Post by Ripley on May 5, 2016 11:51:55 GMT -5
Battle Brook Stable is doing better than expected......and after a year on the down-low......they are striking the iron while it's hot.
It has been a while since we've been allowed to visit the prolific barn owned by Ripley Marsh. Once a very open and welcoming farm, the stable has been operating a bit more on the quiet side. Credit must be given to the fact that Intrepid Racing Stable and Firestone Racing have ascended to greater levels than when Battle Brook, formerly known as Witch Creek Stable, was dominating the season from Year Twelve to Year Fourteen. Even Ripley Marsh stated that Firestone's juveniles last season were remarkable and that Intrepid might still be the toughest older horse division even with the retirement of their grand lady Nightshade and appealing stallions Anodyne and Abastor.
However, something has changed since Year Fourteen. While Battle Brook maintains a powerful presence on the turf, their latest stars are actually running on the dirt. Could this be an influence of their foundation stallion Touch Up? Ripley seemed amused by that line of thought. "As much as I would love to place the blame on Touch Up's shoulders, I can't. Our older stallions are a mix of Night Stalker, Native Flame and Intrepid lines. If any horse might be to blame I could say El Sol Del Mar is at fault. We have Sun King doing very well in the distances and her half sister Luna De Soltera running powerfully as a juvenile. We haven't been campaigning him personally this season, but Uno has also done extraordinarily well at the age of three under Nick Landing's care."
We qualified that Sunny only accounted for three--technically, two--of those horses in a line up that has been virtually tough to beat in Year Sixteen. Ripley only shrugged and led the way from her office in the three year old and older horse barn toward the juvenile barn. As she shut the door behind her, she smiled. "I told everyone not to count us out after that juvenile season. I knew we had better things in store for us. I have a half-sister to a filly that nearly swept the Triple Tiara last year, a half-brother to the Canadian Triple Crown winner, a granddaughter of Speed Demon, two late bloomers in Awestruck and Coveted Faith, and two powerhouses in Artemis and Notorious. I pointed out the plan before anyone cared to listen. I am confident that my entire three year old string will prove very tough in their respective classic campaigns."
Ripley led the way to the next barn, the juvenile barn. I wish I could admit that I wasn't awed by the heads that shot out of the stalls. Every horse was beautiful, immaculate and interested in our presence. While BBS's line ups have been usually filled with the Speed Demons, Night Stalkers and El Sol del Mar's of the world, this is an entirely fresh crop of faces. "We took a big chance on a group of freshmen sires and relatively untested stallions. Besides Admiral's Revenge, every horse in this crop is by an unproven stud or in Frontier's case still relatively untried even after Nightshade."
With that, we went down the entire row of full stalls of ten of Battle Brook's brightest lights. Ripley displayed a great deal excitement for each and every horse and why not? This crop is exactly the kind of crop she likes best: unproven, untried and chock full of uncontested talent.
Breaking Point: After years of Battle Brook dominating the turf sprinting scene with the likes of Cross My Heart, Paranormal Hunter, Taboo and upstart Artemis' Glory, Battle Brook Stable may have found a colt to carry that mantle instead. The first juvenile to hit grade four and first son of freshman sire The Underdog, Breaking Point has been a force of nature on the track. In eight starts, Breaking Point has managed to win five races including the Bull Dog Stakes and Magic Millions Colts Turf Sprint. Winning from six to ten furlongs, Breaking Point has shown incredible versatility as a young horse. As a half-brother to Turf Tiara entrant Santana's Legend, Breaking Point is only likely to get better with more distance. However, plans call for the handsome bay to stick to sprint racing, but he's already drawing comparisons at home to Mastermind and Sun King. Could it be that BBS has finally found a turf king for that cobweb covered throne?
Gold Rush: Few people can argue that Nightshade was arguably one of the best dirt distaff mares in modern SIM history. The daughter of Frontier was as big as any colt, as tough as any colt and she had a presence bigger than the state of Texas. Call it whimsy, but Ripley Marsh wanted a bit of that special dust. She contacted Intrepid Racing Stable and roped up a breeding from Nightshade's sire and an untested broodmare, TizNow. The result was the golden bay, Gold Rush. "It's taken a little bit to get his mind on business," Ripley quipped. "He has the talent to be ultra-competitive, but he is a laid-back horse and he never seems to overdo it in his morning exercise. We actually gallop him longer than most of our other horses, just to be sure that he is getting what he is supposed to. Some days Rush will go out twice. Once in the morning over the dirt and once in the moving for slow lopes over the turf track." Marsh indicated plans were to send the elegant colt to the Canadian Triple Crown which leaves her plenty of time to whip him into shape.
Roussong: Anyone paying attention to Battle Brook's current older crop, might actually see parallels to their current juvenile crop. Roussong is from the same male line as Saintly Touch and actually possesses a similar grumpy trait. However, once he gets beyond his mood, Roussong is rumored to be very good and very fast."Rou is a very intriguing horse to be around. Like Saint, we tend to let him be. He likes turn out time and playing by himself with his variety of toys. He comes around during his works and he's actually intense on the track. He really tugs Laura around until she has to lean back in the saddle. He's shown a good amount of consistency, but we expect him to get better. We quite haven't found his niche, but we're getting there."
