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#GT ‘23 SS Tai Peete With 2 strike 💣 for #9️⃣ - Widens base w/ good hip pace, creating optimal lower half momentum despite cutting down leg kick. Textbook front arm shrink allows him to turn barrel in tight space. The definition of effortless! Prep Baseball Georgia Shooter Hunt #MLBDraft
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![‡ Brant – Fast, Expensive, and Worrying In a recent 2yo MSW race at Santa Anita, Brant, a $3m OBS March sales purchase, made a winning debut for his high-profile connections. Sent off at odds of 4/5, he tracked the pace before taking command on the turn, and drew off to win by 5 1/4 lengths. He recorded a very fast raw time, and a 101 Beyer figure. His high auction price was due largely to his having breezed an eighth of a mile in :09 3/5 at OBS. In the wake of the bidding, Amr Zedan, who purchased the colt on the recommendation of his trainer, Bob Baffert, and bloodstock agent Donato Lanni, was quoted in TDN as saying: "These horses are difficult to come by. He ticked all the boxes. He was a very precocious Gun Runner with a great pedigree. And more importantly, if you have someone like Mr. [Bob] Baffert in your corner, that gives you the courage and the guts to just go after quality. And you'll know they are in the best hands to turn them into champions. This one is for the team: Donato and obviously Bob and his ability to turn them into champions. So if you have the great team, the great training, the rest is easy. Was he pricey? Yes. But quality dictates price. So I never hesitated.” The hyperbole, and boilerplate optimism, are understandable, as even owners with very deep pockets prefer not to dwell on their inevitably long lists of expensive failures. But Zedan and their team have also enjoyed a number of high-profile successes, including Taiba, another Gun Runner colt, which won the Santa Anita Derby and the Malibu, both Grade I, before being retired to stud. Lanni, who has signed for at least some of Zedan's other good horses, was quoted as saying: "This is what the boss [Baffert] wanted and what Amr wanted. Gun Runner is a tremendous stallion and he worked really good and galloped out good. He did everything you want one to do.” Again, boilerplate, and if one were to take the reactions of the owner and agent at face value, it would be easy to arrive at the conclusion that the horse had no faults. But that would be naïve. So, let's first take a look at Brant's pedigree. Gun Runner is a "top" sire, and well-capable of getting high-class runners. It's a bit too early to fully judge him as a source of durability, but excluding his current crop of 2yos, his runners are only averaging 10 career starts. That number will rise, but likely not enough to reach, let alone exceed the contemporary industry average of ~15. In other words, though he himself raced 19 times, and won his swan song (the Pegasus World Cup) at five, there is no evidence to suggest that he is likely to eventually prove to be a particular source of durability. Brant's dam, Tynan, raced 13 times, and he is her first registered foal. His second dam, Pappascat, has produced at least five foals to have raced, and while only one has reached 20 starts, four of the five raced at least 12 times, which by today's degraded standards, isn't so bad. The fact that the coat color inherited by Brant, and his dam, can be traced to a notably unsound influence, Unbridled's Song, may or may not be meaningful. But I wouldn't ignore it as a potentially worrying connection. Brant's dam-sire, Liam’s Map, was lightly raced himself, and both his sire (US) and dam have poor records in terms of durability. As a sire, he has thus far produced numbers similar to Gun Runner. So while Brant's first two dams promise more than many that I have come across in similar assessments, and his sire displayed durability on the track, his overall pedigree suggests average durability at best. And what about the word that Mr. Zedan used twice in the above quote – "quality"? Well, Curlin is a quality sire, but in terms of bottom-line production, it leaves a lot to be desired. That's not to say that there are no good runners to be found, in fact the closely related Pappacap, under Brant's second-dam, was a Gr. III winner, and twice Grade I placed. However, through Brant's first six dams at least, I believe there to be just a single Grade I winner, Al Qasr, a Champion stayer in Peru, which appears under his fourth-dam. That is not, by any reasonable definition, a strong bottom-line, although it is fair to say that Brant's first dam is unproven. *** What might be learned from Brant's debut race? Everyone can see that he ran fast, and was much the best of that field, but I would say that there were some nuanced aspects of his performance that were both interesting, and worrying. Those nuances relate to his action, as viewed both through the pan shot, and head-on. Watching the basic (pan) view, Brant appears to display some "knee action". It isn't extreme, but also isn't the type of action that ideally suits dirt runners, and I wouldn't say that the colt appears totally comfortable. Here's a brief, related post on knee action, for reference: Then, we have the (embedded) head-on view, in which Brant displays seriously distorted action in his near-fore (left front leg; right when viewed head-on). It's a fairly extreme example of what is called "winging", and for a number of reasons, does not bode well for durability. Such action is never desirable, and is typically related to certain foreleg conformation flaws, which may include an offset knee, and/or toeing in or out, etc. Note also that under typical American racing conditions (i.e. tightly turning, left-handed tracks), the left front leg is subjected to the greatest torque, which amplifies the potential for injury. It should go without saying that there are occasional anomalies, horses with poor action