Leading 2-year-old colt Not This Time has been retired from racing after a brilliant runner-up performance in the Nov. 5 Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I) at Santa Anita Park with a career-ending soft tissue injury to his right front leg.
Taylor Made Stallions has acquired 50% of the son of Giant's Causeway —Miss Macy Sue, by Trippi, from owner and breeder Albaugh Family Stable, and will stand the colt at its farm near Nicholasville, Ky., for $15,000 stands and nurses.
"Not This Time has it all, and was arguably the best 2-year-old in 2016," said Taylor Made's Duncan Taylor. "He just oozed brilliance, from the moment he trounced maiden company by 10 lengths, to his 8 3/4-length decimation of the competition in the grade III Iroquois. He even ran the fastest Ragozin number in the field in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, despite coming out of the race with the injury. As a matter of fact, Not This Time's 4 3/4 Ragozin is the fastest in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile since Uncle Mo in 2010.
"On top of his talent, this colt is a half brother to last year's Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (gr. I) winner, Liam's Map , and, physically, Not This Time is one of the best-looking horses I've ever seen. People will see it for themselves when they come out to look at him. He's out of one of the very best families going right now, and everything in it is good looking. The genetics just don't miss. He's by a sire of sires in Giant's Causeway, and his dam Miss Macy Sue is line bred to champion Ta Wee," added Taylor.
Dennis Albaugh of Albaugh Family Stable said: "Not This Time ran such a huge 2-year old campaign, and being considered a top contender for next year's Kentucky Derby, it really saddens me that his racing career is ending too soon. I'm so proud of his dam Miss Macy Sue, who we still have. She had really delivered with quality stakes horses like Taylor S and Liam's Map before, and now Not This Time. I am very excited about staying a part of his stallion career."
Trained by Dale Romans, Not This Time was the 5-2 favorite for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile after his runaway win in the $150,000 Iroquois in September. The striking dark bay colt displayed a powerful closing punch in the stretch of that race to earn an 86 Beyer Speed Figure and a 6 1/2 Ragozin number for the effort. In his previous start, Not This Time broke his maiden impressively by 10 lengths at Ellis Park in August, running a mile in 1:35.99 with a final eighth of a mile in 11.82 seconds while being geared down at the wire by jockey Robby Albarado.
"What I felt was extreme talent there. That was some kind of feeling. He's one of the best I've ever sat on," said Albarado.
Not This Time was a valiant runner-up in the recent Breeders' Cup Juvenile, breaking from post 10 and rallying to finish a neck behind Classic Empire at the wire, 7 1/2 lengths clear of the third-place finisher. Both colts earned a 102 Beyer and a 0 Thoro-Graph for the performance—the fastest Beyer and Thoro-Graph by a 2-year-old colt in 2016. Not This Time earned a 4 3/4 Ragozin for the performance, which was faster than any horse in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile field, including Classic Empire's 5 1/2 Ragozin.
"It's a real shame to see him leave the barn before we got to see him fulfill his enormous potential, because there's no doubt in my mind he was as good of a Kentucky Derby contender as there is out there," said Romans. "I told (owner) Dennis (Albaugh) he better stay in on him as a stallion because he's going to be the next Danzig. This horse is the real deal. Spooky good, like I've said before. He looks the part, he had the mindset for it, he had the talent and turn of foot. There's just nothing missing with him."
An earner of $454,183, Not This Time is out of the Trippi mare Miss Macy Sue, a graded stakes winner and Breeders' Cup grade I-placed earner of $880,915. Miss Macy Sue has been even better as a producer, as she is also the dam of promising young sire Liam's Map, a multiple grade I-winning millionaire who captured his biggest victory in the 2015 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (gr. I), and stakes winner and grade II-placed filly Taylor S. Miss Macy Sue is currently in foal to Tapit, and she has a Bodemeister yearling colt. They reside at Taylor Made Farm, where Not This Time was raised and now takes up residence at stud.
