Thoroughbred Racing Horse of the Year: Catch a Glimpse

Buying an unraced, unbroken thoroughbred at auction is its own special type of thrill; the hope of just winning a race with that horse, maybe a few, or even a stakes race, mixed with the gamble that virtually anything can go wrong before they even get to the track.

Imagine, then, the odds that one Ontario horse owner would go to the biggest yearling sale in the world, Keeneland September, sift through 3,000 pedigree pages, find a handful to look at, buy a different one altogether and end up with a Canadian Horse of the Year.

Not only did Jeff Begg purchase such a horse for $75,000 (U.S.), he shared the gal with two good friends and one of America’s top horse owners.

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The flashy filly Begg’s wife Annabel named Catch a Glimpse, was just a baby in 2015 at the age of two, but was voted the country’s Horse of the Year, Champion Two-Year-Old Filly and was named the first juvenile to ever to win Champion Turf Female all at the Apr. 8 Sovereign Awards at Woodbine.

“This filly just proved that she is unbelievable,” said Begg upon accepting the Horse of the Year trophy. “We’re here to really pay tribute to the horse, she did everything for us. We were just along for the ride.”

Horsepeople don’t get too many rides like the one on which Catch a Glimpse took her elated group of owners from the moment she debuted in July, 2015.

By then, Begg had sold 33 per cent of the City Zip—Halo River, by Riverman filly to his good friend Mike Ambler, a long-time owner and breeder in Ontario who then sold a portion of his share to his friend in racing, Greg Lang. In search of another partner, Begg contacted Woodbine’s leading trainer Mark Casse who in turn brought in Gary Barber to land the final third share.

With Casse and his team doing the training, Catch a Glimpse was one of a select few to be sent to the prestigious Saratoga meeting during the summer of her 2-year-old season. Her career debut was a wash, however, as the rains came, washed the event off turf and she slogged home some 12 lengths behind the winner.

Unfazed, Casse sent the filly to his Woodbine barn and assistant David Adams who got the filly ready for an allowance race on turf, the prep for the Natalma Stakes. Sent off at 8 to 1, Catch a Glimpse gave racing fans, and rival horses a glimpse of what was to come; a lot more wins.

From the Natalma prep, Catch a Glimpse was even more forceful in the Grade 2 Natalma itself, winning easily and picking up a hefty payday plus a ticket to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Filly Turf at Keeneland racecourse on Oct. 30 in Lexington, KY.

“It’s what you always dream about in horse racing; going to the Breeders’ Cup,” Ambler said. “But guys like us, smaller owners, we don’t get horses that go to the Breeders’ Cup.”

Ambler — who once claimed a horse simply to retire it through LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement Society — and Lang had their share of good Ontario runners, but to go to the Breeders Cup World Championships, well, that merited a rented Winnebago the families used to travel to Kentucky.

Sent to post at odds of 6-1 in the $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf, the Catch a Glimpse was pressured into the first turn by Ruby Notion as jockey Florent Geroux decided to take back and conserve energy on the City Zip chestnut.

Catch a Glimpse stalked patiently down the back straight of the one-mile test before making a winning move late in the final turn, keeping just enough in reserve to hold off the 5-2 mutuel favourite Alice Springs.

The victory gave Casse his first Breeders’ Cup win. The previous year, Casse had won his first Queen’s Plate with Lexie Lou, also owned by Barber.

For the Canadian group of Begg, Ambler and Lang, the Breeders’ Cup victory did not sink in until several weeks later. Between them, Ambler and Lang figure they have watched the replay some 20 times each.

Catch a Glimpse received a rest in Florida before starting her training again by the time the Sovereign award votes were collected in early January. She won her return to racing in the Grade 3 Herecomesthebride Stakes at Gulfstream and then won again on Apr. 14 in the Grade 2 Appalachian at Keeneland.

“I thought the Champion 2-year-old filly Sovereign was likely,” said Begg about the filly’s 2015 honours. “But I thought the Turf Female award was usually reserved for older horses on the grass; that was a surprise.”

As the Sovereign Awards ceremony went on and Catch a Glimpse had already won two titles, it became likely the filly was going to have the edge over fellow champions Shaman Ghost, Academic and Are You Kidding Me for the prestigious Horse of the Year trophy.

Ambler accomplished a rare feat as he accepted the Horse of the Year trophy with Begg and Lang; he was the breeder of the 2015 Horse of the Year at Fort Erie, the filly Two Brews to Go, a daughter of Milwaukee Brew.

It might be tough to top the 2015 season, but Ambler and Begg and Lang are not too worried about it. Any more wins by their flashy filly is simply added bonus to a year that is hard to describe.

“There really are no words left,” said Lang.

Horse of the Year Pedigree

Riding the recent wave of champion females such as Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra, the brilliant two-year-old filly Catch a Glimpse was named Canadian Horse of the Year for 2015. It also marked the second straight year that trainer Mark Casse and owner Gary Barber teamed up to win the award, following the filly Lexie Lou in 2014.

