Bleecker Street

At 8-1, Peter Brant's In Italian (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) may have been the least fancied of the four Chad Brown runners in this six-horse renewal of the GI Diana S. Saturday at Saratoga, but she did the most running, wiring the field in a course record-setting performance. Her three stablemates--Technical Analysis (Ire) (Kingman {GB}), favored Brant colorbearer Bleecker Street (Quality Road) and Rougir (Fr) (Territories {Ire}), partially owned by Brant--finished behind her in that order for a Brown superfecta. Hesitating for just a breath while breaking from post six, In...

He's a rebel with a Causeway. But he is a rebel, all the same; or a maverick, at least; an outlier. Certainly we can't expect everyone to train horses like Kenny McPeek, nor indeed to buy them the same way. Apart from anything else, most people simply wouldn't be good enough. McPeek's 10 millionaires to date have been sired by the likes of Cuvee, Louis Quatorze, Daredevil, Hit It a Bomb and Tejano--and he signed for most of them himself. As one who marches to his own drum, his style...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - It is pretty much impossible to overstate just how invested trainer Chad Brown is in the Diana S., the first Grade I of the Saratoga season, which will be run on Saturday. Brown earned the first Grade I victory of his career when Zagora (Fr) (Green Tune) prevailed in 2011. He has won the race five more times, all in a row, for a stakes record six. He has entered the race for 13 consecutive years and had at least one horse in the top three...

For a brief few moments in the stretch it looked like Chad Brown, represented by odds-on Rougir (Fr) (Territories {Ire}); six-for-six second choice Bleecker Street; and 9-2 third choice Virginia Joy (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB})--not to mention pacesetter Flighty Lady (Ire)--might not actually get his record-tying fourth New York S. trophy. But depth like that, and all for Peter Brant, is nearly impossible to beat, and Bleecker Street, perhaps the most unsung unbeaten horse in the country, flew home in last-to-first fashion to reach a new high. Stretching out to...

Bleecker Street took her record to six-for-six with a victory in the GIII Modesty S., the first graded race on the GI Kentucky Oaks undercard. The gray caboosed the field through leisurely early splits of :25.18 and :50.31. Ranging up some five wide turning for home, she charged through in between Fluffy Socks and Hendy Woods in the lane and burst clear to score. Her stablemate Fluffy Socks secured second over Hendy Woods. "With both my horses far back with that pace, I was quite worried," said winning trainer Chad...

Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar, Florida, is a gem of a racecourse that doesn't get the accolades it should. Owned by Stella Thayer, president of the track and a member of The Jockey Club, and her brother, Howell Ferguson, Tampa Bay Downs is expertly managed day to day by Peter Berube, vice president and general manager, and Margo Flynn, vice president of marketing. This was obvious on Saturday--"Festival Day 42"--when the track showcased its signature event, the Gll Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby, one of five black-type events on the...

Peter Brant's Bleecker Street (Quality Road) continued her rapid ascent through the turf distaff division with a thoroughly dominating performance in the GII Hillsborough S. at Tampa, easily accounting for her commonly owned stablemate Rocky Sky (Ire) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}) to remain unblemished from five starts. While 'TDN Rising Star' Lady Speightspeare (Speightstown) held the early call as the Hillsborough field galloped past the stands for the first time, it was Gladys (Medaglia d'Oro), the own-sister to Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra, who took up the running into...

Peter Brant's progressive Bleecker Street (Quality Road) saved her best for last, as she split rivals decisively and shot past odds-on 'TDN Rising Star' Lady Speightspeare (Speightstown) inside the final eighth of a mile to cause a 7-1 surprise in Saturday's GIII Endeavour S. at Tampa, remaining perfect in four starts in the process. Content to linger in the latter third of the field and riding the rail as the once-beaten Lady Speightspeare prompted longshot Katama Princess (Malibu Moon) through comfortable early fractions, the $400,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga acquisition continued to...