There may be a date with the boys in the future for the champion filly Nest, but it will most likely take place next year.
Mike Repole of Repole Stable and Aron Wellman, president and founder of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, both said July 26 that the remainder of the 2023 campaign for the 4-year-old daughter of Curlin would probably consist of three more stakes against fillies and mares: the Aug. 25 Personal Ensign Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, followed by the Spinster Stakes (G1) at Keeneland in October, and capped by the Nov. 4 Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) at Santa Anita Park.
Nest, last year's champion 3-year-old filly for trainer Todd Pletcher owned by Repole, Eclipse, and Michael House, won her 2023 debut July 23, beating four-time grade 1 winner and $3 million earner Clairiere by 2 1/4 lengths in the Shuvee Stakes (G2) at Saratoga Race Course, her first start since a fourth in the Nov. 5 Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1).
"Getting her started in July allows for a much more kind campaign and if she cooperates, and we take nothing for granted, the Personal Ensign to the Spinster to the Breeders' Cup Distaff would be a logical campaign for her," Wellman said. "Running against the boys is compelling and we're sportsmen, but right now we're looking at her schedule as a blessing to hopefully have her as fresh as we possibly can for the Breeders' Cup and the Distaff."
Repole said since the $2 million earner finished fourth as the favorite in last year's Distaff, he wanted to add a Breeders' Cup victory to a sterling resume that includes three grade 1 wins and a second against males in last year's Belmont Stakes (G1).
"She does the things that .001% horses can do. She's a very, very special filly," he said. "It will be a very special back end of the year for her. If we would have won the Distaff, you could make a case for the (Breeders' Cup) Classic (G1), but I think she deserves to run against fillies. It's the right move."
In addressing future plans, Repole added that if Nest maintains her form through the Breeders' Cup, he would consider racing her at 5 with a campaign designed to tackle males in some of the sport's premier stakes. Repole said he would be willing to buy out his partners if all three sides cannot agree on a 2024 campaign.
Both Repole and Wellman indicated that the winner of 8 of 12 starts is slated to be offered at one of the two premier November sales: the Fasig-Tipton November Sale and the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.
At that point, based on how the current owners respond to the bidding, they will each decide whether to retain or sell their shares in the filly.
"Next year I'd like to bring her back and race against the boys. If the other owners want to sell her, we'll put her in the sale and if the price is $6 million, I'll buy her and race her myself so the other owners get their money. If someone else bids $12 million, she's theirs," Repole said. "When you have a filly this valuable, the respectful thing is to run her through the ring and if one of the people want to buy her then they could do it. That's being a good partner. "
Wellman said entering Nest in one of the November sales was the best way to ascertain her value so that Eclipse and its partners can decide if the time is right to sell her.
"You have to be prudent and treat it like a business. There are not many mares on the planet who would ever come to the market with the profile she has. She is arguably one of the, if not the, most valuable broodmare prospects in the world at the moment," Wellman said. "She has been a joy to be associated with and we are going to enjoy the ride for as long as we can, but we have to be fair to the filly and to our (Eclipse) partners' best interests as well. We are in a slightly different financial position than Mike Repole. It is always a difficult situation trying to walk a fine line between the emotion of being attached to such a magnificent filly and to keep your wits and be responsible from a financial situation.
"There is no better determination of a horse's value than putting it through a public auction and her value will be determined by the drop of a hammer and that's the most sensible and accurate way to determine her value."
Wellman said representatives from the two most prominent sales companies have already reached out about entering her in their sale.
"The who's who of the breeding community will be interested in her," he said. "They are both great companies with great leadership and there's no doubt she is draft choice number one in November and she is being pursued as such."
Mage Gets His First Look at Saratoga
Two days after shipping up to the Spa from Monmouth Park, where he finished second in the Haskell Stakes (G1) on July 22, Mage got his first tour of the Oklahoma Training Track when he jogged under exercise rider J.J. Delgado.
Gustavo Delgado Jr., assistant trainer and son of trainer Gustavo Delgado, said Mage will likely begin galloping on July 27 on the Oklahoma and start training on the main track at Saratoga Race Course next week.
"He came out of the Haskell very good and had a good trip up here," Delgado Jr. said after Mage had his bath. "Just look at him; he has grown a little bit. He is wider. We liked what we saw."
Delgado Jr. said Mage got plenty out of the Haskell, where he finished 1 3/4 lengths behind Geaux Rocket Ride.
"Everything went according to plan," Delgado Jr. said. "He got 100% out of the race. Of course, we wanted to win, but we never had a doubt that he was going to be competitive."
