Plenty of Common Ties for Thought Process, Iron Man Cal

After celebrating a big race day Oct. 6 at Santa Anita Park, the many common connections behind 2-year-old turf standouts Thought Process  and Iron Man Cal  will aim to add to that success Nov. 1 at the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar.

On that big day last month at Santa Anita, filly Thought Process stayed undefeated on the turf in three starts when she drew off in the stretch to score a 4 1/2-length victory in the Surfer Girl Stakes (G3T). Then later that day, Iron Man Cal earned a victory in the Zuma Beach Stakes (G3T) when he finished second by a head but was placed first by the stewards after Artislas  was demoted for interference in the stretch.

The victories punched the pair's tickets to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) and Juvenile Turf (G1T), respectively.

The common ties and connections begin with the breeder, the late Brereton Jones, and successful third-crop sire Collected  , as the Airdrie Stud-based stallion is the sire of both runners.

Thought Process, the 5-2 second-choice on the morning line in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, is owned by the breeder (Brereton's son Bret is now president of Airdrie Stud), Sol Kumin's Madaket Stables, and the Little Red Feather Racing partnership managed by Billy Koch and Gary Fenton. In recent years Airdrie has packaged groups of four horses that it retains a third ownership on with Little Red Feather and Kumin each taking 33% as well.

Koch said the opportunity to own a percentage of four different horses has proven popular with the LRF partners.

"It's been great working with Bret and the Airdrie team on this. I think we're like-minded people," Koch said. "Our partners love the idea of buying into four horses. We're in for a little less than usual but they love that there's added action and opportunity.

"These horses are well bred—there's something about Kentucky and specifically that Airdrie property in producing top horses and we have that Airdrie expertise. It's special that these horses have that direct tie to the legacy of Bret's dad Brereton, who was just a genius when it came to breeding horses."

It doesn't hurt that the first flight of horses in the partnership included Conclude , also a son of Collected, who is out of Believe You Can , one of three Brereton Jones fillies to win the Kentucky Oaks (G1). Conclude won last year's Del Mar Derby (G2T) and this year's Del Mar Mile Stakes (G2T). Thought Process has kept the partners' good times rolling.

"It's been just an absolute blast partnering with Billy and Gary and their partners," Bret Jones said. "Those guys are in it for all the right reasons. They're all about what's best for the industry, and it's all about making sure their partners have a great time, win or lose. Thankfully, they're giving their partners a lot of reasons to high five."

It's not a coincidence that Airdrie partnered with a Southern California-focused owner in Little Red Feather. With California racing facing challenges largely tied to competing without the benefit of money from added-gaming, Jones has been thinking of ways to support the Golden State where so many of the sport's owners and fans reside as well as racing jewels such as frequent Breeders' Cup hosts Santa Anita Park and Del Mar.

"You just hope that everyone in our industry recognizes the importance of California racing. California racing not only deserves to flourish, but it has to flourish. It is so important in our ecosystem," Jones said. "Kentuckians are manufacturers. Kentucky breeders are manufacturers. And if we don't have that big base—especially a base as important as California—to sell our horses to, then it could be catastrophic for our market. 

"So we made a very conscious effort to be supportive of California racing, and we're going to continue to do that. If you haven't been to Del Mar, or if you haven't been to Santa Anita and watched your horse win a race, then you're really missing out. It's an incredible atmosphere and a wonderful place to have horses in training."

While that ownership relationship has been built in recent years, Iron Man Cal, owned by Little Red Feather and Madaket Stables, is not part of that program. Little Red Feather bloodstock agent John Dowd liked Iron Man Cal at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, and it probably didn't hurt that the son of Collected was being offered in the same month that Conclude captured the Del Mar Derby.

"I remember we liked his looks but he also was a bit pot-bellied at the time; he didn't exactly look like Flightline or something," Koch recalled with a chuckle. "But it's important to see what they can become and John is great at that. That's what we liked. The important thing is to have that vision."

Iron Man Cal would earn his maiden win in his second start. Kumin bought into him ahead of his victory in the Zuma Beach.

"Now we compare him to a high school athlete in their junior year—right when they're figuring out how good they are," Koch said.