Catch a Glimpse began her 2-year-old campaign losing on the dirt at Saratoga in July. Switching to the grass at Woodbine, she broke her maiden with an impressive allowance win, followed by an even more impressive win in the Natalma Stakes (Grade 2) at seven furlongs, before ending her remarkable season by winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (Grade 1) at Keeneland. And she has already begun her 2016 season with consecutive stakes wins at Gulfstream and Keeneland, bringing her winning-streak to five races, all on the turf — where she is undefeated.

A $75,000 purchase at Keeneland’s September Yearling sale in 2014, she was by the very speedy sire, City Zip (Carson City), from the stakes-winning mare, Halo River (Irish River). City Zip has been the leading sire of Breeders’ Cup winners the past two years, with three winners including Dayatthespa and Work All Week, along with Catch a Glimpse. Her sire, City Zip, now stands for $40,000 in Kentucky, where his first 12 crops to race have produced 973 foals, with 78 per cent starters from foals, 60 per cent winners, 64 stakes-winners (seven per cent) and four champions.

City Zip himself won nine of 23 lifetime starts and eight stakes races, good for $818,225. He was a precocious sprinter whose best racing was done on dirt at six and seven furlongs, highlighted by a win in the seven-furlong Hopeful Stakes (Grade 1) at Saratoga at two. He won four more stakes at three, before retiring to stud at Contemporary Stallions in New York. He stood there for three seasons, somewhat modestly, before his sensational half-brother Ghostzapper (Awesome Again) earned Horse of the Year honors in 2004. This prompted his sale to Will Farish’s Lane’s End breeding farm in Kentucky, where he began a second stud career in 2005, standing for $15,000. Both City Zip and Ghostzapper were bred by entrepeneur/breeder, Frank Stronach, who owned their dam.

Despite his stocky build and success as a sprinter on dirt, City Zip has enjoyed surprising success siring grass specialists at a distance. This includes Dayatthespa, who earned over two million dollars, as well as the filly, Personal Diary, who won the Del Mar Oaks (Grade 1) at a mile-and-an-eighth. On the other hand, his son Bustin Stones was a speedy sprinter who was unbeaten in six starts before retiring to stud in New York. City Zip’s sire, Carson City, was a surprisingly successful son of Mr. Prospector. Carson City was a sprinter who won a relatively modest $306,240 on the racetrack, but remarkably sired no fewer than 100 stakes-winners at stud. City Zip has been far and away his best son at stud.

Catch a Glimpse’s dam, Halo River (Irish River), won three of 10 lifetime starts, most notably the Apalachian Stakes on grass in a track-record 1:34.4 for the mile, good for earnings of $107,525. As a broodmare she produced eight winners from 12 foals, most notably Old Forester (Forestry). Old Forester won $462,632 and the Canadian Turf Handicap in track-record time before retiring to stud in Ontario — where he led all Canadian sires in 2012, and again in 2015. Catch a Glimpse’s second dam, All Hallows (Halo) won just one of five starts and $24,260, before being sent eventually to Japan as a broodmare. She produced seven winners from 12 foals.

But it’s the 3rd dam of Catch a Glimpse who really showed the class of the family. Leap Lively (Nijinsky II) was Group 3 winner in England, where she ran third in the classic Oaks Stakes at three. As a broodmare, Leap Lively produced two stakes-winners from seven foals, most notably Forest Flower — who won eight of 10 starts and the Irish Oaks (Grade 1).

Leap Lively’s sire, Nijinsky II, appears to play a key role in the pedigree of Catch a Glimpse. Not only is he the sire of her third dam, but likewise the sire of the second dam of her grandsire, Carson City. This creates linebreeding of 5×4 — Nijinsky II in the pedigree of Catch a Glimpse. Although somewhat distant, Nijinsky II was the last 3-year-old to win the Triple Crown winner in England, where he excelled running on the grass at a distance. He was probably the best racehorse sired by the great Northern Dancer, and he went on to become an outstanding sire, and particularly broodmare-sire. And both strains of Nijinsky II come to Catch a Glimpse through his daughters.

In any event, the male line of Catch a Glimpse’s pedigree shows consistently precocious sprinting specialists, from City Zip, to Carson City, to Mr. Prospector and his sire, Raise a Native. The female family, however, shows rather consistent distance aptitude on the turf. Her dam, Halo River, was a stakes-winner on the turf, and her dam’s sire, Irish River (Riverman), was a champion miler in France racing on the grass. Her second dam, All Hallows, was by Halo — another distance specialist on grass, while her third dam, Leap Lively, was by Nijinsky II — yet another champion and classic winner on the turf.

Such a balance between grass and dirt, sprinting and distance-racing is somewhat unusual in a pedigree, but certainly seems to have added the right ingredients for Catch a Glipmpse. In fact, a good pedigree is indeed similar to the ingredients for a good food recipe. Steak and caviar my not combine very well, but peanut-butter and jelly surely do.

In both America and Canada, it is quite rare for a 2-year-old filly to win Horse of the Year honours. Prior to Catch a Glimpse it had been four decades since L’Alezane (Dr. Fager) won this award in 1977, preceded by La Prevoyante (Buckpasser) in 1972. ~ Jay Leimbach