that remain sound despite such flaws. But they are the exceptions, and it is not uncommon to find abbreviated careers associated with such action. For further reference, here is a link to a closely related post that I wrote after a filly named Amor Fati broke her maiden in eye-catching style in February of 2024. She has made just one further start, and hasn't recorded a work over the past 15 months. What's interesting about Brant is that there are two separate issues relating to his action, and that the some obvious mitigating steps that could have been, or should be taken, in efforts to keep him sound, were not, and are unlikely to ever be taken. First, with regard to his knee action, keep in mind that it is a characteristic that is more typically associated with turf horses. And guess what? Brant's dam was a turf horse. His second-dam was also at her best on turf, and was Gr. II placed on that surface. Also, in some respects, he physically resembles that female line more than his sire. Of course no one who spends millions on a horse that breezed exceptionally fast at a 2yo sale would be thinking "turf", given that the commercial market, and stakes schedules greatly favor dirt runners. But at the same time, it would be a mistake to assume that a fast breeze at OBS necessarily indicates that a given horse will be best suited to dirt. I say that partly because the OBS track features an all-weather surface called "Safetrack", which is far from being identical to dirt racing surfaces. While countless horses have gone through those sales and excelled on dirt, it should never been taken for granted that it will be a preference. And to further flesh out the point, take a look at Brant's breeze video through this link (his pedigree page can also be seen): Despite being rushed to cover a furlong much faster than he ever will again, I would say that he looks smoother, and displays slightly less knee action than in his recent debut race. Why? Could it be, perhaps, because he would prove more comfortable on turf and/or synthetic tracks, than dirt surfaces? Given how he ran first out, this is purely an academic point, as there is virtually no chance that his connections would consider switching surfaces, unless his form on dirt were to deteriorate badly. The second, more important point, relates to Brant's distorted action. I can't find a head-on conformation photo of the colt, but would be very surprised if he does not display flaws in his near-fore. Even in the very unlikely event that the leg were to appear correct, such distorted action would have been on display at the sale, as well as in pre-training at Eddie Woods' farm. And it defies belief that experienced horsemen who were prepared to purchase an extremely expensive horse for an important client would not have covered that base. Which in turn begs two important questions. First, why recommend the purchase of a very expensive horse, no matter how fast, that has yet to race, and displays such distorted action? Secondly, why choose to give such a horse to a trainer whose style and history suggest that injury risk would likely be amplified, rather than mitigated? The answers to those questions help to illuminate why the breed-to-sell paradigm is so insidious. As long as breeders and stud farms are willing to overpay for stallion prospects, and turn blind eyes to conformation defects, distorted action, lack of durability, and modest female families, the connections of horses like Brant need only hope that they hold together long enough to win one or two big races, enabling them cash in. These are the number of career starts made by Zedan's previous best (and expensive) male runners: 9 Arabian Lion 6 Arabian Knight 9 Muth 10 Medina Spirit 11 Hejazi And as long as the AGSC (American Graded Stakes Committee) continues to enable the paradigm through its dishonest KY Derby "prep" Grade I designations, the ultimately damaging feedback loop will likely continue. The answer to the second question is closely entwined, and should be obvious. For all of his faults as a trainer, Baffert has long produced results in stakes races that lead to valuable stud careers, so owners who wish to play the breed-to-sell game consider him to be a logical choice. Of course Baffert and Zedan are hardly alone in supporting the dubious paradigm. But that a horse like Brant could bring millions at a sale, and be given to a trainer who trains very hard, and has compiled a very poor safety record, underscores the extreme degree to which the value of durability has been marginalized by the industry. One final note, and it's a genuine qualification that I always make when producing this type of post, I hope that Brant will enjoy a long, injury-free career. But if I were a betting man...](https://image.24vids.com/tw-1949810344609665305/amplify_video_thumb/1949807748373262336/img/UxdtjUDx3PoP2gwC.jpg)
![Crafted with Seedance 2.0 + GPT Image 2 Pollo AI Storyboard Prompt: Create a raw kung fu performance storyboard focused on extreme physical action. Use reference image for the character. 