From "Pop and Stop" to just "Pop"
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WinStar Farm held an open house May 12 to introduce breeders to its newest stallion—track record-setting Nashville , a son of prominent stallion Speightstown , who also stands at WinStar.
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This must be something akin to Fredo dropping out of community college and moving back in with Vito Corleone…
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Racing by China Horse Club and WinStar, Nashville established one of several stakes records set during the second day of the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Keeneland Nov. 7, 2020, when he won the six-furlong Perryville Stakes on the undercard.
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Wow, one of SEVERAL stakes records on the card? I guess the track man was the star of the show that day…
For those keeping score, Nashville has the stakes record for the Perryville, a race that his been run a grand total of 14 times. Oh…and it has only been run twice at 6 furlongs…
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He took the field through sizzling opening fractions of :21.54 and :43.87 for the half-mile when he built a six-length advantage. Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. let off the gas and Nashville glided to a 3 1/2-length win in a record 1:07.89.
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So he got a clear lead in a 6 furlong sprint? Must have been a deep field.
Let’s see, every also-ran in the race with the exception of Bango ended up running in claiming races. And not including Bango’s 3 listed stakes wins last year, I think the other 6 horses (including Nashville) have accounted for 5 subsequent victories, all for claiming tags aside from Nashville’s allowance win at Fair Grounds.
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The performance earned Nashville a 102 Beyer Speed Figure and 117 Equibase Speed Figure. The Perryville's final time was faster than subsequent Eclipse champion sprinter Whitmore's time of 1:08.61 in the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) later that day.
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Well, Whitmore registered a higher BSF despite the slower time.
Considering Nashville’s subsequent peformances when hounded on the lead (i.e. all but his Fair Grounds allowance), I’m sure he would have finished at least 14th in that 2020 BC Sprint…
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"Nashville is the fastest horse we have ever had at WinStar," said Elliott Walden, president, CEO, and racing manager of WinStar.
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Paradoxically, Nashville is also the slowest horse they’ve ever had at WinStar…
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"He is a freak of nature. Three times he went :43 and change; he led through the first quarter in every start and led after a half in all but one start.
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At the same time, he did not lead at the wire in all but one of his 4 stakes starts.
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The brilliance he showed will give him a big chance at stud.
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Double edged sword for stud duty. Since he’s so quick he might be able to breed a larger number of mares, but if he’s just gonna peter out every time, they might as well just use him as a teaser…
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Nashville was a serious racehorse from the beginning…
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…but not at the finish…
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…starting his career undefeated in his first three outings for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.
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…until he had to run against other “serious” racehorses…
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He broke his maiden in dazzling fashion in his career debut with an 11 1/2-length romp in a maiden special weight going 6 1/2 furlongs at Saratoga Race Course. In his debut, he blazed through opening fractions of :21.50, :43.87, and 1:07.92 on his way to closing out with a final time of 1:14.48. Prior to the Perryville, he won a six-furlong allowance race at Keeneland by 9 3/4 lengths.
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So winning by some 20+ lengths in his first 2 wins, I guess you could say he was able to rest on his laurels the rest of his career…well, not quite because funny enough, he got beat 20+ lengths in his final career start…
Looks like his overall race record paralleled his usual running line…
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Later in his 3-year-old year, he finished fourth in the 2020 Runhappy Malibu Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park.
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Later? Yeah, 6 weeks later when he was supposed to be at his peak. Oh and he finished a distant 4th to a better son of Speightstown…
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This season, Nashville recorded a wire-to-wire victory at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in March where he won by 4 3/4 lengths over six furlongs, covering the distance in 1:08.61, the fastest sprint race of the entire Fair Grounds meet and the fastest time at that distance in more than two years.
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It’s a shame he couldn’t do any of this historically importance stuff in a historically important race…
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He concluded his racing career with a 10th-place finish in the April 9 Commonwealth Stakes (G3) at Keeneland.
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Going by Elliot Walden’s line of thinking, his racing career ended after the ˝ mile pole…
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Speightstown, who was the 2004 Eclipse champion sprinter, is an obvious source of speed for Nashville but the 5-year-old gets additional racing class through his dam Veronique, a Mizzen Mast half sister to multiple stakes winner Almond Roca and graded stakes-placed winner Calistoga.
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Coincidentally both Almond Roca and Calistoga also had “all or nothing” careers that saw them win races of no consequence by open lengths and lay nothing but goose eggs in top level races…
So maybe Nashville got all of his “class” from his damside and only some good early speed from his champion sire.
“It’s the way Pop wanted it”
“It AIN’T the way I WANTED IT!”
05-13-2022, 08:06 AM
Nashville Retired
Hybrid Mode
