Authenticity

Hill 'n' Dale President John Sikura couldn't be happier with the book of mares that multiple Grade I-winning 'TDN Rising Star' Charlatan (Speightstown-Authenticity, by Quiet American) has amassed for his first season at stud in 2022. Sikura said the quality embodied in this initial book is unlike many he's seen for a first-year sire. "The compliments we've received from people who have come out to see him have been remarkable," he said. "Eclipse Award-winning breeders are sending Grade I-winning and Grade I-producing mares to him, which is something that is...

From the moment Charlatan (Speightstown) crossed the wire in his impressive Feb. 16 unveiling at Santa Anita, people started comparing him to Triple Crown winner Justify (Scat Daddy), who also made his first racetrack appearance in February of his 3-year-old year. The Bob Baffert-trained chestnut followed that effort with an allowance win going two turns, like Justify. While that Horse of the Year went on to win the GI Santa Anita Derby next out, before taking home the roses on the First Saturday in May of 2018, Charlatan was forced...

"Only fools, liars and charlatans predict earthquakes." So said the man who instead gave us a means of measuring tremors once they have actually happened, Charles Richter. But how about when an earthquake announces a Charlatan? Because on the equivalent of the Richter scale, for those who try to quantify a horse's talent against the clock, a 105 debut Beyer for 'TDN Rising Star' Charlatan (Speightstown) at Santa Anita last month represented a convulsion that brought every other member of his crop crumbling to the ground. Some even whispered the...