Barn Tour: Hot at Turfway, Lobo discusses 11 recent winners

Florence, Ky.

Standing just outside his car parked near the eighth pole last weekend at Turfway Park, trainer Paulo Lobo was bundled up from head to toe to protect himself against the raw cold of a winter morning.

He watched nine of his horses breeze Saturday. That was nearly half the string he stables in the barn past the northwest end of the Tapeta track. More of Lobo’s horses live 70 miles down I-75 in Lexington, Ky., usually training at The Thoroughbred Center, where he headed right after these workouts.

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Lobo, 54, a native of São Paulo, Brazil, has felt especially at home during this winter meet at the remodeled racecourse near Cincinnati. In December he got off to a flying start, winning with 11 of 29 starters and finishing in the money seven other times. Since the start of 2023 he has gone 10-for-63.

Coming into this week, Lobo’s 21 wins ranked second only to Wesley Ward’s 22 for training victories since the Turfway meet began Nov. 30. He said it was the culmination of a career-best year that resulted in 60 wins and purse earnings of $3,480,393.

“We had a very, very good Ellis Park meeting and then Kentucky Downs, and then we had Keeneland,” Lobo said Saturday. “We had a couple winners at Churchill. I think that all these races with these horses led us up well for this meeting.”

The just-retired Ivar’s triumph in the Jonathan B. Schuster Stakes last summer at Horseshoe Indianapolis and runner-up finishes in the Woodbine Mile (G1) and Coolmore Turf Mile (G1) were the highlights of 2022. But Lobo’s recent success has come at nearly all levels.

“Across the board, yes,” Lobo said. “This last year we did more maidens, allowances and stakes. I ran just a couple horses in claiming races.”

Lobo discussed 11 of his recent winners – and Ivar – in this latest Horse Racing Nation Barn Tour.

Thunder Love. Counting her 2-year-old racing season in his native England for young trainer George Boughey, this 4-year-old sprinter is 5: 4-0-0 on synthetic tracks and 10: 1-2-0 on turf. Owned by England-based soccer impresario Kia Joorabchian, the daughter of Ireland stallion Profitable is 2-for-2 this year, winning each time in a Turfway allowance. Lobo said Thunder Love is ready to step up in class. “She’ll be in a nice stake here on the 17th,” Lobo said, referring to the $125,000 Frog Stakes, a six-furlong, black-type race for older fillies and mares.

Roja Redemption. The Brownwood Farm homebred made up 8 1/4 lengths in his debut at Turfway to deliver a thrilling victory Feb. 10 in a $70,000 maiden mile. Asked what was next for the 3-year-old Flintshire colt, Lobo said “probably the Jeff Ruby” Steaks (G3) on March 25. Even though that is a Kentucky Derby points prep, Lobo tapped the brakes on any thoughts about running for the roses. “Looking at his pedigree,” he said, “I think he’s more of a grass horse.”

Vezpa. A young 7-year-old who was bred in Brazil, Vezpa brought an 8: 2-0-1 turf record to the current meet at Turfway. After five straight off-the-board results, the Agnes Gold mare found success on the Turfway Tapeta, going 4: 1-2-1 with her victory coming last month in a one-mile allowance. She showed strong closing speed last Thursday, finishing a narrow second under similar conditions. Lobo said Wednesday he was leaning to racing Vezpa “in the stake on Jeff Ruby day,” namely the 1 1/16-mile Latonia.

Event Detail. The $600,000 City of Light colt owned by Larry Best drew widest in the Rebel (G2) last month at Oaklawn, never got into the race and finished 10th. “I think he hated the mud over there,” said Lobo, who said he might remove the variable of dirt conditions from the 3-year-old’s Derby-trail equation. “I think we’re coming back with the Jeff Ruby (G3) here” April 1. Turfway was where Event Detail scored a 2 3/4-length, maiden-breaking victory Jan. 27 as the even-money favorite in a maiden mile.

