Summer 2013
Fearless Jacq Becomes Sovereign’s Latest Stakes Winner
Patience and maturity have turned Fearless Jacq into a stakes winner and the standout in Sovereign Stable’s young and promising lineup heading into the summer season.
What appealed to us was the cut back to six furlongs and we were able to run against 3-year-olds. We took a shot in that race and, as they say, the rest is history.”
There has never been any doubt about her talent — Sovereign Stable president Matt Gatsas spotted that last summer — but it took the Irish-bred filly a few months to adjust to a new continent and different surface and racing conditions. Three consecutive strong performances for trainer John Terranova II in 2013 showed that she was starting to realize that potential. Fearless Jacq blossomed on May 19 and rewarded her Sovereign partners with an impressive 2 3/4-length victory in the Miss Otis Stakes She followed that triumph with a nice second from a tough post position in the Crank It Up Stakes on June 15 at Monmouth Park.
A fourth and a second in turf allowance races at Gulfstream Park showed that Fearless Jacq was improving. The good outing in graded stakes company at the prestigious Keeneland meet was further proof that she was capable of running against tougher competition.
Fearless Jacq’s fourth-place finish in the Grade 2 Beaumont, run over seven furlongs on the Polytrack at Keeneland on April 14, gave Gatsas and Terranova the confidence to take a bit more of an ambitious approach and try the turf stake. “She came out of the Beaumont well and trained well going into the next race,” Gatsas said. “We were debating whether to go to an allowance race or try the overnight stake.
“She was moving forward and we didn’t know how good she really was, but I think she answered that question pretty emphatically,” Gatsas said. “She’s got real ability. We’re excited about what the future will bring.” Fearless Jacq is a perfect example of how Sovereign is always on the lookout for new prospects to add to the roster. Thanks to technology, the bay daughter of Soviet Star caught Gatsas’ eye from a distance of 3,364 miles when she won her career debut on August 14 in England. “I had been watching some races up at Saratoga last August,” Gatsas said. “I happened to catch her race and called up some of my agents over there to initiate contact to see if the horse could be for sale. I
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thought she was super-impressive running at Newmarket the first time and she looked like a good candidate to bring over to America.” Gatsas thought Fearless Jacq, trained by David Simcock, might fit in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, one of the newer Breeders’ Cup races. “She had a lot of things going for her - she was Breeders’ Cup nominated, was bred to stretch out and had already won going six furlongs up the hill at Newmarket - that gave her the look of a Breeders’ Cup prospect to me,” Gatsas said. “After we agreed to a price we did our due diligence on the filly. Sure enough, all of that worked out well and we went ahead with the purchase. We brought her here to run in the Natalma at Woodbine, a “Win and You’re In” race and then come back in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf assuming she was good enough. Unfortunately, that plan didn’t work out.” Fearless Jacq made an impressive middle move in the Natalma on September 15, but couldn’t sustain that run and finished 12th. She was turned over to Terranova and shipped to Belmont Park. Terranova realized that she was sick and had some body soreness. “When we got her after the Natalma, she had a light throat infection, just baby stuff,” Terranova said. “We gave her an easy week or so, then started training her and she was a little jammed up. It’s hard to say whether it was the transition to different tracks, just a changeover to America and then running on a heavy turf course up in Canada, or a combination of a lot of things. I thought it was a mix of factors, including a growth spurt.
“So we took it easy on her, let her get loosened up and moving well again. We waited for her to tell us when she was ready. During that time she put on some body, filling out in the shoulders and hind end during the winter.” By late December, Terranova and his staff could see that Fearless Jacq was flourishing. She was fourth, beaten less than two lengths, in her comeback start on January 31 and was second, a length back on March 22. Both times she had problems at the starting gate. “She started to do very well. Her first race was very good,” Terranova said. “She had a couple of troubled trips going five-eighths on the grass at Gulfstream. Those kinds of races are over in a flash.” Terranova said that the length of her stride and the way her body has developed tells him that Fearless Jacq is a turf sprinter “I think she’s going to be best at six furlongs, but we’ll find that out,” he said. “She is steadily improving, so we don’t know yet how much more room there is to go forward. She’s got a lot of class and it is obvious that she’s got some ability. If she can continue to improve, it’s hard to put a limit on what she can do. “She will continue to improve. She’s got a great mind and she tries. She’s given us a good, honest effort each time. She’s a horse with a great future.” That is high praise from a veteran trainer. Though the plan to get to the 2012 Breeders’ Cup didn’t play out as hoped, Fearless Jacq has developed as Gatsas thought that day back in August 2012; a stakes winner with a bright future.
