Fresh off his exciting maiden win at Saratoga, promising sophomore colt Pentathlon is returning to action on Friday, September 20 in Race 7 at Aqueduct. The allowance race for ages three years and older has a purse of $92,000 and post time is 4:09 pm Eastern.
Pentathlon is stretching out to a mile and an eighth for his debut versus winners, one furlong further than the distance for any of his five previous starts.
The morning line 5-to-2 favorite, Pentathlon will break from post No. 2 in a field of 11 entries with jockey Joel Rosario retaining the mount for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey.
Last time out on August 15th at Saratoga, Pentathlon rated just off the pace and saved ground in the first turn, backstretch, and far turn. He put in a strong stretch run, taking the lead outside of the sixteenth pole and drawing clear for a three-and-a-half-length victory.
The colt has continued training well, breezing a bullet four furlongs on the dirt at Saratoga’s Oklahoma training track in 48 second flat on August 31st, the fastest of 34 workouts that day (video replay here on XBTV). After relocating to Belmont Park, he worked four furlongs in a quick 47⅗ seconds, the second-fastest of 72 workouts that day.
Bred by Phipps Stable, Pentathlon is owned by his breeder in partnership with Vincent Viola’s St. Elias Stable and the Farish family’s Woodford Racing partnership. He is second foal out of Tapit mare Parade, from the Personal Ensign branch of Argentine-bred Phipps foundation mare Dorine, acquired by Ogden Phipps in 1970.
Video: Replay of Pentathlon’s August 15th maiden win at Saratoga with Joel Rosario aboard.
Hip 755 in the Keeneland September Yearling Sale is a Phipps-bred Munnings colt out of War Front mare Cover Model. Consigned by Claiborne Farm, the colt is showing at Barn 28 and selling on Wednesday, September 11th.
The ninth-generation Phipps-bred is from the illustrious Get Lucky branch of La Troienne mare Baby League, identified by Blood-Horse (here) as “one of the strongest families in the stud book.”
Below is a deep dive into the family of his first three dams, which includes a Kentucky Derby winner, several grade 1 winners, and multiple successful sires.
First Dam Cover Model’s Siblings
The yearling’s dam Cover Model, by War Front, is a half-sister to two grade 1 winners. The first is Imagining, by Giant’s Causeway, a millionaire who won the Man o’ War Stakes and placed in four other grade 1 races. Sire of 196 foals of racing age from 6 crops, 45 percent are winners and his progeny’s earnings totaling nearly $7.3 million. His top runner is grade 3 Discovery Stakes runner-up and Maryland Million Classic winner Monday Morning Qb. Cover Model’s second grade 1-winning half-brother is steeplechaser Awakened, by Curlin, winner of the Jonathan Sheppard Handicap last year.
As for her sisters, Cover Model is a half to Snooze, by Forestry, the granddam of grade 1 Frizette Stakes winner Chocolate Gelato, by Practical Joke. Cover Model’s stakes-placed half-sister Browse, by Medaglia d’Oro, is the dam of William Farish-bred Pipit, by Quality Road, winner of the Victoria Stakes last year.
Second Dam Daydreaming and Her Siblings’ Families
The yearling’s second dam Daydreaming, by A.P. Indy, won three graded stakes, including the grade 2 Top Flight Handicap, grade 3 Next Move Handicap, and grade 3 Indiana Breeders’ Cup Oaks, all on the dirt ranging from 8 to 9 furlongs. She also placed in the grade 1 Gazelle Handicap and Spinaway Stakes.
Daydreaming’s Siblings: Sires Girolamo, Accelerator and Harborage
Three of Daydream’s siblings are sires. Her full brothers include Girolamo, winner of the grade 1 Vosberg Stakes for Godolphin, and Accelerator, winner of the grade 3 Pilgrim Stakes and runner-up in the grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap and grade 2 Wood Memorial Stakes. Daydreaming’s half-brother Harborage, by Monarchos, won the listed Victoria Park Stakes over 9 furlongs on the dirt.
Girolamo stood in Kentucky at Darley and is the sire of 390 foals of racing age from 10 crops, with 46 percent being winners. He is the sire of two champions and a dozen stakes winners, with career earnings of $18.6 million. His top U.S. runner is Chester & Mary Broman’s homebred Highway Star, winner of four graded stakes and placing in two grade 1s, with earnings of $1.3 million.
Accelerator stood in Kentucky at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms. He sired 141 foals from 4 crops, with 52 percent of them becoming winners. His progeny have earned nearly $4.7 million, with his top runner being grade 3 winner and dual grade 1-placed Big Booster.
Harborage stands in Louisiana and is the sire of 94 foals of racing age from 13 crops, 38 percent of which are winners. His progeny have earned more than $1.9 million, with his top runner being Louisiana-bred Off Cycle, winner of the black-type Acadiana Stakes.
