Barn Tour: Having his best year, Bauer updates on 10 horses
The last time we checked with trainer Philip Bauer, he was in the midst of a very good year. Played Hard had given him his first Grade 1 win and he had plenty of up-and-coming talent in his stable.
Then Played Hard suffered an injury during the summer at Saratoga, and when it became clear that she wouldn’t be able to train for the Breeders’ Cup, Bauer and owner Richard Rigney decided to retire the 5-year-old daughter of Into Mischief to be broodmare.
“She was just completely snake bitten this summer,” Bauer told Horse Racing Nation on Tuesday. “And then to take what was a frustrating summer and put an exclamation point at the end of it with her final breeze up there before she shipped home, pointing for the Locust Grove. She worked great, cooled out great. And then the next morning was uncomfortable. … There was definitely some change in the ankle. And further diagnostics showed that she needed a break. And we thought, if we were to give her some time and bring her back, and she wasn't the same, it wasn't really fair to her. And she owed us nothing.
“So on to her next career as a broodmare, and she's got a date with Gun Runner, so we're very, very excited about what's lying in the pipeline for us. Physically, she's extremely attractive, and to possess natural speed like that, hopefully she'll throw it.”
Bauer is a private trainer for Rigney and his wife, Tammy, through their Rigney Racing. And they powered on to their best year yet, with $3.2 million in earnings. They have a record of 105: 27-18-19, for an in-the-money rate of 61 percent.
Bauer, who is based at Churchill Downs said they have about 19 or 20 horses in training, fewer than in some years. They usually have between 20 and 30. “It's all circumstantial,” he said of their success. “Just very fortunate to have a barn full of good horses right now.”
Bauer discussed other talented horses in his stable for the latest in HRN’s Barn Tour series.
Xigera. The 3-year-old Nyquist filly has won four of five starts this year, including the Grade 2 Mother Goose last out. Before that, she was switched to dirt from turf and won a black-type stakes at Churchill Downs. “It's one of those things that you're almost kicking yourself for not running her on the dirt sooner, but she hadn't done anything wrong on the grass (with three wins). Pretty fun to have a horse as versatile as she is and as good as she is. So we've got one more run this year planned for her on Thanksgiving at Churchill Downs in the Falls City (G3), try and defend our title there. Played Hard was able to win it last year. She's 3, taking on older for the first time, but we feel like her last two are good enough to try. And then we'll kind of take the same approach we've done the last couple years with some of these horses that run hard on year, just give them a little breather and then focus on the spring. … She's as good as she can be right now. We just need to keep her happy. And we know she likes the surface here. So hopefully she's able to continue to march forward like she has the last two. If she runs those races, I think she'll be right there.”
Little Prankster. The 3-year-old daughter of Practical Joke, unraced at 2, has a record of 7: 3-4-0 this year and finished second Saturday in the Dream Supreme Stakes at Churchill. “Very proud of her effort the other day against the real hard-knocking million-dollar mare in Wicked Halo. No shame in running second for her. I thought Johnny V (Velazquez) rode a good trip to keep the favorite pinned in, but she was able to find some running room down the right lane and ran us down. It's one of those that we had considered shipping her up to Mahoning Valley for the stake on the 20th. We felt just running her out of her own stall at her own track was better for us, and she didn't disappoint. Certainly would have liked to get the win, but stake placing at Churchill Downs never hurts your page. And she's another one that we're excited for a 4-year-old campaign. Bounced out of the race in good shape, but I don't really know if there's anything left her for this year. Certainly haven't taken her out of training yet, but just kind of letting the dust settle in the wake of the race and see. Maybe one more, but probably will point toward '24 with her as well.”
Skratch Kat. The 4-year-old Arrogate filly returned in June from a 13-month layoff and went 6: 2-2-1 this year, including a third-place finish in the Shuvee (G2). “Scratch Cat, she was a 3-year-old last year when we turned her out for the winter. We thought we'd have a big 4-year-old campaign. It took her took her a while to kind of find her best stride this year. But her last two have just been really good. And then to get the Grade 2 placing in the Shuvee up there at Saratoga was just huge for her page. We're kind of waiting to see what happens with the grass course here at Churchill the rest of the fall. We have her nominated to the Falls City to compete with Xigera or there's a stake called the Cardinal that if for some reason it was to come off the grass then maybe we could keep those two separated in a perfect world. But she’s probably got one or two races left in her this year. And then she'll head to the broodmare band as well. I think she's booked to Into Mischief. We'd like to get her a stake win.”
Anna’s Arabesque. The 3-year-old Munnings filly didn’t race at 2 and has a record of 5: 1-3-1 this year. Her last start was a second-place finish in the Coronation Cup in July. “Anna's Arabesque had a little P1 fragment removed after her race at Saratoga. She's now back under tack galloping. It's kind of one of those that I'm not sure what direction we're going with yet. Just trying to get her back up and in a breeze routine and then we can look for something then. But she's just in early stages of her gallop routine, so we're probably 60 or so days away from a race if everything goes well. … She came back as good as you'd hope one to, and the joint looks great. She's always one that ran her race, so certainly she still has the 1x there. Being a stakes-placed horse with some conditions left, she's got ability and should be able to accomplish those races. Going to see where the year goes after that.”
