04/26/2012 - Upperline Returns to Form in the Grey Goose Bewitch Stakes

Courtesy of Alicia Weincze Hughes. Lexington Herald Leader. Photo Courtesy of Keeneland, Coady Photography.

There are some horses who, as they age, begin to lose a step.

In the case of Upperline, her seasoning may be the reason she is finally finding her best stride.

The 5-year-old daughter of Maria's Mon notched her first graded-stakes win since 2010 Thursday when she split foes inside the final furlong and drew off in the lane to win the Grade III Grey Goose Bewitch Stakes by 11/2 lengths over the Keeneland turf.

Upperline hadn't won in four starts since taking the Trillium Stakes at Woodbine in June. The bay mare had, however, kept herself in admirable company, finishing fifth beaten just 4 lengths by eventual champion Stacelita in the Grade I Beverly D. in August.

In her second outing this year, Upperline led the eight-horse field past the grandstand for the first time in the 11/2-mile test before taking back and saving ground on the inside path while Shimmering Moment clocked the opening half in :54.01.

Senada came up on the outside to challenge and take over the lead coming off the turn for the final time, but she was reeled in by a hard-running Upperline coming down the middle of the track.

"She finished really well," jockey James Graham said after booting home the 2-1 second choice. "She's better with a little bit of a target but because she broke so sharp, I just let her run the first quarter of a mile. She's so good right now, and she finished the way she was supposed to."

Upperline hit the wire in a leisurely 2:33.28 over a course rated firm. Woodford Belle was second, three quarters of a length ahead of Senada who backed up to third.

Upperline is trained by Michael Stidham, who also owns her in partnership with Arthur Hancock, John Adger and Jack Hodge.

The Stonerside-bred mare won two of her first three career starts and was fifth in the 2010 Grade I Ashland Stakes at Keeneland before taking the Grade III Arlington Oaks in July of that year.

The only time Upperline finished off the board in 10 subsequent outings came when she faced graded-stakes company. Now that she's back over the hump, another shot at top-level competition could be on the horizon.

"We've always thought that when she matured and got to this point we would try and focus on these kind of races," Stidham said. "She's blossomed, she's gotten so much broader and bigger. We're not really sure what is next but we've got some thoughts of the Beverly D. again."

04/26/2012 - Upperline Overcomes Slow Pace to Take Bewitch

Courtesy of Jason Shandler, the BloodHorse.com.  Photo by Mathea Kelley.

Upperline, runner-up in her last two stakes tries, found another gear in the late stages to win the $150,000 Grey Goose Bewitch (gr. IIIT) (VIDEO) by 1 1/2 lengths at Keeneland April 26.

The crowd of 11,253 fans on hand for Upperline's victory pushed Keeneland's total attendance to a new meet record of 251,909, with one day remaining in the 15-day spring meet. The total surpasses the previous record 250,163 from the 2011 fall meet.

Trained and co-owned by Michael Stidham, Upperline recorded her first graded victory since taking the Arlington Oaks (gr. III) in 2010. The 5-year-old daughter of Maria's Mon is also owned by John Adger, Oakcrest Farm, and Stone Farm. She was bred in Kentucky by Stonerside Stable and is out of the Caerleon mare Snowflake.

Jockey James Graham guided Upperline to victory, her seventh in 19 career starts. She has earned $497,108.

It was an interesting trip for Upperline in the 1 1/2-mile turf race, as she grabbed the early lead in a very slow first quarter of :26.96. She then allowed Shimmering Moment to go to the front, and Senada to pass her as well. The fractions got even slower, too, as Shimmering Moment ran a half-mile in :54.01, three-quarters in 1:19.79, and a mile in 1:44.66.

Upperline was third when they came off the final turn, and by that time Senada and Javier Castellano had the lead. But despite the slow fractions, Upperline was able to run down Senada in mid-stretch and zip to the wire a comfortable winner.

The final time on the firm course was 2:33.28. Woodford Belle closed well for second under Julien Leparoux, three-quarters of a length in front of Senada. Favored Here to Win was fourth in a field of eight fillies and mares.

Upperline’s most recent win came in the Trillium Stakes on the Woodbine Polytrack last summer. In her only other start this year she was beaten a neck in the March 31 Bayou Handicap at Fair Grounds.

The winner paid $6, $3.60, and $2.80. The exacta (5-4) returned $30.80, and the trifecta (5-4-3) was worth $112.60.

04/13/2012 - First Whippoorwill Wins Again

First Whippoorwill won her second race for owners Stone Farm and Sandy Bayou Stables, and trainer Graham Motion in the 5th at Pimlico Racetrack today, this time over a mile on the turf.  After finding her way out of a bit of traffic, this improving filly finished the victor by 1 1/2 lengths over second place Mimi's Shoes and third place runner Jersey Rambler. Now having proven herself on the dirt and turf, both times with jockey Sheldon Russel up, hopes are that this duo will continue to cross the finishline first many times again.

