WON: DPCD Mother Story Handicap(G1), Margarine Stakes(G2), Spirit Of Texas Memorial(G3)
2nd: Breeders Bowl Juvenile Filly(G1), The Masterab Lassie Stakes(G1)

No Apagues La Luz Lights Up The Sim

By- Cvbear

Someone in the “super” stables conglomerate is an Enrique Iglesias fan. Or maybe not. But the name No Apagues La Luz is also the title of one of his songs; it roughly translates in English to “Don’t turn off the lights.” Considering how the filly which possesses the name also managed to possess five wins in seven starts in 2005, the name seems to fit her like a glove, as her light could not be extinguished in a highly successful two-year-old campaign. It is this tremendous record, marked by three graded wins, that has earned No Apagues La Luz the highest Sim honor, the 2005 Eclipse Award for Champion Two-Year-Old Filly.

No Apagues La Luz was born through the “he-mare” process, a method to create a Sim foal using an existing male horse. The attributes of the male horse, the “he-mare”, combine with the attributes of the sire, in order to create something new and potentially exciting. Here, the lucky horse becoming a “he-mare” was the talented Grade I winner Spirit Of Texas. Spirit Of Texas won the 2004 editions of the Grade I Sand Castle Golden Sprint, as well as the Grade III Backseat Driver Stakes, in a full career in which he earned in excess of $1.35 million through 10 victories over four years and 37 starts. He was a come-from-nowhere type, which is remarkable for a sprinter such as he was, but it translated a whole lot better to a horse that could stay a distance of ground.

Now, as most folks around the Sim know, when it comes to breeding over a colt, you have one shot to get it right, so every little detail is a vital component. Choosing the right sire is, really, like choosing the right spouse, but with the fact that you can only breed to a “he-mare” once, you need to choose wisely. Ultimately, the sire Empire Maker was selected for his stamina, and the diagram of the pedigree is pretty neat and tidy, as the filly shows inbreeding to Northern Dancer, Mr. Prospector, Nearctic, Native Dancer, Natalma, Gold Digger, Raise A Native (the only figure in the pedigree to show up three times) and In Reality. With a strong pedigree like this, there were only two options for the future of the new juvenile: smashing success, or overblown obscurity. On an early spring day in the beautiful province of Ontario, the truth would begin to emerge. Representing the silks of the super21 stables, it was feast or famine…and someone was particularly hungry.

It was a Friday afternoon, March 25. The weather near Toronto was clear and cool, the track fast and hot. A field of eight was entered into a matinee race for two-year-old fillies, with some solid sires being represented by some good fillies. Stallions such as Anabaa, Orientate, Soto, Strong Hope, Tapit, Mutinyonthebounty(GB), and A.P. Jet were well-represented, but the blue-blooded pedigree of No Apagues La Luz allowed the filly to be sent off as the even-money chalk in the five-furlong dash. When they left the gate, instinct took over for this brown filly: she broke well, and settled back in mid-pack early on, conceding the early lead. With about five-sixteenths left to go, she went under the whip of jockey B Renfroe. A couple of cracks, and she began to pull even with the early leader. She put her head in front by mid-stretch, and when one of her main rivals began her late edge, one nudge of the whip, and No Apagues La Luz drew clear to a professional, length-and-a-quarter victory. The time for this early test was a sharp :59 4/5, which gave her a speed figure of 63. For a juvenile filly, the race was an auspicious debut, and though she had some green to shake off, she responded professionally when asked. You can’t ask more of a raw juvenile filly than that.

