Post by S u N f r O s t ~ on Feb 18, 2014 17:48:41 GMT -5
Over the past week, Amber Black has been finalizing her retirement plans for this season and forming up a competitive racing string for Year Fifteen. Today we managed to catch up with her on these retirement plans, and she has a lot of surprising news to announce.
Sizzling Dawn is the first topic of conversation we talked about. Sizzling Dawn is the daughter of Barely A Moment and Flash At Dawn who stole the show last season in the Preakness Stakes, Consumato Derby and the Risorgimento Derby, her most notable victory coming in the latter over stable mate and Year Twelve Horse of the Year Eternal Phantom. Dawn was tough as nails last season, especially over the Wire track, but so far this season has not been as electrifying. When asked about it, Amber Black cited conflict between stablemates as the primary issue. SOPS sure does have a lot of older grade ones who love the classic dirt distance, and separating them is a tricky policy. This has led to Amber's recent announcement that Sizzling Dawn was available for lease to any stable that put forth an application, an announcement that made headlines last week. Dawn is certainly a classy mare and we'd hate to see her four year old season go to waste, but it may if no stable steps up.
And now for the mare we've all wanted to hear about - Lynara's Kingdom. The mare who shot to the top of the charts over the past two seasons has been a far cry from her usual electrifying self this season. Amber Black has warded off comments so far, but after losing the Wire Finish Cup Turf and having her mare's bid for Wire Legend ended so quickly, Amber has been willing to open up to us a bit more about this mare. "There are few horses who have had as impressive a career as Lynara," she told us, "but even her time will come to an end. As of today, I have finalized plans to retire Lynara in mid-July after a final career start in the Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf. This decision was not made easily at all, but it simply seems to be the best course of action." When asked about post-retirement plans, all Amber had to say was "She'll be the mother of fantastic horses and we're considering both the Green Horse Fields Hall of Fame and nomination for Champion status at the Wire for this brilliant mare." No stud has yet been marked down for Year Fifteen for this mare; we'll just have to wait and see.
Amber Black further revealed that Forbidden To Fly and Eternal Phantom would be retiring at the end of the season, hinting that Forbidden To Fly would appear in the Dubai World Sprint and Eternal Phantom in the Dubai World Championship if both were invited. "Both of their seasons have been fabulous so far, especially Eternal Phantom's. We're hoping to capture the Sprint and the Classic with them this time around," she was heard saying. Both certainly look up to the task, with nothing but Horse of the Year selection races and top two finishes all the way around thus far.
Further horses to be retired are Royal Cadenza and Royal Assassin, the two fast-rising horses SOPS purchased from Star Thoroughbreds last August. And potential retirees haven't even been included on this last yet. "It all depends on next year's roster," says Black. "We're hoping to make Italian Ice a marathoner while keeping her over the dirt, but I'd watch this one really carefully considering her record in the Wire Finish Cup." She declined to comment further on that, instead plowing on excitedly about her future plans. "We have plans to make In The Spotlight more of a turf miler and to switch Wish Upon A Star over to the turf marathons for next season. Our dirt classic division for Year Fifteen will be full of nothing but newcomers though - only Battle Wings and Limited Edition will contend, as the rest will either retire or focus on the marathons. It'll certainly be a change!" She laughs at that, and we couldn't help laughing with her.
Perhaps we'll be seeing more frequent retirements and less adherence to the old retire-after-five-year-old-season only policy from SOPS. On the subject of that, Amber Black had to say "I'm trying to keep an open mind on the matter. I've been advised several times to be more liberal in retiring my horses and I can't see the problems with that if they've already proven themselves on the track. Unless, of course, they still want to run. Take Phantie - that's one mare that's never going to be quite done!". When asked about which of her divisions would be strongest in Year Fifteen, Amber Black did not hesitate in her answer even though Year Fifteen is nine months away. "All of our divisions will be strong! I'd keep an eye out for everybody - a lot can change in a short amount of time," she says, eyes twinkling.
