By Brian DiDonato
Bloodstock agent Kim Valerio has picked out a lot of top horses in the dozen-plus years that she's been in the racing business since transitioning over from showjumping, including the likes of Grade I winners Scat Daddy (Johannesburg), The Factor (War Front), Grace Hall (Empire Maker) and Gozzip Girl (Dynaformer), but she's shown a noteworthy affinity for runners by one sire in particular: Tiz Wonderful.
First came My Happy Face, who Valerio scooped up for just $35,000 on behalf of leading New York owner Michael Dubb at the 2011 Keeneland September Sale. Turned over to trainer Rudy Rodriguez, the chestnut broke her maiden by a jaw-dropping 21 1/4 lengths second out at Saratoga the following August. A no-brainer 'TDN Rising Star' off of that performance, she just missed in Belmont's GI Frizette S. next out before annexing the GIII Tempted S. My Happy Face would go on to hit the board in two more Grade I races for Dubb and then Rockingham Ranch when that California-based outfit bought into her, bankrolling more than $583,000 in the process. She eventually sold to Clearsky Farm for $625,000 at the 2014 Keeneland November sale.
Shortly after My Happy Face finished third beaten only a neck in the GI Test S. at three, Valerio returned to Keeneland and found another bargain buy by the then Spendthrift resident. Acquired for $72,000, Condo Commando, a daughter of MGSW Yearly Report (General Meeting), was risked for a $75,000 tag first out at the Spa in August of 2014 by Rodriguez, Dubb, Bethlehem Stables and the Elkstone Group, but aired by 12 sharp lengths. She handled the step up in class with aplomb to romp in the GI Spinaway S. later that month, and added two more open-length graded tallies en route to $758,600 in career earnings. She sold for $1.5 million to Japan's Katsumi Yoshida at the 2015 Fasig-Tipton November Sale.
Tiz Wonderful, himself a flashy debut winner at Saratoga who earned 'Rising Star' status, was sold to the Korean Racing Authority in 2014, and his final U.S.-sired runners are 2-year-olds of this year. One of them is Lady Ivanka, who Valerio purchased up for $80,000 at this year's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training sale after a :21 2/5 breeze. Let go at 7-1 for her Aug. 9 unveiling, the Rodriguez pupil leveled off powerfully in the lane to blow away a well-backed firster by eight lengths and also receive the 'Rising Star' nod.
Owned in partnership with Mike Caruso's Bethlehem Stables and Michael Imperio, Lady Ivanka will look to become the third Spinaway heroine for Dubb on Saturday, following in the hoofsteps of Grace Hall and Condo Commando.
When asked what caught her eye about Lady Ivanka at the sales, Valerio said, “I liked her at the yearling sale ($11K RNA at KEESEP), but there was something at the time that I wasn't crazy about, so I figured I'd just wait and see how she came along… I would say the one reason why everybody overlooked her at [Timonium] was that she was carrying a lot of weight. When I saw her up at Belmont [about a month before the start of the Saratoga meet], Rudy was getting the weight off of her and she was really starting to take shape.”
Valerio also saw shades of My Happy Face and Condo Commando in Lady Ivanka.
“She looked a lot like my past good Tiz Wonderfuls,” Valerio said. “She had that same feel. I like long-bodied horses with big shoulders, and she for sure had that… They all have heart. Every one of them that I've had has had heart. My Happy Face is just so beautiful–out of all of them, she's the most beautiful. Condo Commando is the most fierce. Lady Ivanka is really built like a cross between the two of them.”
Valerio admitted to being devastated when the news broke that Tiz Wonderful was to be sent to Korea.
“I cried,” she admitted. “I called Mr. Dubb and asked him if it would be ok if I called and tried to buy him and he said yes, but they weren't going to do it–they had already signed the contract. That was such a bummer for me.”
Among Valerio's other final Tiz Wonderfuls to perform well on the track is the well-named Splashtastic, a 4-year-old colt who earned back-to-back 101 Beyer Speed Figures for a pair of runner-up efforts in optional claiming company downstate. The $40,000 KEESEP yearling's moniker is an homage to legendary NYRA announcer Tom Durkin's last call (video)–“splashtastic” was how he described Condo Commando's performance over a very wet track in the Spinaway.
Valerio's buying strategy involves targeting young, under-the-radar sires. That's how she found Tiz Wonderful, and she hopes freshman Jimmy Creed might be her next go-to stallion. The Grade I-winning son of Distorted Humor also stands at B. Wayne Hughes's Spendthrift.
“I love those guys [at Spendthrift],” she said. “Those are my guys. My Happy Face was from them, and so was Condo Commando. They're my good luck charm. B. Wayne Hughes, I love that guy. He's awesome.”
Valerio paid $85,000 on behalf of Dubb and partners for Wall of Compassion (Jimmy Creed) at last year's Keeneland September sale. The bay filly donned cap and gown by a nose in a muddy, rained-off MSW in Elmont July 7, and was third at 23-1 in the GII Adirondack S. Aug. 12. Valerio believes she still boasts major upside.
“I think she wants more distance,” Valerio said. “She doesn't have a lot of speed. I think she needs to go two turns and develop–she's looked a little heavy to me still, but she's a beauty.”
And Valerio would know. From her time in the showjumping world to her ever-growing list of standouts on the track, the daughter of prominent drag racing figure Mike Valerio has demonstrated her keen eye for a horse year after year.
“This is my 13th year of runners,” she said. “My horsemanship has gotten me everywhere. Those guys [in showjumping] were paying a million dollars for horses that didn't win any money, so they had to last for a long time, because it was really hard to replace them.”
Valerio might not have wanted to have to find a replacement for Tiz Wonderful, but there's little doubt that she'll find one in no time–if she hasn't already.
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