Fast forward to Middle Jewel Day, Saturday, May 21. Toronto was looking good in the middle of another mild Canadian spring day, and the track again was fast for a bustling crowd and a field of thirteen horses duking it out in a NW1x allowance. The field was front-loaded with future talent, as a pair of talented fillies would emerge from this race as future graded-stakes winners, and a third would also become a stakes winner. Though No Apagues La Luz was an impressive debut winner, she was not the favorite of the crowd; in fact, No Apagues La Luz was the third choice of the wagering public. But she kept her cool, and she also kept her jockey from her debut, B Renfroe, who decided to give her a different ride in this six-furlong allowance test. Knowing that this field would have some faster horses involved than the maiden race, he decided, upon the trainer’s instructions, to keep the filly’s head in the game a bit more. As they broke, facing a swifter early pace, the rider kept her within a couple of lengths of the swifter pace. Racing on the outside, the rider was patient throughout the opening half of the race, finally coaxing a late run on the far turn to maneuver her to within a length of the lead, and by the time they hit the eighth pole, No Apagues La Luz had gathered enough momentum to move her past the faltering speed into the lead. In deep stretch, the rider, clear of the field, eased up on the relaxed filly, and eased her under the wire one length ahead of the place horse, future Grade II winner Smokin Lois. It was a thoroughly professional performance: No Apagues La Luz stopped the timer in 1:10 4/5 for the six furlongs, and this effort was rewarded with a speed figure of 87, which, by the standards of a still-green two-year-old, is a particularly impressive achievement. Still, there were some things to work on for No Apagues La Luz, and even though Smokin Lois was back then only second-best in this allowance, these two future stars would get much better acquainted.

Ontario was, and perhaps still is, the home base of operations for No Apagues La Luz, but the favorable weather of Ontario made it feel a lot more like paradise, which explains why this filly has raced four times there, more starts than at any other track in the Sim during her brief career. Not one for shying away from the bright lights, the super21 conglomerate decided that because she had shown some remarkable abilities so early in her young career, that she was ready for a Ph. D. in Sim racing. The choice of her next start was the race closest to their collective hearts, the race named after her pedigreed “he-mare”, the Grade III Spirit Of Texas Memorial, being run once again at Ontario. It was Canada Day weekend, July 2, the day after a major Canadian holiday, and so it was shaping up to be a very festive summer celebration. The weather was now hot, but the competition was even hotter; the field of nine included No Apagues La Luz’s early nemesis Smokin Lois as well as a newcomer, future Grade I winner Crabby Patties, along with another trio of horses who had won listed stakes, or would become stakes-placed in their juvenile campaigns. But though the deck was stacked, No Apagues La Luz still went off the 7-2 favorite, a sign that the public saw something special in her. And she would not disappoint.

Once again, B Renfroe was in the irons, and this time, they had their routine down cold. The gates opened, and she began to rate pretty quickly, falling back to eighth in the field of nine. The concern here was that, for the first time, she drew the rail, and would have to try and use her late run while weaving through traffic on the inside. This proved one more time to be no problem; after drifting almost five lengths from the front, with three-and-a-half furlongs to go she began to move, and the rail was clear of traffic. As the field hit the top of the lane, she was an unstoppable force, and the other fillies, particularly Smokin Lois and Crabby Patties, were making no inroads on the tiring leader. Inside the final furlong, she put a head in front and quickly drew clear, and was an easy winner by a length-and-a-half over Smokin Lois, who had nothing left at the end. If the allowance race looked too dazzling by comparison, this race was the most professional of her career, because she rated beautifully despite the inside post, and closed with a flourish while many of the other talented fillies in this Grade III looked as if they were standing still. No Apagues La Luz completed the six-and-a-half furlong dash in a solid 1:17 2/5, and received an 86 fig for her efforts. No Apagues La Luz was 3-for-3. No Apagues La Luz was a star… or so went the assumption. But stars can sometimes crash to earth.

With a graded triumph under her belt, the next logical step was another rise in competition. The goal was the Grade I Masterab Lassie Stakes, an open Nexis-sponsored stakes that featured the best of the best of her generation and gender. It meant crossing the border and shipping into Upper New York and away from her usual routine for the first time, and there was some muted skepticism about her chances with a new jockey on board for the first time. This was also a seven-furlong test, and though No Apagues La Luz handled most every incremental addition of distance without a problem, she had yet to reach her limit. And her problems began three days before the race was run, at the post-position draw, when she drew the thirteen post, on the far outside of the starting gate. In her other starts, she drew far more favorable positions, either in the middle of the gate or on the rail. Here, though she loved coming from behind, she would likely lose more ground than she was used to while beginning to hit her stride on the backstretch. There was also the nuisance of the “detention barn”, a necessary evil, as a stable spokesman put it off the record, but nothing that worried anyone that much. More concerning, though, were the field and the assignment of a new jock. The field was overloaded with stakes winners: eleven of her thirteen rivals had won a stakes race, and five of these had been or would eventually become graded stakes winners. No Apagues La Luz herself would be sent off as a 6-1 third choice. And though Z Ayya was certainly a hard-working jockey and one of the circuit leaders at the time, he was no B Renfroe, the only jock this filly had ever known. Though the reps from the super21 stable did their best to fill her in on her usual style, there was some worry that something would get lost in the translation. And something, apparently, did.