16:9 storyboard sheet, 12 cinematic panels. The actual storyboard drawings must be black and white only: rough pencil lines, minimal detail, fast gesture drawing energy, simple anatomy construction and strong silhouette readability. Keep the artwork lightweight, dynamic and unfinished like early fight choreography previs. Start directly in action. Do not begin with a calm stance, preparation shot or slow introduction. A solitary female performer executes an aggressive Tibetan kung fu master-style routine inside a vast ancient temple. The choreography is exaggerated, explosive and constantly escalating: flying diagonal kicks, monk-style low stances, rapid palm strikes, spinning cloth-like body turns, animal-form hand shapes, deep lunges, aerial twists, floor-level sweeps, sudden drops, claw-like blocks, back-arched jumps, sliding recoveries and violent sculptural impact poses. Every panel must contain visible motion and strong body momentum. Avoid static standing poses. The performer should feel like a ritual warrior moving with discipline, fury, spiritual pressure and total body control. Action progression: 1. begin mid-air with a flying diagonal kick already in motion 2. handheld close-up palm sweep cutting through air 3. orbiting wide shot of a full-body spin 4. low-angle impact palm strike with shockwave 5. long-lens side profile spinning kick 6. top-down aerial turn with body, hair and fabric flaring outward 7. hard floor stomp cracking the temple stone 8. sliding low sweep across the floor 9. aggressive close-up flurry of elbows, palms and backfist strikes 10. extreme low monk-style beast stance with energy rising 11. spinning elemental vortex around the body 12. final airborne action pose, suspended above the temple floor, body twisted in a powerful kung fu strike, all elements converging around her before impact Add selective elemental energy effects as VFX-style storyboard accents. The effects should feel spiritual, ritualistic and cinematic, not superhero-like: air bursts around spins and flying kicks, dust and stone fragments lifting from stomps, water-like floor ripples during slides, fire-like trails around explosive strikes, heat distortion around high-intensity movement, elemental vortex near the climax. Element progression: early panels: subtle wind, dust and pressure lines middle panels: stronger stone fragments, floor ripples and air shockwaves late panels: controlled fire trails and energy spirals final panel: the strongest combined elemental surge while the performer is still airborne Use cinematic arthouse action camerawork: handheld energy, whip-pan feeling, orbiting camera moves, overhead shots, side silhouettes, aggressive close-ups, long-lens compression, extreme low angles, wide negative space, strong parallax. Keep the temple environment minimal and atmospheric: towering stone columns, worn temple floor, drifting incense smoke, hanging fabric, harsh light shafts, faint dust in the air, subtle wet floor reflections. Do not overcrowd the frames. Annotation color system: red arrows = body movement blue arrows = camera movement green marks = framing / composition notes orange marks = lighting direction yellow marks = elemental VFX / energy effects black text = short lens notes and panel labels No timestamps. No dialogue. No singing. No extra characters. No enemies. No logos. No watermark. Seedance video prompt: Video Prompt Seedance 2.0 Create a 15-second cinematic kung fu performance video. Use Image1 as the fixed character sheet reference. The character must strictly match the character sheet. Use Image2 ] as the storyboard reference. Follow the storyboard shot by shot as the main source for action order, camera rhythm, body movement, framing, movement direction, camera angles and visual progression. Treat each storyboard panel as a sequential keyframe. Preserve the shot order and make the video feel like the storyboard has been translated into continuous live-action motion. The sequence must end on a frozen final frame while the performer is still airborne. Do not add text, captions, storyboard labels, arrows, UI, logos or watermarks. Do not treat the storyboard as a single image. Do not redesign the character, change the costume or alter the face. Do not begin with a calm stance, preparation pose or slow introduction. Do not make the elemental effects look like superhero powers or excessive fantasy glow. Visual style: stylized cinematic realism, high-end 3D painterly animation quality, dynamic cloth simulation, expressive silhouette design, rich cinematic lighting, controlled color palette, natural motion blur, dramatic scale, beautiful but aggressive physicality, premium feature-animation aesthetic. Environment: vast ancient temple, towering stone columns, worn temple floor, drifting incense smoke, hanging fabric, harsh light shafts, faint dust in the air, subtle wet floor reflections, high contrast shadows. The performance is a solitary female kung fu routine inside a vast ancient temple. The routine starts immediately in action, with no calm stance, no preparation pose and no slow introduction. The movement should feel aggressive, ritualistic, disciplined, physically extreme and spiritually charged. This is not a fight against an enemy. It is a solo performance of force, control, exhaustion, fury and release. Follow story board for choreography direction. Element progression: early sequence: subtle wind, dust and pressure lines responding to movement. middle sequence: stronger air shockwaves, stone fragments, floor cracks and water-like ripples across the temple floor. late sequence: controlled fire trails, heat distortion and energy spirals around explosive strikes and kicks. climax: wind, dust, stone, water ripple and fire accents combine into a stronger elemental vortex. final beat: the performer is airborne above the temple floor in a powerful kung fu strike, body twisted mid-air, hair and fabric flaring outward, with all elements converging around her before impact. Elemental VFX must feel spiritual, ritualistic and cinematic. The effects should be integrated with the choreography and motivated by physical movement. Keep the energy raw, elemental, atmospheric and grounded in the temple environment. Use Laban movement logic throughout: weight: strong, heavy, grounded during impacts, with brief lightness during jumps and aerial twists time: quick during strikes, kicks, drops and turns, sustained during suspended holds and recovery transitions space: direct during attacks, blocks and lunges, indirect during spinning turns and elemental vortex moments flow: bound during rooted stances and precise strikes, free during aerial motion, spinning fabric movement and elemental releaseSee less](https://image.24vids.com/tw-2081976392712118780/amplify_video_thumb/2081976176441208832/img/hQCcDkL5M7E512Se.jpg)