In Sharper Focus: Girolamo’s She’s All Ready

She’s All Ready (Girolamo) kicked off an impressive couple of weeks for her freshman sire when winning off the screen on debut versus New York-breds at Saratoga Aug. 7.

Not much of a secret as the 2-1 favorite off a very flashy worktab, she dueled her way clear through an opening quarter in :22.28 and blew the doors off the hinges in the stretch to win by a geared-down 8 1/4 lengths, good for ‘TDN Rising Star’ honors. Fellow Girolamo firster Legend of Lorelei, a 48-1 chance, completed a hefty $241.50 exacta for her sire.

She’s All Ready, owned by Mike Salerno’s Nirvana Stables, was bred in New York by Kings and Queens Farm. She brought $37,000 as a FTNAUG yearling and $45,000 as an EASMAY juvenile.

“She trained really well leading up to that,” trainer Jim Ryerson confirmed. “She really impressed me with her work out of the gate at Belmont [in 1:01.05 July 17] prior to coming up to Saratoga. She really did everything right since we got her.”

She’s All Ready is currently being aimed at the $200,000 Seeking the Ante S. going 6 1/2 furlongs on New York Showcase day at the Spa Aug. 28.

“Girolamo is off to a good start,” Ryerson concluded.

“She’s All Ready is a solid filly, and is very mature. She has a quick look to her and definitely looks like a sprinter.”

Chester and Mary Broman homebred Backwood Bay (Girolamo) followed suit with a narrow come-from-behind debut win at 9-1 going six furlongs at Saratoga Aug. 15, and My Purple Haze Stables, Joemar Racing Stables and Trond Smedshammer’s Pagan (Girolamo) won at first asking two days later with a gritty score at the same odds on the lawn going 5 1/2 furlongs. Both wins came versus state-breds.

Girolamo (A.P. Indy), hero of Belmont’s 2010 GI Vosburgh S. going six furlongs as well as the 2009 GII Jerome H. at a mile, was also a debut winner at the historic upstate New York racetrack back in 2008. After beginning his career at stud at Becky Thomas’s Sequel New York, the Godolphin colorbearer moved to Darley’s Kentucky base for the 2014 breeding season. He commanded a $5,000 stud fee in 2015.

“It’s absolutely awesome,” beamed Thomas, who also co-bred the aforementioned Pagan, a $40,000 FTNAUG yearling graduate. “How many A.P. Indys can actually run on the turf, let alone sprint on it, too?”

Girolamo’s first-crop yearlings averaged $40,006 (29 sold/49 offered) in 2014, led by a $230,000 colt. He has sired five winners from his first crop of 87 foals, of which 16 have started, including the stakes-placed Lucky Lurie. Girolamo–a full brother to Supercharger (A.P. Indy), the dam of GI Kentucky Derby hero and promising young sire Super Saver (Maria’s Mon)–currently ranks fifth on the freshman sire list with $234,204 in progeny earnings.

“What you would really expect is a horse that looks like he’s going to be a middle-distance kind of horse, and that’s what he was,” Thomas commented. “Even though he won a Grade I sprinting, when you look at him, you can see why he won at six furlongs, but you also see why he was a good miler. He’s a real balanced horse, and much more speedy looking than a lot of the A.P. Indy-line horses, but you still don’t think about it and say, ‘Ok, you’re going to win at five furlongs.’ So, the fact that they have has absolutely exceeded every expectation that I could possibly have. It’s been incredibly exciting.”

She continued, “You could tell by how they’re running that they want more ground, too. They’re just talented enough to be able to get the job done. Darley has invested a huge amount of money to be able to give the New York program something that we’ve never had before, which is a sire that we could really put our hands on and say this is a top-rate horse. There is no better quality of stallion that we stood with that pedigree before [in New York]. Never.” —Steve Sherack

6th-SAR, $73,000, (S), Msw, 8-7, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 1:04.63, ft.
SHE’S ALL READY (f, 2, by Girolamo)
1st Dam: Prominent, by El Prado (Ire)
2nd Dam: Biblionic, by Notebook
3rd Dam: Aphonita, by Greek Sky
Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $43,800. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
O-Nirvana Stables; B-Kings and Queens Farm (NY); T-James T. Ryerson.