Post by Cavallo on Jan 31, 2016 20:14:41 GMT -5
01 | SUNDAY February Week 4 |
The Eighth Pole got the chance to catch up with the ever busy Nick Landing from IRS and got the chance to report on the recent workouts and results from this longstanding stable. The obvious question we were all burning to ask was about their recent additions from Nature Blue and Battle Brook Stable.
So Nick, tell us, what prompted you to take in StarFire and then both Fire It Up and Uno Momento this season?
So Nick, tell us, what prompted you to take in StarFire and then both Fire It Up and Uno Momento this season?
Tiffany Edwin - Eighth Pole Reporter |
We had a smaller three year old string than some coming into Y16 and to be honest we really wanted to get a feel for having an El Sol Del Mar racer in our barn, with our own Sol baby having been born. It also doesn't hurt that Uno is a strong contender for the Triple Crown and BBS has been on the warpath to take the crown, at least the Derby and so they trusted us this year to help them get that Derby win if possible and more. He's surprised us. He's a blue collar kind of colt, loves to work, loves to run and he's more laid back in the barn than we expected, but there hasn't been complaints about that from the barn staff. He's fitting right in. As for Fire It Up, it should be well known I have a soft spot for for those original BBS lines, so combining Native Flame and Touch Up in a pedigree makes Fire It Up irresistable. BBS was looking for someone to take the colt and develop him and so far this season he's gotten progressively sharper, getting out of the shadow of some of the dirt giants like Uno. There's more races, more opportunities for him and he's flourishing, He won his second career HOTY win and first of this season. He's hard to discourage and flourishes when there is a challenge, as can be seen by this hard trying colt. We are ecstatic to have him on board with our team. Sometimes a horse just needs a change of scenery to wake them up and we take our own advice, Flying Fashion and Proteus Prince are now over at BBS this season and doing well. We couldn't be more pleased with the horse swaps we've done and hope BBS is feeling the same about their horses' performances with us.
We were the ones to approach Nature Blue Stables about Bucephalus daughter StarFire. She'd been lightly raced and we were eager to see if the filly would flourish with more focused training and more racing opportunities. I'm pleased to announce that this filly is flourishing. She is like the perfect storm, where age, experience and talent are colliding. She's won back to back races this month and has won three of her four starts and placed 2nd in the other. Needless to say, we're a little high on this Fly High Silver daughter. it's also kind of nice to have her around with Abastor's recent retirement. She's looking just as sharp as her brother and we think she's only getting started.
We were the ones to approach Nature Blue Stables about Bucephalus daughter StarFire. She'd been lightly raced and we were eager to see if the filly would flourish with more focused training and more racing opportunities. I'm pleased to announce that this filly is flourishing. She is like the perfect storm, where age, experience and talent are colliding. She's won back to back races this month and has won three of her four starts and placed 2nd in the other. Needless to say, we're a little high on this Fly High Silver daughter. it's also kind of nice to have her around with Abastor's recent retirement. She's looking just as sharp as her brother and we think she's only getting started.
Well, we will certainly need to be keeping any eye on those three. We're glad to hear other stables helping one another out and being able to balance competition and friendship. Tell us a bit about your three strings and what we have to look forward too from IRS. How is IRS handling Y16 with the retirement of some of its strongest contenders from Y15?
TE - Eighth Pole Reporter |
It was a bit of an adjustment. Horses like Nightshade, Anodyne and Abastor really carried us last year, but Y16 has been a bit of a different animal and I think that goes for everyone, not just IRS, but we're learning. We have a lot more projects this year, but to be honest, it's just making things more fun around here. Lilith Wind, Daring VIsion and Stiletto Allure are holding things down for us in the sprints. Lilith has already notched two HOTY wins, proving she's more than ready to conquer this season. Stiletto Allure has been putting solid works so far and she's looking better than ever. She is relishing the turf and her recent workouts shows that she only growing sharper. Daring Vision is on the precipice of big things. We're excited to see how he progresses. Slowly, but surely we're breaking into the ranks of the sprinters. We've been hit and miss along the road, but we're happy to have equal representation in all leg types and fields now.
Lissome has blossomed into something amazing and Meritorious and Calypso's Fury are chomping at the bits to be even better this season. One thing to speak of Nightshade's retirement, is that it has definitely let us focus on some horses that may have been overshadowed. We're real excited to have Girl Talk shaping up, in some ways she really reminds me of Alluring Assault and I don't say that lightly. I really like what I see in her and she's getting better and better. It's been awhile since we've had a strong older turf female and Girl Talk has that same rebounding fight we loved so much in Allure.
We're very excited about our classic string. World Dominion is looking to be a strong candidate for the Turf Triple Crown. Uno Momento and Night Visions are looking like hot contenders for the Triple Crown. Lady Timeah with her versatility was hard to determine with such versatility, but we decided that she will be taking on the Turf Triple Tiara. We're hoping Quick Silver will shape up to take the Triple Tiara and Doubloon Moon will take on the Sprinter Triple Tiara. So we have a lot to train for, but lots of hope too.
Our juvenile is string is doing much better than we had hoped. We're sitting on only one maiden, Fading Embers, first crop of Miler Ashes to Ashes and Inspiring. We really like the look of her and have no concerns about her. She might not have been the first off the block, but she's still just as high quality that we could have ever hoped for. Lawless and Wild Havoc have really shown so far this season, which oddly enough the too are related and only adds to our interest in developing the Xenophon/Anarchi lines. We're especially excited to have our last Rosalind foal racing. Ensignia is looking sharp. We could go on and on about our new and upcoming juveniles, but this season we've had more than ever before and that would take more time than we have to go over. I will say this, this is looking to be one of our most promising juvenile crops yet.
Lissome has blossomed into something amazing and Meritorious and Calypso's Fury are chomping at the bits to be even better this season. One thing to speak of Nightshade's retirement, is that it has definitely let us focus on some horses that may have been overshadowed. We're real excited to have Girl Talk shaping up, in some ways she really reminds me of Alluring Assault and I don't say that lightly. I really like what I see in her and she's getting better and better. It's been awhile since we've had a strong older turf female and Girl Talk has that same rebounding fight we loved so much in Allure.
We're very excited about our classic string. World Dominion is looking to be a strong candidate for the Turf Triple Crown. Uno Momento and Night Visions are looking like hot contenders for the Triple Crown. Lady Timeah with her versatility was hard to determine with such versatility, but we decided that she will be taking on the Turf Triple Tiara. We're hoping Quick Silver will shape up to take the Triple Tiara and Doubloon Moon will take on the Sprinter Triple Tiara. So we have a lot to train for, but lots of hope too.
Our juvenile is string is doing much better than we had hoped. We're sitting on only one maiden, Fading Embers, first crop of Miler Ashes to Ashes and Inspiring. We really like the look of her and have no concerns about her. She might not have been the first off the block, but she's still just as high quality that we could have ever hoped for. Lawless and Wild Havoc have really shown so far this season, which oddly enough the too are related and only adds to our interest in developing the Xenophon/Anarchi lines. We're especially excited to have our last Rosalind foal racing. Ensignia is looking sharp. We could go on and on about our new and upcoming juveniles, but this season we've had more than ever before and that would take more time than we have to go over. I will say this, this is looking to be one of our most promising juvenile crops yet.