03/06/2012 - Trend Places in Stakes Debut at Gulfstream Park

Doubles Partner Nets Comeback Win in Canadian.  Excerpts courtesy of Jack Shinar, The BloodHorse

Doubles Partner charged home late to register a three-quarters victory in the $150,000 Canadian Turf Stakes (gr. IIIT) March 3 on the Gulfstream Park turf.   ...

After an even break, Little Mike, angling over from his far outside post for Joe Bravo, gained the advantage over Trend to lead by about one length while carving fractions of :23.98, :47.02, and 1:09.32. Doubles Partner, along the inside, raced near mid-pack.   ...

Trend, with Paco Lopez aboard, upped the pressure on Little Mike round the far turn and inched ahead in the stretch as Doubles Partner angled out and took aim at the leaders. Trend put away a determined Little Mike in deep stretch but was immediately tackled by Doubles Partner, who swept past under some firm handling from Leparoux to complete the one-mile event in 1:32.56 on firm going. 

Trend, tagged only in the final yards, is bred and owned by Stone Farm and trained by Mark Frostad.

03/06/2012 - Sharp Maiden Winners, Comebackers

Excerpt Courtesy of Dan Illman, The Daily Racing Form.   Photograph Courtesy of Daniel Sigal

Maiden winner KITTY WINE earned a big Beyer last week and may be [a] 3-year-old to follow down the road.

Kitty Wine, a daughter of Lemon Drop Kid, scored second-out for trainer Eddie Kenneally while making her first appearance on grass [at Gulfstream Park].  She was stretching out a whopping 3 1/2 furlongs from her debut on February 3, a five-panel maiden special weight that was washed off the turf.  Beaten 14 lengths as the favorite that day, Kitty Wine improved greatly around two turns, going gate-to-wire and scoring by a head in 1:39 3/5 for the 1 1/16 miles.  A $27,000 RNA as a yearling, Kitty Wine earned a 94 Beyer.  She is a half-sister to Atwell, who placed in the Jersey Derby on grass in 2008.  The dam (by Devil's Bag), a multiple stakes-placed sprinter on dirt, is a three-quarter sister to stakes-winner Strodes Creek (finished second in the 1994 Kentucky Derby and third in that year's Belmont Stakes). 

03/03/2012  - Turfway : State of Play Edges Ill Conceived by head in Battaglia

Article Courtesy of Marty McGee, The Daily Racing Form.  Photograph Courtesy of Patrick Lang / Lang Photography

State of Play won a photo over Ill Conceived after the pair hooked up leaving the half-mile pole Saturday in an exciting renewal of the $75,000 John Battaglia Memorial Stakes at Turfway Park in northern Kentucky.

With Victor Lebron aboard, State of Play edged away down the stretch from Ill Conceived, who led most of the way in slow fractions, but then the two hit the wire together, with State of Play a head in front in finishing the 1 1/16-mile Polytrack race in 1:46.55. Dynamical was another 3 1/2 lengths back in third. Mr. Prankster, the 4-5 favorite, and was never a factor in finishing 7 1/4 lengths farther back in fourth among the five 3-year-olds.

State of Play, a Kentucky-bred colt by War Front, returned $6 as second choice with his third win from five career starts. The Battaglia marked his first start over a synthetic surface after he raced three times on turf as a 2-year-old, then ran seventh on dirt in the Sam F. Davis Stakes in his seasonal debut last month at Tampa Bay Downs.

State of Play is owned by Team Valor International and trained by Graham Motion, the same team that won the Turfway showcase, the Vinery Racing Spiral Stakes, last year with Animal Kingdom, who went on to win the Kentucky Derby in his next start. Motion said before the Battaglia that a return in the Spiral on March 24 was highly likely if State of Play ran well Saturday.

Ill Conceived, with Stewart Elliott aboard for John Servis, set fractions of 24.69 seconds and 49.83 before drifting off the rail leaving the half-mile pole, allowing State of Play and Dynamical to rally to his inside. By the quarter pole, after six furlongs in 1:14.69, Dynamical had faded out of it, leaving State of Play and Ill Conceived to battle to the wire.

Mr. Prankster, ridden by John McKee, was favored after winning the Turfway Prevue and WEBN Stakes over the Turfway surface. Although he likely was disadvantaged by the slow pace, the colt had no mishap in failing to threaten.

The Battaglia will be the last stakes at Turfway before Spiral Day. Turfway officials announced Thursday they were cutting purses and much of the remaining stakes schedule at the winter-spring meet.

*State of Play is bred by Stone Farm and Dell Hancock and is by War Front out of Valeta, by Procida.

