Hall Of Fame - Give Applause

Original article written by Dana Williams posted 13 years 0 weeks ago

On a bright and sunny morning 23 SIM years ago, breeder Jon Xett walked a chestnut mare from the barn. Her halter read, Auntie Mame. Behind her trailed a gangly little white faced colt. The son of Xett’s own special stallion, Future Hero. Before we start the story of the little colt, let get some background information on his pedigree.

Auntie Mame is the daughter of Theatrical who seemed to be a strong dam sire at the time She is out of the Sir Ivor mare, Lady Vixen and clearly the better of her two foals. Auntie Mame won twice over 1 1/16 miles and finished second in the Yr 1 Steward’s Cup Filly and Mare Turf. While her race record is nice, it’s not her shining point. Once she hit the breeding shed she really proved just how good she was. Of her 11 foals, four are graded stakes winners and three are millionaires.

A Star of Fame is one of her millionaires. This bay was sired by one of the big sires of the time Astarabad. A Star of Fame would hit the track 11 times over three years and walk away with six wins, four seconds and a third to his credit, with earnings just under $1.3mill. He would go on to sire 42.9% winners from 28 foals to race that earned just over $2.2mill on the track.

On Broadway is perhaps the best filly to come from the mare. Over 3 years on the track, On Broadway would find the winner’s circle six times. She made two starts in the SC Filly and Mare Turf where she finished 3rd and 2nd. Once she hit the breeding shed it was game over. On Broadway is the dam of the late Kismet. Kismet is by Tejano Causeway and like her mother she ran in the SC Filly and Mare Turf twice, walking away with a 2nd and 4th respectively. As a broodmare Kismet still has a huge influence in the Turf Route division today. Of 13 foals to run all are stakes winners. Kismet has produced big sires such as; Feature Attraction, Atlantis, Frayed and the future sire Feat. All of those stallions have earned over $2mill on the track. Of her fillies now in the breeding shed all have produced stakes winners.

Kismet’s half sister is Cabaret, who had an outstanding career winning the SC Filly & Mare Turf which eluded her dam and sister. As a broodmare, Cabaret has produced 100% stakes winners with five of six foals earning over $1mill, the sixth earned $765k. While their half brother, Emotional never made it to the breeding shed, he manage to chalk up two graded wins from eight starts. He would retire just shy of $460k in earnings. The rest of Auntie Mame’s progeny finished their careers with earnings from $16k to $162k.

Third Comet is the dam of four millionaires, one of which is a chestnut stallion called Future Hero. The relatively small stallion made a big impact on the track. Over 13 starts he won eight times on the turf and twice from two starts on dirt. Future Hero was owned by Jon Xett and was the horse he planned to take to the Steward’s Cup. Future Hero made his first attempt at the SC in Yr 3. The race went off with only and four horse field where he finished third. He would bounce back to win a G2 in his first start of Yr 4 and a G1 later before making another bid for the SC Turf Mile where he dominated the race and came back a winner. Future Hero would make six more starts after his win in the SC and five of those would see him home the winner. In the final race of his career he took another crack at the SC Turf Mile. Hero finished the race second and his racing days ended. He was sent to stud, where over the course of ten years he would sire 18 stakes winners and nine millionaires.

Some of the horses still influencing the turf mile and route divisions today are by Future Hero. Ever heard of the stallion Fearless? He’s by Opening Night, a $1.4mill earning son of Future Hero. His half sister is Cold Open who has produced two graded stakes winners of three foals to run. Then there’s Tickle out of the mare All in Fun. Tickle is the dam of millionaires, Stand Up Speak Up, Do Something and Tackle. Her top filly is Dr. Brennan who earned just under $1mill before retiring to the breeding shed.

Now back to that white faced colt who is resting in the sun next to his dam. The colt was to be named, Give Applause. Over the next 2 years he would grow into one of the best horses to enter Xett’s barn. Give Applause’s debut to the racing scene was in a MSW going 4 ½ furlongs over dirt where he would finish fourth in a field of eight. Two weeks rest and Xett lead his colt to the paddock once more to start in a $20k MSW over 5 furlongs Turf. Here Give Applause would find the winner’s circle over Turf Terror. Now it seemed Xett had found the surface the colt wanted to run on and after this he would never turn the red colt to dirt again.

The Grade 2 Commitisize Stakes marks Give Applause’s debut at a mile and stakes. He ran a hard race but would finish behind game contenders and future millionaires, Tulloch and Runaway. For the last race of his juvenile year he would once again go up against Tulloch in the Grade 1 Magellan Stakes over 1 1/16 miles. His half sister, On Broadway would also be starting this race. At the wire it would be a head bob that saw Effortless Focus the winner with only and head between second place finisher Tulloch and Give Applause taking third. On Broadway would finish a length behind Warfleet in fifth.

