Hibiscus Trainer Ron Ellis Wins Hollywood Gold Cup (G1)

Ron Ellis, Hibiscus Trainer

We’d like to congratulate our California trainer, Ron Ellis, in winning this year’s prestigious Hollywood Gold Cup (G1).  Ron won the race with his promising horse, Rail Trip.  The Hollywood Gold Cup carries a purse of $700,000 of which $420,000 is to be paid to the winner. 

“All the races that he’s run have been a build up to this,” Ellis said of Rail Trip. “It’s pretty satisfying when a plan works out. This was the first big race that made sense. A lot of people wanted to rush him into the Santa Anita Handicap (G1), but he just wasn’t mentally ready for that. Luckily, the owners are very patient, have a lot of faith in me, and they let me skip that race and point for this one. I’m glad that their patience was rewarded.”

 We’re very happy for Ron and we’re honored to have him as part of the Hibiscus Stables team.

                                                                            - Mike Oliveto, CEO Hibiscus Stables

Hibiscus Boys Adding Excitement to the Stable
2008 Vintage William Thomas Delivers, 2009 Vintage Grand Slam Colt Shows Promise

William Thomas - If you’ve been following our stable long enough you know how highly regarded William Thomas has been.  We purchased him out of the OBS March Select Sale on the strong recommendations of Ray Flynn, our bloodstock advisor, and Steve Klesaris, our primary trainer. 

William Thomas turned in an inauspicious two-year-old debut in October running eighth of eight with a Beyer of 36.  Those of us close to the horse knew that race was a throw-out because he got utterly cooked in a speed duel with fractions of 22 flat and 45.4.  He came out of the race with a knee and ankle so Steve gave him the winter off and brought him back in May for his second career race and his three-year-old debut.  Running true to his hype he turned in a gate to wire masterpiece winning in hand while drawing off by an expanding seven lengths and a Beyer Speed Figure of 92.  At that point it was beginning to look like the expectations were valid and that we had something special.  He returned in June in only his third career start to try allowance company for the very first time where he ran into a very talented horse that was G3-placed as a two-year-old.  William Thomas went toe to toe with that horse and was ultimately defeated while still running a strong second with a Beyer Speed Figure of 94.

With back-to-back Beyers in the low 90’s we’re pretty certain that William Thomas is going to be a good one.  He was scheduled to run back in the N1X Allowance at Belmont on July 18 with a purse of $43,000.  However, we all agreed to opt to skip that race and hold off until Saratoga and run him in the N1X Allowance there where the purse is $48,000.  Additionally, NYRA recently announced a purse incentive program for Saratoga where allowance races that run with nine or more betting interests will receive a 15% purse increase.  This means that when William Thomas runs in the N1X at Saratoga on August 1st, if there are nine or more betting interests in the race, the purse for that race will be an astounding $55,200.  We’re eagerly awaiting that next race for William Thomas.

Grand Slam Colt - Another horse in our barn with an interesting future and interesting potential is our new two-year-old Grand Slam colt.  This colt was originally entered in the Fasig-Tipton Calder Select Sale, one of the most prestigious two-year-old sales in the country.  We purchased this horse privately after it was withdrawn from the sale and we’re elated to have him in our program. 

The story behind the acquisition of this colt is interesting. Trainer Steve Klesaris attended the Calder sale buying for his high-profile client Jeff Puglisi. Jeff routinely spends between $100,000 and $400,000 or more on his horses. This colt was on Steve’s list of horses to purchase for Jeff. Ultimately the horse was a last-minute withdrawal from the sale and Steve moved on to other horses and Jeff only bought one from that sale. When we saw that it was a quality New York-bred and a Calder horse we contacted the consigner and purchased the horse privately. The average price per horse sold in this year’s Calder sale was $235,000. In 2008 it was $344,000. Steve said, “To be able to acquire this horse and add him to our program, a Calder horse, it’s a no-brainer.” Being able to run this horse against New York-breds is almost not fair

This colt has the look of a true Steve Klesaris athlete and fits our standard profile for state-bred runners. He's by an established leading open company sire and a young well-bred mare. He, in effect, is bred for open company yet is eligible for state-bred purses. He's a registered New York-bred and will run on the Belmont/Aqueduct/Saratoga circuit. He's eligible for The Breeders Cup.

He's by leading international stallion Grand Slam who has sired an astounding 90 stakes performers. According to The Blood Horse stallion register Grand Slam is currently ranked #28 on the national sire list and was ranked #12 nationally in 2008. Grand Slam has sired, among many others, G1 Japan Dirt Derby winner Café Olympus ($2,244,819), G1 Breeders Cup Sprint winner Cajun Beat ($1,159,100), multiple graded stakes winner and now stallion Limehouse ($1,110,433), multiple graded stakes winner Strong Hope ($767,460), multiple graded stakes winner Fire Slam ($687,271), graded stakes winner and now stallion Alke ($619,385), and G1 Kings Bishop winner Visionaire.

Grand Slam was sired by leading stallion Gone West who has sired more than 95 stakes winners including Zafonic who was the champion 2-year-old colt in England and France, champion 3-year-old colt in France, and winner of the G1 Two Thousand Guineas. Gone West has also sired Speightstown who is a champion sprinter and winner of the G1 Breeders' Cup Sprint. Other notable offspring are Commendable, winner of the G1 Belmont Stakes, Da Hoss, twice winner of the G1 Breeders Cup Mile, G1 winner and now stallion Came Home, G1 winner and now stallion Johar, and G1 winner Lassigny among many others.

Gone West's other sons at stallion include Elusive Quality who's the sire of G1 classic winner Smarty Jones, and G1 classic placed Proud Citizen who's the sire of multiple G1 winner Proud Spell.

Our colt's dam is by Storm Creek who's a son of Storm Cat. Our colt's second dam has produced multiple graded stakes winner Feline Story ($435,265).

This colt has the pedigree of a horse that you’d expect to see racing at Keeneland, not in restricted company against New York-breds in New York. We love having the 3x3 cross of Mr. Prospector and Storm Cat. One rarely sees that in any New York-bred.

His conformation is very correct as one would expect from a Select Sale graduate and he vetted well. Follow this link for more information.

We’ve had a good deal of success with our New York-bred program under the guidance and care of Steve Klesaris and Linda Rice.  We anxiously await the debut of this well-bred colt and have high hopes that he’ll give us the success we’ve enjoyed with many of his stable mates.

                                                                          - Mike Oliveto, CEO Hibiscus Stables

D.A.'s Trivia Corner - Fantastic Fillies

See below for answers.
                                                                                      - Doris Ann Hayes, Hibiscus Stables
 

See You in Saratoga!

Hibiscus Stables has made its yearly pilgrimage north to set up camp in Saratoga Springs for the meet.  We look forward to spending time with partners, seeing old friends and making new ones. 

Please let us know if you plan to come up!
 

Answers to Trivia: 

1.   Answer: B. BTW- Bold Reasoning was the grandson of Bold Ruler who sired Secretariat.

2.   Answer: A. Six time leading sire in England and Ireland he sired Lady Angela the paternal granddam of Northern Dancer. PS. He’s the damsire of Citation.

3.   Answer: C. BTW- He and Hail To Reason share the same sire Turn-To (IRE).

4.  Answer: A. His race record was 22-21-1. His only loss was in The Derby. He sired Raise A Native (Mr.P’s sire) and Natalma (Northern Dancer’s dam). PS. Raise A Native sired Exclusive Native who sired Affirmed.

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