Caravaggio

2nd-Keeneland, $72,737, Msw, 4-24, 2yo, 5 1/2fT, 1:04.73, fm, 1 1/4 lengths. TOUGH CRITIC (c, 2, Caravaggio--Thatchit {Ire}, by Invincible Spirit {Ire}), one of a handful of first-time starters in the field, took his time into stride and had only one rival beat as a pair of runners dueled for the lead into the far turn. Still well beaten at the half-mile pole as 4-5 favorite Longshoreman (Twirling Candy) began to open up a sizable advantage up front, the 6-1 shot picked up the bridle with a wide, sweeping move...

2nd-Keeneland, $90k, MSW, 2yo, f, 4 1/2f, post time: 1:32 p.m. Repole Stable's homebred Nonna's Love (Caravaggio) makes her first trip to the post for trainer Todd Pletcher. Out of Nonna Bella (Stay Thirsty), the gray filly is a half-sister to 2023 Eclipse champion juvenile and multiple Grade I winner Fierceness (City of Light) and to graded winner Mentee (City of Light). Wesley Ward saddles morning-line favorite Gracie's Delight (American Pharoah) on behalf of For the People Racing Stable. TJCIS PPs

Heavily favored Scipio sailed home a much-the-best winner of the Baffle Stakes at Santa Anita. The dark bay colt, twice graded-placed while still a maiden, earned his first career victory going one mile over the Santa Anita turf last time out and was the 4-5 favorite to make it two in a row while making his first start down the hill Sunday. He raced near the back of a compact field and was buried behind a wall of horses approaching the stretch. Tipped to the center of course at the...

9th-Tampa Bay Downs, $32,000, Msw, 1-17, 3yo, f, 1mT, 1:36.74, fm, 4 1/4 lengths. BRILLANTE (FR) (f, 3, Persian King {Ire}--Baga {Fr}, by No Nay Never) made her American debut Friday after a pair of starts as a 2-year-old in her native France. Privately purchased and imported to the Chad Brown barn late last year, the 7-5 favorite spotted the field a step at the break and raced near the back of the field behind Mona L (Caravaggio) who set an opening half tempo of :48.33. Staying wide throughout, Brillante...

It's not that Medallion Racing, a branch of Taylor Made, didn't get off to a good start. It was anything but. A racing partnership whose goal is to gets its partners to experience racing at the highest levels around the world, Taylor Made was delivering on that promise. Out of 250 plus starts, Medallion, at one point had raced five Grade I winners, won 28 graded stakes and had 72 top-three finishes in graded stakes. But what it didn't have was a superstar, the type that could win multiple Grade...

GIII Vosburgh Stakes winner Mufasa (Chi) (Practical Joke) was expected to arrive back at Keeneland Sunday, and has two races on Championship weekend under consideration, trainer Ignacio Correas IV confirmed. The 4 1/4-length victory in the "Win and You're In" Breeders' Cup Challenge race was the first North American graded score for the Chilean star since arriving in the U.S. While Mufasa has a fees-paid berth into the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, Correas has said that the GI Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile is also under consideration. Grade...

Proving herself the complete racing machine on Saturday, Medallion Racing, Steve Weston, Barry Fowler and Reeves Thoroughbred Racing's Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio--Too Precious {Ire}, by Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) added Leopardstown's G1 Coolmore America 'Justify' Matron Stakes to her already enviable top-level tally with the minimum of fuss. Coming of age this summer with wins in the G1 Coronation Stakes and G1 Falmouth Stakes, the pride and joy of Donnacha O'Brien's stable who had also captured last year's G1 Cheveley Park Stakes was a touch free and fresh in the...

Not just anyone can hire their own personal bloodstock agent for Keeneland September to walk them through that voluminous catalogue and bid at one of the world's signature sales. Likewise, breeders, owners and agents do not always have access to pools of investors and some are actively looking to add more capital, so they can take money off the table to mitigate risk. If you hadn't heard, racing a horse is expensive, and speed dating at the sales does not always yield a match. In the global world market of...

Caravaggio's name has been plastered all over the TDN recently on the back of Porta Fortuna and Whitebeam's exploits. TDN's Gary King chatted with Dr. Shigeki Yusa, Manager of the JBBA Shizunai Stallion Station, about the well travelled stallion who now calls Japan home. GK: How proud are you of Caravaggio's recent successes? Most notably Porta Fortuna and Whitebeam. SY: The two wins in two days made us very happy, especially with Porta Fortuna winning two Group 1 races in a row with the recent Falmouth Stakes victory, and Whitebeam...

If Juddmonte keeps going like this, I might as well just copy and paste tributes already paid this summer to family trees it has cultivated through the past four decades. Before reprising that process, then, let's start with something of a detour. Daylami (Ire) was one of the most accomplished runners ever produced by another storied breed-to-race program. A Classic winner over a mile, in maturity he won the premier all-aged turf races in Britain (by five lengths), Ireland (by nine) and America. At stud, he was supported by both...

This past week the racing has come a distant second in the minds of many when set against the tragedy that has befallen the family of racing commentator John Hunt. Such an appalling act of cruelty is impossible to contemplate, especially when it concerns someone who is so popular and respected. In any workplace there are divisions and squabbles. What unites the racing press room in Britain is the unquestionable fact that John is not only a talented professional but a thoroughly decent man; a friend to so many.  He...

In the first Grade I of the 2024 Saratoga meet, Juddmonte homebred Whitebeam (GB) (m, 5, Caravaggio--Sleep Walk {GB}, by Oasis Dream {GB}) repeated in the Diana Stakes, giving trainer Chad Brown a record ninth win in the race and eighth in the last nine years. It also marked his 154th career Grade I win. Canada's 2022 Horse of the Year and Queen's Plate winner Moira (Ghostzapper) was second, while MGISW Gina Romantica (Into Mischief) finished third. In a textbook front-running ride from Flavien Prat, Whitebeam lulled them to sleep...