Nole Ksum Racing Stable

12/23/2024

Fancy Quality Race Overview

Fancy Quality stretches out to two turns and looks to bounce back from a disappointing finish this coming Saturday in the third race at Fair Grounds. Post time is 1:45 p.m. CT.

While her odds on the morning line have been quoted at 12-1, you’d have to think she’s got a better chance than that given that her debut performance stacks up well with this group and considering how up against it she was last out. The added distance really should suit her.

Best of luck. Here’s a look at the rest of the field

#1 Machiva - Six-time maiden has been runner-up in half of those starts, but they all came at Hawthorne and one was for MCL $20K. Unlikely to class up.

#2 War Siren - $155K French auction purchase is out of a mare who was second in the 2018 G1 Darley Alcibiades. Was second on debut here back in March as the chalk, but hasn’t been seen since. That hasn’t proven to have been the strongest bunch since then, but she’s still an obvious contender for strong connections.

#4 Sands of War - $550K yearling has that one big race in February when she finished third beaten just a neck at Gulfstream. The winner took a stakes race next out and is multiple graded stakes-placed now, while the runner-up broke her maiden in fast time in her next start. Her trainer’s off to a hot start and she lures Jose Ortiz. Formidable.

#5 Churning Berni - 12-time maiden’s worst-ever race was her only one on the sod.

#6 Pioneer Mission - $295K yearling is the first foal out of a talented turf mare from a big Sam-Son family. She’s debuting late in her 4-year-old season, however, for a barn that very rarely wins with newcomers.

#7 Lady Power - Goes from one DeVaux sister to the other off of two ok runs. Needs a slight step forward. Not sure we’ll see it here.

#8 Absalooka - Nearly $550K French breeze-up buy by top sire Blue Point showed nothing on debut at Laurel. Connections will be looking for a serious turnaround or it may be off to the breeding shed.

#9 Hope Mission - Godolphin homebred is out of a Turkish Group 3 winner from a very productive female family. Have to respect anything these connections send out.

#10 Time Stone - Sands of War’s stablemate feels slightly exposed at this point, having made six prior starts already. Cutting back from a pair of nine-furlong tries might help some.

#11 Rock Harbor - Fancy Quality’s stablemate does pick up Brian Hernandez, Jr. Was a distant fifth in dirt sprint unveiling back in May while under the care of a different trainer. Not a ton to love on paper, and isn’t drawn very well, but is presumably training well.

12/22/2024

Madame Secretary Workout Report

Madame Secretary breezed six furlongs in 1:15 flat this morning at Santa Anita Park. Your daughter of Constitution worked in company with stablemate Tamino, finishing second best in the later stages. The Mandella team reported this week’s work was okay, but she lacked the punch at the end that they were hoping to see. Breezing six furlongs on the main track at Santa Anita is certainly a demanding work, but Richard was using this as a test with the intention of running her on the dirt on January 3rd. Based on today’s breeze, he believes we should revert to the turf. We did enter today in a one-mile maiden special weight on grass which was an extra the overnight for next Sunday, but it does not look like the racing office will get to that extra when they draw today for a week from now. We expect that race to return on the overnight for Wednesday, January 1st.

12/22/2024

12/21/2024

Here's the Kicker Scratching

Here's the Kicker will unfortunately have to scratch from today's race at Gulfstream after spiking a fever this morning. This is no doubt a frustrating development as she was in a great spot today to potentially get a win, but all we can do is let the Joseph barn get her back to 100% and find the next available spot when she's ready. This doesn't sound like a significant or concerning illness at all at this point, but we'll of course remain in touch with Saffie and report back with anything of note. Until then, no news is good news and you can assume she's doing fine.

12/19/2024

Secret Crush Update

We have decided to move Secret Crush from Silver Springs to Highlander Training Center in Sulphur Springs, TX to continue his training. Silver Springs has done an excellent job with your gelding, but to properly progress from here, a move is necessary and farm manager Kevin Noltemeyer agreed with this plan.

Ultimately, this decision came down to weather, track conditions and the inability to have the consistent schedule we need at this point during winter in Kentucky. Your son of Candy Ride is scheduled to ship in the coming days and will arrive at Highlander this weekend. Highlander has done a tremendous job for the MyRacehorse and Edge stables, most notably getting Seize the Grey ready for his big 3-year-old campaign. In addition, they have an excellent therapy barn on site with options including a cold saltwater spa, two AquaTreads, vibration plates, regenerative laser and more, which will be beneficial tools to have at our disposal over the next 60 days as the intensity of his training increases.

12/19/2024

Improbable Luck Update

We just wanted to pass along an update from trainer D. Wayne Lukas on Improbable Luck. He continues to recover very quickly from the infection and is just about set to pick the pace back up

12/18/2024

Madame Secretary Workout Report

Madame Secretary breezed five furlongs in 1:01.20 yesterday morning at Santa Anita Park. Your daughter of Constitution worked on the outside of stablemate Wren and traveled easily throughout. Trainer Richard Mandella is still eyeing the maiden special weight on Jan. 3 for your filly. She will likely breeze twice more leading up to that race.