Game Over: Credit to Battle Brook Stable's juvenile success does not only belong to Breaking Point. The barn got off to a hot start with a daughter of freshman sire Wannabe Hero, standing at North Diamond Manor. The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Sprint winner has definitely passed on his precocious speed to Game Over. The strong bay filly has tapped out three Horse Of The Year wins in Year Sixteen and has shown the ability to rebound off of poor starts in her latest start, the Across The Line Stakes. "We really liked Wannabe Hero from the start as a stallion. He brought fresh lines into the mix like most of them, but he had back class mixed in with his record. Game Over was a handful as a youngster, still is as all good fillies are. She's all about business and she's super competitive. What's neat about her, is that she is really good at settling down. She has an on-off switch that is hard to find in youngsters. We expect she'll continue on a mixed path of dirt and turf sprints. We'll probably point her for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Dirt Sprint if Breaking Point appears too formidable on the turf."
Kismet: Of the horses we met when we visited BBS, Kismet was the most unpredictable sort. She snorted nervously and pawed the ground. She had a bit of a wall eye to her and looked awfully wary of us and our crinkly papers. Ripley said it was normal for Kis to give us the evil eye. Supposedly, she's better around people she's used to and isn't so unpredictable when you get to know her. The dappled gray filly sure is beautiful and appears to be taking after her female family in terms of attitude. "She's been a bit of an interesting case for us. She's scary fast, but her mentality needs to play catch up. She's gotten in her own way a few times this season, but we think she'll be one of the better fillies once she gets her head on straight. She's turned around quite a bit in her training and we've fitted her with some ear plugs. We just need to turn the seconds into wins and she'll be at the top of her class."
Pele's Wrath: Whew! Talk about the queen of disdain and attitude. Pele's Wrath may as well be the apple of her daddy's eye. Being the first daughter of Battle Brook's first ever dirt mile type stallion definitely has it's perks. The nearly black filly is definitely following in older brother Ares's footsteps with wins at both six and eight furlongs so far. She hasn't cracked any Horse Of The Year level races yet, but Ripley doesn't believe they aren't far off. "She's a great filly to work with on the track in the morning. She loves her job and is very hard to pull up even in her morning gallops. We began this season believing that she might be the best filly in our crop on the dirt. She's very smart and very handy and she has a fierce determination to be at the top."
Shatter: We met a pair of gentle giants on our visit, both towering chestnut fillies with gentle brown eyes and regal pedigrees to die for. What could possibly be wrong with that? Shatter's older brother, World Dominion, has had an explosive career from the moment he got on the track. Shatter was expected to take Worldbreaker's classic style and Screaming Mimi's explosive personality and create a machine so intense and so fast that the competition would just fall at her hooves. Shatter finally picked up her second victory in seven starts, righting the ship and putting her back on course for a good juvenile campaign. "We had a few kinks to work out with her. She took a while to come around, but not for lack of trying. She loves to work and she seems to do better the more we race her--that's her dam in her. We'll keep her in undercards for a little bit and work up her confidence."
Apache Sunrise: Being a half-sibling to Akuma Battlecry, Souvenir, GS Supercharged and Ultimate Revenge, you would think this fine filly would get some respect. She seemed like the biggest horse in the crop, the most imposing, but she definitely has a kindness to her that shines brightly. Yet, for all of her perfection in the manner's department, Sunrise hasn't been the standout on the track she was expected to be. Ripley was defensive of the young filly, crossing her arms over her chest and stepping right in front of the stall door, her eyebrows drawn together into a scowl. "She's special. I keep telling you people in the media what she is, but you don't believe me. And I get that, alright. Her record isn't exactly the prettiest, but that's my fault, not hers. We're taking it day by day with her. She's big if you can't see that and she gets a little nervous when she breaks from the gate. We'll take it back to the track, play around with the idea of getting her back on the dirt and see what happens. I'm telling you that you shouldn't cross her out just yet..."
Cascabel: Moving on from Sunrise to Cascabel was a lot like watching a hot balloon deflate. Ripley instantly became that much more relaxed, letting us--"the media"--see how much this game affects her moods. Cascabel, the dazzling son of Prince Charming and Ashanti, has been nothing if not a revelation. The bay has reeled off impressive victories in the Close Racing Stakes, Magic Millions Colts Dirt, and the Cashcall Futurity. He seems to be more distance oriented than half-brothers Ashes To Ashes and Fusillade and according to Ripley, much more of a sweetheart. "He has a great personality. He's the type that you can bring little kids up to and he'll take the carrots gently out of the palm of their hand. He'll be a great ambassador for the sport. If he continues to win like this, we'll expect him to head to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at the end of the year. A lot of things can go awry, but Cas is a horse that gives me confidence."
Luna de Soltera: No horse in the crop had higher expectations placed on their shoulders than the half-sister to Hall Of Fame winner and producer El Sol Del Mar. She's a slight filly like her chestnut counterpart and she has speed for three horses, but her gray coloring and fierce attitude make her a character all her own. Already a winner of one Horse Of The Year race, Luna has built up a reputation for being a tough horse. She's got her own brilliant style and seems to be harder to beat the further she runs. "She's a determined little bugger, Luna. She seems to grow more emboldened with distance. We expect that she'll be able to handle ten and less as time grows on, but the distance is what she wants right now. She has better mechanics than Sunny did and she's a smooth ride, push button. The plan is to keep her in Horse of the Year company through the Follow The Hoofprints series and then we'll see where she's at."
