Adam Pleased with Guapo Man’s Romp at Fair Grounds

by Jessica Martini
 Donald Adam wasn’t in New Orleans to see his homebred Guapo Man (Street Cry {Ire})’s romping 17-length maiden victory at Fair Grounds Sunday, but he did get to watch the race remotely and he was impressed with what he saw. 

“I wasn’t at the track, I was traveling,” Adam said Sunday afternoon. “I was on the plane, but I saw it on the plane and it was a very, very impressive day for Guapo Man.” 

Sunday’s breakthrough effort came after two off-the-board finishes and Adam admitted, “Frankly, we’ve been disappointed. We sprinted him twice and he stopped both times. I think he’s figured it out now and I credit [trainer] David Carroll with that. We always thought he had a lot of ability.” 

Carroll, who trains eight horses for Adam’s Courtlandt Farm, agreed with his owner’s assessment of Guapo Man. 

“We’re very happy with him,” Carroll said from Fair Grounds Sunday. “He’s a horse that has always trained beautifully. We were certainly disappointed with his first two races. He’s a big, heavy horse and we felt like it would take him a couple of races to get him fit. In his first race, it was a nice run, he just got tired at the end. And his second race, he broke so sharp and went a little bit too fast and it really wasn’t what we were looking for. So we changed his training schedule a little bit and stretched him out to two turns, which is what he is bred to do, and he ran the way he trained. I’m not sure what he beat, but it was certainly a very promising performance today. It was something we can build on.” 
Of Guapo Man’s front-running style of victory, Carroll added, “Today there wasn’t a lot of pace on paper, so we just let him break and he got an easy lead and it was kind of easy for him today. It was nice to see him do what he has been showing us in the mornings.” 

Adam also campaigned Guapo Man’s dam, Indescribable (Pleasant Tap), winner of the 2008 GIII Arlington Matron H., GIII Cardinal H. and 2009 GIII Doubledogdare S. The Texan, who also campaigned Grade I winners Film Maker (Dynaformer) and Sweet Talker (Stormin Fever), sees similarities between mother and son. 

“Without a doubt there are similarities,” Adam said. “She’s a big mare and a multiple graded stakes winner and very talented. When she first began, she didn’t kick in until three or four races and then following that she was a very formidable mare at that time. He has a lot of her traits. He is a very big horse, but I think he has far more speed than his mother ever thought about. I think it’s going to make him push button.” 

Adam said his long association with the family makes Guapo Man’s success even more special. 

“We raised her and now to have her offspring that has such ability, it’s going to give me enormous pleasure,” he said. “And I think we’re going to have a lot of fun with him.” 

Adam’s broodmare band numbers about 20 head and, while he does sell some of the horses he breeds, he knew he was going to keep Guapo Man. 

“We sell some, but I chose not to sell Guapo Man mainly because I felt he was going to be a little slow developing,” Adam explained. “And a lot of people are not wanting to be patient. But I decided that he might be pretty special and he was a big, growthy type, a Pleasant Colony-type–but he is a better-looking horse than what Pleasant Colony typically produced. He’s a very handsome horse. Guapo is handsome in Spanish, that’s how he got the name–he was a handsome man.” 

Sunday was closing day at Fair Grounds and Guapo Man will head north with the rest of Carroll’s horses. He could get his next start in Louisville at the end of April. 

“We’ll put him on a van in the morning and get him back to Kentucky,” Carroll said. “We’ll see how he comes out of the race. He’s a big horse, he’s had three races here over the winter. Hopefully he’ll show up around Derby week in an allowance race, if everything goes well. We’ll let him tell us what he can and can’t do, we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves. He’s got a beautiful pedigree and he’s owned by a great man and hopefully there are better things down the road for him.” 

Guapo Man is one of eight horses Carroll trains for Adam and the Irishman hopes Sunday’s victory will provide momentum for the rest of 2015. 

“We have a nice filly for him called Sumlin (Eskendereya), who won [a maiden race] on Mar. 20 and she is very nice,” Carroll said. “We have Strike Charmer (Smart Strike), who won the [GIII] Cardinal last fall for him. And we have a couple who haven’t run yet that we quite like. Hopefully we can build on this and have a good year.”