Daydreaming’s Grade 1-Producing Siblings
Daydreaming is a sibling to three grade 1-producers. They include her half-sister Supercharger, by A.P. Indy, producer of grade 1 Kentucky Derby-winning sire Super Saver, by Maria’s Mon, her full sister She’s a Winner, producer of grade 1 Haskell winner and dual classic runner-up Bluegrass Cat, also a sire, and her half-sister Malka, by Deputy Minister, producer of grade 1 Spinster Stakes winner Got Lucky, by A.P. Indy.
Sires Out Of Daydreaming’s Siblings: Super Saver, Bluegrass Cat, Dramedy, and Brethren
Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver, out of Supercharger, entered stud in Kentucky at WinStar Farm and is the sire of 1,203 foals of racing age from 13 crops, with 54 percent going on to become winners. He is the sire of 6 champions and 27 graded or group stakes winners, with earnings of more than $54 million. His progeny include Eclipse Champion Older Dirt Female Letruska, and grade 1 winners Happy Saver, Embellish the Lace, Runhappy, and Competitive Edge.
Haskell winner Bluegrass Cat, out of She’s a Winner, also began his stud career in Kentucky at WinStar Farm and is the sire of 1,123 foals of racing age from 15 crops, 58 percent of which are winners. Sire of one champion and 9 graded or group winners, his progeny’s earnings total nearly $55 million. His top U.S. runners include grade 1-placed Sabercat and Kathmanblu, both sires.
Bluegrass Cat’s full brother Dramedy, by Distorted Humor, won the grade 2 Dixiana Elkhorn Stakes. He entered stud in Kentucky at War Horse Place and is the sire of 53 foals of racing age from 6 crops, 55 percent of which are winners. Dramedy’s progeny’s earnings total nearly $3.9 million. His top runner is Mighty Heart, a multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire and 2020 Canadian Horse of the Year. He’s a dual-classics winner of Canada’s Queen’s Plate and Prince of Wales Stakes, as well as the grade 2 Autumn Stakes and grade 3 Dominion Day Stakes.
WinStar-bred Distorted Humor colt Brethren, out of Supercharger, won the grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes, placed in the grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby, and stands at Arindel Farm in Ocala, Florida. Brethren is the sire of 308 foals from 8 crops of racing age, 52 percent of which are winners. His progeny include one champion and four graded stakes winners. His top runners include this year’s grade 3 Razorback Handicap winner Octane, who has career earnings of more than $1 million, and multiple graded stakes winner Clapton, winner of last year’s grade 2 Lucan Classic Stakes and grade 3 Ghostzapper Stakes before placing this January in the group l Maktoum Challenge at Meydan. Clapton’s earnings total nearly $1 million.
Supercharger’s Other Graded Winners
In addition to Super Saver and Brethren, Supercharger is the dam of grade 3 Lone Star Park Handicap winner Cyrus Alexander, by Medaglia d’Oro. She is also the granddam of Spendthrift Farm’s Callback, by Street Sense, winner of the grade 1 Las Virgenes Stakes, and great-granddam of Ontario-bred Mommasgottarun, by Maclean’s Music, winner of Aqueduct’s grade 3 Distaff Handicap in 2023.
She’s A Winner’s Other Graded Winners
In addition to producing Bluegrass Cat and Dramedy, She’s a Winner is the dam of multiple graded stakes winner Lord of the Game, by Saint Ballado, winner of the grade 2 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Breeders’ Cup Handicap and grade 3 Hanshin Cup Handicap. Lastly, She’s a Winner is also the granddam of Nonna Mela, by Arch, winner of the grade 2 Adirondack Stakes.
Third Dam Get Lucky
The yearling’s third dam Get Lucky, by Mr. Prospector, won the grade 3 Affectionately Handicap and, as detailed above, is the ancestress of an impressive family. Out of grade 1 Beldame Stakes winner Dance Number, by Northern Dancer, Get Lucky is a full sibling to dual grade 1-winning millionaire Rhythm, by Mr. Prospector, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Travers Stakes. He sired 965 foals, 20 of which were stakes winners. Get Lucky is also a full sibling to stakes-placed Not for Love, a 15-time leading sire in Maryland. He’s the broodmare sire of Kentucky Derby winner California Chrome and Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Max Player.
After missing her entire three-year-old campaign last year, Phipps Stable’s Self Confident continues her return with her third race of the year on Saturday, April 6th.
The Into Mischief filly is entered for Race 7 at Tampa Bay Downs, a maiden special weight covering a mile and a sixteenth on the grass. Breaking from post position № 4 in a field of 11, the Shug McGaughey trainee will have jockey Pablo Morales in the irons for the first time. Post time is 3:25 pm Eastern.
Self Confident showed promise early on in her career, finishing runner-up by a neck in her juvenile debut in a lucrative $150,000 maiden special weight turf race over a mile at Kentucky Downs. After being bumped at the start, she recovered and rallied gamely in the stretch, crossing the wire behind Navy Goat, by Army Mule, who went on to win a stakes race at Gulfstream in her next start.
