Casa Creed (Jimmy Creed) looks for his third straight win since turning back to grass sprints in Friday's loaded GIII Troy S. going 5 1/2 furlongs at Saratoga. The 2019 GII National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame S. winner followed a sixth-place finish in the GI Frank E. Kilroe Mile S. Mar. 6 with wins in Belmont's seven-furlong Elusive Quality S. Apr. 24 and the six-furlong GI Jackpocket Jaipur S. last time June 5. The re-opposing Chewing Gum (Candy Ride {Arg}) completed the exacta that day at 28-1 while...
Forza Di Oro (Speightstown), a stylish optional claiming winner for Hall of Famer Bill Mott in his seasonal debut at Saratoga July 21 (video), could target the newly positioned GI Jockey Club Gold Cup over closing weekend at the Spa Sept. 4. The lightly raced 4-year-old, a disappointing eighth in the GII Remsen S. in his juvenile finale, has been perfect in three starts since. The Don Alberto homebred was two-for-two in an abbreviated 2020 campaign, capped by a win with a career-high 101 Beyer Speed Figure in the GIII...
Sophomore filly More Moonshine (Malibu Moon) sat off a quick pace and skipped home in the muddy stretch to earn the 'TDN Rising Star' nod for an impressive belated debut Sunday at Saratoga. Having been very close to an unveiling here last year only to suffer a setback, the dark bay showed an upbeat local tab for a barn that can win with a firster but doesn't often get bet like it, and was let go at 6-1. Away in good order, the Summer Wind Equine homebred sat in a...
Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 7th-SAR, $100k, Msw, 3yo/up, f/m, 7f, 4:29 p.m. ET Bobby Flay's MEZCAL (Pioneerof the Nile), the first foal out of 2016 GI Kentucky Oaks winner Cathryn Sophia (Street Boss), makes her debut in the seventh race at Saratoga Sunday. The 3-year-old filly, a $625,000 KEESEP yearling, is trained by Todd Pletcher. Bridlewood Farm and Don Alberto Corp. purchased Cathryn Sophia, with this filly in utero, for $2.3 million at the 2017 Keeneland November sale. Courtlandt Farms' Big City Momma (Quality Road), a $700,000 KEESEP purchase,...
5th-SAR, $100k, Msw, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 3:21 p.m. ET Split divisions of juvenile filly sprinters get the Saratoga baby race season underway on opening day Thursday, with this latter half appearing to be clearly the saltier spot on paper. Heads turned when a filly by thus-far unheralded freshman sire Valiant Minister hammered for $360,000--120 times the Bridlewood Farm resident's stud fee--at OBS April, but one viewing of OUTFOXED's breeze-show effort quickly explains why. The dark bay barreled through a powerful :20 4/5 quarter-mile work, sparking a bidding war that...
Bert Firestone, who along with his wife Diana, enjoyed international success at racing's top level for decades, passed away Monday at JFK Medical center in West Palm Beach. He was 89. Firestone, a successful industrial real estate developer, was a hands-on horseman--he spent a summer in the early 1950s galloping for trainer Charlie Whittingham--whose American racing successes led to seven Eclipse Awards. Honest Pleasure (What a Pleasure) earned the couple's first Eclipse statue as champion 2-year-old of 1971 and he was followed by 1977 champion sprinter What a Summer (What...
6th-Ellis, $51,000, Msw, 6-27, 2yo, f, 5f, :59.47, ft, 3/4 length. J L'S ROCKETTE (f, 2, Into Mischief--Meta Mu, by Street Sense), a $750,000 OBS April grad off a :9 4/5 bullet breeze, began repaying that investment Sunday for the same connections who campaign fleet-footed MGSW Frank's Rockette (Into Mischief). Dueling inside of a foe early through :22.12 opening quarter, the bay shook free at the top of the stretch as another runner went wrong and lost her rider. J L's Rockette had five or six on her remaining competition...
Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency MOTT UNVEILS EXPENSIVE COLT BY 'POPULAR' YOUNG SIRE 1st-BEL, $90K, Msw, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 1:00p.m. Bill Mott unveils an expensive daughter of Constitution in LNJ Foxwoods' $725,000 KEESEP purchase POPULAR VOTE. The dark bay is a half-sister to Grade I winner Hog Creek Hustle (Overanalyze) and GSW Majestic Dunhill (Majesticperfection). She prepped for this with a best-of-11 half-mile move in :48 3/5 over Saratoga's Oklahoma training track June 17. Christophe Clement also saddles an intriguing firster in Arrogant Lady (Arrogate). Out of MSW &...
The relationship between trainer and assistant can often be tumultuous and fleeting, while in other instances, it can prove life-altering and enduring. And every once in a while, the spark ignites, paving the road to great glory and even the Hall of Fame. When it was announced that trainer Todd Pletcher would be inducted into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame this summer, most could not have been surprised that the 53-year-old would have been granted the honor in his very first year of eligibility. In truth, there...
In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. A day before capturing the final leg of the Triple Crown with 'TDN Rising Star' Essential Quality (Tapit), Godolphin unveiled another sophomore to keep an eye on during the GI Belmont Stakes Racing Festival. Sent off as the 3-1 second favorite on debut, Cody's Wish (c, 3, Curlin-Dance Card, by Tapit) raced in a close fourth through an opening quarter in :22.68 over the harrowed, muddy going. Caught...
There appeared on paper to be a lack of pace in Saturday's GI Jackpocket Jaipur S., but that could only mean one thing--the two back markers, Bill Mott pupils Casa Creed (Jimmy Creed) and Chewing Gum (Candy Ride {Arg}), flew home from out of the clouds to cap a near $168 exacta for a buck. With the victory, Casa Creed also earned an automatic berth into the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint this fall. Even-money favorite Bound for Nowhere (The Factor) could only manage third after being pestered on the...
Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency PRICEY & WELL-BRED FIRSTERS LINE UP AT BELMONT 4th-BEL, $90K, Msw, 3yo/up, 7f, 2:24p.m. A trio of well-bred colts meet in this loaded maiden event at Big Sandy on Belmont S. eve. Hall of Famer Bill Mott unveils the latest Godolphin blue-blood in Cody's Wish (Tapit). The homebred is a daughter of Grade I winner Dance Card (Tapit), who is also the dam of GSP Endorsed (Medaglia d'Oro) and SP Bocephus (Medaglia d'Oro). Todd Beatie ships in from Penn National with a $600,000 KEESEP purchase...
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