BY LAURIE ROSS
The 2022 Florida-bred Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old male, Simplification (Not This Time – Simply Confection, by Candy Ride (Arg)), offers Florida breeders the complete package: a proven race record, striking conformation and a pedigree rooted in one of the most productive female families of the modern era. Standing at Pleasant Acres Stallions, he represents both performance and pedigree power.
AT THE RACES
Bred by France Weiner and Irwin Weiner Jr., Simplification was campaigned by Tami Bobo and Tristan de Meric and conditioned by Antonio Sano, a mainstay on the South Florida circuit.
Effective from six furlongs to a mile-and-a-sixteenth, he demonstrated tactical speed and resilience around two turns, finishing third at a mile-and-an-eighth and fourth at a mile-and-a-quarter against Grade 1 company.
In just his second start at two, Simplification turned a six-furlong maiden special weight at Gulfstream Park into a showcase, drawing off by an eye-catching 16 3/4 lengths and signaling uncommon ability.
Two starts later, he stepped up to capture the one-mile Mucho Macho Man Stakes (Listed) by four lengths, defeating future Grade 1 winner, Skippylongstocking.
After placing second to White Abarrio in the Holy Bull Stakes (G3), Simplification stamped himself as a legitimate contender for the 2022 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), with a decisive three-and-a-half-length victory in the Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) and placing third in the Curlin Florida Derby presented by Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms at Xalapa (G1).
In the Kentucky Derby, Simplification endured a wide trip and deviated from his customary pace-pressing style, yet still produced a sustained rally to finish fourth behind 80-1 longshot Rich Strike.
He continued to compete at a high level at four, finishing third in the West Virginia Derby (G3), Harlan’s Holiday (G3), and the WinStar Gulfstream Park Mile (G2). After 16 starts over three seasons against elite company, Simplification retired with a record of three wins with a second and five thirds and earnings of $873,110.
PEDIGREE
Simplification’s pedigree blends speed with classic depth, a structure that mirrors his race record. His bloodlines trace to one of the most influential female families in the breed.
“His conformation is very lovely. He has a really nice hip, a great shoulder, a good neck set, and an amazing walk,” Pleasant Acres Stallions Director of Stallion Services Christine Jones said. “His personality is very nice. He is a very classy guy and we couldn’t be happier to have him here.”
Not This Time (Giant’s Causeway – Miss Macy Sue, by Trippi) is remembered as a brilliant talent whose racing career ended too soon. After a 10-length maiden victory in his second start, the striking dark bay captured the Iroquois Stakes (G3) by 8 3/4 lengths. He then finished a neck short as the favorite in the 2016 Sentient Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1), earning the fastest Ragozin number since 2010. An injury sustained in that race ended his career.
The racetrack’s loss became a gain for breeders. He was the leading 2020 first-crop sire by winners and third by progeny earnings, topped the second through fourth crops by earnings, and rose to second nationally by progeny earnings in 2025. As of February 2026, he has 71 black-type winners, including 2023 Champion Turf Male Up to the Mark and 2022 Champion 3-Year-Old Colt Epicenter, who is bred on the same Not This Time – Candy Ride (Arg) cross as Simplification.
Simplification’s pedigree contains three influential crosses to the rene-de-course mare Ballade (Herbager – Miss Swapsco, by Cohoes) through full siblings: Glorious Song (by Halo), dam of Rahy (by Blushing Groom), the damsire of Giant’s Causeway, and Saint Ballado, Simplification’s second damsire.
Ballade’s descendants include champions and elite producers. Through Saint Ballado as a sire and Glorious Song as the foundational broodmare of Rahy and Singspiel, her influence continues to resonate in pedigrees responsible for stakes winners across a range of distances.
In Simplification’s case, that maternal depth likely supported his ability to win from sprint distances up to a mile-and-a-sixteenth, while remaining competitive at nine and ten furlongs.
Other offspring of Not This Time with similar linebreeding to Ballade through Glorious Song and Saint Ballado include the Grade 1-winning turf sprinter Cogburn and the Grade 3-winning turf miler Dream On.
Blushing Groom is also cross-duplicated in Not This Time, Candy Ride and Ballado’s Halo’s pedigrees.
Simplification’s dam Simply Confection (Candy Ride (Arg) – Ballado’s Halo, by Saint Ballado), made 15 starts, primarily in Allowance Optional Claiming company, but showed early talent when second in the listed Rags to Riches Stakes.
She is extending an accomplished distaff line. Besides Simplification, she produced the multiple stakes-winning sprinter, Chi Chi (by Audible), winner of the E. L. Gaylord Memorial at Remington Park and Gulfstream Park’s Juvenile Fillies Sprint Stakes. She also placed in the Sandpiper Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, reflecting the family’s ability to win at multiple venues.
Simplification has a full 3-year-old sister, Not That Simple, currently breezing at the Fair Grounds, and an unnamed 2-year-old half-sister by Into Mischief.
Simplification’s second dam, the multiple stakes-placed sprinter Ballado’s Halo (by Saint Ballado) bore one black type earner, yet her daughters are expanding the family tree.
She is the granddam of Inflexibility (by Scat Daddy), winner of the 2017 Wonder Where Stakes, third leg of the Canadian Triple Tiara, third in the the first leg, the Woodbine Oaks, third against males in the Queen’s Plate Stakes, and second or third in four Grade 2 and 3 events as a turf router.
Inflexibility’s half-brother, Halo Again (by Speightstown) won two stakes, Woodbine’s Coronation Futurity in his second start, and the Buddy Diliberto Memorial over the Fair Grounds lawn. He just missed in the 1 1/8 mile Plate Trial Stakes after dueling throughout, and was narrowly beaten in a three-way finish in the Fair Grounds Stakes (G3).
Another half-brother, the Florida-bred Fundamental (by Arch), was multiple Grade 2-placed, and missed by a length and a head in the 2015 Hollywood Derby (G1), finishing fourth.
Ballado’s Halo’s is a full sister to two-time American champion and Hall of Fame inductee Ashado and to 2007 Hollywood Turf Cup Stakes (G1) hero Sunriver.
As a broodmare sire, Candy Ride (Ride the Rails – Candy Girl (Arg), by Candy Stripes) is represented by 66 North American stakes winners. His daughters typically produce runners effective from sprint through middle distances, with occasional stakes success at classic trips.
STUD CAREER
Simplification’s first crop are 2026 yearlings.
“Simplification is showing all those [Not This Time’s] attributes in his offspring, who look just like him,” Jones said. “So, I think he [Simplification] as well was off to a great start [at stud].”
He represents a balanced pedigree built on practical speed rather than extremes, supporting durability, tactical versatility, and graded-level competitiveness.
That profile suggests a stallion capable of siring high-quality sprinters and milers, plus effective two-turn runners at middle distances on multiple surfaces. When paired with mares adding classic stamina, that range could extend to a mile-and-an-eighth to a mile-and-a-quarter.
Standing his third year at stud, Simplification stands for $6,500.
Return to the February 24 issue of Wire to Wire