Iron Man Cal is named after baseball player Cal Ripken Jr., who holds baseball's record for consecutive games played at 2,632. Koch met Ripken at the Preakness Stakes (G1) a few years ago and they have remained friends.

Both 2-year-olds are trained by Phil D'Amato. They do feature different riders as Hector Berrios will be aboard Thought Process, and Antonio Fresu will pilot Iron Man Cal, a 30-1 longshot in the Juvenile Turf.

Collecting Attention

The big day in October at Santa Anita added to the strong start by Airdrie third-crop sire Collected. Those runners will try to turn more heads this weekend at Del Mar, where Collected enjoyed his biggest racing moment—winning the 2017 Pacific Classic Stakes (G1) and in the process defeating eventual Hall of Famer Arrogate. While that win came on the main track, Collected has already shown versatility as a sire, as one might expect of a son of City Zip.

"I think Collected is very much in the mold of his sire City Zip," Jones said. "City Zip was a fast dirt horse; Collected was a top dirt horse—beating Arrogate in the in the Pacific Classic. But there was plenty of reason to think that (Collected) would get some very good turf horses just as City Zip had before him. And his female family, he's from the female family of Blushing Groom. So I don't think anybody is surprised that that he would throw some turf horses."

The Breeders' Cup runners have helped Collected through Oct. 29 to rank seventh by progeny earnings on the third-crop sires list, where he also ranks third in black-type stakes winners with nine. Only three third-crop stallions have more than his four group or graded stakes winners this year. He will stand for $10,000 in 2025 at Airdrie, near Midway, Ky.

"Statistically he's a very strong sire," Jones said. "To have 15 stakes winners (overall) already by October of your third crop is extremely strong. And the icing on the cake of a really great year would be to get one of them home first in a Breeders' Cup race."

Collected's runners are not making their owners wait long for success.

"That's a big deal," Jones said, noting that precocity showed up in Thought Process and Iron Man Cal. "The way they're made, and the way they train; you could see it coming together quickly."

It's not lost on Bret that his father is the listed breeder for both Breeders' Cup runners.

"No one loved a big day at the races more than Pop," Jones said. "He took such incredible satisfaction in watching the horses that he bred, that he raised, and then go on to run in the biggest races. And this is the biggest weekend, in my opinion, in world racing.

"We're all thinking about him and I know for a fact how proud he would be to have these two in the starting gate."

Big Weekend

All involved were thrilled by the big wins in October on the same day at Santa Anita Park and are now looking forward.

"It was just an incredible day for the farm and obviously for the stallion," said Jones, who arrived at Del Mar Oct. 29. "I think there's reason for optimism that we can have a very good show come Friday."

On paper, Thought Process appears to have the better shot. She showed great energy in maintaining a clear advantage throughout the early going of the one-mile Surfer Girl and still had plenty of punch late, completing the final quarter-mile in :22.91. 

As usual in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, there's no shortage of talent with two-time group 1 winner Lake Victoria  drawing much of the attention as the 8-5 morning-line favorite.

Campaigned for the Coolmore-affiliated owners Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, and Susan Magnier, Lake Victoria is trained by Aidan O'Brien. The daughter of Frankel   enters off clear victories in Ireland and England in the Moyglare Stud (G1) and Cheveley Park (G1) stakes, respectively.

"Lake Victoria is a beautiful filly and we're amazed by all of the accomplishments by Aidan and those owners over the years," Koch said. "She certainly deserves to be the favorite; she's the real deal.

"But we also love our filly. She has a lot of talent and is capable of making things very tough on her rivals here."

Besides Thought Process and Iron Man Cal, Little Red Feather also has Gold Phoenix  in the Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T). Gold Phoenix, who finished fourth in last year's Turf, is campaigned by Little Red Feather, Sterling Stables, and Marsha Naify. 

"Breeders' Cup is so important to what we're trying to do for our partners," Koch said, noting that 20 years ago Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) winner Singletary put Little Red Feather on the map. "It's been amazing support from our partners—their strong and steady belief in us has made this happen."

Thought Process and Iron Man Cal are among a group of nine horses partially owned by Madaket Stables entered to run at this year's World Championships.