Calumet Farm

For a farm so steeped in heritage, and so properly respectful of it, there's no mistaking the vitality, the aversion to complacency, animating Mill Ridge with a sixth generation now at the reins. Back in April the Bell family grieved farm founder Alice Headley Chandler, a revered matriarch not just around their own hearth but among the whole Bluegrass community. But their loss, while poignantly refreshing their gratitude and sense of privilege, could only reinforce an engrained determination that her legacy be honored by all the ambition that had characterised...

Shane and Josh Hennessy grew up in an Ohio family whose only connection to horse racing was a yearly tradition of watching the Kentucky Derby on television, but the two brothers are more than making up for lost time. Both now serve as managers at Kentucky farms which enjoyed strong results at the recently concluded Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Josh is in his third year at the Knelman family's Farfellow Farms, while Shane joined forces with Robbie and Susie Lyons's Hartwell Farm last December. "I came down to University of...

Gear Jockey (Twirling Candy), third at 67-1 as a maiden in the 2019 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita, delivered a career high while punching his ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. The Calumet Farm homebred sat just off the pacesetting Bombard (War Front) in second, took over under confident handling as they hit the quarter pole and took care of business from there to win for fun. Longshot Diamond Oops (Lookin At Lucky) nosed out Bombard for second. Gear Jockey, a maiden winner at ninth...

Lexitonian (h, 5, Speightstown--Riviera Romper, by Tapit), beaten just a nose in last summer's GI Bing Crosby S. at Del Mar, got his Grade I victory with a shocking, 34-1 upset in Saturday's GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. at Saratoga. Drawn on the fence, he was hustled to the front by Jose Lezcano. The chestnut was pressed through an opening quarter of :22.04 and appeared to be in deep water as streaking former claimer and two back GIII Maryland Sprint Match Series S. winner Special Reserve (Midshipman) loomed large at...

The mystique around Calumet is such that it aptly discloses a nearly perfect anagram for "Camelot." Both words evoke, not just an idealized past, but a yearning for the restoration of standards eroded during our unchivalrous times. Of course, Calumet has itself had its modern lapses, but there's no mistaking the wholesome intentions animating its latest ownership. True, the methods of Brad Kelley and his team sometimes strike the orthodox observer as idiosyncratic, to put it mildly. But it makes sense to write a new chapter, in their own hand,...

Johnny V. did it again. A week after wiring the GI Kentucky Derby aboard Medina Spirit (Protonico), John Velazquez sent Calumet Farm homebred Channel Cat (English Channel) to the front in Saturday's GI Man O' War S., and just held on by a nose over favored Gufo (Declaration of War). Channel Cat, off at 8-1, dueled from the inside through an opening quarter in an eye-catching :22.69 in this 1 3/8-mile affair. He began to shake clear rounding the clubhouse turn and slowed it down some to a testing half...

4th-Indiana Grand, $31,000, Msw, 5-3, 2yo, 5f, 1:00.81, gd, neck. ICY STORM (c, 2, Keen Ice--Downton My Lady, by Pioneerof the Nile) was sent off at 7-2 to become the first winner for his 2015 GI Travers S.-winning freshman sire (by Curlin). Part of a five-way skirmish for the early lead, the dark bay colt sat second as Gormleys Got Game (Gormley) broke away from the pack after a quarter in :22.71. He surged by that foe inside the final furlong and just held off the late rush of Atta...

Calumet Farm homebred Bourbonic (Bernardini) was well deserving of his 70-1 odds on paper, but came flying late to nail stablemate Dynamic One (Union Rags) on the line in Aqueduct's GII Wood Memorial S. Away well from post three, Bourbonic was unhurried early, trailing the field as fellow 70-1 shot and familiar foe Market Maven (Super Ninety Nine) dictated terms, setting early fractions of :24.88 and :50.18 with Weyburn (Pioneer of the Nile) breathing down his neck and Candy Man Rocket (Candy Ride {Arg}) close behind. Weyburn drew even with...

This Saturday, Calumet Farm looks to pull off a bit of an upset in the GII Risen Star with their homebred Santa Cruiser (Dialed In), who broke his maiden last November and ran fourth in his most recent start in the GIII Lecomte S.    Santa Cruiser may go off as one of the longer shots on the board, but if he were to win, it wouldn't be the farm's first upset in the same race. Three years ago, Calumet's homebred Bravazo (Awesome Again-Tiz O'Gold, by Cee's Tizzy) won the...

GI Cigar Mile hero True Timber (Mineshaft) was not entered for Saturday's GI Pegasus World Cup S. after cooling out slightly lame Wednesday morning prior to the draw, trainer Jack Sisterson announced via Twitter. With the defection of True Timber, GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile victor Knicks Go (Paynter) was installed as the morning-line favorite in the 12-horse Pegasus. "True Timber came up slightly off cooling out this morning," Sisterson tweeted. "While it appears he might be able to run in the Pegasus, we always prioritize the best interest of...

It doesn't make me mad anymore. Maybe it's just the idealism of youth ebbing away. But I have also begun to understand the virtue of markets. If people want to breed to unproven stallions, that's their prerogative. I can always buy a mare, send her to a sire of runners, and see y'all in the starting gate. If I'm right, the odds are in my favor; I get value from the market. And if I'm wrong, well, no need to be angry. Even in setting all that aside, however, it's...

Sent off the 16-5 second favorite to build on a front-running maiden victory over course and distance in his turf debut Dec. 19, Calumet Farm homebred Kentucky Pharoah (American Pharoah) repeated the dose Saturday, earning his first stakes success in the Dania Beach S. at Gulfstream. Quickly into stride from gate two, Kentucky Pharoah had early company to his inside in the form of favored Fighting Force but was intent on rolling forward and was a clear leader turning up the backstretch. Bowling along at a good clip while racing...