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New York-Bred Mania New York-bred champion Gander provided the foundation for Sovereign Stable, which has maintained a strong connection to Thoroughbred breeding and racing in the Empire State. Fifteen years after Gander debuted at Saratoga for Gatsas Thoroughbreds — beginning a tremendous career with 15 victories and over $1.8 million in earnings — the 2013 Sovereign Stable roster is loaded with New York-breds. All five of Sovereign’s 2-year-old class are New York-breds and the stable also has a trio of 3-year-old New Yorkers. Sovereign Stable, formed by the Gatsas family in 2001, has increased its investments in New Yorkbreds in the last few years as the state’s purses and incentives have grown with the opening of the Resorts World casino at Aqueduct. Thanks to the money generated by the video lottery terminals at Aqueduct, good purses have become great purses and New York is the envy of the racing world. The 2-year-olds are members of the smallest foal crop in New York in more than 20 years. They were conceived during the world economic crisis and more than a year before the deal was struck to have Genting develop the Aqueduct gaming facility. The 1,164 members of the foal crop are competing for record purses, so it’s a very good time to own a 2-year-old New York-bred. A gelded son of Cormorant, Gander was a member of the first group of three horses purchased by the Gatsas family to launch its racing stable. While he went on to be a graded stakes winner, Gander did earn a lot of purse money in the races restricted to New York-breds. The purse in his first career start — he was fourth that day — was $35,000. In 2012, the purses for New York-bred maiden special weight sprint races at Saratoga were $60,000. The winner’s share of $36,000 was $1,000 more than the entire purse in Gander’s first race. Of course, expenses have increased in 15 years, but the major jump in New York’s
purse structure since the long-awaited casino opened its doors has had a huge positive impact for owners and breeders. Using Saratoga as an example again, the maiden special weight purses for 2-year-old state-breds grew a whopping 46.3 percent in one year from $41,000 in 2011. Since Sovereign Stable does the bulk of its racing in New York each year, it made sense for the stable to own more New York-breds. Two of the 2-year-olds, Saratoga Shoes and Stardom, are by New York-based sires so they also are eligible for the New York Stallion Series of stakes. “With our purchases we try to limit the downside while having plenty of upside,” Sovereign Stable president Matt Gatsas said. “We’re really excited about the yearling and 2-year-old purchases. We’ve been more aggressive at the sales searching for these types of horses because of the big advantage that they start with. The program
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that is in place with restricted races really helps an owner find some gains, be very competitive and hopefully get to some stake races. “We’re excited about this group of horses in general and with the New York-bred program, our partners are well-positioned to have success.” Sovereign Stable’s Class of 2013: • Boston Strong is a colt by Pioneerof the Nile out of the Danehill Dancer mare Truly Enchanting. • Fashionation is a daughter of City Zip out of the Housebuster mare Aces. • Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown sired Rewrite History, who is out of the Bright Launch mare Champagne Lass.
According to New York State Gaming Commission stats, the state’s Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund received $7,013,071 from the first full year of the Aqueduct facility. The chunk of money enabled the Fund to pay out a total of nearly $13 million in awards to breeders, stallion owners and the owners of New York-breds that were successful in opencompany races in the state. Gander earned a lot of money during his long and distinguished career and helped launch Sovereign Stable. That bankroll would have been substantially larger if he was competing for the type of purses and incentives available to New York-breds in 2013.
