Y17 Status Reports

The daughter of Dark Charmer and foundation mare Charity has proven to be very consistent, and though she hasn't yet broken her maiden, we know it's just a matter of time. Like her half-brother Chiquato, she's been a late bloomer, but she seems to be getting more and more mature with each start.

This Warlock filly is rounding out very nicely, even though she's not considered a front-runner in the division. However, she's definitely not a low man on the totem pole either. She's poising herself to be very strong in the second half of the year, as long as her fields are carefully chosen, and we're very excited to see where she will go. She has been working well, particularly on higher speeds at the shorter distance of her range. She has proven herself to be a very effective router, but we are trying hard to also cultivate her prowess at the distances between a mile and an eighth and that mile and a half.

Being a half to three-year-old superstar Black Thriller, Night Terror has been a bit frustrating at times for the staff. He has such brilliance and speed, but he is hard to handle and sometimes outright belligerent even during a race. However, there is some hope. The plan is pretty clear for the rest of the year - season him, help him to mature and come more to hand, and hopefully go into Y18 with a strong base of experience he can grow from. He's already shown some strength, having broken his maiden in a big field - he just needs to reign that power in and focus it better on the race. That being said, with his last two races being in the money, he's on the right track!

The newest addition to Valkyrie, the very well-bred colt is already fitting in well to the thin Valkyrie racing string. In some ways, he is very similar in personality to Shenanigans, so it wasn't a stretch to put Tigris Greenfire on the horse. He's used to riding a powerful horse under hand-ride only, and they seem to be clicking very well. In a year of very difficult juvenile fields, the colt has managed to stay consistently in the money, and it incredibly poised to be a threat as the year goes on. He's already got good HOTY* experience under his belt, and it setting up to run his first race in Valkyrie purple.

While more lightly raced than some this season, Flawless Majesty has continued his winning ways. There's been some trouble finding races for him that truly fit his miler nature, but for better or worse, the Green Mile is upon us. We're very excited to see what this colt will be able to do in that, his preferred field and the one that he has been preparing for his whole career. His most recent race, which will likely end up his last prep before the Lure, was a second in the Flatfoot Mile*.

The first foal of Valkyrie's mare Castle Siege, Laddie Luck has been more successful than anyone could have dared hope. A son of then-Stride of Perfection's Foolish Lad, the bay colt has proven his classic routing pedigree with a win last-out in the Belmont Turf Classic*. Prior to that race, the colt did not fair poorly in the other legs of the series - he was second in the Kentucky Open* and third in the Preakness Champion Stakes*. There was some talk about taking the leggy colt to the distance series later in the year, but the farm has decided that the colt is precocious enough to start his campaign toward the Breeders' Cup Turf. While it's going to be a tough go against seasoned competitors, the team feels that it's the best move to prepare the colt not only for this year's race, but those in the coming years as well.

The son of Native Harlot has found his legs well since arriving at Valkyrie, and is entered in the Queen's Plate as one of the biggest gambles of the year - however, the team doesn't feel it's an entry without merit. The colt was undeniably one of the top juveniles of Y16, and has all of the class and competitive edge he carried over from that season. It's evident in even his couple of starts this year, not yet having finished worse than second, that he is more than capable of pulling the upset.

The Dark Charmer filly has been pretty quietly chugging along for us, running in any available races that she can. She's been doing well, and we expect she'll continue to do so against a mostly younger crowd.