12/16/2024

Here's the Kicker
Owner Update
21 minutes ago
Here's the Kicker Race Overview
Here’s the Kicker is set to face off against seven rivals this Saturday in the seventh race at Gulfstream Park, a first-level allowance optional claiming event. Saffie Joseph has tabbed leading jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. to pilot your filly. The race is slated for seven furlongs on the dirt and post time is 3:21 p.m. ET.
Your daughter of Liam’s Map seeks a return to the winner’s circle following a second-place finish at this same level last time out. The winner of that race, Ruthless Rua, came back to win a second-level allowance at Churchill Downs, which certainly flatters Here’s the Kicker’s form. As previously mentioned, Saffie opted for this sprint version of the condition to avoid uncertainty of going two turns for the first time, and looking at the race on paper, it certainly seems like the right choice as the filly appears to be a top contender. Best of luck to all owners.

#1 Personal Choice: Looks to be a major player in this race should she pick up where she left off this past July. Shows some sharp works as she returns off the layoff. With that being said, the competition she faced during the summer at Gulfstream Park was certainly lighter than what she will face in this race, although her Beyer figures put her at the top in here.

#2 Le Beau: Here's the Kicker's stablemate and her most recent workmate in a breeze that generally didn’t tell us very much as to how they stack up with each other (neither filly was asked to go all out). Zayas gets the call for this filly, however, we got the rider upgrade with Ortiz. Has only made one start on the dirt in her career, in which she was second in an off-the-turfer and earned a 53 Beyer figure.

#3 Done Enough: Will be making her first start off of an 11-month layoff for the red-hot Sweezey barn, which has been winning at a 50% clip thus far at Gulfstream’s Championship Meet. Will get Lasix for the first time and if she moves forward, which her morning works indicate she may do, should be able to compete for a placing in this group. The filly she was third behind last time in the Cash Run S. subsequently took three graded stakes, including the G1 Alabama.

#4 Arch Street: Will be going seven furlongs for the first time in her career. Has slower Beyer figures compared to most in this race and will need substantial improvement to contend for a win against this group. Her dam was a graded stakes winner over track and trip, for whatever that's worth.

#5 Both Sides: Steps up in class here off of a victory at the non-winners-of-three $8K claiming level. Likely outclassed against this group, though the barn has been in the money in 80% of their starts at the meet.
#6 Mama Maria: Has consistently run slower figures than what is needed to compete against this field. Would be a shocking victoress.

#7 New Diamond: Was a debut winner as a 2-year-old, but just hasn’t panned out at all since then. Cuts back in distance and switches back to the dirt following a subpar effort against $50K claimers last time out. The barn does, however, strike at 36% with runners cutting back from route to sprint distances, as well as 21% with runners switching from turf to dirt.

12/14/2024

Incredible Update
Enjoy this recent update on Incredible at Wavertree Stables in Ocala. He is doing well during his winter break, where he is spending as much time turned out as possible. Given that the purpose of this break was for a reset and no specific timeline was necessary for a physical issue, he should be ready to return to training after 60 days off (approximately January 1st.)
We plan on gelding Incredible before his return to the track as we believe this can only benefit him and increase our chances of him being a better racehorse. It’s pretty safe to say given Incredible’s first three races as a 2-year-old that the likelihood of him ever becoming a stallion is extremely low, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have the right to improve as he matures and we are willing to give him that opportunity. Authentic’s progeny have really started to come on of late.

12/14/2024

Improbable Luck Update

Improbable Luck was cleared to return to Oaklawn Park and has already made it to Hot Springs. He will tack walk for a bit to allow him to settle back into the Lukas program and build up some strength/conditioning and Wayne will determine when he's ready for an increased workload. Improbable Luck really seems to have taken this setback in stride and shown a good, strong constitution in the process.

12/14/2024

Isle Blue Update

We were out to see Isle Blue this morning at Two Springs farm in Ocala, FL. They recently had to back off in her training as she has developed a splint--a relatively minor and very common setback. Your daughter of Speightstown will start back up training again in about two weeks once the splint cools down. We’ll continue to keep you updated as new information comes our way.

12/14/2024

Here's the Kicker Workout Report

Here’s the Kicker worked a half-mile outside of stablemate Le Beau this morning at Palm Meadows in :49.15. Le Beau boasts over $86,000 in earnings as a winner of one race from 12 starts. Your daughter of Liam’s Map remains on track for a start next week. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.'s preference falls on December 22nd going 1 1/16 miles, but is keeping the seven-furlong option on December 21st open as well. While Saffie has always thought stretching out in distance would be a benefit, his thoughts were as follows: "Two turns, it’s a bit of unknown. I would feel confident with a one-turn mile, but two turns is a different element, although the mile and a sixteenth at Gulfstream is a shorter wire. We will play it by ear and finalize a decision in the morning."

Entries for the seven-furlong option will be taken tomorrow and the two-turn option on Sunday. We'll report back once Here's the Kicker gets in.

12/10/2024

Madame Secretary Workout Report

Madame Secretary returned to the work tab this morning at Santa Anita Park, covering five furlongs in 1:02.20. Your daughter of Constitution breezed by herself, breaking off from the half-mile pole. By intention, she was geared down into the turn and asked to accelerate in the stretch. She finished her work one furlong past the wire, completing the final 3/8 in :37 flat.

At this time, trainer Richard Mandella wants to get her stretched out ASAP and was encouraged with the finish in today’s work over the dirt. Our current target will be a straight 3-year-old filly maiden special weight contested at a mile the dirt on January 3rd.

It’s also worth noting that Madame Secretary’s year-older half-sister Citational—a $1.35-million yearling—romped by 10 1/4 lengths to break her maiden at Tampa Bay Downs this past Friday. That was the filly’s first time around two turns after a pair of sprint attempts.