The start of his 3yr old season in Year 7 may very well have been the true start to Give Applause’s racing career. Two weeks into the new year he was dropped to a 6 ½ furlong Allowance for a confidence boost where he ran away with the win. Xett now feeling he was ready gave the colt four weeks off before entering him in the Grade 3 Hibiscus Stakes over 5 ½ furlongs at Flamingo Park, Florida. The colt would find his wings here. Give Applause tromped the field of five to bring home his first stakes win for Xett over older horses. Three weeks later would find Give Applause in the paddock at The Spa, NY where he was getting ready to run against older horses in the $200k Grade 3 Skip A Stream Stakes. Once again Xett found himself standing proudly beside the red colt in the winner’s circle. Give Applause had beaten older competition in two straight stakes races.

Now the favorite for the Year 7 Steward’s Cup Give Applause was due some time off and shipped to the farm. Give Applause would never make it to the Steward’s Cup that year. While in the barn at Sunshine Park, he was caught in a tragic barn fire. Ara Davies lost her prize filly, The Look in the fire. Had it not been for some brave soul, Give Applause would have been lost as well. The colt suffered severe burns to his shoulder and all dreams of the SC were put on hold while Give Applause was sent to vet hospital for a long recovery. It seemed Xett’s dreams of having Give Applause in the winner’s circle at the SC twice were long past as he watched and cared for his injured star.

After seven weeks in recovery Jon timidly saddled the colt for a return to the track. Give Applause was ready as he pranced onto the scene to make a comeback in Year 8 week 5 going a mile in an $50k allowance race at Long Island Park. Give Applause loaded into the gate and in seconds he was running gallantly out front. He would reel in the wire and win once again for Xett, proving he was indeed ready to run. The Woodbine Mile two weeks later saw him up against the likes of Calmbeforethestorm and Kawaii Pegasus. They weren’t too big of a deal to Give Applause as he easily took the win and brought home another Grade 1 title for Jon. It seemed Jon’s faith had been restored as he once again aimed the colt towards the Steward’s Cup.

Give Applause took the next hurdle with ease, winning the Grade 1 Lexington Steward’s Cup Mile. He was now entered just three weeks later in the Year 8 Steward’s Cup Turf Mile against stable mate, Pi Kappa Dancer. It seemed this was the moment Jon had been waiting for as he lead his colt in the paddock. Give Applause would not have it easy as he was up against top contenders such as Supersize, Tilt Reveals, Crowned Jewels and Fantisize. As the gates opened Give Applause shined. He flew down the track to his first Steward’s Cup victory. His stable mate running hot on his heels. Xett could not have been happier not only did he finished one-two in the race but he had pulled off a remarkable win with a colt who’s future not to long ago was uncertain.

For his debut in Year 9 Give Applause would finished second behind third place Yr 8 SC runner Tilt Reveals in the Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile. He would reel back to outrun Kawaii Pegasus once again over 1 1/8 miles in the Grade 2 Early Times Turf Classic. Now back to his winning ways, Xett put him on a path towards the Year 9 Steward’s Cup. Once again Give Applause would take the Woodbine Mile and Lexington Steward’s Cup Mile in top form. Now geared up for the final performance of his career Give Applause was once again in the paddock for the Steward’s Cup Turf Mile. His competition was heavier this time. Give Applause once again faced Tilt Reveals. He was also up against the likes of Star Studded, Touche, Soft Spoken and Christmatic. Xett ran his hand over his wide blaze and patted the colt lightly wishing him well as he sent him onto the track. Give Applause would fail to disappoint and would bring Jon Xett his second SC win in two consecutive years.

Give Applause was retired and sent to stud. Over a period of seven years, Give Applause would sire 71 foals, 70 would hit the track. Over the course of their racing career 75.7% would walk away winners and 25 would win stakes races. Give Applause’s total progeny earnings would be just $300k short of $50mill with average earning per runner rounding out to $710k. His top earner is Storm of Applause. Storm of Applause earned over $8.3mill on the track and would later sire one of the top turf sprinting sires of today, Snuggle. Dreams in Flames earned $7.3mill on the track and retired to a relatively dismal career as a stud. Whenithurtstosmile is the top mare from him and her total progeny earnings are over $2mill. Her top foal is Howforeverfeels who is still producing big runners. During his stallion career he sired 13 millionaires, three of which won over $5mill on the track.

One of the most fascinating things about Give Applause it that he could sprint just as well as he could run a mile. This made for interesting combinations over the years and may answer some questions as to why some of the top turf sprinters and milers currently can be linked back to Give Applause. His dam is also the backbone of his pedigree. During the research I found that over 135 starts have been made in Steward’s Cup Turf races, 75 of those starts brought home a top five finish. The crude breakdown goes like this, 12 wins, 21 seconds, 15 thirds, 13 fourths and 14 fifth place finishes in the SC. Give Applause himself has produced two SC winners as well as a second place, two thirds, three fourths and 2 fifth place runners in SC races.

While he may be long retired from the breeding shed and racing scene, his presence is still very strong in today’s turf racing. Give Applause was voted the Champion Turf Horse and later into the Hall Of Fame. Jon Xett must be proud of this guy!

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