Kentucky’s cat breeding business is facing significant forks, having recently culled even its most successful stallions in Kitten’s Joy and the English Channel. The small, quixotic community, who are still willing to persevere with the effects of grass, against a devastating trade wave, are also grieving another recent loss in Get Stormy. That’s why breakout for Karakontie (Jpn), which hit its peak at the age of 11 and stands at no more than $10,000, feels very timely.
After recently scooping up three equity winners in 48 hours, on either side of the Atlantic, his first millionaire Princess Grace was close to hitting another Class I success when she narrowly missed being denied a Beverly D award. 13, but Antony Beck and his team were only at Gainesway It took until next weekend to redeem that disappointment, with purebred Spendarella winning over GI Del Mar Oaks in emphatic style.
Spendarella was actually included in Keeneland’s September 2020 Sale for $220,000, but fortunately for Beck was eventually reinstated to his track division. If that sounds like a good price for Volume 5, you should remember that this is also the session Karakontie topped by a pony costing no less than $500,000. He also sold one at a similar auction last year for $310,000. So here is a steed that has shone in all departments from limited opportunity.
In fact, of the fourth plant breeding stock, only Structure (an odd number of 7.8 percent) can beat the odds of the winners. From just 122 people starting their careers to date, Karakontie there were nine (five at the taxonomy/group level) with five percent of the ponies named. That’s like American pharoahand delete Map of Liam (3.8 percent) and Daredevil (3.6 percent): compare, in each case, only to enhance Karakontieinstead of lowering their right to a much higher fee.
But you can tell something was in production from the start, with two members of his first crop appearing in the GI Kentucky Derby and G1 2,000 Guineas respectively – although each has changed hands only with $6,000.
“Yes, we allowed ourselves the illusion of grandeur that weekend!” Beck joked. “It is absolutely phenomenal. And he has continued to do very, very well from the opportunities he gets. He has a very high percentage of high-ranking runners, unfortunately never given the full chance. So many of his matings are either Niarchos or Gainesway mares. Of course, we were both well rewarded. But what a great opportunity he showed up, with those good things [grass] The bull isn’t around anymore – especially since it can also run very well on dirt roads. “
It’s especially with the imminent launch Karakontie remember that Beck went to see an unusually hot mare named Spanish Bunny at Keeneland’s November 2015 Sale. She needed 14 starts to break her maidenhood, eventually doing so on a mile of grass at Del Mar, but her first pony by Tribal Rule proved very talented. at Santa Anita earlier that year: The Queen of Spain won three of her first four, including GII Honeymoon S. and GI American Oaks, before unfortunately derailed in the next start. .
The Spanish Bunny arrives in Lexington after being sheltered several times by Sundarban, son of AP Indy standing in California. It can be noted that this interest was not what raised Beck’s interest. What resonates is the fourth dam.
“I believe the mare was discovered in someone’s backyard, somewhere in Los Angeles,” Beck said. “They tracked her down after American Oaks and put her up for sale as a Class I winner dam. She had some drum beats but then tracked down the Sunday Purchase. (TV Lark), the dam of the Bates Motel (Sir Ivor) – is a Gainesway stallion, a horse I know very well. And I also love that she got a 3 x 3 cross with the Northern Dancer, which I feel certainly contributed to her success with that first pony. “
Indeed, her son was the son of a northern dancer, Nureyev; and her dam belongs to someone else, El Gran Senor, much appreciated by Beck, not just a brood. Of course, considering his lineage, Karakontie will strengthen Northern Dancer’s brand.
Spanish Bunny has since been launched in series with Bernstein’s son. The first one cannot be considered a success, but the second Spanish-made Loveaffair, which was picked up by Delray Investments for $35,000 at its September 2019 Sale before making a spectacular profit when sold to Lael Stable in the same ring last November for $775,000. In between, she won a few shares and put in many classified shares.
And in the meantime, Spendarella – remembered by Beck as “a desirable pretty girl, with the prettiest hind legs and an astonishing act.” Following her successful Gulfstream debut, Graham Motion helped her win GIII Herecomesthebride S. and GII Appalachian S. before rolling the dice at Royal Ascot. There she beats all the Inspiral (GB) bars (Frankel {GB}), who defeated the dark horses in Deauville, at the G1 S Coronation Ceremony. It was Beck’s first visit to the royal meeting since he was a teenager, and he really is. Proud of her efforts.
Beck commented: “She has this incredible fight. “She was just beaten by a miracle of a scum that day, and there were three Guineas winners behind her plus another Group 1 winner who finished third. And Graham is pretty smart, not squeezing dry lemons but really thinking about the future and all the 1st grade she might be going to next year.
