Backyard Heaven passed his first stakes test with aplomb, defeating a salty field that included last year's GI Kentucky Derby hero Always Dreaming (Bodemeister) to capture the Alysheba. Jetting out alongside Always Dreaming, Backyard Heaven remained glued to that rival's outside shoulder in second, running well clear of the rest of the field through an opening half-mile in :46.79. Edging ahead of the Derby winner on the backstretch run, the Ramsey runner powered clear in the stretch and it was just a matter of how much he'd win by from there. Hand ridden by Irad Ortiz, Backyard Heaven crossed the line with ears pricked, well clear of runner-up Hawaakom. MGSW Good Samaritan came running on late to be third and MGISW Hoppertunity checked in fourth ahead of Always Dreaming.
“I told Irad [Ortiz] to leave out there and that [Always Dreaming] looked like the lone speed; stay very close, but turn it into a two-horse race,” winning trainer Chad Brown said. “I didn't want to try and bury Always Dreaming early. I wanted it to be a two-horse race. If he has more, so be it. If we have more, so be it. Good Samaritan is a really good horse. I knew [he] would pick up the pieces if we got into some silly duel–and that's what Irad did. He gave the other horse a fair chance; we had a fair chance and when it came time to engage him and take him out, he did and luckily he had enough to hold on.”
As for future plans, Brown said, “He's trained like a horse who will have no problem getting a mile and a quarter. We'll stretch him out from here. There are some really good races at a mile and an eighth. He has a nice race over the track here, so a race like the [GI] Stephen Foster is a logical spot. We have a really top handicap horse, so, of course, the [GI] Whitney in my back yard down the road. But, one race at a time and we have to keep in mind he's a lightly raced horse for a reason: he got sick a few times, but he's been a pretty sound horse. I'd like to keep him in good form, now, and not plan too far ahead. Take a race at a time.”
Runner-up behind a 'TDN Rising Star' performance from Copper Town (Speightstown) on debut at Belmont last September, Backyard Heaven graduated by five lengths when next seen at Aqueduct in December. The dark bay scored again next out in Ozone Park in a one-mile allowance Mar. 17, good enough for a 108 Beyer Speed Figure.
Pedigree Notes:
Backyard Heaven is the first graded stakes winner for Tizway, a son of Tiznow, and his 11th black-type winner. The dark bay is out of a Cappagh Strand, a half-sister to GSW & GISP sire Astrology (A.P. Indy), MGSW Lunarpal (Successful Appeal) and SW Lunarlady (Yes It's True). Backyard Heaven's 3-year-old half-brother Consensus Thinking (Mineshaft) was purchased by Klaravich Stables for $210,000 at KEESEP and finished third in his debut for Brown Apr. 29 at Belmont. He also has a 2-year-old half-brother by Curlin and a yearling half-sister by Declaration of War. Cappagh Strand was bred back to Mineshaft.
Friday, Churchill Downs
ALYSHEBA S. PRESENTED BY SENTIENT JET-GII, $400,000, CD, 5-4, 4yo/up, 1 1/16m, 1:41.73, ft.
1–BACKYARD HEAVEN, 118, c, 4, by Tizway
1st Dam: Cappagh Strand, by Grand Slam
2nd Dam: Quiet Eclipse, by Quiet American
3rd Dam: June Gift, by Hold Your Peace
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($160,000
Ylg '15 KEESEP). O-Kenneth L. & Sarah K. Ramsey; B-Waymore
LLC (KY); T-Chad C. Brown; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr.. $243,040. Lifetime
Record: 4-3-1-0, $334,240. Werk Nick Rating: A+.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.[bullet ad=”eqb-yearlingpurchase”][bullet ad=”webb-carroll-another-wctc-grad”][bullet ad=”eaton-sold”][bullet ad=”kbif-g2g3″]2–Hawaakom, 118, g, 8, Jazil–Nafisah (Ire), by Lahib. O-Stephan
H. Smoot & Wesley Hawley; B-Shadwell Farm, LLC (KY);
T-Wesley E. Hawley. $78,400.
3–Good Samaritan, 120, c, 4, Harlan's Holiday–Pull Dancer, by
Pulpit. O-WinStar Farm, China Horse Club International Ltd., SF
Racing LLC, Head of Plains; B-WinStar Farm, LLC (KY); T-William
I. Mott. $39,200.[bullet ad=”winstar-bred”]Margins: 4HF, 3/4, 1 3/4. Odds: 2.20, 26.80, 2.20.
Also Ran: Hoppertunity, Always Dreaming, Giuseppe the Great, Hence. Scratched: Awesome Slew. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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