Post by Ripley on Jul 12, 2016 9:21:06 GMT -5
BEYOND THE CLASSICS
Battle Brook is known for getting their horses good at the right time in their three year old seasons and beyond. Typically, BBS horses fly low as juveniles with the rare exceptions being Mastermind, Sun King, Cross My Heart and Paranormal Hunter. However, there is something to be said for BBS's record in the Turf Triple Crown, the mile series and the sprinter crowns and tiaras. If anything, Battle Brook offers a variety of stoutly-bred horses that can run a variety of distances and surfaces. Ripley's training techniques rely on the versatility of her stock. Her best examples can be found in her currently older horse division which is experiencing a renaissance of sorts.
It has been a while since Mastermind, Bella Luna, Cross My Heart and Paranormal Hunter ripped up the track, leaving records smashed in their wake and achieving things that had never quite been done. Now all four are away in the breeding shed with Mastermind's first offspring set to debut in year seventeen and the trio of turf ladies welcoming foals into the fold at Battle Brook's facility set in the blue grass hills of northern Kentucky.
It has taken nearly a year and a half to get there, but Ripley's persistence and stamina-ridden training techniques have lifted a brilliant group of stallions from the ground to the top. Saintly Touch, Casualty Of War, Sun King, Spotlight Pride and Vagabond aren't quite at the level of the original Murderer's Row, but few can deny the electricity they bring when they hit the track for a race. The first half of the year will be over when the Sorrento Stakes runs in June Week Four and Battle Brook finds itself in a position to do some damage on the older horse front.
We caught up with Ripley during a morning training session at Battle Brook to find out what exactly she had in mind for the rest of year sixteen. She seemed very at ease with her hip cocked to support the weight of her first child, Keller, and her eyes trained on the duo of juveniles galloping on the dirt track.
"Everything we have planned for the remainder of Year Sixteen totally depends on the health and happiness of our horses. Some of them will catch a break in the latter half of the season, a month off at the farm to just hang out and be a horse. I think the majority of their month vacations will happen in September or October. There seems to be a little down swing around that time for older horse races so they won't miss much. Each of them have about 7-9 races left in their career, the hardest races of their careers for some. I'm eager for them to rise to new challenges."
We asked what kind of challenges Ripley expected her stock to face and she smiled. "Contrary to belief, we don't own the races here. We work hard for our victories and our horses deserve whatever time they get in the winner's circle. It's very difficult to get a big win nowadays with so many new shooting barns; some of the barns that started in Year Thirteen and Fourteen are gaining traction and really putting up a fight. Intrepid Racing has their best older horse roster and we're kind of thankful we don't have a dirt distaffer to deal with Meritorious, Calypso's Fury or Shenanigans at the moment.
As for challenges for our guys... We have to break some parameters that our cohorts have set up for us. Spotlight Pride and Sun King aren't just milers. Both of them needed to grow into themselves, mentally and physically, for us to even think about stretching them out. Sun King's two for three record at ten furlongs is pretty good considering the limited time he's run at the distance. The media is so keen on pinning him down as a sprinter, but he isn't. He's not Mastermind. His dam won the Preakness and Belmont, his sire was a top prospect for the Triple Crown in his season until his injury in early spring. I am almost certain that if we had sent him to the Kentucky Derby last year, we would have given Speak Easy a run for his money. Now, a year later, we expect to take Firestone's horse on in the Breeders' Cup Classic this year with Sun King. He's ready, mentally and physically. We sharpened him up in the Phoenix Gold Cup and head to the Autumn Dawn Treader Cup next. After that, we're mixing it up with nine and ten furlong races leading up to the Classic. I've never been more excited to stretch a horse out than with the one.