Mage, a son of Good Magic owned by OGMA Investments, Ramiro Restrepo, Sterling Racing, and CMNWLTH, is being pointed to the $1.25 million Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga on Aug. 26.
Delgado Jr. said he and his father had dinner at Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano's house in Saratoga on July 25. One thing that was not discussed was the decision that Castellano will have to make for the Travers.
He is the rider for Mage and also Arcangelo , winner of the Belmont Stakes.
"We never brought it up," Delgado Jr. said. "My dad cooked and we re-watched (the Haskell) over and over again."
Schuylerville Winner Becky's Joker May Go in Adirondack
Becky's Joker, the upset winner of the Schuylerville Stakes (G3) on opening day, might be seen sooner than later.
Originally, trainer Gary Contessa intended to wait until the $300,000 Spinaway Stakes (G1) for 2-year-old fillies on Sept. 3 for the next start for Becky's Joker, owned by Lee Pokoik.
Contessa said he may tweak that plan after watching the daughter of Practical Joke work four furlongs in :47.40 with exercise rider Carlos Lopez July 26 on the Oklahoma Training Track.
"I am not going to say it's definite, but she has gone from questionable to probable for the Adirondack," Contessa said at his barn on the Oklahoma July 26. "She has forced us to go in that direction. Off this work...it was so impressive. She can work herself to death and not get paid or she can run in the Adirondack."
Becky's Joker, sent off at 21-1 odds in the July 13 Schuylerville, won the six-furlong race by 3 1/4 lengths. It was her first career start.
Contessa said if he runs Becky's Joker in the Adirondack Stakes (G3), he has confidence she could return in the Spinaway.
"It would be the 13th (of July) to (August) the sixth and we're talking 23 days," Contessa said. "And then it's the sixth to the third of September, so we're talking 28 days. It's not really that tough to imagine. If it's up to me, I'm leaning towards running her. She is doing so good right now."
Kinnon LaRose: From the Hardwood to the Backstretch
In college, Kinnon LaRose got a degree in sports management and a master's degree in strategic communication and public relations. He played four years of basketball, one at Siena College, which is 30 miles south of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., three more at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn.
As he navigated his way through his college years, the last place LaRose expected he would end up is the backstretch of a race track.
But that is where he is and that is what he loves. The 26-year-old LaRose is an assistant to trainer Tom Amoss and will celebrate his third year in the barn this November.
How did this happen?
When LaRose was getting ready to graduate from Sacred Heart in 2020, he had no path.
He had liked horse racing a little bit; he would watch the the big races with his family. He would visit Saratoga. LaRose learned how to handicap and picked a few winners. It was fun. Work with horses for a living? He never really thought about it until he did.
One day, on a lark, he sent an email to Amoss, the only horseman he reached out to. He never expected his missive would be answered.
"I sent it on a Monday night," LaRose said at the barn on the backstretch July 26. "He called me at 8 the next morning."
"I liked what he had to say," Amoss said. "He just had to prove to me he was someone who could withstand the hours. I have had many people come along and say, 'Hey I would like a shot in your barn.' I always try to help those kind of people but it's a real different story once they get into the routine of work."
Amoss and LaRose met a few weeks later, at Keeneland, and, a month later, he was hotwalking for Amoss.
LaRose did not flinch when he had to wake up at 3:45 a.m. every day to go to work.
"I haven't stopped since," he said. "Tom has been awfully good to me and the other assistants, very welcoming."
After the Saratoga season ends, he will head to Keeneland and then to Fair Grounds in New Orleans in the winter. Home base is in Louisville.
The 6-foot-3 LaRose is the all-time leading scorer (1,769 points) at Ogdensburg Free Academy, which sits in northern New York, next to the Canadian border. He once scored 51 points in a game.
In college, he transferred to Sacred Heart after a year at Siena and by the time he was through, he was a captain. His career high in college (24 points) came at Sacred Heart. He averaged 10.5 points per game his senior year..
"In college, he was known as a gym rat," Amoss said. "Now he is a barn rat. He is always there. He has worked out very well, he is my right hand man...I would call him my top assistant."
LaRose misses the game, of course, but he loves his new one. One day he hopes to go out on his own and have his own stable.
Before this summer is over, he will get a chance to showcase his basketball skills. He said he has been recruited by former trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, now the agent for rider Luis Saez, to play for the horsemen's team in the annual basketball game against the jockeys on Aug. 3 at the Saratoga Springs Recreation Center.
"I can still play a little bit," he said with a smile while posing for a photo with Hoosier Philly, one of the stars of the Amoss barn.
