By Sue Finley
Everyone knows a life in racing can be a grind, even for the most optimistically minded. While the highs are high, the lows are lower, and there's far more losing than winning. Except for Hubert Guy the past three weeks.
From August 22 to September 13, 13 of Guy's equine purchases have been sent out to race. Ten of them have come back winners. The winners have included two-year-old maiden winners, a TDN Rising Star, graded stakes winners, a few promising young horses, and some useful winners. They have spanned a weanling purchase, three yearling purchases, a two-year-old buy, and several private transactions. There have been first-time starters, maiden winners, allowance and handicap horses, and two graded stakes winners at Saratoga
“The first one or two, you say, `oh, I'm lucky,'” said Guy. “`I'm on a hot streak.' But it just kept going and going.”
The streak began on August 22 when Freja (Fr) (Toronado {Ire}) won a Deauville handicap, and currently stretches to Friday, when Olya (Ire) (Persian King {Ire}), won a Saint-Cloud handicap for Livinia and Andre Fabre.
“When you buy a horse, you always think you bought a great horse,” said Guy, standing outside the Keeneland sales pavilion on Thursday. “You come out of Keeneland, where we are now, and think you bought the best, the next Secretariat. It's the way this business works. But of course, there's a lot of disappointment. I have had quite a bit of success buying yearlings. I can't complain about that. I try to buy them thinking, `let's not go overboard.' I try and be reasonable.”
During Guy's current streak, Jovialite (Medaglia d'Oro), which he bought as an OBS March two-year-old, sticks out as a special pick. She was a six-length winner in her Sept. 9 debut at Saint-Cloud, and was named a TDN Rising Star.
“Jovialite might be the best horse I ever bought,” said Guy. “I bought her in Ocala at the OBS March Sale for $225,000, for the same group that we bought Onesto (Frankel) for; he was subsequently a Group 1 winner. We bought him at OBS April four years ago. Jovialite was a beautiful mover who worked well. She's a Louisiana-bred and I think that's why we didn't have a lot of opposition when we bid on her, because if she had been Kentucky-bred, she would probably be a lot more expensive.”
His first graded stakes winner in the run was Beaute Cachee (Fr) (Literato {Fr}), an August 22 winner of the Grade II Ballston Spa Stakes.
“Beaute Cachee was a filly I bought privately for Sol Kumin and partners, Michael Dubb, Mike Caruso, and Louis Lazzinnaro,” said Guy. “She was running in big handicaps. She ran 9th in the French Oaks. She was a medium-size filly, not very big, but she moved well and she had a very good attitude. We bought her privately, and she became a Grade I winner. She won the Jenny Wiley, and now a Grade III and a Grade II.”
The undefeated Zulu Kingdom is among the streak | Sarah Andrew
His next graded stakes win came from Zulu Kingdom (Ire) (Ten Sovereigns {Ire}), whom he had purchased privately from Elisabeth Fabre. “The idea was that if he was good enough, he could maybe run in the Breeders' Cup at the end of the year.” Zulu Kingdom broke his maiden at Saint-Cloud on June 4, where he raced greenly to win. Guy suspected the best was yet to come. “Chad Brown did a wonderful job with him. He won the Grade II With Anticipation first time out in America. Not too shabby. We're pretty happy with that.”
Child of the Moon (Fr) (The Grey Gatsby {Ire}) also won at Saratoga for Kumin, Dubb, and Lazzinnaro, taking a Sept. 2 allowance race. The group has graded aspirations for her.
The 10th win in the streak came Friday at Saint-Cloud, when Olya (Ire) (Persian King {Ire}), an inexpensive Arqana October yearling, won a handicap.
Guy said he never has a lot of orders to fill at the yearling sales, despite the success he has had. “I don't know why,” he said. “People probably think I can only buy horses in training. But I have a group of regular, very strong, very loyal customers,” he said, naming Kumin, Dubb, Lazzinnaro and Caruso. We have had a lot of luck together. Pretty much everything has been trained by Chad, and Chad has been a wonderful asset. He's a really good trainer, and he really understands those European horses. He gives them so much time. He's so patient. It's quite impressive.”
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