03/03/2012 - First Whippoorwill Breaks her Maiden

First Whippoorwill broke her maiden in the 9th race on the dirt at Laurel Park on March 3. This filly, by Mutakddim and out of Lonesome Sound by Dancing Count, went out as the favorite and did not disappoint as she went over 7 furlongs in 1:27.1 to win the laurel over second place Stollen and third place Ottauquechee. First whippoorwill is owned by Stone Farm and Sandy Bayou Stables,  trained by Graham Motion, and ridden by Sheldon Russel.

01/22/2012 - Extravaganza Has More Success at Fair Grounds. Cat Lore Places.

Extravaganza and Cat Lore make another splash at Fair Grounds for the Stone Farm and Mike Stidham teams. Cat Lore went off as the favorite in the card's 4th race. Coming from mid pack, she managed to pass pace-setter Ingenue, but couldn't catch Unleash who won by 1 1/4 lengths.  In Race 6, Extravaganza came out of the gate and contested with Mahindar to the set the pace. After waivering momentarily at the seven-sixteenths pole and battling Sweet Little Sleet down the stretch, Extravaganza surged on to win by a 1/2 length once again under jockey Richard Eramia.

12/09/2011 - Extravaganza Wins Fair Grounds Allowance

Stone Farm and Mike Stidham have another win at Fair Grounds over 5 1/2 furlongs. This time with 5 year old filly Extravaganza and jockey Richard E. Eramia. After a 3rd at Fair Grounds two weeks prior and a 2nd during Keeneland's fall meet, Extravaganza held on to win by a neck. Extravaganza is by Elusive Quality and out of Shoppingwithbetty.

12/08/2011 - Cat Lore Breaks Her Maiden

Cat Lore wins her first race out over 5 1/2 furlongs at Fair Grounds on December 8, 2012. This 2 year old filly by Discreet Cat and out of Starlore went off as the favorite and crossed the finish line with an impressive 6 1/4 furlongs over her competitors. Bred and owned by Stone Farm, trained by Michael Stidham and ridden by James Graham.

10/23/2011 - Senada Snaps 11-Race Drought in Dowager Upset

Courtesy of Jack Shinar, The BloodHorse.com 

Sent off at odds of 16-1, Senada snapped an 11-race losing streak when she came from far off the pace to collar Upperline in deep stretch, capturing the $125,000 Rood and Riddle Dowager Stakes on the Keeneland turf Oct. 23.

The result was a pleasing one for Arthur Hancock III's Stone Farm, which bred the winner and is part owner of the runner-up. Senada, who won by three-quarters of a length, and 7-1 shot Upperline combined for a $326 exacta.

Cheetah, the 6-5 favorite in a field of 11 older fillies and mares, finished third. The final time for the 1 1/2-mile Dowager was 2:31.19 over firm going.

Trained by Barclay Tagg for Roy and Gretchen Jackson’s Lael Stables, Senada is often close while rarely winning. In taking the Dowager, the $800,000 Keeneland September yearling registered her first victory since breaking her maiden in her fourth start in March 2010 on the turf at Gulfstream Park.

While the 4-year-old daughter of Pulpit   out of the multiple grade II turf winner Owsley has now won just twice in 16 starts, she has four seconds and six thirds in her career.

Ridden for the first time by Edgar Prado, Senada raced in ninth while saving ground to the quarter pole before advancing from between horses and angling to the outside for the homestretch. Surging through the lane, Senada still had three rivals to beat at the eighth pole but reeled them all while edging away in the final strides.

7/3/10 - Stone Farm co-owned Upperline surges to victory in Arlington Oaks

Courtesy of Neil Milbert, Special to the Chicago Tribune

 

After Upperline surged to the lead with three-eighths of a mile to run in Saturday's Grade III, $100,000 Arlington Oaks, she gave the 32,681 spectators a preview of the fireworks display that followed the racing program at

"She just exploded tonight," jockey E.T. Baird said.

When the smoke cleared, Upperline was 4 3/4 lengths in front of second-place Snow Top Mountain in the 1 1/8-mile race on the Polytrack.


Upperline broke sharply and stalked the pace set by Chantilly Nayla before asserting herself to give trainer Michael Stidham his fourth stakes victory of the meeting.

Fast-fading Chantilly Nayla wound up fourth in the field of six 3-year-old fillies, three-quarters of a length behind third-place Dundalk Dust and 12 behind Upperline, who won in 1 minute, 52.13 seconds.

Upperline's triumph was the third of her eight-race career and her first in a stakes race.

"From the get-go, we thought she was that quality horse," Stidham said. "Early on when we worked her with other 2-year-olds, she did some impressive things."

5/15/2010 - Rainbow View prevails in Gallorette Handicap G3

Courtesy of the Thoroughbred Times Today

Augustin Stable’s homebred Rainbow View ( who was foaled and raised at Stone Farm) rallied dramatically to win the $100,000 Gallorette Handicap (G3) in an effort her connections described as a confidence builder.

