American Pharoah

When a horse has never been outside of the lead at first call in any of his 11 prior races, chances are good that he'll be a contender right from the jump. In this case, despite not having raced over the turf since contesting a five-furlong sprint as a juvenile in Oct. 2021, Forbidden Kingdom (American Pharoah) continued to put that trademark early speed to use and took the field coast-to-coast in the GII Joe Hernandez S. It's been a slow 2023 for the Richard Mandella trainee with only a...

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running at Hanshin and Chukyo Racecourses. The latter is the site of this weekend's Group 1 action, the Champions Cup, featuring US-bred Lemon Pop (Lemon Drop Kid). Look for the preview in Saturday's TDN Europe: Saturday, December 2, 2023 6th-HSN, ¥13,720,000 ($93k),...

Cafe Pharoah (American Pharoah--Mary's Follies, by More Than Ready), a two-time winner of the G1 February S. at Tokyo, has been retired from racing and will stand the 2024 breeding season at Arrow Stud on the island of Hokkaido. Bred in Kentucky by the late Paul Pompa, Cafe Pharoah was consigned by Eddie Woods to the 2019 OBS March Sale and was hammered down to Emmanuel de Seroux's Narvick International for $475,000. Trained by Noriyuki Hori for owner Koichi Nishikawa, Cafe Pharoah made an immediate impact, winning his maiden by...

So long has this column been disrupted by sales and travel that this final instalment for a Flat season that seems to have whizzed by faster than ever should perhaps be renamed 28 Days. That's not to say that we are giving you four times the value, however. The last week or so has been spent in California at the 40th running of the Breeders' Cup. Any racing event which draws some of the best racehorses from a variety of nations is a treat, and with its 14 Grade 1...

The sport's first Triple Crown winner since 1978, American Pharoah famously went through Fasig-Tipton's Select Saratoga Yearling Sale in 2013 only to be bought back by his breeder to race as a homebred. He spent eight months at Taylor Made Farm before the sale; Mark Taylor, who has had his hands on a lot of nice horses, distinctly remembers him. "It's kind of a microcosm of this industry: when you think you have it figured out, you don't have it figured out. He was born at Vinery, then went to...

Triple Crown winner Justify (Scat Daddy), currently North America's leading second-crop sire in stakes horses, will stand for a fee of $200,000, live foal, at Ashford Stud in Kentucky in 2024, Coolmore America announced on Tuesday. The 9-year-old's fee represents a jump of $100,000 from the figure of $100,000 that he stood for in 2023. Justify's 2024 fee is the fourth-highest of the stallions announced so far for 2024, placing him behind perennial leading sires Into Mischief (Harlan's Holiday) and Curlin (Smart Strike), and third-crop standout Gun Runner (Candy Ride...

Knockemdown (American Pharoah), an unraced 4-year-old gelding, earned a trip to the "winner's circle" Saturday with his win in the 2023 Thoroughbred Makeover. The winner in the dressage division, he bested ten other discipline's top scorers to take the honors. "I want to thank Kristen Goncharoff at e5 Racing Thoroughbreds for making the phone call, and Bob [Edwards], the leader of e5, who was looking to rehome this horse," says winning rider Alison O'Dwyer. "Wesley Ward had him in training at Turfway and when he didn't think much of him,...

Jody's Pride, a 10 1/2-length debut winner in an off-turf event upstate Aug. 9, enjoyed the same surface switch here and the result was similar. Off towards the back of the pack, the dark bay quickly picked off rivals down the backside and uncorked a three-deep move around the bend to take command under her own power before a half posted in :45.93. She found no challengers from there on in, and cruised under the line a dominant victoress from last-out New York-bred stakes fourth finisher Tricky Temper. A Primera...

In this continuing series, Alan Carasso takes a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this Monday running at Kyoto and Tokyo Racecourses: Monday, October 9, 2023 1st-KYO, ¥10,480,000 ($70k), Maiden, 2yo, 1400mT PIKARI (f, 2, Twirling Candy--Laudation, by Congrats) turned in a sound third-place effort on her Aug. 20 debut going nine furlongs from a terrible draw...

1st-BAQ, $90k, Msw, 2yo, 7f, 12:35p.m. ET Whisper Hill Farm has been enjoying a fruitful year on the track and in the sales ring, and SPEED RUNNER (Gun Runner) looks to add his tally to the operation's banner year. A half-brother to the brilliant GISW Brilliant Speed (Dynaformer); SW & GSP Souper Speedy (Indian Charlie); and SP Bank (Bernardini), the Pletcher-trained chestnut comes into the race with a bullet move Sept. 27 over Belmont's training track--a five furlong work in a co-fastest minute flat. His dam Speed Succeeds is a...

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Thursday's Observations features a relative of Grade I sire Gio Ponti (Tale Of The Cat). 14.15 Thurles, Mdn, €15,000, 2yo, f, 8f 11yT Aidan O'Brien trainee GUSHING (American Pharoah), a $435,000 Keeneland September graduate, is a daughter of GIII Cardinal H. third Antonia Autumn (Bernstein), herself a half-sister to...

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running at Hanshin and Nakayama Racecourses. The latter venue plays host to the first Group 1 event of the fall season, Sunday's Sprinters' S., which features the lightning-quick US-bred Jasper Krone (Frosted): Saturday, September 30, 2023 4th-HSN, ¥13,720,000 ($92k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1400mT...