Morvich H. (gr. III)
(gr. IIIT , abt 6.5f ,)
LEROIDESANIMAUX (BRZ)
(CH h,
117
lb) $60,000
Candy Stripes —Dissemble (GB) , by
Ahonoora (GB)
B—Haras Bage Do Sul,
BRZ.;
O—Stud TNT;
T—Robert J. Frankel
De Valmont (AUS)
(CH g,
115
lb) $20,000
Dehere —Matchmaking , by
Ahonoora (GB)
B—Segenhoe Stud,
AUS.;
O—David O'Connor;
T—Ruben Cardenas
Cayoke (FR)
(B h,
116
lb) $12,000
Always Fair —Sarah Annita , by
Pharly (FR)
B—Mme Patricia Beck,
FR.;
O—Michael House;
T—Jeff Mullins
Margins: 1¼, nose, 1½. Others: Geronimo (CHI) 118($6,000) , Irgunette (AUS) 114($2,000) , Vasywait (FR) 115 . Winning Jockey, Jon Kenton Court.
The Oct. 30 Morvich Handicap (gr. IIIT) at Santa Anita attracted six contestants, all foreign-breds. Which seems somewhat strange for a race named after the 1922 Kentucky Derby winner.
Anyways, it was Brazilian-bred Leroidesanimaux who won the Morvich as the 3-1 third choice over Australian-bred De Valmont.
Leroidesanimaux boasts two of the top Beyer Speed Figures of the year for grass runners. He earned a 111 in both the Morvich and in winning the May 1 Inglewood Handicap (gr. IIIT) in course-record time of 1:38.45 at 11/16 miles at Hollywood Park. Only four other turf performances achieved higher Beyers this year. Leroidesanimaux also possesses notable miler speed as evidenced by victories in 1:33.98 and 1:34.17 on turf at Santa Anita. Overall, he has won four of five starts since his arrival from Brazil last year.
Leroidesanimaux races for Goncalo and Regina Borges Torrealba’s T N T Stud. The couple lives in Rio de Janiero, where Goncalo Torrealba is in the banking and shipbuilding business.
Leroidesanimaux’ Morvich win came six days after T N T Stud’s Melhor Ainda won the Miss Grillo Stakes on grass by eight lengths at Belmont Park. A Kentucky-bred, 2-year-old daughter of Pulpit, Melhor Ainda has won both her starts.
T N T Stud’s other U.S. stakes winners this year are Lundy’s Liability and Lovely Rafaela. The former, bred in Brazil by Stud TNT, won the Oct. 2 Goodwood Breeders’ Cup Handicap (gr. II) in his U.S. debut. He is raced in partnership with Mrs. M. Slack.
Lovely Rafaela, also a Kentucky-bred, won the Honeymoon Breeders’ Cup Handicap (gr. IIT) at Hollywood Park in June. The day after the Morvich at Santa Anita, T N T Stud’s Lots of Hope ran second in the Las Palmas Handicap (gr. IIT). Lots of Hope was bred by Stud TNT.
Candy Stripes, sire of 52 known stakes winners, is the sire of Leroidesanimaux and Lundy’s Liability, plus nine other 2004 stakes winners. Candy Stripes has stood in both North and South America, and is based at Haras Carampangue in Argentina.—D.S.
