 |
16.1hh Dark Bay Mare Saga - Method, by Tremendous Broodmare of the Year Click here for SIM site Owned by Jolene Danner |
A lovely dark bay daughter of Saga is Lore, from the old female family of Miss Alleged that in itself is almost as far reaching as that of Pike Place Dancer. Owned by Jolene Danner, Lore has earned her place alongside the Great Mares several times over.
Bred by Mallory Claire, Lore had a rough time of it when she first began racing. Her first five starts were at a flat mile, as some of her breeding might dictate, and she scraped a couple of third place finishes during that time. However, late in her three-year-old year after being sold to Danner, she tried a route for the first time in a nine furlong maiden and blew the field away by three and a half lengths.
Tried in stakes company for the first time, she finished third behind Individual and Built Upon Sand in the Indiana Oaks to close out her sophomore year. At four, she debuted in the grade two Margarita and apparently disliked the mud, finishing third. In her next start, however, Lore really showed what she was made of, turning the tables on Favorite Girl in the Girl's Night Out Handicap and earning a tidy speed figure of 82.
Six fillies, including Lore, finished within a length of each other in her next out in the Everything Right Stakes, and she was just nosed out, placing third beaten only a head and a nose in 1:49.04. Lore got her first grade one victory the next time when she nosed out future Steward's Cup winner Such Great Heights for the win in the Faith Unwavering Stakes.
In her second to last start, Lore tried a mile and a quarter for the first time in the Rags To Riches Stakes, and ended up finishing fifth behind a freakish performance by Such Great Heights. The final time in that race would have won many editions of the Louisville Derby or Steward's Cup Classic. In her final start, Lore was eleventh of fourteen in Such Great Heights's Steward's Cup Distaff. Such was the equality and class of that particular field that less than fourteen lengths would have covered the group of fourteen.
Retired after this effort, Lore got a top notch racehorse right off the bat when she was bred to Seek Thrills. A big, burly black colt with a star was the result, and he was named Fable. In a sixteen start career, Fable won six times, was second in seven, and third once for earnings of $2,045,000.
Fable showed remarkable versatility on the track, breaking his maiden and then winning a grade one at a flat mile before finishing third in Cape's Steward's Cup Juvenile. At three, he won the Texan Derby over Heed the Warning, then threw in an uncharacteristically dull effort in the Kentucky Blue Stakes. The speedy colt's distance capabilities were in question entering the Louisville Derby, but he performed up to standard, finishing second to Buckingham in a race run in 1:59 flat. He was barely beaten a head in the Baltimore Crown by Fire Added Starter before getting a well deserved freshener.
Four weeks later, Fable ran lights out to win the Garden State Invitational by five and a half in a breathtaking performance, then got his first win at a mile and a quarter, defeating Perturb and Big Cap in the Awesome Derby.
At four, Fable knocked heads with the best of the classic division in six starts. He only won one, the Garden State Handicap, but in that race he defeated Astonishing and Something Better, among others. In four others, he was second: behind Derby Dreams in the Sports Jersey, The Odyssey's End in the Arcadia Million, Buckingham in the Baltimore Special, and Derby Dreams again in a wickedly fast Long Island Handicap. In the latter race, Fable earned a 93 for his runner-up effort. In those races, he left behind the likes of Prefer, Father's Day, Sentai, Jester of Fools, and Prank. Unfortunately, for the final start of his career, Fable seemed to "bounce" out of the Long Island Handicap and finished seventh in a powerful field of eleven.
At stud, Fable has been solid, though he is one of those miler/short router types that are a little difficult to find a good match for. He has 46 winners with 7 of those being stakes winners, including the very nice filly Wrap and a very fast up and coming miler in Temple of the Wind.
Two years later, Lore produced a monstrous dark bay colt by Throne to be named Literature. In his debut, he closed from well back to be just beaten by Cause To Burn in a very fast flat mile maiden, and that was when the buzz started. He was a disappointing third next out in his first route race, but equipped with a shadow roll for his third start, Literature blew away the field by seven and earned a 95 in the process.
With no stakes experience, Literature was a little bit of an underdog entering the Steward's Cup Juvenile, despite his impressive maiden victory, however the big dark bay roared from almost last (eighth at the head of the stretch) to win going away by a length over a field that included Sahara Sport, Talented As I Am, Pacific Classic, Cause to Burn, and Prestige.
