Classic Empire was impressive in his local 4 1/2-furlong debut in the slop as the 1-2 chalk May 4, breaking poorly from the rail, taking a lot of mud in his face and exploding in the stretch once given a clear path to win going away. Working up a storm in the interim–namely a best-of-30 :59 3/5 bullet five furlongs June 19–the bay settled second-last early on while 1-2 favorite and 'TDN Rising Star' Recruiting Ready dueled through a :21.76 quarter-mile. That one began to get away on the far turn as Classic Empire commenced a rail rally into the stretch. Still with a good five lengths to make up inside the furlong grounds, he motored home to catch the chalk in the dying strides and score an impressive victory. Sambuca Classica is responsible for a yearling colt by Concord Point. The winner's second dam, In Her Glory (Miswaki), was multiple Grade I stakes placed.
“He broke bad the other day, I don't know what was up with that, but anytime that you're in the one-hole with a 2-year-old, you're apprehensive about it,” assistant trainer Norm Casse said. “I think he's still a little shy at horses. You can tell when he broke that he broke in a little bit and kind of ducked out, but it ended up working out to his advantage a little bit. The pace set up for him and he was able to run down a very talented horse today. I really have a whole lot of respect for the horse that he beat and this is something we can all look forward to. I think that the way that he breezes and trains in the morning, he is more effective when he's able to go out and relax and settle into stride. Sprinting is obviously something where you aren't able to do that so going forward, he's going to be more effective around two turns. He'll go up and train at Saratoga and we'll look for a race up there for him.”
Saturday, Churchill Downs
BASHFORD MANOR S.-GIII, $100,000, CD, 7-2, 2yo, 6f, 1:09.39, ft.
1–#@CLASSIC EMPIRE, 120, c, 2, by Pioneerof the Nile
1st Dam: Sambuca Classica, by Cat Thief
2nd Dam: In Her Glory, by Miswaki
3rd Dam: Forever Waving, by Hoist the Flag
($475,000 Ylg '15 KEESEP). O-John C. Oxley; B-Steven
& Brandi Nicholson (KY); T-Mark E. Casse; J-Julien R. Leparoux.
$59,520. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $85,920. *1/2 to Anytime
Magic (Fusaichi Pegasus), MSW, $180,185; Uptown Twirl
(Twirling Candy), MSW, $166,214. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus* Click for eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.[bullet ad=”warrendale-sold-congratulations-to-all-the-connections”][bullet ad=”kbif-g2g3″]
2–Recruiting Ready, 120, c, 2, Algorithms–Need, by Strong
Hope. ($110,000 Ylg '15 KEESEP; $240,000 RNA 2yo '16
FTFMAR). O-Sagamore Farm; B-Claiborne Farm (KY); T-Horacio
DePaz. $19,200.
3–Tip Tap Tapizar, 120, c, 2, Tapizar–Counterpoise, by Storm
Cat. ($175,000 Ylg '15 KEESEP). O-Whispering Oaks Farm LLC;
B-Summer Hill Farm LLC (LA); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $9,600.[bullet ad=”taylor-made-tm-for-you”]Margins: 3/4, 9, 1 3/4. Odds: 4.70, 0.50, 4.80.
Also Ran: Boys From Boston, Raising Rumors, Riv, My Golden Aura, U S Officer, Capt. Grider.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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