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Remembering multiple G1 winner Winter Memories

by NYRA Press Ofiice

• Remembering multiple G1 winner Winter Memories
• Fulmineo on track for Breeders’ Cup after G2 Pilgrim runner-up
• GSP Stonewall Star returns to work tab
• Belmont at the Big A week 7 probablesWinter Memories, a dual Grade 1-winning millionaire turf distaffer, was euthanized at age 15 on May 16 at her longtime home of Darby Dan Farm in Lexington, Kentucky.

Owned by Phillips Racing Partnership, Winter Memories won a graded stakes on the NYRA circuit each year from 2010-12 for trainer Jimmy Toner. In 2016, NYRA honored the popular mare with the Winter Memories Stakes, a turf route for sophomore fillies.

The daughter of El Prado captured the Grade 3 Miss Grillo [now a Grade 2] in October 2010 at Belmont Park before finishing second in that year’s Grade 2 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf [now a Grade 1] at Churchill Downs. She won four graded stakes during her sophomore season, three of which took place on the NYRA circuit. Following a narrow triumph in the Grade 3 Appalachian [now a Grade 2] at Keeneland, she scored graded wins in the Grade 2 Sands Point at Belmont and the Grade 2 Lake George at Saratoga Race Course.

But perhaps her most memorable conquest took place in the Grade 1 Garden City Handicap [now the Belmont Oaks Invitational] at Belmont Park, where she endured a troubled trip, lost ground down the backstretch, and was last-of-8 at the stretch call before being maneuvered widest of all and powered home to win by a neck under little urging from Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano.

“She had no business winning it,” owner and breeder John Phillips recalled of the 2011 Garden City. “That’s a race where mostly the jockey, trainer and owner are giving excuses. But she was just that brilliant. I honestly believe she was the best filly in the country that year.”

Toner described Winter Memories’ Garden City performance as “unbelievable."

“The burst of speed she had in the last eighth of a mile was just incredible. You had to see it to believe it,” Toner said.

Phillips said Winter Memories was laid to rest next to her mother – dual Grade 1-winning millionaire Memories of Silver, who captured the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup in October 1996 at Keeneland and the Grade 1 Beverly D. in August 1997 at Arlington Park. The daughter of Silver Hawk also was owned by Phillips and trained by Toner.

“Winter Memories was very much like her mother, a kind and gentle horse,” Phillips said. “They both very much had the same temperament. Memories of Silver was a bay and somewhat smaller, Winter Memories was scopier. But they had the one common quality, which was acceleration in deep stretch.”

At four, Winter Memories won the Grade 3 Beaugay at Belmont before earning a career-high 104 Beyer Speed Figure when capturing the Grade 1 Diana at Saratoga two starts later, which ended up being her final start.

“She literally should have been undefeated,” Toner commented. “The times she got beat, there were circumstances. She was an exciting filly to be around, and she had this presence about her. She was one that let you know she was the queen. She was one of those kinds that you don’t often come across. She was always who she was, and you had to respect her presence.”

Although Winter Memories never earned Eclipse Award honors, Phillips described his female turf heroine as a Champion-caliber horse.

“When we stopped on her after the Diana, she wasn’t able to reach that acknowledgement,” Phillips said. “But as far as I’m concerned, she was as good as any filly that we’ve ever had on this farm whether she had a champion tag on her or not.”

Castellano, who piloted Winter Memories in both of her Grade 1 scores, remembers her as a filly with a devastating late rally.

“She was a very special horse. She was the type that you needed to ride like a European horse,” Castellano said. “There was a lot of traffic in the Garden City, but I rode her with a lot of confidence and kept her covered up. At the top of the stretch, I let her go and she just showed great acceleration. She had a powerful kick and I really liked how she did it.

“She was like a European horse, where you have to let them go that last part of the race and they kick with lots of acceleration,” Castellano added. “She closed in 11 and change that day, she was very impressive. I was very lucky to ride a horse like her. You don’t see too many horses that have the acceleration she had. She was a very powerful filly.”

Winter Memories went on to have a successful career as a broodmare, producing Make Memories – a multiple Group 1-winner in Kazakhstan – as well as dual stakes-winner and multiple graded stakes-placed Winter Sunset and Grade 1-placed Seasons.

“She was my favorite horse,” Toner said. “Her mother, Memories of Silver, was one of the best fillies I ever trained. Then we had Winter Memories, and then two years ago I had Seasons, who was Winter Memories daughter. So, I had three generations of the family, which was exciting.”

Winter Memories’ last offspring is a yearling Mendelssohn filly, who Phillips said, “will never see a sales ring.”

