By Steve Sherack
In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar.
“Executive finished with a flourish to get third.”
Those were the words of Saratoga track announcer Frank Mirahmadi–with an emphasis on flourish–as Executive (c, 2, Constitution–Low Pressure Zone, by Curlin) flew home to round out the trifecta going 1 1/16 miles over the lawn on debut at the Spa Aug. 31.
Overlooked at 16-1 in his unveiling for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, Executive lunged at the start and trailed the field of nine passing the stands for the first time.
He continued to caboose the field through fractions of :23.96 and :48.76 and was produced by Junior Alvarado off the far turn. Still with a ton of work to do as they straightened, he finished up full of run in a field-best :29.28 while crossing the wire 1 1/2 lengths behind the Chad Brown-trained firster Early Adopter (GB) (Lope de Vega {Ire}).
Early Adopter subsequently lost all chance after checking in deep stretch to finish a troubled third in last weekend's GII Pilgrim Stakes.
Executive, a $900,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by Jim and Dana Bernhard's Pin Oak Stud, earned a 60 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.
“We thought a lot of this horse when we purchased him and our farm trainer Joss Saville was very impressed with his progress through the early breaking and training process,” Pin Oak's Racing Manager Matt Weinmann said.
“He was training steadily with Bill (Mott), but never showed a ton of speed in the mornings, so we knew we wanted to get him some distance and that he may need a race before showing his best. We went into his debut hopeful, but knowing that he might not be at his best yet. He lunged at the start, which put us in the back early, but Junior (Alvarado) did a great job of letting him settle and get into a rhythm.”
Weinmann continued, “He closed extremely well down the stretch and showed the kind of talent and heart we all thought he had. We were very pleased with his debut and are looking forward to seeing him develop into a talented, two-turn colt.”
Two turns on debut is no easy task, but #8 Early Adopter passed the test in R2 at Saratoga at 4/1! 💪
Chad Brown trains this 2YO colt and @jockeyfranco was in the saddle. pic.twitter.com/CsvOXhx8Fv
— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) August 31, 2024
Executive returned to the worktab with a four-furlong breeze in :49.68 (30/140) over Saratoga's Oklahoma training track Sept. 28. He is being aimed at a maiden special weight going 1 1/16 miles on the grass at the Belmont at Big A meeting Oct. 12.
WinStar Farm's leading sire Constitution is responsible for 36 graded/group stakes winners worldwide. The Constitution x Curlin cross has also produced Promise Keeper, winner of the 2021 GIII Peter Pan Stakes.
Executive is the first foal out of Low Pressure Zone, an $850,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling purchase by Peter Brant's White Birch Farm. The maiden of two career starts brought $425,000 from Gage Hill while carrying Executive at the 2021 Keeneland November sale.
Executive's third dam is bluehen mare Miss Macy Sue (Trippi), best known for producing Taylor Made's leading young sire and narrow 2016 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile runner-up Not This Time and GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner and Lane's End stallion Liam's Map.
Bred in Kentucky by Gage Hill Stable II, LLC, W. S. Farish and Ken Langone, Executive first brought $100,000 from Jim Fitzgerald, agent, as a Keeneland January short yearling prior to topping the sixth session of last year's Keeneland September sale.
“We like to concentrate on physiological measurements when it comes to purchasing yearlings and this son of Constitution had very similar physiology to his sire,” Weinmann said.
“Nice-sized, scopey colt with a big two-turn cardiovascular system. The Pin Oak team of Clifford Barry, Michael Hardy and Joss Saville inspect all of our potential prospects at the sales, so when you have a colt with excellent physiology that talented horsemen like them also like, it gives you all the confidence in the world to take a big swing like that at the sale. Having a deep back family with Broodmare of the Year Miss Macy Sue, Not This Time and Liam's Map showing up on the page was an added bonus.”
Parchment Party | Coady
Pin Oak and Mott also campaign another promising son of Constitution, the two-for-two 'TDN Rising Star' Parchment Party, who kicked off his career with a pair of visually impressive come-from-behind wins at two, including an optional claimer at Churchill Downs last time out back in November. He could potentially launch his sophomore campaign in a Keeneland allowance Oct. 12, Weinmann said.
“We decided in January to give him some time off to grow and mature,” Weinmann said. “He is a June foal and he is a very big horse. After his two impressive wins, we felt he deserved a few months at the farm and we could get him back going later in the year. We have high hopes for him these last few months of his 3-year-old campaign and are hoping for a very exciting 4-year-old campaign next year.”
The 'Second Chances' Honor Roll is headed by Horse of the Year Cody's Wish (Curlin), fellow two-time Breeders' Cup winner Golden Pal (Uncle Mo) and GISWs A Mo Reay (Uncle Mo), Honor A. P. (Honor Code), Locked (Gun Runner), Paradise Woods (Union Rags) and Speaker's Corner (Street Sense).
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