Saturday, August 13 was a typical Triple H day in Upper New York: hazy, hot, and humid. Everyone suffered, but the track remained fast, and no relief was in sight. Since No Apagues La Luz had shipped there by late-July, she was ready for the heat. But she proved she was in one way unprepared for the start of the Masterab Lassie. The gates opened, and she was taken back strongly from her #13 post. Though her usual style had been to come from behind, she was never usually more than five lengths from the lead. The “super” family witnessed the opening furlongs, and their collective hearts sunk, as within the opening quarter-mile, she had already been moved more than six lengths off the lead, and she would continue to fade for another three-sixteenths of a mile, fading all the way to twelfth, about nine lengths behind. But that’s when the excitement began. She finally began to unleash her late run, and this time, it was a beaut. She was wide, but she cleared the other horses, and came flying into the stretch. Ampuria, who had sat off the early pace and inherited the lead approaching the stretch, was solidly in front, but she was already under the whip in the lane as a pack of horses started to kick hard and heavy. At the eighth pole, No Apagues La Luz was moving fastest of all. She looked unstoppable! She looked unbeatable! She looked like a winner!

But the wire had saved Ampuria. Under vigorous left-handed whipping, she had just enough gas left to pull off the win by a length. No Apagues La Luz looked to be the best in the stretch, but her adventurous trip and outside post were just too many hurdles to overcome. She was off slow, shuffled much further back than she’d ever been, and wide throughout, and she came up a length short. Ampuria’s time was a very respectable 1:23 2/5, and while No Apagues La Luz was second, earning a fig of 88, despite all the trouble she encountered coming into Upper New York, she gain a ton of new admirers for her heart and determination. And above all else, her troubled trip gave her a vast racing lesson within 1:23 2/5, something she would utilize to her advantage for much of the autumn.

The super21 stable connections were their usual undeterred selves, and they took No Apagues La Luz back home to try and reap the benefits of their trip to New York. They schooled her in the gate, they hit home all the lessons learned in the Masterab Lassie, and prepared for her Ontario homecoming in the Grade II Margarine Stakes. She would be reunited with B Renfroe, and it had been decided that she would use this as a sole prep for a start in the Breeders Bowl Juvenile Fillies. It was a gamble, but more than that it was an investment in the future, as the Margarine would mark her first time going over a mile, something she had been prepping for since her breeding.

September 24 started off warm, but temperatures fell through the day, and by race time margarine wouldn’t have melted in the Toronto sun. It was ideal conditions for No Apagues La Luz, and as they entered the gate at post position #5, B Renfroe noticed that the filly seemed more confident than before, and was completely relaxed by post time. That wouldn’t last. As they broke, No Apagues La Luz immediately showed that the events of the last start were beneficial, as Renfroe let her rate easily, and she complied. The opening half-mile was really not too different than her other races, though she was a little closer than the Lassie. She was only seven lengths back entering the far turn before beginning to rally; Renfroe never resorted to the whip too early, but he instead shook the reins and let her out a notch. No Apagues La Luz responded, moving within five lengths from the lead, but her momentum stalled briefly, and that’s when Renfroe went to the whip. A couple of sharp hits to her right flank, and she resumed her stretch run. It was precisely what she needed at the right time, and in the stretch she dug in while closing ground, and just got enough acceleration that when the wire hit, she stuck her neck in front for the win over pacesetter Biter Hollandia, finishing the mile-and-a-sixteenth in a solid 1:44 1/5. No Apagues La Luz received an 88 for her trouble, and it gave her connections the needed momentum with which to enter the Breeders Bowl Juvenile Fillies in New York. But did she have enough left for a race five weeks out?