Through a record of 12-8-2-0, Winter Memories banked $1,268,100 in lifetime earnings. She was a direct descendant of Golden Trail – a foundation mare of Darby Dan Farm.

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Fulmineo on track for Breeders’ Cup after G2 Pilgrim runner-up

Starlight Racing and Mark Grier’s Fulmineo will set his sights on the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf on November 3 at Santa Anita Park after finishing a game second in the Grade 2 Pilgrim on October 4 at Belmont at the Big A.

Trained by Arnaud Delacour, the Bolt d’Oro bay rallied from six lengths off the pace in the 1 1/16-mile Pilgrim and showed a strong turn of foot into the stretch under Flavien Prat, but was bumped by rivals near the sixteenth pole and got up to secure place honors by a neck over dead-heat third-place finishers Liam’s Journey and Spirit Prince. He finished 1 1/4 lengths behind the victorious Agate Road and was awarded a career-best 74 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.

“I was very happy with it. He maybe lost a little momentum and that might or might not have cost him, but it was a very good effort,” said Delacour. “Those were solid horses.”

Delacour said he hopes for a swift pace as Fulmineo – whose lone win came at the Pilgrim distance in September at Colonial Downs – turns back a half-furlong in the one-mile Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

“It’s a trip thing. We’re going only a mile on a very firm turf course, so it really needs to set up,” said Delacour. “I’m sure there will be plenty of speed, and usually it is loaded with speed. He’s not a horse that’s going to be close to the pace – he’ll be mid-pack at best or maybe towards the back. I just hope for a good, clear run with him.”

Fulmineo had his first work back since the Pilgrim on Thursday, covering a half-mile in 49.40 seconds over the Fair Hill all-weather course.

“He came back very well and had a good maintenance breeze yesterday,” said Delacour. “He looks good this morning, so we’ll pre-enter on Monday and take it from there.”

In addition to Fulmineo, Delacour is hopeful Mark Grier’s Air Recruit will make it into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf field after a strong win in the 1 1/16-mile Laurel Futurity on September 30. The son of Air Force Blue graduated in August sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs at Colonial and followed with a third-place effort in the Rosies going the same distance on September 9.

“He will be a bit more tactical than Fulmineo and he has more natural speed,” said Delacour. “He easily won at five-and-a-half [furlongs] and he’s got that cruising speed. If I can get them both in, we’ll run them both and see what we have.”

Delacour noted that even though Air Recruit has done well sprinting, he does not intend to consider the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint as a backup in case the chestnut does not draw into the Juvenile Turf. The likely ‘Plan B’ race would be the $150,000 Qatar Golden Mile on the day’s undercard for juveniles on turf.

Should either Fulmineo or Air Recruit capture the prestigious $1 million test, it would mark Delacour’s first win at the Breeders’ Cup after finishing on-the-board with Chalon in the 2018 Filly and Mare Sprint [second] and with A.P. Indian in the 2016 Sprint [third].

“It’s always such a great event with a very international flavor. It really means a lot for me and my team and the owner to be there,” said Delacour. “The journey is fantastic and we always just hope for the best.”

On the East Coast, Delacour could have one other stakes starter on the same weekend as Independenceavenue looks to make her stakes debut in the $120,000 Stewart Manor, a six-furlong turf sprint for juveniles fillies, on November 4 at Aqueduct.

Owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, Marvin Delfiner and Scarlet Oak Racing, the daughter of Mr Speaker was a decisive winner at second asking in a 5 1/2-furlong turf maiden tilt on September 7 at Colonial and was slated to start in the Matron on October 8 here, but was scratched when the race was moved to the main track.

“We will probably try her in there as long as we are on the turf,” said Delacour. “She’s good and her numbers have significantly improved.”

A $50,000 purchase at the OBS June 2-Year-Olds and Horses of Racing Age Sale, Independenceavenue is out of the dual Brazilian Group 1-winner Off the Road and has worked four times since her maiden score, most recently covering a half-mile in 49.60 on Sunday over Fair Hill’s all-weather surface.

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GSP Stonewall Star returns to work tab

Barry Schwartz’s graded stakes-placed New York homebred Stonewall Star returned to the work tab with a three-furlong move last week for conditioner Horacio De Paz after a five-month hiatus. She followed this week with another three-furlong effort in 38.01 seconds yesterday over the Belmont Park dirt training track.

“She’s doing very good and is having just easy works right now,” said De Paz. “It was just a maintenance work.”