An early favorite for the Derby, Literature won the Texan Derby impressively and was second in the Kentucky Blue Stakes before finishing third in the big dance. Skipping the Baltimore Crown in favor of resting up for the Long Island Classic may have been one of the most brilliant training moves seen that year, when Literature again came roaring down the stretch to win the Classic by a neck in 2:25.90 over a sloppy track. The colt got another grade one victory in winning the Midsummer Classic over Thriller and Prestige before finishing a belated fifth in the Steward's Cup Classic.
At four, Literature finished a solid second in the Gallant Socks Handicap before heading to Dubai. There, he blew away a field that included War Daddy, Thriller, Prestige, Paralayo and Promise Not to Cry by over two lengths to win the Desert World Cup. After another rest, he won a small sponsored stakes by three lengths before finishing second to Stay Awake in the Summer Bird. In another try at the Steward's Cup, he produced the same result: fifth, but this time behind an oddly slow pace that did not seem to favor his late closing style.
Literature has already had some success at stud with almost 50% winners and 4 stakes winners. His first crop is only three and includes the very fast fillies Written In History and Society.
Another Steward's Cup Juvenile and classic winner came along for Lore three years later when she foaled the gray Philosophy, by Buckingham. The gutsy little gray was brilliant at a mile at two, winning the Graduation Year in 1:37 flat before bumping up to route distances and winning the Thriller and finally Steward's Cup Juvenile. His undefeated record and game victory over Flame And Smoke in the Juvenile earned him North American Champion Two Year Old Colt honors.
At three, he kept winning in his first start, taking the Texan Derby easily by two and a half, but his unbeaten streak was snapped when Flame And Smoke got the better of him in the Kentucky Blue. He was a disappointing twelfth in the Louisville Derby, but rebounded a week later to get the better of his Derby winning rival in the Baltimore Crown in 1:54 flat. He won again in the Garden State Invitational, defeating a solid field by open lengths before finishing second and third in two tries against older rivals.
So far this year at four, Philosophy is unbeaten in two starts, winning the Jet-Ski Handicap by a head over Bow to No One and the Boston Handicap over Con Artist. He is currently entered in the grade one Louisville Classic at his preferred distance of nine furlongs.
This family clearly dominates the Steward's Cup Juvenile, as Lore's very next son won it, as well. Institutionalized, by Awake As I Am, took the same path as his older half brother. He may have lost the Graduation Stakes, but he won the Thriller by a neck over Open At The Close and then took the Juvenile going away by two.
This year, Institutionalized was one of the early favorites for the Derby, winning the Texan Derby. He was then third in the Kentucky Blue against Open At The Close and Warning Sun and a disappointing thirteenth in Maelstrom's Derby. He has rebounded nicely to finish second in the Baltimore Crown, having to navigate much less traffic from his favored position at the back of the pack. It does not appear that Institutionalized will be entering the Long Island Classic, but neither is Maelstrom currently in the mix.
In between her brilliant colts, Lore produced three fillies: Angel, Flibbertigibbet, and Egyptian Scroll. The latter is a nice graded stakes placed filly by Desert Nomad that has already produced one good filly in the grade one winner A Day to Remember, by Buckingham. Her yearling by The Awakening has also worked very fast, covering five panels in 58.30.
Flibbertigibbet was a two-time winner on the track that never tried stakes company. The daughter of Oak Park has two foals on the ground, a filly by Lofty Goals and an unworked yearling colt by Something Better.
Angel, by California, became a stakes winner in her final start, taking the Sound the Alarm Stakes in fine fashion over Incomprehensible. She also placed third in the Ohio Distaff in her nine-start career. She has a quick Indian two-year-old named Contrary, as well as a Steward-bred yearling filly by Awake As I Am that is certainly on quite a few wish lists.
Lore currently has three more foals that have yet to hit the track: a two-year-old by Stay Awake named Sonata that was wickedly fast in her last work (58.04), Lore'n by Don't Mess, and the big, black Adage, born this year by War Daddy.
Just last year, Lore earned her first title as Broodmare of the Year when she became one of the very few (if not only) ever to produce a classic and a Steward's Cup winner in the same year.
One can easily expect many great things to come from this family, especially once Lore's daughters get on their feet in the breeding shed. I wouldn't be surprised, either, if the first great race filly from Lore is slated to hit the track this year in Sonata. Watch out for her on the path to the Steward's Cup Juvenile Fillies.