Arrogate Half Sister Osare Breaks Maiden at Belmont
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Photo: Coglianese Photos
Osare (outside) edges Windjammer by a head to break her maiden at Belmont Park
The record-setting unveiling of Arrogate in the Travers Stakes (G1) was still a catalog update when Bridlewood Farm general manager George Isaacs went shopping at the 2016 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and Hip 226 caught his eye.
The Medaglia d'Oro filly consigned by Clearsky Farms was then just a half sister to an impressive grade 1 winner, and Isaacs landed her with a $300,000 bid. But as Arrogate's legend grew, so did the residual value of the second foal out of the Distorted Humor mare Bubbler.
Now named Osare, the 3-year-old filly broke her maiden June 21 at Belmont Park in a 1 1/4-mile maiden special weight on the inner turf course, taking a markedly different route than the dirt campaign her half brother used to become the all-time leading money earner in North America.
"When I picked her out as a yearling, she was a half to Arrogate, but when I bought her after he won the Travers, it wasn't even in the catalog, him being a grade 1 winner," Isaacs recalled. "They announced it, of course, at Keeneland, but it was mostly a case of me being in the right place at the right time. Most people probably thought she'd bring a lot more, but I got lucky and stole the candy that day.
"Needless to say, with Arrogate going on and doing what he did on the racetrack, her residual value grew astronomically after I purchased her."
Osare, like Arrogate, is a tall and rangy sort. So Bridlewood Farm trainer Jonathan Thomas took his time to bring her along, and she rewarded that patience Thursday.
"She was immature when we bought her," Isaacs said. "We brought her home and let her grow up. She's 16.3 hands, plus she's very scopey. Kudos to Jonathan and his team. We all agreed just giving her time to grow up was going to be to her benefit, and she looks to be coming into her own."
Thomas sent Osare to debut April 15 at Tampa Bay Downs, where she ran fourth in a 1 1/16-mile turf test.
"We thought she ran a little bit of a green race at Tampa—she broke poorly that day—but we thought a route of ground on the turf was what she'd shown us she'd possibly relish," Isaacs said. "She really hasn't done anything wrong training on the dirt, but we have a turf course here at Bridlewood so we tried her on turf and liked the way she moved on turf.
"That's why she made her first start on the turf at Tampa. They have a great turf course, and it's a nice place to try a good horse, on a very safe course. It's more about the experience than the purse you're running for."
Making her second start Thursday, Osare rated fourth on the inside under Javier Castellano until the five-sixteenths pole, was tipped outside to the four path, mustered up a strong kick with a sixteenth remaining, and closed rapidly to edge the frontrunning Windjammer by a head. The final time was 2:02.75, and she earned $90,000.
"Certainly we're very happy with the performance today," Isaac said. "She made us very proud. That was a complete team effort. We're elated we have the 'W' next to her name, and now we'll set our goals high again and say we'd certainly like to get a black-type 'W' next to her name.
"The nice thing about New York is that they do write long races on the turf, and they write long black-type races on the turf, so we'll keep our eyes open for where she might fit. She's training in Saratoga right now, so she'll be up there for the remaining part of the summer. She'll be there for the meet, so hopefully there's something there on the horizon that suits her—but the nice thing about modern racing is that you can easily travel anywhere."