzger. $1,080,000.
Circular Quay, ch.c., Thunder Gulch—Circle of Life, by Belong to Me. Owned by Michael B. and Doreen Tabor; trained by Todd A. Pletcher; bred by Doreen Tabor (Ky.). $400,000.
Great Hunter, dk.b./br.c., Aptitude—Zenith, by Roy. Owned by J. Paul Reddam; trained by Doug O’Neill; bred by Ivy Dell Stud (Pa.). $200,000.
Margins—10,  1/4, 2 3/4.
Others—Scat Daddy ($102,000), Storm­ello ($50,000), C P West, U D Ghetto, King of the Roxy, Skip Code, Teuflesberg, Pegasus Wind, Malt Magic, Got the Last Laugh, Principle Secret. Winning jockey—Calvin H. Borel.
Mid-Atlantic connections:
• Great Hunter—bred in Pennsylvania by Philip F.N. Fanning’s Ivy Dell Stud; first and second dams, stakes winner Zenith and Sequins, were bred in Virginia by Keswick Stables
• Scat Daddy—owned by New Jersey resident James Scatuorchio
• Teuflesberg—bred by New Jersey resident Richard Giacopelli
• Got the Last Laugh—owned by New Jersey resident Ahmed Zayat
• Malt Magic—owned by New Jersey resident Ahmed Zayat

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile fillies-G1
$2,000,000-guaranteed, 2-year-old fillies, 1 1/16 miles, 1:43 4/5 (1:43.81), track fast. Weight: 119 pounds.
Dreaming of Anna, ch., Rahy—Justenuffheart, by Broad Brush. Owned and bred by Frank C. Calabrese (Ky.); trained by Wayne M. Catalano. $1,080,000.
Octave, gr./ro., Unbridled’s Song—Belle Nuit, by Dr. Carter. Owned by Starlight Stable and Donald J. Lucarelli; trained by Todd A. Pletcher; bred by Mr. and Mrs. Martin J. Wygod (Ky.). $400,000.
Cotton Blossom, b., Broken Vow—For Dixie, by Dixieland Band. Owned by Dogwood Stable; trained by Todd A. Pletcher; bred by J.D. Squires (Ky.). $200,000.
Margins—1 1/2, 1 1/4, 1 1/4.
Others—Appealing Zophie ($102,000), Cash Included ($50,000), She’s Included, Adhrhythm, Bel Air Beauty, Sutra, Quick Little Miss, Satulagi, Gatorize, Her Majesty, Lilly Carson. Winning jockey—Rene R. Douglas.
Mid-Atlantic connections:
• Cotton Blossom—owned by South Carolina-based Dogwood Stable
• Gatorize—dam Cayman Agressor (by Maryland sire Citidancer) bred in Maryland by James W. Peters Jr.
• Her Majesty—dam Slide (by Maryland sire Smarten) bred in Maryland by Mr. and Mrs. David Hayden
• Lilly Carson—second dam, graded stakes winner Lilly Capote, bred in Virginia by Audley Farm

NetJets Breeders’ Cup Mile-G1
$2,000,000-guaranteed, 3-year-olds and up, 1 mile, turf, 1:34 2/5 (1:34.75), course firm.
Miesque’s Approval, 126, b.h., 7, Miesque’s Son—Win Approval, by With Approval. Owned by Live Oak Plantation; trained by Martin D. Wolfson; bred by Live Oak Stud (Fla.). $1,171,800.
Aragorn (Ire), 126, ch.c., 4, Giant’s Causeway—Onaga, by Mr. Prospector. Owned and bred by Ballygallon Stud Ltd. (Ireland); trained by Neil Drysdale. $434,000.
Badge of Silver, 126, dk.b./br.h., 6, Silver Deputy—Silveroo, by Silver Hawk. Owned by Kenneth L. and Sarah K. Ramsey; trained by Robert Frankel; bred by Liberation Farm, Oratis Thoroughbreds and Trackside Farm (Ky.). $217,000.
Margins—2 3/4, hd, nk.
Others—Sleeping Indian (GB) 126 ($110,670), Rob Roy 126 ($54,250), Silent Name (Jpn) 126, Gorella (Fr) 123, Aussie Rules 123, Araafa (Ire) 123, Librettist 126, Free Thinking 126, Super Frolic 126, Ad Valorem 126, Echo of Light (GB) 126. Winning jockey—Eddie Castro.
Mid-Atlantic connections:
• Badge of Silver—co-breeder New Jersey resident Rob Whiteley
• Sleeping Indian (GB)—bred and owned by Pennsylvania resident George Strawbridge