• Saratoga Shoes, a daughter of first-crop sire Noonmark, is out of the Commendable mare Soft Shoe Dancer. • Stardom is by Freud, perennially a leading sire in New York. He is the first foal out of the Golden Missile mare Huggable.
Boston Strong at the Keeneland Breeze Show
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Saratoga Shoes with neighbor Waltzing Cat at Saratoga
Sovereign Stable partners joined Rich at the Preakness Alibi Breakfast at Pimlico
Matt, Anthony, and Andy at the Wynn for the Derby
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Rich and Walter enjoying the Sovereign Sunrise morning
Jeff and his son Ryan on the Belmont apron
Vince and Brian with Stakes Winner Fearless Jacq
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Sovereign Sponsor’s NHC for Third Consecutive Year Sovereign Stable has extended its partnership with the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship (NHC) as a presenting sponsor. The thriving program, the richest of its type in the world, includes a series of tournaments across the country throughout the year that culminates with the finals, January 24-26, 2014 at Treasure Island Las Vegas. Players who advance to Las Vegas will be competing for an expected $1.5 million in prize money. Rich Cristiano, Sovereign’s Director of Business Development, says the association with the NHC has been a great fit. “If you look back at my clients through the years, most of them are people who enjoy handicapping and gambling and then took a swing at ownership, too,” he said. Sovereign Stable signed on as a presenting sponsor in 2011 and has been a part of two successful seasons of the NHC Tour and the finals in Las Vegas. “The key to what attracted our interest is that during some tough times in horse racing, year
after year this one particular piece experienced tremendous growth,” Cristiano said. “Now there are over 5,000 members of the NHC competing in tournaments, in person or online. “We thought that combination — handicappers moving to ownership and the growth of the NHC — made it a natural for us.” The Sovereign Stable on-line contest will be held on August 17. The top two finishers will qualify for the finals in January and receive airfare credit, hotel accommodations and the payment of entry fees from Sovereign Stable.
Sovereign Adds Trainer George Weaver to the Roster Trainer George Weaver has joined the Sovereign Stable team and is handling a pair of 2-year-olds, the colt Rewrite History and the filly Saratoga Shoes.
successes was winning the 2005 Dubai Golden Shaheen with Saratoga County.
“We’re excited to have George as part of our organization,” Sovereign Stable president Matt Gatsas said. “He’s a very accomplished horseman and we look forward to working with him. I’m sure our partners are going to enjoy their experiences with him.”
In 2012, the Louisville, Ky. native earned a career-best $2,308,653 in purse money won and his 51 victories were the secondhighest of his career. Weaver saddled Summer of Fun for a third-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.
After a decade working for trainers D. Wayne Lukas and Todd Pletcher, Weaver opened his own stable in December 2002. Among his early
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Sovereign Sunrise 2013 Our popular Sovereign Sunrise reached a milestone on June 1 when the fifth annual edition of the event was held at Belmont Park. An enthusiastic group of horse lovers and racing fans took advantage of the opportunity to get close to the current group of runners. Sovereign Stable President Matt Gatsas and Rich Cristiano, the Director of Business Development, and trainer John Terranova II participated in the program, which began during morning training hours. “The last couple of years we have hosted it the week before the Belmont Stakes,” Cristiano said. “That has proved to be a great date because there is a lot of excitement with the third leg of the Triple Crown coming up.
This year, we had about 30 partners and prospective partners out there. We spent about an hour watching our horses, including our 2-yearolds, train. Then everybody walked back to the barn and we brought out the horses individually.” Gatsas talked about each of the horses and why he decided to buy that individual for the stable. Terranova followed with an update on how they were progressing in training. Partners were able to ask questions and many people went to the stalls for an even closer look at their horses. “It was a perfect day weather-wise,” Cristiano said. “Partners came from all over, from as far away as Maryland and New Hampshire. It was a nice, fun morning for everybody.”
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20 Market Street ~ Manchester, NH 03101 Phone: 866.329.2WIN (2946) ~ Fax: 603.647.9911 ~ Info@SovereignStable.com