Oaks Post # 10: FORTY RED

–          BLUEGRASS OAKS 2006          –

FORTY RED
(FORTY NINER x BLUSHING GROOM(FR) x NORTHERN DANCER)

OWNER: SUPER THOROUGHBRED RACING SYNDICATE      BREEDER: 2TOHOLD

STARTS: 11   Wins 3   2nd 2   3rd 2               EARNINGS: $439,236.00

2005 Season:

• 3rd (70) Feb 26  Kentucky      2yo Fillies Maiden              5 fur 14 Starters 0:58.8 Beaten 3 L
• 1st (80) Apl  23  Kentucky      2yo Fillies Maiden              6 fur 14 Starters 1:11.4 by 1 1/2 L
• 1st (82) Jun 11   Iowa           2yo Fillies El Masri Stk      6.5 fur   8 Starters 1:17.8 by 2 1/4 L
• 4th (84) Jul  30  Brit. Columb 2yo Fillies Gr1 Horsehead  6.5 fur 14 Starters 1:16.5 beaten 4 1/4 L
• 2nd (89) Sep 10 New York     2yo Fillies Gr1 Fast Filly      8 fur  14 Starters 1:36.6 beaten 1/4 L
• 3rd (91) Oct 29  New York     2yo Fillies Gr1 Breed Bowl 8.5 fur 14 Starters 1:43.6 beaten 1 1/4 L
• 2nd (93) Dec 10 California     2yo Fillies G1 Movieland    8.5 fur 13 Starters 1:43.4 beaten 3/4 L

2006 Season:

• 1st (84) Jan 14 California       3yo Fillies Ca Mudslide Stk   9 fur  4 Starters 1:51.2 by 3 1/2 L
• 9th (87) Feb 11 Vermont       3yo Fillies G1 Equinics          9 fur 20 Starters 1:49.6 beaten 7 1/2 L
• 9th (88) Mar 11 Louisiana      3yo Fillies G2 L’siana Oaks 8.5 fur 14 Starters 1:42.8 beaten 8 1/2 L
• 6th (78) Apl  08 New Mexico  3yo Fillies Yr Bungholes Stk 9.5 fur  6 Starters 1:56.8 beaten 12 3/4 L

Arriving at the main gate of the Super Stables Kentucky complex the 1st thing a visitor notices is that they take the security of their operation very seriously. You are greeted by two hulking security guards (they make an NFL linebacker look like Gary Coleman). I named these 2 King Kong and Magilla the gorilla twins – partly because of their size and partly because of the little dust clouds their knuckles made dragging in the dirt as they walked towards me. After an extremely thorough ID check (I think Magilla enjoys those cavity searches a little too much) King Kong escorted me up to the Stable Offices ushering me inside with a couple of primal grunts that I took to mean – Wait Here!

A few minutes later the office door opened and imagine my relief when the person entering was a lovely young lady (rather than one of the gorilla twins)

Holding out her hand in greeting ……”Hi, welcome to the Super Thoroughbred Racing Syndicate’s Kentucky operation, you must be the BTB reporter here to do an article on Forty Red. I’m Laura one of the 4 Syndicate partners”. I took her hand and introduced myself, …….”Hi Laura, thanks very much for seeing me on short notice, I know this must be a very busy time for all of you here at Super Stables, so I won’t take up too much of your time. Would you mind if I record our chat?”

Laura said that would be fine and offered me a seat on the old leather sofa adorning one corner of the stable office. Sitting on the sofa I took out my tape switched it on and placed it on the coffee table between us as Laura sat on the opposite end of the sofa.

BTB: Firstly, Laura could you tell our readers a little about the Super Syndicate?

Laura: Sure, there are 4 of us in the Syndicate from different parts of the US, and each of us looks after a Breeding/Racing Stable complex in our home States of Texas, South Carolina, New Jersey and of course here in Kentucky. Each complex employs up to about 100 people depending on whether it is breeding season or not.

BTB: And how many horses would be in your operation currently?

Laura: We have between 280 and 400 horses in training at any given time, then there are all our broodmares say between 150 and 250. One thing we don’t talk about are our yearlings, you will have to wait until next year to see those. We also have quite a few new 2yo’s due to race this year that are still out at the holding farms waiting until they are ready for the track over the next few months.

BTB: Well Laura no wonder you have been so successful in such a short time with such a large operation and such great bloodlines that seems to be the baseline of your organisation. Talking of bloodlines can you tell me how you decided on Forty Red’s?

Laura: Oh that’s easy, considering I came up with the breeding combination, I really like Blushing Groom as a dam-sire (having campaigned Fly for Buda), and Forty Polar was a previous graded stakes winner from that combination, and sometimes lightning does strike twice so Forty Red was conceived.

BTB: Yes she certainly is a beautiful little brown Forty Niner Filly isn’t she?

Laura: Oh yes, and as one of my favorites she gets spoiled rotten.

BTB: Oh I am sure she also gets spolied rotten because of her ability as well. Just looking over her 2yo form although she only won 2 races for you her 3 grade 1 races where she in the money must have pleased you, especially her 3rd place in the Breeders Bowl where she charged home to only be just be beaten after giving the leaders over 10 lengths start at the half mile post.

Laura: We were very proud of her in the Breeders Bowl, she was beaten by 2 very good fillies that day, and what made it sweeter was one of them No Apagues La Luz is also one our girls, and of course she is one of the favorites in the Oaks. Back to Forty Red, she showed from day one that she wanted to sit back and relax early before coming home hard when it counts most. The farther we sent her in her races the faster she got. We realised quite early on that she wanted 2 turns and would be a likely Oaks prospect.

BTB: However you must be a little concerned with her 2006 form? Granted she did win an unlisted Stakes 1st up as a 3yo, but it was only a short field of 4 and the opposition wasn’t very strong.

Laura: That’s very true, after that Stakes win we were convinced to run her in the Equinics and that possibly flattened her, in fact we are quite concerned after her last prep race where she finished tailed off by nearly 13 lengths over 9.5 furlongs in another short Stakes field.

BTB: Do you think she can turn her form around on the weekend, the Vegas Morning line has her at the 27/1 outsider of the field.

Laura: We have been doing a little experimenting on the training track recently, just some minor gear changes, and she will actually be racing in blinkers for the 1st time on Saturday. Off the record we also breezed over 5 furlongs on the grass track 2 weeks ago, and she did it wasily in a under even time. So if she doesn’t step up this weekend we may give her a short let up then bring her back on the grass later in the year.

BTB: Well Laura, once again many thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk to the BTB, just one last question. Can you tell our readers how you arrived at Forty Red’s name?

Laura: Sure, Forty Red is partly a combination of Forty Niner and Blushing Groom (blush = red), but it was also a play on Thirty Six Red, who I liked a lot as a racehorse, even though the roulette wheel doesn’t go to forty.

BTB: Well thanks again Laura and good luck on Saturday with all your horses, oh and by the way can I make 1 suggestion?

Laura: Sure

BTB: If you are going to have a visitors list at your gate, employ some security that can read those 2 gorillas down there seem to still be swinging from the trees.

Laura: (laughing) Oh they are outside security, we have had a few threats against the horses from some obvious jealous types that dont like our successes.

On that note I left and headed back to the BTB office to file my story.