Page 43 - February_2023

The win by Empressum in the Champion of Champions-G1 is a fitting tribute to the race and its legacy.
SPEEDLINES
SPEEDHORSE February 2023 41
He then explained how the timing was right for the breeding to Apollitical Jess. “I told Jeff that he was the best sire out there. I told him if we are going to breed to him, we better do it now because we are just working folks and we have a little money. So, we can’t wait and go pay $40,000 as he is going to jump high and that was the year that he went from $7,800 to $12,000 so that was the time to do it. That is the main reason, and he was a super sire in my opinion.”
He then added, “We believed in the mare and bred her. In my opinion Crazy Down Corona is probably the best First Down Dash mare you will ever walk around. I thought the Mr Jess Perry on that Thoroughbred family (Apollo) on the First Down Dash crossed on the Corona Cartel would work. I based it on the analytics I saw as I studied to see how it would work, and it ended up being right.”
THE SIRE
There is a saying that “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” when we talk genetics and that is true when we look at Apollitical Jess and his son Empressum. We will also note that the tail female line of Apollitical Jess has in interesting pedigree tie to the name of his son Empressum.
The racing industry took notice of Apollitical Jess when he was named the 2010 World Champion, Champion Three Year Old and Champion Three-Year-Old Colt. He quietly started his racing career at two with six starts, two wins and three seconds including a second in the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity-G1. Empressum, like his
back in the Vessels Maturity-G1 to win the 400-yard race wire-to-wire in a time of :19.329, the third fastest time for this prestigious race. His next start came in the $100,000 Go Man Go Handicap-G1 where he won wire-to-wire in a time of :19.312, which was the second fastest time ever run in this race. The next start for Empressum was the Robert L. Boniface Invitational Championship Stakes-G1 in October where he faltered and finished second to 2-time Champion of Champions-G1 winner Apollitical Pence.
The Champion of Champions-G1 was next and when it was race time Empressum broke third, but soon took the lead and he never relinquished it. He crossed the finish line first in a time of :21.089 by 1 1/4-lengths. He was followed by Danjer, Apollitical Pence, Bomb Cyclone and A Pollitical Candy V. The first four horses to cross the finish line had a speed index of 103 or more. They were Empressum (111), Danjer (106), Apollitical Pence (104) and Bomb Cyclone (103). Empressum earned the $375,000 purse to bring his earnings for the year to $587,896 with four wins in six starts and two seconds. The win by Empressum in the Champion of Champions-G1 is a fitting tribute to the race and its legacy.
The World Championship title by Empressum gives us the opportunity to delve into his pedigree and some of the factors that led to his success. Empressum was sired by Apollitical Jess and out of Crazy Down Corona by First Down Dash. Holt described the circumstances behind the breeding of Crazy
Down Corona to Apollitical Jess. “I’m kind
of an analytics type person and if people look
at Equibase it provides information on how
a stallion performs and how they perform on different type families and how their numbers compare to other studs. I study that information in my decisions on breeding our mares and I believe Apollitical Jess is second to none since First Down Dash, based on the numbers that he is the best sire out there. When he first started, he was getting good mares, but he wasn’t getting the blue hen bunch like a lot of stallions get.”
World Champion Apollitical Jess, sire of Empressum.
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