That closed out our quick (?) interview with Amber Black. Stay tuned for more info on SOPS as time goes on and plans continue to change!
Sizzling Dawn is the first topic of conversation we talked about. Sizzling Dawn is the daughter of Barely A Moment and Flash At Dawn who stole the show last season in the Preakness Stakes, Consumato Derby and the Risorgimento Derby, her most notable victory coming in the latter over stable mate and Year Twelve Horse of the Year Eternal Phantom. Dawn was tough as nails last season, especially over the Wire track, but so far this season has not been as electrifying. When asked about it, Amber Black cited conflict between stablemates as the primary issue. SOPS sure does have a lot of older grade ones who love the classic dirt distance, and separating them is a tricky policy. This has led to Amber's recent announcement that Sizzling Dawn was available for lease to any stable that put forth an application, an announcement that made headlines last week. Dawn is certainly a classy mare and we'd hate to see her four year old season go to waste, but it may if no stable steps up.
And now for the mare we've all wanted to hear about - Lynara's Kingdom. The mare who shot to the top of the charts over the past two seasons has been a far cry from her usual electrifying self this season. Amber Black has warded off comments so far, but after losing the Wire Finish Cup Turf and having her mare's bid for Wire Legend ended so quickly, Amber has been willing to open up to us a bit more about this mare. "There are few horses who have had as impressive a career as Lynara," she told us, "but even her time will come to an end. As of today, I have finalized plans to retire Lynara in mid-July after a final career start in the Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf. This decision was not made easily at all, but it simply seems to be the best course of action." When asked about post-retirement plans, all Amber had to say was "She'll be the mother of fantastic horses and we're considering both the Green Horse Fields Hall of Fame and nomination for Champion status at the Wire for this brilliant mare." No stud has yet been marked down for Year Fifteen for this mare; we'll just have to wait and see.
Amber Black further revealed that Forbidden To Fly and Eternal Phantom would be retiring at the end of the season, hinting that Forbidden To Fly would appear in the Dubai World Sprint and Eternal Phantom in the Dubai World Championship if both were invited. "Both of their seasons have been fabulous so far, especially Eternal Phantom's. We're hoping to capture the Sprint and the Classic with them this time around," she was heard saying. Both certainly look up to the task, with nothing but Horse of the Year selection races and top two finishes all the way around thus far.
Further horses to be retired are Royal Cadenza and Royal Assassin, the two fast-rising horses SOPS purchased from Star Thoroughbreds last August. And potential retirees haven't even been included on this last yet. "It all depends on next year's roster," says Black. "We're hoping to make Italian Ice a marathoner while keeping her over the dirt, but I'd watch this one really carefully considering her record in the Wire Finish Cup." She declined to comment further on that, instead plowing on excitedly about her future plans. "We have plans to make In The Spotlight more of a turf miler and to switch Wish Upon A Star over to the turf marathons for next season. Our dirt classic division for Year Fifteen will be full of nothing but newcomers though - only Battle Wings and Limited Edition will contend, as the rest will either retire or focus on the marathons. It'll certainly be a change!" She laughs at that, and we couldn't help laughing with her.
Perhaps we'll be seeing more frequent retirements and less adherence to the old retire-after-five-year-old-season only policy from SOPS. On the subject of that, Amber Black had to say "I'm trying to keep an open mind on the matter. I've been advised several times to be more liberal in retiring my horses and I can't see the problems with that if they've already proven themselves on the track. Unless, of course, they still want to run. Take Phantie - that's one mare that's never going to be quite done!". When asked about which of her divisions would be strongest in Year Fifteen, Amber Black did not hesitate in her answer even though Year Fifteen is nine months away. "All of our divisions will be strong! I'd keep an eye out for everybody - a lot can change in a short amount of time," she says, eyes twinkling.
That closed out our quick (?) interview with Amber Black. Stay tuned for more info on SOPS as time goes on and plans continue to change!