In the press conference build-up to the Juvenile Fillies in New York the week of October 29, super21 spokesperson afc made a truly foreboding commentary to the assembled throng: while making a case for the “super” collective of five entrants, he allowed, with regards to No Apagues La Luz , “There could be a total eclipse at the finish line.” Little could anyone have realized. The Juvenile Fillies was the strongest field that No Apagues La Luz had faced, at least since the Upper New York Grade I. Ten graded foes were among the assembled opposition, and there were a few (Pro Dubai, Ampuria, Rosette) familiar faces among them. When they drew for post positions, there were some concerned looks among the “super” conductors when No Apagues La Luz drew post #11; clearly remembering the troubles she had upstate, there were some wan, tense smiles among them, but the public face was one of confidence:

“She's been a model of consistency and has yet to toss a bad race,” afc stated, according to BTB correspondent chilcoat. “She's already won at the distance, but she made it closer than we would have liked. However, she did pull that one out under only mild urging, as the jock had strict instructions to save something for this race down the road.”

With B Renfroe sitting out the BB, his close friend and confidant N Lawton took over the mount, and he had already been well-versed in what to do with the filly. He would remark later in wonderment about just how serene she was in the gate compared to some of the others surrounding her. No Apagues La Luz broke well, and settled into a groove, lying in wait in twelfth through a strong opening half-mile. She drifted about eight lengths back, before beginning to move up as the early speed collapsed. She was a bit wide entering the far turn, and when the rallies commenced, there were a phalanx of fillies to her inside to get past from her position. And there were some traffic issues to her outside as well; having to thread her way through the crowd, though, is what cost her some ground, as Pro Dubai came up the inside with about three-sixteenths to go to forge her way to the lead. And once No Apagues La Luz got clear of the outside traffic, though she put in a solid late charge, it was all academic in the final sixteenth. She had one late push, but she could only close to within three-quarters of a length of the winner, who stopped the clock in 1:43 3/5. No Apagues La Luz was a game second through some of the stretch-running issues, and earned a career-high 93 fig for her work, but for a time after the race, the disappointment showed throughout the “super” system. She got caught in a crowd, and couldn’t quite get there. Still, the victory of the 11-1 long shot left the division in a bit of disarray. Pro Dubai was the present leader, but November and December lay ahead, and things could easily turn on a dime. The fact that this was Pro Dubai’s first graded win did not go unnoticed by No Apagues La Luz’s connections, and they decided for one last try to put their filly in control of the two-year-old filly class, on their “home court”.

The “super” family of stables, as well as the main proprietors of the stables themselves, are all members of the DelPenn residency. What better place to try and go for the big score than in your home residency’s own Champions Day? So No Apagues La Luz went back into training for her final two-year-old start, in the Grade I Mother Story Handicap (so named for the first winner of this particular divisional honor, in 1999). December 17 was a rather chilly time on the East Coast, but it did not deter the DelPenn residency from offering a bevy of graded races for the entire Sim to enjoy, and for divisional honors to either become crystal clear or gray and cloudy. A full field of fourteen fillies went to the post, and the conditions were ripe for a major comeback---between the trouble lines in her two defeats and the inside post, she was ready to take aim at them all. What followed made the difference in the divisional award balloting.

With J Benisz, New Jersey’s top jock, in the irons, and the #2 post, she broke well and quickly dropped back into the rear of the pack, allowing Biter Hollandia free rein on the lead, and the rest of the challengers a chance to compete. This time, her duty was clear, and No Apagues La Luz met the challenge here with relish, falling ten lengths off the swift pace for the first half-mile. Entering the far turn, she begun to move, and started gobbling up all the ground on the inside she could manage. Turning for home, No Apagues La Luz was moving staunchly on the loose-on-the-lead Biter Hollandia, six lengths behind in third… and she was flying. Biter Hollandia was fading under a steady whip, while No Apagues La Luz needed only mild, intermittent encouragement before getting the lead inside the final furlong. It was a completely convincing performance, and she drew off under a hand ride by two lengths. She stopped the timer at 1:42 4/5, received a 98 speed fig, and changed a lot of voter’s minds with an authoritative performance on the aptly-named Champions Day.

What started off as a competitive lark has paid off handsomely for the super21 stable. Take one “he-mare” sprinter, one fashionable-but-well-bred sire capable of producing monsters going long, stir gently, and fold in some strong training techniques, a killer late kick, and loads of natural running ability, and what do you have? You have a three-time graded stakes winner. You have an earner of $932,100, one of the highest earnings totals by a two-year-old filly in the history of the Sim. And you have 2005’s Eclipse Award winner for Champion Two-Year-Old Filly. Congratulations to the connections of this fine filly.

No Apagues La Luz can let her light shine into the Sim history books, as a champion.