National Pride
 

2yo son by Macho Uno seems to flying under the radar...Steve Haskins mentioned him in his Blood Horse column last week:



http://www.bloodhorse.com/articleind...e.asp?id=42108

>>>Sometimes, a young horse catches your eye, and it’s fun to follow his progress to see if he can duplicate that effort and continue rising through the ranks. Breaking ones maiden going six furlongs at Aqueduct is a far cry from being a stakes-caliber horse, but if you’re looking for near-perfection in a young horse’s career debut, then you have to love what you saw from National Pride in his maiden score at the Big A on Nov. 17. The son of Macho Uno, trained by Gary Contessa, not only came from seventh to run down a tough opponent in the speedy Saratoga Russell, who had opened up by nearly four lengths in midstretch, he came home his final quarter in a shade under :23 4/5 and final eighth in just under :11 4/5 to win going away by almost two lengths. To demonstrate how big a race the runner-up ran, he finished eight lengths ahead of the third horse in a field of 11.

You could tell when National Pride kicked into gear leaving the three-eighths pole that he was going to run a huge race. And that he did, showing a combination of power and determination. And if you have any questions regarding his stamina, keep in mind that in his first five generations there are six Travers (gr. I) winners – Holy Bull, Corporate Report, Damascus, Key to the Mint, Buckpasser, and Sword Dancer. He also is inbred on his dam side to Buckpasser, one of the great classic influences in American breeding. Buckpasser has been a tremendous influence, mainly through his daughters, and National Pride is inbred to him through two of his most successful daughters – Numbered Account and Passing Look. Yes, it’s early to get excited over a six-furlong maiden winner, but he is worth keeping an eye on.<<<

He ran a 104 BSF in his first start, getting home in 1:09.1. I've heard from a friend of a friend that a bidding war between Pletcher and Sheik Mo took place shortly afterward, and He will be going to Sheik Mo, for a sickly large amount of money- in the neighborhood of 1.8 mil...again, this is backside gossip - no facts but if remotely true not bad for a 60k purchase....

Are you sure he got a 104? I thought it was a 92.

He was impressive in his first start but I think whoever purchases this horse is making a mistake.

You're probably right Andy. I didn't see the final figure was going on what I had heard

He definitely got a 92.

What makes you say that? Does he have problems, or do you think he just isn't really very good.

He looked like a pretty decent horse to me.

I don't think people weigh the connections of horses carefully enough when they buy them. I wouldn't buy any horse from Gary Contessa that appears to have run a good race. Horses from his barn rarely run reliably from week to week.

Perhaps I will be wrong in this case. I certain welcome more good horses.

Deal or no deal ? In this case it's probably a deal if the horse vets out. Another big win and his price goes up even more.

It is like claiming off of Contessa or Dutrow, you just don't do it. I have seen Jacobson do this time and time again only to end up dropping 3 levels to get them claimed by Contessa or Dutrow again.

I'll get back to you as soon as I figure out Sumitas's latest post. I currently have seven cryptographists working on it......and nobody is getting anywhere.

as Howie Mandel says," Deal, or no deal ?" :)
i do recall that Truely Alone regressed after she was claimed off Contessa.

Tom - ask the folks that bought Peace Rules about that :D

He's a nice horse...My stable was offered a piece of him after the sale but we had bought another and had purchased a Steven Got Even filly at Keeneland in January so we were tapped out :(

Can you expand on this ....

That was over five years ago and things were different then....and Bobby Frankel trained Peace Rules.

I think I covered it.

I don't even know what happened with Peace Rules, but I do know that there are a couple trainers that try and claim off of Contessa and Dutrow and they don't improve at all. It is like trying to claim off of Catalano around here, I have seen someone successful at it maybe twice in the last three years. Just don't even bother

Rudeboyelvis is right. Gann purchased Peace Rules from Contessa after on, or maybe two, starts.

Was Contessa up to his winning ways that far back or just starting?

Not exactly.

Plus, Gary Contessa doesn't exactly set the world on fire. What he does is bash people over the head with numbers. He is a 14% winning trainer....but he starts an enormous number of horses.

Not certain here but I'd guess that there is a difference between claiming from someone and negotiating a private sale after a nice maiden win.

Peace Rules stands out as the best horse Contessa sold on after a decent start, but I think he's had a few others who did some good. Not PR's class but decent, useful horses.