Post by Cavallo on Aug 3, 2015 23:54:08 GMT -5
Intrepid Racing is proud in general to announce that their presence is back and in full force. There were a few trickles of the black and maroon silks on the last week of August and then more the first week of September, but after Week two, it is definitely safe to say that the general public will be seeing much more of IRS stock and their staff. It is quite abundantly clear that the two month break from the tracks did not mean that the IRS crew was simply sitting on their asses. Claiming some serious wins, places and shows with their reappearance is testimony enough of the hard work that Nick Landing and his trainers have been investing into their racers. Having trainer Jaime McGrady on the team has been a bit of a game changer in combination with Landing's retirement from the riding circuit. There is definitely a more comprehensive training regiment that spans from a foals inception until their twilight years on the track. Ethan Marino has proven to be quite proficient as the yearling and weanling trainer, handing off the juveniles to Jaime McGrady and into their classic seasons to then meet with proven veteran trainer Nick Landing. Naturally the owner and trainer plays a very comprehensive role, but this segmentation has allowed IRS to truly better focus on their horses and the proof is in the winnings.
IRS massive barn is remaining as such, but Landing has hinted that most, if not all of the senior string will be retiring after the end of this year. It will be like starting from scratch almost with the younger horses, but with this new approach to training this barn seems more confident than ever to get their horses where they need to be. That being said, we'd be remiss if we didn't congratulate Landing and the crew on their historical win of the Twilight Stakes with Abastor. Landing was pretty damn near close to crying when Abastor crossed the finish line to bring home the win (though he said he only had some turf debris in his eyes). It was a win fifteen years in the making and had been denied to the stable since its transportation to The Wire tracks. So to say that this wasn't a big deal for IRS would be a bit of an understatement. Nightshade has continued to show her prowess over the dirt and will be looking to make another run here in the near future. Anodyne has also been spotted working on the tracks, a bit fired up at his two consecutive losses. All Landing would comment on that is for the competition to walk their backs - the colt was hard on the muscle and looked like he was more than willing to cause harm. Lilith Wind was able to pull quite the upset in the final leg of the Triple Sprint Tiara - the Starshine Sprint. She was in lethal blitzing form on race day and she came back looking for more. No one can say that there isn't endurance bred into Intrepid horses - even in their sprinters.
IRS Yearlings are progressing quite nicely and they decided to let us have a peek at two of their yearling fillies - Lawless and Silent Front. There was more than enough hype for these two dynamic gals and for good reasons too. Lawless has been a filly that has been highly anticipated by Nick Landing since the planning stages. She will be the first born for Anarchi - Impressario's arch rival - and the final daughter and foal for proven producer - The Devil's Touch. Ethan Marino comments that this is a cold filly with a sharp mind and superior cunning. Needless to say, she keeps everyone on her toes.
Silent Front is by none other than IRS' Frontier, sire of Nightshade, and out of HOF'er Sillenia. With Nightshade's imminent retirement, this little sprite is coming along to see if she can fill her siblings shoes. She has all the energy and pizazz of her sibling, but is definitely easier to manage - her trainers commented. Regardless we're quite eager to see how both of these yearling fillies perform come Y16.
On other news, grade one winner Arachne has finally given birth to her Mastermind foal and it is a handsome looking bay colt! Arachne was retired early last year and then promptly bred to Mastermind upon his retirement. The colt is firsky and full of fire, giving his momma a run for her money, but we couldn't be more excited for these first time parents! We're extremely eager to see how this Augusto x Speed Demon x El Sol Del Mar combination takes and so far he's already off to a running start.