Stonewall Star has been a model of consistency across her eight lifetime starts, never missing the board and notching three stakes victories, including against open company in February in the Wide Country at Laurel Park. The daughter of Flatter was last seen finishing third in the Grade 2 Beaumont on April 16 at Keeneland and had the summer off to prepare for a winter campaign.

“She had a pretty good winter so we just wanted to freshen her up,” De Paz said. “She’s very competitive and we decided to take a shot at Keeneland. We knew after that she needed a break. You hate to miss the summer, but we had to do right by her. I’m excited to get her back.”

In addition to the Wide Country, Stonewall Star also won state-bred stakes in the Key Cents and Franklin Square at Aqueduct, and finished third against males in last year’s New York Breeders’ Futurity at Finger Lakes Racetrack. She has banked $285,058 in total purse earnings through a record of 8-4-1-3.

De Paz said he does not yet have a target for the talented bay.

“I’m not sure. We’re just seeing how she comes along and when she gets closer, we’ll figure something out,” said De Paz.

Out of the Proud Citizen mare Jonata, Stonewall Star is a half-sister to another Schwartz homebred stakes-winner in Whatlovelookslike. Her second dam, Romp and Stomp, is a half-sister to 2002 Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic-winner Volponi.

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Belmont at the Big A week 7 probables

Friday, October 27

G3 Bold Ruler

Probable: Cowan (Raymond Ginter, Jr.), He’smyhoneybadger (David Jacobson), High Oak (Bill Mott), Pirate Rick (Ginter, Jr.), Spun and Won (Jacobson), Stage Left (Jacobson)

Possible: Giant Mischief (Brad Cox), Jeff Fa Fa (Rob Atras)

$135K Chelsey Flower

Probable: Awesome Czech (Horacio De Paz), Flowers For Me (Jim Ryerson), Gold Lightning (Cox), Living Magic (Phil Schoenthal), Positive Carry (Chad Brown)

Saturday, October 28

G2 Forty Niner

Probable: Business Model (Jacobson), Double Crown (Ginter, Jr.), Everso Mischievous (Cox), Film Star (Linda Rice), Petulante (Victor Barboza, Jr.), Swiftsure (De Paz)

G2 Mother Goose

Probable: Defining Purpose (Ken McPeek), Foggy Night (Butch Reid, Jr.), Julia Shining (Pletcher), Occult (C. Brown), Xigera (Phil Bauer)

Possible: Opus Forty Two (Arnaud Delacour)

$135K Awad

Probable: Dancing Mischief (Geroge Weaver), Tropandhagen (Dimitrios Synnefias)

$135K Pumpkin Pie

Probable: Frank’s Rockette (Bill Mott), Green Up (Pletcher)

Sunday, October 29

$250K Empire Classic

Probable: Aggregation (C. Brown), Barese (Mike Maker), Lobsta (Rachel Sells), Un Ojo (Rice)

$250K Empire Distaff

Probable: April Antics (Mertkan Kantarmaci), Venti Valentine (Jorge Abreu)

$200K Sleepy Hollow

Probable: Aggelos the Great (Weaver), Detective Tom (Michelle Nevin), Skyler’s Starship (John Terranova), Solo’s Fury (Jeremiah Englehart), Two’s a Crowd (Derek Ryan)

$200K Maid of the Mist

Probable: Caldwell Luvs Gold (Cox), Cara’s Time (Mitchell Friedman), Enfuega (J. Englehart), Sheza Bernardini (J. Englehart), Valentine Gift (Bobby Ribaudo)

$200K Mohawk

Probable: Call Me Harry (Rick Dutrow, Jr.), City Man (Christophe Clement), Dakota Gold (Danny Gargan), Jerry the Nipper (Pletcher)

$200K Ticonderoga

Probable: Bernt Again (Domenick Schettino), Can’t Fool Me (De Paz), New Ginya (Clement), Runaway Rumour (Rice), Spungie (Mott), Whatlovelookslike (Pletcher)

$150K Iroquois

Probable: Cairo Sugar (Abreu), Captainsdaughter (Russell Cash), Funny How (Ray Handal), Itsakeyper (Tom Albertrani), Kant Hurry Love (David Duggan), Leeloo (Ignacio Correas), Mosienko (Dennis Lalman), Sterling Silver (Albertrani), Vallelujah (Robbie Davis)

$150K Hudson

Probable: Amundson (Kantarmaci), Be the Boss (Maker), Bold Journey (Mott), Ny Traffic (Saffie Joseph, Jr.), Rotknee (Maker), Sheriff Bianco (Rice), Today’s Flavor (Weaver), Win for Gold (Michelle Giangiulio)

Possible: General Banker (James Ferraro)