Shanghai
Bobby looked the best two year old colts of his generation in
the eye and put them away in the 2012 Breeders'
Cup Juvenile. There was some momentary concern when he visibly
shortened stride in the stretch. He appeared ready to call it a day.
As it turns out, the son of Harlan's Holiday was waiting for the
competition to recoup so he could continue his game of “try and
catch me.” The likely Two Year Old Champ re-rallied after He's Had
Enough challenged him in the stretch. Shanghai Bobby refused to let
the game gray colt past his throat-latch and won the Juvenile by a
head. He's Had enough finished 2 ¼ lengths in front of a game Capo
Bastone. The final race time of 1:44.58 was the third slowest time
recorded in 29 years.
Shanghai Bobby's victory
evoked memories of Uncle Mo, another Pletcher colt who recently
earned Two Year Old honors while remaining undefeated. The dark
bay's victory in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile has his owner, Starlight
Racing and trainer Todd
Pletcher reconsidering their Derby plans for next year, after
the colt galloped out strongly after the finish line.
Similar to Uncle Mo,
Shanghai Bobby has a pedigree strong with sprinter/miler speed and
short on staying-power. The closest source of stamina in Shanghai
Bobby's pedigree is found through Triple Crown Champ Affirmed, the
damsire of Harlan's Holiday. On Shanghai Bobby's distaff side, the
closest source of stamina can be found in the fourth generation,
through Orinatate's paternal grandsire Blushing Groom and Shanghai
Bobby's third damsire, Mighty Appealing. Traits can show up in later
descendants, but is uncommon to find aptitudes for distance or speed
skip three or more generations. I'll stick by my previous
analysis that Shanghai Bobby will find 1 1/16 miles at the top
of his distance range against top class company.
HE'S
HAD ENOUGH (Tapit- Amelia, by Dixieland Band) is a colt to
put on your watch list for next year's Triple Crown trail. Owned by
Reddam
Racing and conditioned by Doug
O'Neill, the same connections as I'll Have Another, He's Had
Enough owns only a maiden victory to his name. He was unplaced in
the Oak Tree Juvenile Turf Stakes and Dixiana Breeders' Futurity
(G-1) over the polytrack. The gray colt clearly stated his
preference for dirt in Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
He's Had Enough took the
shortest way around in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, hugging the rail
until the top of the stretch. He had to check slightly around the far
turn, but once the cool-headed Mario Gutierrez found racing room,
He's Had Enough raced greenly, zig-zagging through the stretch and
came within a head of catching the undefeated Shanghai Bobby. His
runner-up finish in the Juvenile earned He's Had Enough four points,
tying him for sixth on the 2013 Kentucky Derby leader board.
He's Had Enough's sire
Tapit is Pulpit's best son at stud. The majority of his stakes
winners are best up to 1 1/16 miles; however he's sired 3 winners at
1 ¼ miles. Tapit's offspring win over every surface. His son Hansen
won last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile and was crowned Champion Two
Year Old. Tapit is also the sire of 2008 Champion Juvenile Filly
Stardom Bound.
Sire:
TAPIT
(Pulpit – Tap Your Heels, by Unbridled)![]()
Race Record: 6-3-0-0
($557,300)
Career Highlights:
1st – Wood
Memorial (G-1)
1st – Laurel
Futurity (G-3)
Female Family:
He's Had Enough hails
from a strong, classy distaff line. He has five half siblings and
all have raced. Three of them have made notable accomplishments.
His half brother Kindergarden Kid (by Dynaformer) raced on the same
Breeders' Cup card on Saturday as his younger brother. Kindergarden
Kid finished sixth in the Breeders' Cup Turf. The gelding recently
won the Sycamore Stakes (G-3) traveling 1 ½ miles over the
Keeneland lawn. A half sister, Assateague (by Stormy Atlantic)
placed third in the one mile Pebbles Stakes over the Belmont turf. A
half brother by Tiznow set a track record at Zia Park in a dirt
contest, getting a mile in 1:36.25.
Amelia, He's Had Enough's
dam, was a solid allowance class runner on the track and won a listed
sprint stakes over the Calder turf. She placed in dirt sprints and
won up to 1 1/8 miles over turf.
Dam:
AMELIA
( Dixieland Band - Aquilegia, by Alydar)
Race Record: 17-4-3-1
($179,565)
Career Highlights:
1st - Frances
A. Genter Stakes
He's Had Enough's second
dam Aquilegia, a royally-bred daughter of Alydar out of the blue hen
(superior female) Courtly Dee, is a multiple Grade 2 and 3 class
router over turf. She also placed in the Gr.-1 Japanese Dirt Derby.
Aquilegia is a full sister to Champion Two Year Old Filly Althea and
a half sister to the Grade 1 winning juveniles Ali Oop (by Al Hattab)
and Ketoh (by Exclusive Native). Well-known descendants of this
female family include Go For Wand Stakes (G-1) heroine Aldiza, Super
Derby (G-1) winner and prominent sire Arch and his G-1 winning
sibling Acoma and Group 1 winning sire Green Desert. Additionally,
He's Had Enough's fifth dam Judy-Rae is also a blue hen.
He's Had Enough's damsire
Dixieland Band is a top broodmare sire. His daughters have produced
over 100 stakes winners
including Champion Street Sense, Juvenile runner-up First Samurai and
last year's Juvenile Sprint hero
Secret Circle. As a broodmare sire, Dixieland Band has 18 stakes
winners at 1 ¼ miles or farther, including Society Selection,
Southern Image, and the aforementioned Street Sense.
Damsire:
DIXIELAND
BAND (Northern Dancer - Mississippi Mud, by Delta Judge)
Race Record: 24-8-3-4
($441,320)Career Highlights:
1st -
Massachusetts Handicap (G-2)
1st -
Pennsylvania Derby (G-2)
1st Maryland
Juvenile Championship Stakes
2nd - New
Hampshire Handicap
He's Had Enough carries
additional stamina attributes through his second damsire, Classic
Chef-de-Race, Alydar. The bloodline cross of Pulpit/Dixieland Band
is a productive nick. Out of 11 starters, ten are winners, although
none own blacktype. Tapit has only three offspring out of Dixieland
Band mares, two have started and one, He's Had Enough, is stakes
placed.
He's Had Enough has the
pedigree to handle 1 1/8 miles, but it is borderline for 1 ¼ miles.
Despite this, his pedigree includes strains of stamina comparable
to the three offspring of Tapit to successfully get the classic
distance. He's Had Enough is a muscular colt who favors his sire
physically. He has average leg extension with fairly smooth leg
action. The colt is clearly immature and has some growing up to do
mentally. He doesn't seem to know what to do on the track, and
during the running of the Juvenile, He's Had Enough's head movement
indicated that he was trying to decipher the stimuli around him. He
did show a game willingness to continue the fight after being checked
during the race and he appeared to have made two or three moves to
stay within contention in the race. Once He's Had Enough has figured
out what to do on the track, we could be looking at a formidable
California contender on the Kentucky Derby trail. He's Had Enough
may be pointed to the CashCall
Futurity on December 15 at Hollywood Park.
Feature photo used by permission -
by racing fan and photographer Mike Sekulic who graciously shared his
Breeders' Cup photos with me.