Kigali. This 3-year-old Hard Spun gelding broke his maiden in June in her sixth start, then finished sixth and seventh in his next three before coming back to win an allowance last out at Keeneland. “Kigali is a horse that drives me as a trainer crazy. He is just as sound as you can want a horse and as talented as you can want a horse but had failed to produce on occasion. So we tried different tactics with him, and he was able to get his maiden broke going short at Ellis. But I think that's just the style he needs, he needs to be in front and he needs to kind of run free like he did in his last at Keeneland. He's entered on Wednesday and the two-other-than, straight 3-year-old race at Churchill, and we'll look for a similar effort he had at Keeneland. I think he's training as well as he ever has. And the horse has all the ability in the world, it's just between his ears most of the time. The full-cup blinkers, and some riding tactics kind of aided that horse in a couple of victories this year, and hopefully he can build off of them. But we all know racing gets tougher the more races you win. So I'm anxious to see how he does Wednesday. He beat a decent field at Keeneland, and we've always known he's had ability. He's pretty much the workmate for every stake horse that we have in the barn. He holds his own, he's a very talented horse in his own. So hopefully maturity is also something else that can propel him to more success.”
Mariah’s Appeal. The 3-year-old daughter of Distorted Humor won her debut in January and didn’t return until July, with two seconds and a third since. Bauer said he’s “very high” on her. “She's been second and third in her last three starts after breaking her maiden in January. One that runs too well to lose but got nailed at the wire the other day at Churchill. Physically she's just very powerful and an imposing presence. So you would think with maturity she'd only continue to get better as well.”
2-year-olds
Buchu. A homebred daughter of Justify, she broke her maiden in September on her fourth try and won the Jessamine (G2) in October. Then she was sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. “No shame in her run in the Breeders’ Cup. I thought maybe going into the first turn if, in hindsight, try and hold position a little better to be in the first flight behind the leaders instead of the second. But she really put things together the last couple of months. So very, very exciting to participate in the Breeders’ Cup this year again, and I felt like she didn't disgrace herself. She bounced out well, but there's not much grass left, so we'll point her towards some races next spring here in Kentucky, maybe target the Appalachian (G2) first and then maybe the Edgewood (G2) at Churchill.”
Gorilla Trek. The Curlin colt won his debut by a neck in September and then was 10th in the Bourbon Stakes (G2) at Keeneland in his last start. “We were pleasantly surprised with his first race, breaking his maiden. We thought he was a horse that might need a race or two. Just mentally wasn't as forward as some of the horses he was working against, other 2-year-olds and whatnot that we had in the barn. But a lot of those horses have come out to be really good. So it's one of those, you don't know until they run and how they perform as far as your group's 2-year-olds, what you're dealing with. You think that you've got a good read on him, but you need them to kind of prove it in the races, and they have. He's a horse that I think could just continue to get better. He's supposed to run closing weekend at Churchill in a non-two, and I'd say he's a horse that we'll try the dirt with eventually. But he's doing great, and he'll run, I think, Nov. 25 here at Churchill.” The Bourbon “was just one of those deals where you went from an inside post to an outside trip, just everything kind of went against you. … It was a big ask of him for us to wheel back that quick, and a horse that to me wasn't as seasoned as Buchu.”
Twirling Good Time. The Twirling Candy filly won her only start with a four-length score at Churchill on Sept. 27. “She's an extremely, very, very brilliant filly. One that at this stage, I don't know if I've ever had. So we had her entered to run in the stake at Churchill, and she came up with a little hiccup and we felt it was best just to kind of slow down to focus on a 3-year-old campaign for her. So we've just kind of backed off on her, and we'll look to get her gear back up towards the flip of the year. Very excited about her moving forward. We felt like she was a horse that was going to handle two turns very well based on the way she trained. And certainly just her first start, you look at her physically, maybe you wouldn't expect a horse to look like her and be able to do what she did. So I think that's only positive.”
Halina’s Forte. The Mitole filly also won her only start, leading at every call to win by 4 1/2 lengths on Nov. 5. “She was a horse who were very high on going into that race. She had a gate drill that was with an older horse. You don't expect horses with their first gate breeze to breeze as well as she did (four furlongs in 47.6 seconds). And everything after that was just lights out. So we felt like she would be a horse that would dictate terms in the race, and she did. She's going to be pointed towards a stake at the end of the meet called the Fern Creek, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint, 2-year-old stake at Churchill. We got her nominated to that. It looks like it's going to be a big field, so I guess our concern is maybe being excluded with minimal earnings and being a Florida-bred. But we'll enter for that, and then if not, we'll hopefully run in an allowance non-two there before the end of the meet and continue to march forward with her. She's a horse that looks like she's got a bright future just based on ability. And obviously with all the horses, you'll maybe try and stretch them out at some point. So we'll see if she'll be able to handle that. We'll kind of keep her around one turn for the time being.”