Five Lessons From the Springboard Mile Card

Springboard Mile winner Long Range Toddy
The Springboard Mile was the biggest race of the day at Remington Park on Sunday but it was only one part of an interesting card. From a Springboard Mile prep race providing the industry with some top horses to a foreign country having a great day in New Mexico, here are five things we learned from the Springboard Mile card.

Take Charge Indy Strikes Again – Take Charge Indy (A.P. Indy) has proven to be a nice up-and-coming sire with eight stakes winners from his first two crops and runners in both the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks in his first crop. Listed Springboard Mile winner Long Range Toddy spearheads his second crop as his only 2-year-old stakes winner, but he has had two stakes placed 2-year-olds in Cover Charge and Pole Setter as well.

It’s rare that a horse returns to the United States for stud duties after being sold abroad but there were talks about bringing the horse back earlier this year. He is still in South Korea at the moment but if he has a few big horses show up in his second crop, it’s wouldn’t be surprising to see him back for the 2020 breeding season.

Unbridled’s Song Mares – While Unbridled’s Song (Unbridled) is still looking for a top son to carry on his sireline at the top level, his daughters have more than held their own. The stallion’s daughters have produced 158 stakes winners (81 graded stakes winners) of 293 stakes races in 19 different countries. Of the 19 Grade 1 winners, five are bred on the same A.P. Indy sons cross as Long Range Toddy.

Keesawah
On Sunday, Unbridled’s Song mares produced two winners: Keesawah (Astrology) in the second race and Long Range Toddy.  Long Range Toddy’s specific Take Charge Indy/Unbridled’s Song cross has produced six winners from eight starters with two stakes winners – Long Range Toddy and C.S. Incharge.

Clever Trevor Stakes –  The Springboard Mile’s local prep has also proved to be a good prep for a successful career in recent years. Long Range Toddy made history this week as the first Clever Trevor winner to win the Springboard Mile but he’ll have to do a lot more to become the most accomplished Clever Trevor winner. Of the Clever Trevor winners from the past  11 years, six have won at least one stakes race, one is a Breeders’ Cup winner (Caleb’s Posse), one ran in the Kentucky Derby (Suddenbreakingnews), and another is a millionaire who has won multiple graded stakes (Shotgun Kowboy).

Tizway
Other horses to run in the race over that time period include multiple graded stakes winner/Grade 1 placed Uh Oh Bango (Top Hit), multiple graded stakes winner/Grade 1 placed Alsvid (Officer), and multiple graded stakes winner and Breeders’ Cup runner Texas Chrome (Grasshopper).

Korean Sires – It’s long been said South Korea would have the third or fourth strongest roster in the United States if they were part of our country and that was on display at Remington Park on Sunday. In addition to the aforementioned Take Charge Indy, To Honor And Serve (imported to South Korea in 2018) and Tizway (imported in 2017) also had stakes winners on the card, meaning stallions who currently stand in South Korea accounted for half the stakes winners on the card.

Latent Heat – Latent Heat (Maria’s Mon) showed why he’s a perennial leading sire in Oklahoma on Sunday when he sired two winners, one runner-up, and two third place finishers on the card, including Listed Jim Thorpe Stakes third Shannon C. A 15-year-old, Latent Heat is the sire of 7 stakes winners and 18 stakes horses including Grade 3 winner Rocket Heat. He stands for $2,000 at River Oaks Farms in 2019.

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