Spotlight Pride has really taken to running at various distances. He's like a duck to water. Every time we show up, we expect a hard-earned effort. From here out, he'll be running the turf gauntlet. The older turf horse crown at GHF, the Tropical Rainforest Invitational, the Twilight Stakes. We're ending his fantastic career in the Breeders' Cup Turf. He was our true first miler, but for his stud career, we want to prove him as a horse that can get those classic distances as well. His win at ten furlongs in the Little Miss Innocent Stakes and last year's win in the Winter Cup Grade One Turf prove he can go longer. Reese has been working him, taking him back and rating his once willful speed. We have a big challenge with Take Flight and Proteus Prince waiting for us, but we'll hold our own."
Anyone who knows Ripley, knows she doesn't speak much. The little tirade was a little unexpected, but after that she returned to her more normal self--composed, thoughtful and quietly confident. Our talk was broken up by a near black bullet sweeping across the dirt track. The horse looked monstrous and absolutely brilliant as he crushed through a morning workout of five furlongs in :59 2/5ths. Underneath regular rider Reese, Saintly Touch was poetry in motion. One of the final sons of Night Stalker, Saint was considered a good horse at distances of ten and up. He was good enough to raise his flag in the Preakness Stakes at the age of three, but at four he has been a revelation at distances of eight and nine furlongs. To see him stream through his workout was something extraordinary.
"He amazes us every day, really. He's training exceptionally well. We're pointing him to the Penn National Derby next, with the Winter Dawn Treader Cup being our main goal in November. He'll end his Year Sixteen season with the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. He's returning at five for the Dubai World Mile so there's still a lot left for him to accomplish."
The final duo in Ripley's handicap line-up are Casualty of War and Vagabond. Both brawny, bay stallions who relish distances, they've come into their final seasons at different ends of the spectrum. Casualty Of War was a precocious son of Man O' War and Flight of Fancy from the start. Last year's Queen's Plate winner has perhaps the most versatile record of any horse on Ripley's older string, with HOTY victories on both turf and dirt. With three HOTY wins on the season, Sultan heads into the fall and winter with big goals, among them: the Arlington Million, Woodward, Continental Cup, Champion Stakes, Eddie Read Handicap, with the final goal of the Breeders' Cup Marathon.
Ripley and Maggiletti Reynolds, Vagabond's regular rider, always promised more from the rarely-lined son of Winged Heir. He was a powerful colt who needed to grow into himself, wasn't ready for the three year old classics and really didn't start coming into his own until October of last year. Year Sixteen has been different for Bond. A winner on both surfaces in Year Sixteen, Vagabond has proven to be a really good horse at distances. He's expected to head up the Battle Brook entry for the dirt distance older horse races. Among his expected targets are the Whitney Handicap, the These Old Bones Stakes, the Independence Cup and the Breeders' Cup Dirt Marathon.
"I think many people are starting to take notice of the work we've done with Vagabond. He's such a good horse and he's starting to get attention from people in the breeding industry because of his outcrossed lines and durability. While he will be taking a jump in class the rest of the season, we feel it's a long time coming. Not every horse is destined to be a champ at three, as Alluring Assault and Flawed Princess can attest. Casualty Of War is our fiery, good ol' boy. We expect great performances out of him the rest of the year and think he'll appreciate the return to the turf in the winter."
While older horses are starting to steal the spotlight, BBS made names for themselves in the spring with Notorious in the Turf Triple Crown and Uno Momento--a horse trained to Preakness victory by good friend Intrepid Racing--but neither colt is expected to participate in this year's Breeder's Cup. "The Breeder's Cup isn't the end all be all for us. Notorious has a heavy schedule planned for the latter half of the year and he might just end his season in the World Turf Cup. I don't like to double enter in the Breeders' Cup and the only race he would fit is the Breeders' Cup Turf. We'll turn him out after the World Turf Cup, let him rest and bring him back at the end of January... As for Uno, he's going to head to the Red Legend Derby at The Wire in August Week Four. He's a terrific colt, but we need to get him to the grade one level before we talk Breeders' Cup. We have big plans for next year so the rest of this season will set up a good foundation."
