Upstart Breeder Out of Hospital, CD Bound
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Joanne Nielsen, breeder of Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) hopeful Upstart, was recently released from an 11-night stay in the hospital for viral pneumonia and is planning on making her way to Louisville for the May 2 Run for the Roses.
Nielsen said she contracted the illness while wintering in Melbourne, Fla., and has recently made her way to her Sunnyfield Farm near Bedford, N.Y.
"I've just been looking over my new babies," she said of seeing some of her new foal crop of New York-breds at Sunnyfield. "They're just gorgeous."
That view, and a trip to Kentucky, should be the right tonic.
Upstart, who races for Ralph Evans and WinStar Farm and is trained by Rick Violette Jr., is a New York-bred son of Flatter —Party Silks, by Touch Gold . The dark bay or brown ridgling won the Lambholm South Holy Bull Stakes (gr. II) Jan. 24. He finished first in the Besilu Stables Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. II) but was disqualified and placed second behind Itsaknockout. Upstart was second to Materiality in the Besilu Stables Florida Derby (gr. I).
"He's got he speed, he can get the distance," Nielsen said of Upstart. "There's a lot that goes on out there on the track and certainly there is good competition this year, but I have high hopes for him. He's never failed us yet.
"If he doesn't get boxed in or something, then I think he should be in the top three. The rest is prayers."