Bromley. Some rethinking might be required for this 3-year-old Mastery colt after he gave up a late lead and finished third Saturday in the John Battaglia Memorial at Turfway. His only two wins came in sprints last year, and then he was slow to get into the Lecomte (G3) before he rallied and wilted to come in a distant fifth. “He has been training super,” Lobo said. “He was very unlucky in New Orleans. He stumbled right out of the gate and got rank. I think you can toss that race.” As for a next race, Lobo said Wednesday, “We haven’t decided yet. I need to see how he comes back.”

Hurricane J. Bought by Joorabchian as a $330,000 yearling, this Nyquist colt won his first two races last year before a seventh-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. In his 3-year-old debut, Hurricane J was switched from dirt to Tapeta, where he wound up 10th in a six-furlong allowance race at Turfway. “I was expecting a much better race from him,” Lobo said. “But (jockey Joe) Talamo told me he thinks the horse didn’t handle the track well.” Lobo said a return to a dirt sprint was in order, although he had nothing specific. “We’re going to point him for Keeneland,” he said.

Transect. The $300,000 Gun Runner colt owned by Best began his career with debut and allowance wins early this year. Those were at Turfway. A move to the dirt and up to stakes company resulted in a 10th-place finish Saturday in the Gotham (G3) at Aqueduct. “He didn’t run good over there,” Lobo said. “I need more time to decide.” Before that Lobo had been encouraged by what the 3-year-old showed him at Turfway. “He ran twice here,” he said last weekend. “He wasn’t ready, like 100 percent, his first time out, and he won easily. He was running off the pace the first time out. The second time he won, he was on the lead.”

Quaria Comet. A 4-year-old bred and owned by Brownwood Farm, the Shackleford filly has won three of her last five races, most recently going 6 1/2 furlongs and scoring as the 7-2 second choice in a $76,000 Turfway allowance for non-winners of three. “She’s always there and always delivers in her race,” Lobo said. “She should be running here soon in a ‘three other than’ condition.”

Noises Off. The Gilberto Sayão Da Silva homebred gelding by Candy Ride finished a close second going a route of ground at Turfway in his first two races as a 3-year-old. “I have him running in a maiden (race) on Jeff Ruby day,” Lobo said.

Puffin. After breaking her maiden at Turfway on her third try, the 3-year-old Street Boss filly was seventh last week in a 1 1/16-mile allowance over the same track. “She didn’t have a good trip last Thursday,” Lobo said. “She was very unlucky. I think she’s a much better filly than she ran last time.” He said the Dunwoody Farm homebred would be pointed next to an allowance race this spring at Keeneland.

Quiero Más. It took seven tries the last three winters at Turfway for this 4-year-old Daredevil filly to break her maiden. It finally happened last month at 7-2 odds in a $70,000 mile. The lightly raced Brownwood homebred will look to parlay her newfound success on the same track soon. “She’s going to run here in a first-condition allowance in two or three weeks,” Lobo said.

Ivar. One of three millionaires who have been in Lobo’s care, Grade 1 winner Ivar was formally retired this week to begin a stud career at Haras Carampangue in South America, as first reported Tuesday by Turf Diario in Argentina. His last race was Jan. 28, when he finished second to Atone in the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1).

“He has run three Breeders’ Cups, the (Woodbine) Mile in Canada, the Shadwell (now Coolmore) Mile for three years, and he went to Florida for the Pegasus (Turf), all Grade 1s,” said Lobo, who pointed out each of the three Breeders’ Cup Miles was lost by no more than two lengths. “He was always, always trying his best.”

Now a young 7 owing to his Southern Hemisphere breeding, the Agnes Gold horse earned $1,586,303 for owners Sayão Da Silva and Paulo Fernando de Oliveira, longtime friends from Brazil who have partnered in the Thoroughbred business for 15 years.

Twice a Group 1 winner as a 2-year-old in Argentina, Ivar carries with him the credentials of a North American Grade 1 winner thanks to his score in the Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland during the COVID fall of 2020.

“It was a great race,” Lobo said. “He was a champion.”