Cathy and Bob Zollars & Mark Wagner’s Thiskyhasnolimit ran like a
7-5 favorite should in Saturday’s $200,000 Grade 3
Texas
Mile at Lone Star Park, scoring by a half-length over the pacesetting
Gladding. The Steve Asmussen charge paid $4.80, $2.60 and
$2.40 for his victory under Justin Shepherd, stopping the clock in 1:37 1/5 on
the fast dirt.
Gladding set splits of :24 1/5 and :47 4/5 while pressed by Kate’s Main Man
on the backstretch. After Kate’s Main Man began backing up, Friesan
Fire moved up to take over pressing duties as Gladding flew through
six furlongs in 1:11 3/5. All the while, Thiskyhasnolimit was biding his time
stalking Friesan Fire in fourth.
The dark bay was caught five wide rounding the first turn, but settled into
fourth while tracking his rivals before putting in his rally. Once again caught
five wide on the turn, he moved up to challenge Gladding, who battled back down
on the inside. It was nip/tuck for much of the stretch, but Thiskyhasnolimit
finally managed to pull away to claim his first victory since taking the Smarty
Jones S. in early September.
Gladding was easily best of the rest while seven lengths clear of
Dreaminofthewin on the line. It was another neck back to Friesan Fire, with Kate’s Main Man 1 3/4 lengths behind in last.
Thiskyhasnolimit now owns four stakes wins, having previously triumphed in
last year’s Matt Winn S. and the 2009 Grade 3 Iroquois. The four-year-old also
boasts four graded placings, including a half-length second in the Grade 3 Razorback prior to this one. He’s accumulated $706,532 in lifetime earnings and
improved his career mark to 16-5-4-1.
Bred in Kentucky by Stud TNT, Thiskyhasnolimit brought $120,000 as a
Keeneland September yearling. He is out of the Deputy Minister mare Lovely
Regina, who has also produced a juvenile filly named Satyana and an unnamed yearling colt by Smart Strike.
Lovely Regina is herself a daughter of Grade 1 victress Cara Rafaela, who was named 2006 Broodmare of the Year following the exploits of
her son and eventual leading sire Bernardini. That colt was honored
with an Eclipse as champion three-year-old for taking the Grade 1 Preakness,
Grade 1 Travers, Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, Grade 2 Jim Dandy and Grade 3 Withers, with a second in the
Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic thrown in the mix. Lovely
Regina and Bernardini also count as a half-sibling Ile de France,
who was third in the 2002 Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks.
Others of note in this family include three sires, multiple highweight and
Group 1 king Muhtathir, Grade 2 victor Hook and Ladder
and dual Grade 3 winner Abaginone.