Remaining on the turf, she stretched out to a mile and a sixteenth for her two remaining juvenile starts, faltering late in her October race at Keeneland to finish fifth, a length and three-quarters behind the winner. At Aqueduct a month later, she brushed with a foe at the start, settled near the back of the pack, and lacked a response in the stretch, crossing the wire eighth.
After taking last year off, Self Confident has faced some minor challenges in her two starts this year, recovering from being bumped in both races to finish on the board at Gulfstream Park. If she can get a clean trip on Saturday, hopefully the Phipps and McGaughey team’s patience will pay off and she can take a nice step forward.
As for her pedigree, she is a half-sister of Phipps Stable’s stakes-placed Speightstown horse Dreams of Tomorrow. Self Confident shares the same Into Mischief-Medaglia d’Oro cross as Qatar Racing’s Everso Mischievous, winner of the grade 2 Forty Niner Stakes last October at Aqueduct.
The Phipps homebred’s dam Sabbatical, by Medaglia d’Oro is from an accomplished family of siblings: the late Maryland sire Imagining, by Giant’s Causeway, winner of the grade 1 Man o’ War Stakes at Belmont in 2015; Snooze, by Forestry, granddam of Chocolate Gelato, by Practical Joke, winner the grade 1 Frizette Stakes at Aqueduct in 2022; full sister Browse is the dam of Pipit, by Quality Road, winner of the Victoria Stakes last year at Woodbine; and, Awakened, by Curlin, a grade 1-winning hurdler.
Self Confident’s multiple graded stakes-winning granddam Daydreaming, by A.P. Indy, is a full sister of grade 1-winning sire Girolamo, as well as Supercharger, dam of 2010 Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver.
Her third dam, graded stakes winner Get Lucky, by Mr. Prospector, is a full sister of champion Rhythm and 15-time leading Maryland stallion Not for Love. Get Lucky and her family are best described by Avalyn Hunter who wrote on her American Classic Pedigrees website (here) that she was “a good race mare by a top sire and from one of the world’s greatest families… Even better, her daughters have bred on in exceptional fashion, making her branch of the La Troienne family one of the hottest of the early 21st century.”
Photo: Self Confident at Gulfstream Park, January 2024
Phipps bloodlines had another impressive year across the globe in 2023. In addition to Phipps female families being represented in 95 graded or group stakes wins (here), an additional 10 were sired by Phipps-bred stallions.
Eight different horses by Phipps sires won graded or group stakes in 2023. The sires represented include Pure Prize, Point of Entry, Mr Speaker, Reload, Orb, Manipulator, and Fire Away. Geographically, four of the wins were in the U.S., three in Canada, one in Argentina, and two in South Africa.
USA-G1 Man o’ War S. (Belmont 5/13) – RED KNIGHT (USA) by Pure Prize (the sire a fourth-generation Phipps homebred from the Heavenly Prize branch of Lady Pitt; deceased, last stood in Argentina at Haras Carampangue)
USA-G3 Baltimore/Washington International Turf Cup S. (Pimlico 9/16) – HIGHESTDISTINCTION (USA) by Point of Entry (the sire a second-generation Phipps homebred from Matlacha Pass branch of Our Country Place; standing in Ontario, Canada at Adena Springs)
USA-G2 John A. Nerud S. (Belmont 7/1) – THREE TECHNIQUE (USA) by Mr Speaker (the sire a fourth-generation Phipps homebred from the Personal Ensign branch of Dorine {ARG}; standing in Texas at Forks of the Paluxy)
CAN-G3 Bold Venture S. (Woodbine 8/20) – PATCHES O’HOULIHAN (CAN) by Reload (the sire a fourth-generation Phipps homebred from the Pure Profit branch of Grey Flight; standing in Ontario, Canada at Northern Dawn Stables)
CAN-G3 Vigil S. (Woodbine 9/16) – PATCHES O’HOULIHAN (CAN) by Reload
CAN-G3 British Columbia Premiers’ H. (Hastings 10/7) – SUNBIRD (USA) by Orb (the sire a Kentucky Derby-winning seventh-generation Janney & Phipps homebred from the Steel Maiden branch of Erin; standing in Uruguay at Haras Cuatro Piedras)
ARG-G3 Clasico Ocurrencia (San Isidro 8/11) – ELVEDA (ARG) by Manipulator (the sire a fourth-generation Phipps homebred from the Inside Information branch of Grey Flight; deceased, last stood in Argentina at Haras La Pasion)
SAF-G3 Langerman S. (Kenilworth 7/22) – MY GOLLY MOLLY (SAF) by Fire Away (the sire a fourth-generation Phipps homebred from the Personal Ensign branch of Dorine {ARG}; standing in South Africa at Wilgerbosdrift Stud)
SAF-G3 Starling S. (Turffontein 10/28) – EGYPTIAN MAU (SAF) by Fire Away
PURE PRIZE’s Red Knight winning the grade 1 Man o’ War Stakes at Belmont Park for breeder-owner Trinity Farm, trainer Michael J. Maker, and jockey Tyler Gaffalione.
