Brendan Walsh

TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack handicaps Saturday's GIII Iroquois Stakes and GIII Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill Downs. GIII Pocahontas (Race 8) - Pretty Sure (#6) broke her maiden like a filly with a future, making a sustained four-wide rally on the far turn en route to a dominating come-from-behind debut score for Brendan Walsh going six furlongs at Ellis Park Aug. 25. She obviously lacks seasoning and faces a very tough group in this deep renewal of the Pocahontas--headed by deserving favorite Kimchi Cat (#13)--for just her second career...

The seven-day Kentucky Downs meet set another record for wagering, totaling $90,181,408 and up eight percent over last year, according to a press release from the track late Wednesday. That included a single-day record of $21,184,941 on the Saturday, Sept. 7 card featuring six graded stakes worth $2 million for Kentucky-breds ($1 million for others). As for the meet's leaders, jockey Tyler Gaffalione finished with nine wins, to pull even with Irad Ortiz Jr. for the riding title, while Brendan Walsh's sixth victory put him in a tie for the...

A royally-bred son of Medaglia d'Oro, East Avenue lived up to the expectations of both his breeding and the wagering public Saturday to become the newest 'TDN Rising Star' to wear the Royal Blue for Godolphin. Backed down to 6-5 at post, East Avenue had things all his own way right from the opening strides and assumed command of the field while clearing down to the rail. The lead only grew as the fractions clicked off in :23.21 and :46.44 and, while Campaign Trail (Global Campaign) and Poppa Echo (Echo...

Godolphin took to X to announce 2023 Eclipse champion 3-year-old filly Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief--Pretty City Dancer, by Tapit) has been retired from racing. The social media post said, "Kentucky Oaks winner #PrettyMischievous arriving at her new home at #GainsboroughFarm today. Next stop, motherhood!" Last seen finishing fifth in the GI Clement L. Hirsch Stakes Aug. 3 at Del Mar, the Godolphin homebred had an abbreviated 4-year-old campaign after a return from her championship season. The 'TDN Rising Star' was spectacular at three, capturing the GI Kentucky Oaks, GI Acorn...

7th-ELP, $71K, Msw, 2yo, f, 1mT, 3:52 p.m. ET. Shadwell Stables went to $1.1 million to acquire EL JOURY (Medaglia d'Oro) during Keeneland September. Trained by Brendan Walsh, the first-time starter is out of Irish MGSW Up (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who was made the $2.2 million sales topper at the 2015 Keeneland January Sale by Jan Racing and Jan Vandebos. A half-sister to English and French G1SW Dutch Art (GB) (Medicean {GB}), this mare also produced GISP Monarch of Egypt (American Pharoah) and GII Lake Placid Stakes victress Aspray (Quality...

1st-Ellis, $71,000, Msw, 8-10, 2yo, f, 5 1/2fT, 1:01.84, fm, neck. CIVETTA (f, 2, Into Mischief--Sentiero Italia {MGSW & MGISP, $994,900}, by Medaglia d'Oro), a half-sister to Santin (Distorted Humor), MGISW, $1,918,820, was a very game winner in Saturday's opener at Ellis Park. The 9-2 chance hounded the debuting $600,000 KEESEP yearling Lovely Emma (Twirling Candy) from the outside through sharp fractions of :21.20 and :44.00 and finally fought her way to the front in deep stretch to graduate by a neck in a race that didn't deserve a loser....

It took her every single stride of the stretch to get there but Waves of Mischief just edged out race favorite Pin Up Betty (Constitution) to take Sunday's GIII Pucker Up Stakes at Ellis Park. Making her fourth start over as many tracks for Brendan Walsh and Qatar Racing, the $575,000 OBS March grad came out a winner on debut at Keeneland in April, just managed to hit the board in the Hilltop Stakes at Pimlico May 17 and was well out of it after racing keen early last out...

The anniversary is right around the corner, a gruesome tragedy that nobody who was at Saratoga that day will ever forget. It was among the darkest days in the long history of racing upstate. But nobody had it worse than trainer Melanie Giddings, who, in a fraction of second, saw Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic) go from the sure winner of the GI Test Stakes to a horse who broke down inches before the wire and could not be saved. Her business is doing fine. She has 42 horses and...

3rd-Ellis, $71,000, Msw, 7-22, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 1:04.81, ft, 2 1/4 lengths. PONDERING (f, 2, Hard Spun--Always Thinking {SW, $162,638}, by Street Sense) debuted as advertised, breaking as the 4-5 favorite facing six rivals of which five were fellow first-time starters. Close to the lead while pressuring Pax Americana (War Front) and Electrifying Lady (Practical Joke) to her inside, the homebred stayed three wide throughout, swept up past those runners off the turn and easily took to the front, finishing strongly while kept to task by jockey Luan Machado...

5th-CD, $120k, Msw, 3yo/up, f, 1mT, 2:45p.m. ET MIXOLOGIST (Frosted) will break from the middle of the field in this maiden on the grass, and the LNJ Foxwoods color bearer has big shoes to fill as the half-sister to Australian multiple Group 1-placed Princess Grace (Karakontie {Jpn}). Said sister was a three-time graded winner and three-times Grade I-placed in the States before changing hands for $1.7-million in 2022 at FTKNOV to China Horse Club and being exported to Australia. She twice came a neck short of winning her first race...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY -- Given his choice, trainer Brendan Walsh would rather not see it wet on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course. That's because the big horse in his barn, Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief) is scheduled to run in the GI Ogden Phipps S. on the GI Belmont S. undercard at Saratoga Race Course. "The less rain we get, the better," Walsh said while sitting in his office at his barn at the Oklahoma Training Track. Owned by Godolphin LLC. Pretty Mischievous has seen off-tracks before and has run okay....

Making his first trip to Penn National, Frankie Dettori completed a stakes double with a last-jump success aboard Qatar Racing and Hunter Valley Farm's First World War (War Front) in Friday's GIII Penn Mile. Sent off as the 33-10 third betting favorite behind last-out GII American Turf S. upsetter Trikari (Oscar Performance) and the twice-raced New York shipper Good Lord Lorrie (Hard Spun), the $285,000 Fasig-Tipton November weanling took up a position just behind midfield as 6-1 Set (Oscar Performance) galloped his rivals along through enervating fractions of :23.09 and...