Bernardini

The royal blue of Godolphin continued to build on a banner year for the operation as Encino (Nyquist) proved too much for his Presque Isle Mile Stakes competition. Placed in the Mar. 22 GIII Twinspires Kentucky Cup Classic Stakes, and the winner of last season's GIII Stonestreet Lexington Stakes, Encino won the Listed Jonathan B. Schuster Memorial Stakes two back July 5 and hit the board last out Aug. 2 in the KY Downs Preview Mint Millions Turf Mile Stakes at Ellis Park. Supported here to the tune of 3-5...

During July and August--the height of the summer racing season--graded races happen at a fast and furious rate. With 44 graded events at Saratoga alone added to another 13 tracks conducting at least one graded race during the two-month span, it's a dizzying time to follow top racing on the continent. We break down the main takeaways from the season. Two dozen of the 95 graded races in July and August were contested at the top level, or Grade I. Seventeen of those Grade Is were at Saratoga (or nearly...

Go ahead and crown him. Dual Classic winner Sovereignty (Into Mischief) showed no mercy on his four overmatched rivals, romping by 10 lengths in Saturday's GI DraftKings Travers S. at Saratoga. Bracket Buster (Vekoma) and Magnitude (Not This Time) rounded out the top three. "Our horse just proved how good he was when he pulled away in the last eighth of a mile," winning Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said. "He's pretty special." The 1-4 favorite jumped well from post four and trailed the bunched-up field as expected pacesetter...

The two headline acts last weekend hardly required us to hold the front page to reveal Bernardini as a pretty good broodmare sire. Obviously their late damsire is not the only reason why Sovereignty (Into Mischief) and 'TDN Rising Star' Nysos (Nyquist) have achieved elite caliber, but we've previously explored the antecedents of both. And besides, both having won Grade IIs, top billing should strictly be reserved for a prize contested the same day at a higher tier. Actually the GI Bing Crosby Stakes had the potential to enrich Bernardini's...

In approaching a Saturday that threatens to restore the Triple Crown viability of the American Thoroughbred-between Journalism (Curlin) here, and a son of Justify at Epsom-it feels timely to consider a horse often viewed as typifying the precarious compromise between size and speed, on the one hand, and soundness on the other. The double-edged reputation of Unbridled's Song traces right back to his own sales history. He was the perfect commercial model for a 2-year-old auction, so big and fast that the Barretts hammer fell at $1.4 million, back then...

4th-Churchill Downs, $117,750, Msw, 5-31, 3yo/up, f/m, 7f, 1:22.93, ft, 4 1/4 lengths. KAPOOR (f, 3, Uncle Mo--Kareena {SW, $148,000}, by Medaglia d'Oro) had strung together back-to-back third-place efforts in her first two jumps--Feb. 9 at Gulfstream Park and again Apr. 7 at Keeneland--and the betting public couldn't take their eyes off her here, crowning the Godolphin homebred the 6-5 favorite for her third attempt to graduate. Jostled around when leaving the blocks, she recovered quickly to dictate the tempo on an uncontested lead through :22.46 and a half in...

We all found ourselves in the court of one ruler last weekend, but it would be wrong to treat the kind of transatlantic sovereignty charted by four Classic winners inside 48 hours, either side of the water, as an automatic outcome of greater aggregate expenditure than any program in Turf history. Nobody knows that better than Sheikh Mohammed and his Godolphin team. He has been trying to dovetail his wealth and his passion, both obviously off the charts, for nearly half a century. (He had his first winner at Brighton,...

In the wake of this year's Kentucky Derby win by Sovereignty, I think it is important to recognize the quiet but profound legacy of one of racing's great horsewomen and enthusiasts--Betty Moran. Sadly, Mrs. Moran passed away in 2020, but I have to feel that this year's Kentucky Derby winner, whose mother she bred, is testament to years of her racing and breeding at the top end of the thoroughbred world. Mrs. Moran bred and/or raced many outstanding race horses including Belmont and Jockey Club winner Creme Fraiche, champions Unique...

GISW Sweet Azteca (Sharp Azteca), now in the barn of trainer Richard Baltas, was out Saturday morning to post her second workout at the Great Race Place as she continues progressing toward a racing return. Gone since finishing fourth in the GIII Chillingworth Stakes for trainer Michael McCarthy, the grey worked five furlongs in 1:00 flat after going four furlongs last Saturday Apr. 19 in :47.60. The GI Beholder Mile victress was spotted back in mid-March when she resurfaced at San Luis Rey Training Center with a three-furlong breeze as...

Good first impressions are a must in most professional situations, and Gin Gin (Hightail) stepped up in a big way for new trainer Brendan Walsh when she dominated the GIII Baird Doubledogdare Stakes at Keeneland Friday evening. Previously in the barn of Brad Cox, she had a stakes win in New York to her credit in 2024 by way of the Busanda Stakes at Aqueduct in mid-January, but went winless for the rest of the season including a start in the GI Kentucky Oaks. Running 12th in the premier spring...

Three juveniles shared the fastest furlong time of :9 4/5 during the first session of the under-tack show for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training Sunday. A filly by Upstart (hip 75) was first to hit the bullet mark just minutes into the day's session. The dark bay is out of Lovely Marissa (Proud Citizen), a daughter of Grade I-placed Valiant Passion (Lion Heart) and a half-sister to graded-placed Nasty (Street Sense). She was consigned by Grassroots Training & Sales, which acquired her for $60,000...

Though one of his daughters lost the services of Magnitude (Not This Time) straight after his GII Risen Star romp, and another must send Chancer McPatrick (McKinzie) in from the cold this weekend, once again last Saturday the extraordinary distaff influence of Bernardini loomed behind the big Derby rehearsals on either coast. True, the winners of both the GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth Stakes and GII San Felipe Stakes were first and foremost repaying a seven-figure investment in their respective dams--each clearly having much else going for them. But the...