TVG Breeders’ Cup Sprint-G1
$2,000,000-guaranteed, 3-year-olds and up, 6 furlongs, 1:08 4/5 (1:08.80), track fast.
Thor’s Echo, 126, ch.g., 4, Swiss Yodeler—Helen of Troy, by Mr. Integrity. Owned by Royce S. Jaime Racing Stable Inc. and Suarez Racing Inc.; trained by Doug O’Neill; bred by Fast Lane Farms and Block and Forman (Calif.). $1,150,200.
Friendly Island, 126, ch.h., 5, Crafty Friend—Island Queen, by Ogygian. Owned by Anstu Stables Inc.; trained by Todd A. Pletcher; bred by Kildare Stud and Adrian Regan (N.Y.). $426,000.
Nightmare Affair, 126, gr./ro.h., 5, Out of Place—Beaux Arts Ball, by Black Tie Affair (Ire). Owned by Timber Side Stable; trained by Manuel J. Azpurua; bred by Sandra McKinney (Fla.). $213,000.
Margins—4, 1/2, hd.
Others—Bordonaro 126 ($108,630), Attila’s Storm 126 ($53,250), Too Much Bling 124, War Front 126, Siren Lure 126, Pomeroy 126, Kelly’s Landing 126, Lewis Michael 124, Malibu Mint 123, Areyoutalkintome 126, Henny Hughes 124. Winning jockey—Corey S. Nakatani.
Mid-Atlantic connections:
• Friendly Island—sire Crafty Friend stands at Walnford Stud in Allentown, N.J.
• Nightmare Affair—dam by West Virginia-based sire Black Tie Affair (Ire)
• Attila’s Storm—dam Sweet Symmetry bred in Maryland by Ryehill Farm and sold through the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Eastern Fall Yearling sale
• Kelly’s Landing—sire Patton stands at Castle Rock Farm in Unionville, Pa.
• Malibu Mint—conceived in Maryland while sire Malibu Moon stood at Country Life Farm in Bel Air
• Henny Hughes—co-breeder Rob Whiteley of Liberation Farm is New Jersey resident; dam Meadow Flyer was co-bred by Virginia resident Barbara Cross Graham, who also bred second dam, Shortley (by Hagley), in Virginia

John Deere Breeders’ Cup Turf-G1
$3,000,000-guaranteed, 3-year-olds and up, 1 1/2 miles, turf, 2:27 1/5 (2:27.32), course firm.
Red Rocks (Ire), 122, dk.b./br.c., 3, Galileo (Ire)—Pharmacist, by Machiavellian. Owned by J. Paul Reddam; trained by Brian Meehan; bred by Ballylinch Stud (Ireland). $1,620,000.
Better Talk Now, 126, dk.b./br.g., 7, Talkin Man—Bendita, by Baldski. Owned by Bushwood Stables; trained by H. Graham Motion; bred by Wimborne Farm Inc. (Ky.). $600,000.
English Channel, 126, ch.c., 4, Smart Strike—Belva, by Theatrical (Ire). Owned by James T. Scatuorchio; trained by Todd A. Pletcher; bred by Keene Ridge Farm (Ky.). $300,000.
Margins—1/2, 2 1/4, 1 1/2.
Others—Rush Bay 126 ($153,000), Scorpion (Ire) 126 ($75,000), Hurricane Run (Ire) 126, Go Deputy 126, T. H. Approval 126, Silverfoot 126, Cacique (Ire) 126, Icy Atlantic 126. Winning jockey—Lanfranco Dettori.
Mid-Atlantic connections:
• Better Talk Now—managing partner of owner Bushwood Stables is Virginia resident Brent Johnson; trained by Mid-Atlantic-based H. Graham Motion
• English Channel—owned by New Jersey resident James Scatuorchio; second dam, champion Committed (by longtime Virginia sire Hagley), was bred in Virginia by Hickory Tree Farm
• Icy Atlantic—owned by New Jersey resident James Scatuorchio