Farrell Bullet Fires Up Catalano Confidence

Wayne Catalano is not one to get down too quickly when things do not go his way. A three-time Breeders' Cup winner, the New Orleans native knows how to take it easy on racing's rollercoaster. So when his stable star Farrell returned to the races with a subpar effort as the 2-1 favorite in Churchill Downs' listed $100,000 Dogwood Stakes Sept. 23, he did not panic. Instead, he took the comeback effort in stride and remains optimistic about the three-time grade 2 winner's future, including a 2018 campaign. 

Breaking from post 4 in the field of nine sophomore fillies, Farrell sat three lengths back in fourth before going wide on the far turn in the seven-furlong Dogwood over the main track, and backing up to fifth. The half sister to grade 1 winners Carpe Diem  and J. B.'s Thunder was beaten 10 lengths under Channing Hill, her regular rider and Catalano's son-in-law.

"The reason we ran in there was because we really wanted to get a race in her and didn't want to wait until Keeneland," Catalano explained. "She wasn't cranked up and I wanted to get that out of the way. She's a hot-blooded thing, as you know, and I didn't want to bring her back in a tough race, but I also wanted to get her going again. 

"It was also a very hot day and she ran under the lights for the first time, so she had a lot of reasons to run like she did. She's not 100% fit, but this will help her get back on track. She had a lot thrown at her that we didn't plan on, but she learned. She's a special filly and we are trying to get her to where we want her to be and that's the bottom line."

On the morning of Oct. 4, Farrell flashed the brilliance Catalano has grown to admire. Going out in the first set, the daughter of Malibu Moon  breezed a bullet half-mile in :47 under little urging from Hill, the best of 30 other moves at the distance.

"I am very, very pleased with the work," Catalano said. "I honestly have not seen her work any better than that, so the race definitely did her good. Channing said, and I think, she's the best she's ever been, so I'm happy. We'll see what our options are. I'd like to point to the (grade 2) Falls City (at Churchill Downs) in November. The main thing was the first race is out of the way and we can decide if we'll have a race between that and when she takes on older fillies (in the Falls City)." 

Another reason for Catalano's high spirits is the direction of his stable in recent months. After commencing 2017 lower on horseflesh than desired, he has slowly added some promising pupils to his care. An older horse who may be familiar to followers of the 2016 Triple Crown trail is Susan Moulton's Zulu, a good-looking bay son of Bernardini  who commenced his career with a pair of smart Gulfstream Park wins for Coolmore partners and trainer Todd Pletcher before finishing second to Mohaymen  in the Fountain of Youth (G2) and 12th as the 2-1 choice in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) won by Brody's Cause . 

On the sidelines from then until December, Zulu only managed one win from four Gulfstream starts upon return—a 2 3/4-length tally in the restricted Tamarac Stakes going seven furlongs Dec. 18—and was subsequently sold to Moulton for $107,000 at Fasig-Tipton's 2017 summer selected horses of racing age sale. After seven works, Zulu returned to the races in the $100,000 Ack Ack (G3) Sept. 30 and finished seventh of nine. 

"He's kind of in the same boat, except we couldn't get a race for him," he explained. "The two-other-than (allowance) and the restricted stakes didn't go, so we had to throw in him a graded stakes. He needed the race and hadn't run since April. He's sharp. We just have to find a good spot to get his confidence up, but he came out of the race good." 

All three of Catalano's Breeders' Cup trophies have come from juvenile races—Dreaming of Anna in the 2006 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) on the Churchill Downs dirt, Stephanie's Kitten in the 2011 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G2T) on the Churchill grass, and She Be Wild in the 2009 Grey Goose Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies over Santa Anita Park's old synthetic Pro-Ride surface—and he could end up with another talented upstart at the World Championships if all goes well. 

TOLO Thoroughbreds' Breaking Beauty is aiming toward Keeneland's $150,000 JPMorgan Chase Jessamine (G3T) Oct. 11, a Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" event for the Juvenile Fillies Turf. A winner in her lone start, going gate-to-wire in a Sept. 4 one-mile turf maiden special weight at Ellis Park, the daughter of Into Mischief  has posted two bullet drills for Catalano. 

"I really like her and we're excited about her," Catalano said. "We're trying to get into the Jessamine. I think she could run well there. She was very good in her win at Ellis and has the talent." 

Breaking Beauty is out of German champion Que Belle. A Canadian-bred daughter of Seattle Dancer who won five of 11, Que Belle won the Preis der Diana-Deutsches (German Oaks, G2) and Henckel-Rennen (German One Thousand Guineas, G2), while also finishing eighth in the Pientre Celebre's 1997 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1), a mere length behind Swain. Breaking Beauty's best sibling thus far is Osidy, a grade 3 winner for B. Wayne Hughes and trainer Richard Mandella from the same Storm Cat sire line.

It could be a big opening week at Keeneland for Catalano. In addition to Breaking Beauty, he also has three starters in other Breeders' Cup preps. Chief among them is the sophomore stakes winner Uncontested, who shortens up in the Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix (G2) against older horses. He also has One Liz in the First Lady Stakes (G1) and and Christian C in the Shadwell Turf Mile (G1T).