Second Chances

Modeling brought $2.85 million from Don Alberto carrying Montmartre at the 2014 KEENOV sale | Keeneland Photo

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In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. In this edition, 3-year-old colts by leading sires Curlin and Distorted Humor are featured.

Montmartre (c, 3, Distorted Humor–Modeling, by Tapit), from the same female family as Classic winners Rags to Riches and Jazil, stamped himself as one to watch with a game third going six furlongs on debut for Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer at Los Alamitos Dec. 17 (video).

Off as the 9-5 favorite, the Don Alberto homebred was under the gun from the bell beneath Mike Smith and set a pressured pace through sharp opening splits of :22.34 and :44.31. He continued to battle down the stretch and just got reeled in late to finish third, beaten 3/4 of a length. The winner that day All Out Blitz (Concord Point) returned to complete the exacta behind the highly regarded 'TDN Rising Star' McKinzie (Street Sense) in the GIII Sham S. Montmartre earned an 86 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.

“We are very excited about him,” Fernando Diaz-Valdes, racing manager and advisor for owner Don Alberto Stable, said. “He's the first foal out of the very well-bred Modeling, who we paid a lot of money for. The horse started training very well and ran huge first out at Los Alamitos, but unfortunately had a little bit of a sore shin since. The X-rays were all clean–it was a little sensitive and we just wanted to be careful–and he's galloping now.”

He continued, “He didn't break maiden and will have to wait to get to the big leagues. He'll be ready, probably if we're lucky, to run by late February. He has ability, but now he has to prove it. He ran a big race–just went a little too fast. They ran one of the fastest races of the meet that day.”

The unraced Tapit mare Modeling, a half-sister to GISW Streaming (Smart Strike), was purchased by Don Alberto carrying Montmartre for $2.85 million at the 2014 KEENOV sale. Modeling had a colt by Distorted Humor in 2016 ($200,000 yrl '17 FTSAUG) and a filly by Medaglia d'Oro in 2017. She is currently not in foal and will be covered by Empire Maker in 2018, per Diaz-Valdes. Montmartre's third dam is bluehen mare Better Than Honour (Deputy Minister).

New Colossus (c, 3, Curlin–Stellar Atmosphere, by More Than Ready) had plenty of buzz behind him entering the starting gate as the 6-5 chalk in a live-looking, six-furlong maiden race at Fair Grounds this past weekend and ran a big one in defeat after a troubled trip to finish a promising third.

Drawn on the fence, he was ridden along early to keep up and dropped back a few spots to seventh as the field of nine entered the far turn. Shifted to the two path by Joe Bravo around the bend, New Colossus began to make some headway and continued his momentum after bumping hard with a rival at the quarter pole. Re-guided to the inside, he put forth a flashy rail run in the stretch and cut the final margin to 2 1/4 lengths.

“He had a terrible trip,” owner Rick Porter said. “It was a very strong race for him, especially going short being by Curlin. [Trainer] Larry [Jones]'s extremely high on this horse and has been from the beginning. I'm just as glad–we'll come back and run against maidens again. Larry is still extremely high on him. I thought he ran a very credible race.”

Castlepark Farm purchased the mare Stellar Atmosphere, an unplaced homebred for Golden Eagle Farm, carrying New Colossus, for $82,000 at the 2014 KEENOV sale. He went through the ring twice, bringing $210,000 as a KEENOV weanling and $400,000 as a KEESEP yearling. The Mabee family's GISWs General Challenge and Notable Career both appear under the third dam. Stellar Atmosphere is also represented by an Orb colt of 2016 and was most recently bred to Palace Malice.

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