“She was right there when they were halfway through: 47 apartments at Del Mar, but still sped up instantly over them at the end. She ran the final mile in 12 seconds: pretty impressive, for any horse, let alone a first grader. So she’s super talented, with a lot of intelligence and spirit. strong. “
That’s a valid claim of a small car that wasn’t even running before February but has been shipped to Europe and California to finish second and first at the highest level. It will be interesting to see her also try dirt at some stage – one of the KarakontieOther classified winners have scored on grass, dirt and synthetics – although Beck insists he would never interfere with anything his coach says can think.
Certainly genes are laid out for Karakontie to demonstrate the kind of cross-influence that has historically been important for the mutual regeneration of transatlantic genetic resources. With the legendary Miesque (Nureyev) as the third dam, in his second generation Karakontie puts a three-part sister of Woodman in a profoundly international influence, Kingmambo, going head-to-head with another of Storm Cat’s nephews. KarakontieThe dam is by Sunday Silence, the Japanese game changer, while his male Bernstein is the result of the Blliona branch (Buckpasser’s dam, etc.) of the La Troienne (Fr) dynasty.
“Despite being an extremely well-bred horse, I have always thought of Bernstein as a horse that has come a long way,” explains Beck of Tepin’s son. “He had great talent but was never able to really show it on the track. But from humble beginnings [stood at Buck Pond for just $7,500] he showed himself to be a very good horse before his untimely death.
“So to have his own wonderful blood combined with that outstanding Niarchos family, with Miesque as a gift that never stops giving, makes for an extraordinary global pedigree. And of course, Karakontie Show your talent in front of global competition. For me, I’ve always enjoyed a 3-year-old performing at the Breeders’ Cup – and it had the highest ratings of any grass-court race that year in the US. It ran a mile in 1:32, and you see that’s very rare. Don’t forget that he was a Group 1 winner in two, and then a Classic winner. “
The rise of Spendarella is particularly helpful to Karakontie in that she memorized many of his smallest books, following the custom from a three-figure debut to one of only 43 mares in his third season. Since then, however, he’s solidified his soft-fashion style, with his latest school year graduating from book 88.
Beck’s first bet on Gainesway’s champion Tapit because he looks for potential customers from the families that have produced stallions. And while Miesque’s family has flourished in leading corporations, it could not model better than Kingmambo as an international influencer, capable of transcending environments. difference.
“He was probably the last person to be truly this great,” Beck said. “Every surface, every country. Even in Japan, where he had King Kamehameha. And it’s interesting that some KarakontieOur best runners have been crossed with Miesque, not mares by Kingmambo or [his son] Lemon Drop Kid. “
For example, that was true of both the Classic protagonists in his first case, and also the recent Irish bet winner Cigamia. Incidentally Beck also noted a close overlap in KarakontiePrincess Grace, top earner of Sunday Silence 3 x 3.
At the head of a farm like Gainesway, an equally powerful force in various sectors of the industry, Beck is never short of action and right now the whole team is boiling, ahead of the September Sale and another season. Exciting collection on the track. The sales department signed a $2.3 million sales deal in Saratoga and, while the teenage winner of the Splash Spa Prank (Into Mischief) requested a minor surgery, she confident to make a new difference for his page (half-sister with Mo Donegal {Uncle Mo}) when she returns.
Beck said: “She received 91 Beyer for her debut so we are delighted. “As we are talking about the September Sale. We have some really lovely stocks out there so we expect things to go pretty well.”
He also hopes that the sequel in GI Breeders’ Cup Classic will play to the strengths of Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), who ran his familiar non-stop race while missing only second in GI Whitney S Such an animal is unlikely to fail to channel its powers at the stud, and will hopefully contribute to the next chapter of Gainesway as a lasting heir is sought. Tapit–Who’s books are being managed with due consideration as he enters the evening of his career.
Meanwhile, with Spendarella’s beating brought a pony of Uncle Mo this spring and is currently carrying her newest pony with Karakontie, Beck feels fully invested in the revival of the grass-blood in Kentucky. For example, he got ready to go to the market with Raging Bull (Fr), son of one of Europe’s most notable success stories of recent years in Dark Angel (Ire). But that’s just one measure of sincere optimism that American grass racing is starting to take on a new development.
“We were very lucky with the Spanish bunny,” admits Beck. “When I bought her, I thought she could raise a beautiful pony but little did I know that Spendarella would end up the way she had. But just look at how many categorical races in the US are being upgraded on the pitch and demoted. Look how these lawns are filling up. There are 13 runners in Del Mar Oaks, and you rarely see such a field in California these days. I think turf racing will continue to happen here, more and more. It has sturdy legs. “
