TWIN CREEKS RACING reached a notable milestone in its history earlier this month when Boynton showed admirable tenacity to overcome War Decree in the Superlative Stakes.
The More Than Ready colt is set to attempt to extend his unbeaten run to three in the Vintage Stakes at Glorious Goodwood on Tuesday.
It has already been an exciting year for the Kentucky-based outfit, headed by Randy Gullatt and Steve Davison, as only a nose prevented their star three-year-old Destin from gaining Classic glory in last month’s Belmont Stakes.
Boynton‘s Newmarket victory, however, was particularly special in that it marked the first European stakes success by a Twin Creeks Farm graduate, something that Gullatt and Davison have long been keen to achieve.
“We have a lot going on at the moment but we’ve never had a good horse in Europe,” says Gullatt. “So to breed Boynton is very exciting. We’ve always wanted to breed a good one over there.”
Childhood friends Gullatt and Davison established Twin Creeks Racing during the mid 1980s. Initially, the string was low-key. Their first horse was $7,500 claimer LaVivat, whom Gullatt trained to win at Louisiana Downs.
When their second horse, another claimer, won for the team, the seeds were sown for something far greater and within several years they were celebrating multiple stakes success with the hard-knocking Missouri Ace, who had been claimed by Twin Creeks for $35,000.
Today, Twin Creeks is a regular force at Grade 1 level. Two recent renewals of the prestigious Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park have fallen to runners in their name.
Graydar, purchased by Gullatt for $260,000 as a two-year-old, set the ball rolling in 2013 and was followed two years later by Constitution, a $400,000 yearling purchase owned in partnership with WinStar Farm who had landed the Grade 1 Florida Derby the year before.
Both have since embarked on stud careers in Kentucky – Graydarstands at Taylor Made Farm for $15,000 and has first yearlings whileConstitution, by Tapit, has just completed his first season at WinStar Farm at a fee of $25,000.
Meanwhile, another Twin Creeks flagbearer, Grade 2 winner Mission Impazible, is making a positive early impact with his first runners.
Based at Sequel Stallions in New York, he heads the American first-crop sires’ list with the earners of approximately $255,000. They include recent Tremont Stakes winner Silver Mission, fittingly bred by Twin Creeks and Sequel Thoroughbreds.
What makes Boynton particularly special for Twin Creeks is that the Godolphin colt is a half-brother to Constitution. Not only that, but their 11-year-old dam Baffled has also bred Jacaranda, a daughter of Congrats who won the 2014 Grade 3 Tempted Stakes at Aqueduct.
They are the only runners from five foals out of their dam, who was trained by Jeremy Noseda to win at Lingfield and run third to Nijoom Dubai and Gleneagles’ dam You’resothrilling in the 2007 Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Baffled herself is also well connected as a Distorted Humor sister to Meydan Group 2 winner Surfer and half-sister to Grade 1 winner Emcee, now a Darley stallion in New York.
Baffled switched between the ownership of Vinery and the partnership of Grapestock LLC and Rick Porter’s Fox Hill Farm before changing hands to Twin Creeks at the 2013 Keeneland November Sale.
Offered by Vinery and Millennium Sales, she failed to sell in the ring for $360,000 but was later snapped up by the operation.
“We owned Constitution,” recalls Gullatt, “and when he was breezing quite well as a two-year-old, we thought we needed to own his mother. We were lucky enough to get her.
“She was carrying Boynton at the time and we were not disappointed when he was foaled. He was a star from day one, absolutely stunning.”
Boynton went on to sell to John Ferguson at the Keeneland September Sale for $750,000, the most ever commanded by a More Than Readyyearling at public auction.
“He was a great mover as a yearling and I remember thinking that he could excel on either turf or dirt, especially with his pedigree,” says Gullatt.
“Boynton is very similar to his dam, in fact he’s a chestnut Baffled. She’s very well made and well balanced. She looks more like a two turn horse.
“She’s been a tremendous mare. She’s thrown top notch horses on different surfaces – Constitution on dirt and now a tremendous turf horse.”
Now back in foal to Tapit and therefore carrying a full-sibling to Constitution, Baffled is under consideration to come under the hammer at one of this year’s Kentucky November breeding stock sales. Twin Creeks, however, plan to keep her yearling filly by Graydar.
“We’re big fans of Graydar,” says Gullatt of the son of Unbridled’s Song, one of the most popular first-crop sires at last winter’s breeding stock sales. “We wanted to give him a really good mare and the yearling is stunning.
“Graydar is very similar to Unbridled’s Song. His progeny are big and I predict they’re going to be quick.”
The outfit invested further in their belief of the stallion at this month’s Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July Sale when paying $200,000 for a Graydar colt out off Heavenly Ghost.
The stallion portfolio could be enhanced in due course by Destin, owned in partnership with Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners. Winner of the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby for Todd Pletcher in March, the son of Giant’s Causeway ran a cracker in the Belmont Stakes when worn down only in the dying strides by Creator.
It also doesn’t hurt that he is a brother to Airdrie Stud’s Grade 1 winner Creative Cause, already the sire of Californian stakes winner Theonewewaitedfor in his first crop of juveniles.
“Destin has been an immature colt, both mentally and physically,” says Gullatt. “He’s just now starting to fill out. He is probably going to the Jim Dandy Stakes or Haskell Invitational with the Travers Stakes the main objective after that.”
In what promises to remain an international few months for Twin Creeks, Gullatt is also not ruling out a trip to Europe to see Boynton run.
“Hopefully, we’ll get to come over and see him run,” he says. “Down the line, we’d love to see him become a stallion. Then we can send him some mares.”
With Twin Creeks’ track record of producing stallions, that dream could easily turn into reality.
By Nancy Sexton
Click Here to see full article in Racing Post- July 24, 2016