The four-year-old Dynaformer filly began her career in England, where in 2008 she was unbeaten in four starts
and was named Europe’s champion two-year-old filly.

Her eight races at age three, all Group or Grade 1 races, hardly were a failure— she won the Coolmore Fusaichi Pegasus Matron Stakes (Ire-G1) at Leopardstown—but owner George Strawbridge said Rainbow View seemed to lose some of her edge. "We’re trying to get her confidence back,” Strawbridge said. “We
were concerned she had lost something, having competed in eight Grade 1 races last year. Mind you, she won one of them and was placed in [three] others, but the year before she had such blistering speed, and we never saw that last year. “It’s the usual platitude—one step at a time—but the next one hopefully will be a Grade 1.”

Courtesy of the TDN

Drawn inside, Rainbow View broke well enough, but Leparoux was forced to take up and sit down in the saddle when shuffled back passing the stands for the first time. Settled sixth with just three behind, Rainbow View was shifted out to the three path once heads were straightened for home, swung back out and around Quiet Meadow inside the final furlong and prevailed. "Everything was great up until about the mid-point on the turn," winning trainer Jonathan Sheppard explained. "Then she kind of got jostled around. And even into the stretch, there was a little bit of bumping. She handled it, I thought, very well. (Leparoux) didn't panic. Some people might have. He's pretty chilly, Julien."

2/27/2011 Upperline wins Allen LaCombe Memorial at Fairgrounds

Getting a smooth, stalking trip under jockey Rosie Napravnik, Upperline took charge entering the stretch and held off late challengers Category Seven and Forest Uproar to win the Allen LaCombe Memorial on Saturday at the Fair Grounds.

Upperline was racing for the second time this season, and the victory was her first since she won the Arlington Oaks in July at Arlington Park.

She ran about a mile and a sixteenth in 1:46.68, defeating Category Seven by a length and paying $7.40. Forest Uproar, the favorite, finished another half-length back in third in a field of seven older fillies and mares.

“It set up perfect,’’ trainer Mike Stidham said. “We were able to sit in that stalking spot and go when the time was right.’’

Napravnik said: “We got a great trip. The filly is extremely easy to ride, and she is very kind and puts you where you need to be, and she ran extremely well down the stretch.’’

Rainbow View exudes class in Keeneland allowance

Rainbow View's victory lifted her into the millionaires' club with $1,029,445 in earnings from her 13-6-2-1 record. Formerly based in England with John Gosden, she was undefeated during her championship campaign at two, capturing the Fillies' Mile (Eng-G1), May Hill S. (Eng-G2) and Sweet Solera S. (Eng-G3). Things did not fall into place as readily for Rainbow View last season. After suffering her first loss when fifth in the One Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1), she met with interference en route to her fourth-place effort in the Oaks (Eng-G1), and she endured traffic trouble when third in the Coronation S. (Eng-G1).

Rainbow View then finished fourth to Goldikova (Ire) (Anabaa) in the Falmouth S. (Eng-G1) and runner-up to Midday (GB) (Oasis Dream [Ire]) in the Nassau S. (Eng-G1), but finally regained the winning thread when defeating older distaffers in the Matron S. (Ire-G1). That turned out to be her final European start, for she concluded 2009 with a pair of unsuccessful efforts in North America. Runner-up in the E.P. Taylor S. (Can-G1) at Woodbine, she checked in fifth in the November 6 Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic (G1) on the Pro-Ride at Santa Anita. In the aftermath of the Breeders' Cup, Rainbow View was transferred to Sheppard with a view toward a North American campaign at four.

Sheppard was asked Friday if he thought that Rainbow View might have thickened up a little bit over the winter.

"Yes, I think she has, a little bit," the Hall of Famer said, adding that he had gotten her "at the tail end of a busy campaign."

Sheppard also responded to a question regarding Rainbow View's temperament, for the filly had been known to be rather willful, if not outright fiery, in her European days. He has already seen evidence of her unique personality.

"Mainly when she comes off the track," Sheppard said, describing how she tends to jump up in a display of high-spiritedness after exercise.

Sheppard has not pinpointed the next objective for Rainbow View, but "just wanted to get past this race" first before deciding. He underscored that there are "lots of options," and that they're "not sure what her best distance is yet."

One thing is clear, however: Rainbow View will follow a different itinerary from fellow Augustin colorbearer and stablemate Fantasia (GB) (Sadler's Wells). Owner George Strawbridge Jr. had kept his two star fillies apart last season in Europe, and that policy will continue now that both are in the United States.

Sheppard indicated that Fantasia, a rallying runner-up in her U.S. bow at Keeneland Sunday, will aim for the May 1 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile (G2). That race would have come up too soon for Rainbow View in any event, and she could reappear in the latter part of May or the first weekend in June.