British Idiom

Canadian breeder Jim Sabiston passed away Saturday. He was 97. Sabiston operated Longview Farm near Stouffville, Ontario for more than six decades, beginning in 1956 with his first stallion Bimini Bay. Among the numerous sires he stood were Dawn Flight, Triumphant, Ground Cover, Good Old Mort and Bold Revenue. He bred stakes winners Rose and Shine, Grecian Touch, Silent Fleet, Katahaula County, Big Blunder and Bold Agent. Rose and Shine, winner of the 2011 Muskoka S. and Princess Elizabeth S., went on to produce last year's Eclipse Award-winning 2-year-old filly...

Fasig-Tipton has catalogued 1,553 yearlings for its Kentucky October Yearlings Sale, to be held Oct. 26-29, in Lexington, Kentucky. The catalog may be viewed online, and will also be available via the equineline sales catalogue app. Four continuous sessions, conducted Monday through Thursday, will begin each day at 10 a.m. "This is the strongest group of yearlings we have ever offered at Kentucky October," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. "This spring, a significant number of sellers decided that they would target October with many of their top yearlings.  Buyers will...

What Mike Caruso missed most when his collegiate wrestling career was over was the competition, the fierce desire to win and the nervous excitement that would build up in him before every match. It wasn't just that he was good, it was that he felt he had to win every time. Forty-three years after he last wrestled and wrapped up his third NCAA championship, Caruso has recaptured those feelings, discovering them in horse racing. "I get butterflies in my stomach before every race," he said. "That means it is meaningful....

Unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Gamine (Into Mischief) will look to take her record to a perfect three-for-three while making her stakes debut in the GI Longines Acorn S. at Belmont Park Saturday. The highly regarded $1.8-million Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-old sale topper debuted with the easiest of victories as the 1-9 favorite sprinting at Santa Anita Mar. 7, then gamely held off the hard-knocking subsequent GII Santa Oaks runner-up Speech (Mr Speaker) by a neck in front-running fashion in her two-turn debut in an optional claimer at Oaklawn May 2. The...

British Idiom (Flashback), last year's champion 2-year-old filly, has been sidelined by a chip in her right front ankle and has been sent to WinStar Farm for 60 days of recuperation, co-owner Sol Kumin confirmed Sunday. The story was first reported by Blood-Horse. Owned by Kumin's Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb and Stuart Grant's The Elkstone Group and trained by Brad Cox, British Idiom won last year's GI Darley Alcibiades S. at Keeneland and the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita. She was second behind Finite (Munnings) while making...

For racing fans missing the familiarity of the GI Kentucky Oaks this Friday, a loaded 14-horse field of talented sophomore fillies are ready to step in and take their star turn in the $400,000 GIII Fantasy S., which kicks off a sorely-needed blockbuster stakes weekend at Oaklawn. Favored at 2-1 on the morning line is Venetian Harbor (Munnings), making her first start in nearly three months. A debut second at even-money sprinting over the Del Mar turf Nov. 15, the $110,000 Keeneland September graduate moved to the main track Dec....

Bellafina (Quality Road), tuning up for the Apr. 25 Carousel S. at Oaklawn Park, worked four furlongs in :47.80 (20/105) under Joe Talamo at the Hot Springs oval Saturday morning. Clockers caught the 4-year-old filly with a final quarter-mile of :23.60 and galloping out five furlongs in 1:00.20. "Unbelievable," Talamo said after getting on Bellafina for the first time. "Absolutely skipped over the track this morning." Bellafina, who shipped in from trainer Simon Callaghan's Southern California base Tuesday, was having her first work over the Oaklawn track Saturday. The three-time...

It's been more than a month since the last TDN Kentucky Oaks Top 10 appeared, and how things have changed in such a short period of time. The GI Kentucky Oaks will not be run May 1 but, hopefully, Sept. 4. The road to the Oaks is filled with uncertainty as, with so many racetracks closed, there is no clear path to the race. The only traditional prep for the Oaks that is left on the schedule is the May 1 GIII Fantasy S. at Oaklawn, a race that is...

It was an eventful weekend for candidates for the GI Kentucky Oaks. The highly regarded Lake Avenue (Tapit) was a major disappointment, finishing fourth in the Busher Invitational at Aqueduct. She falls out of the Top 10. Donna Veloce (Uncle Mo) rolled to an easy victory in her 3-year-old debut in the GIII Santa Ysabel S. and Bob Baffert unleashed a potential monster in Gamine (Into Mischief). The $1.8-million purchase at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Old Sale romped in her debut Saturday at Santa Anita. The weekend ahead will be...

Since we were last heard from, Bast (Uncle Mo) has been retired due to a soft tissue injury and Tonalist's Shape (Tonalist) did it again, staying undefeated with a win in the GII Davona Dale S. at Gulfstream. Also in Florida, Eve of War (Declaration of War) couldn't get the job done in an allowance after winning her debut for the Todd Pletcher Stable by 7 1/2 lengths. A fourth-place finish likely knocked her off the road to the GI Kentucky Oaks. This coming weekend, the top 3-year-old fillies will...

A total of 116 nominations, led by reigning champion 2-year-old filly British Idiom (Flashback), were received by the Churchill Downs racing office at the first entry stage for the $1.25-million GI Longines Kentucky Oaks, to be held Friday, May 1 beneath the Twin Spires. Campaigned in partnership by Michael Dubb, The Elkstone Group, Madaket Stables & Bethlehem Stables, and conditioned by 2018 Oaks-winning trainer Brad Cox, British Idiom was the impressive winner of the GI Darley Alcibiades S. last October before following up with a neck defeat of Donna Veloce...

While the GI Kentucky Oaks will always be overshadowed by the GI Kentucky Derby, this year's Oaks has nothing to apologize for. Through the early round of prep races, it appears that the 2020 Oaks will include one of the deepest and most talented lineups in the race's history. That's still the case after the tragic loss of Taraz (Into Mischief), who had to be euthanized after suffering an injury in a workout Monday at Oaklawn Park. The early round of preps have produced some outstanding performances and several top...