Charlie Boden

Richard Mandella has been selected by the Board of Directors of the Thoroughbred Club of America as the 2023 Honor Guest, Club President Charlie Boden announced Monday. "The Thoroughbred Club of America is delighted to name Richard Mandella as its 2023 Honor Guest", said Boden. "Richard is a shining example of what past generations traditionally thought of when they considered what a great trainer is--a real "throwback" who has never had more than 40 horses in his barn. He is steadfast in his care of the animal with a long...

A colt by Bernardini (hip 385), who advertised himself with a :9 4/5 work last week, ignited a bidding duel between West Point Thoroughbreds and bloodstock agent Gary Young in the Midlantic sale ring Tuesday. Young, doing his bidding out back while standing alongside advisor Charlie Boden and trainer Bob Baffert and on the phone with Saudi businessman Amr Zedan, answered every bid from the West Point team doing its bidding at the back of the pavilion to ultimately secure the colt for a sales-record $3.55 million. "Obviously we thought...

The juvenile sales calendar, interrupted by the coronavirus epidemic, is scheduled to resume in three weeks with the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-year-Olds in Training and the OBS board met Monday to discuss the implementation of safety protocols ahead of the four-day auction. OBS held the only 2-year-olds in training sale of the year so far in March, just as the pandemic was starting to cause mass cancellations. Precautions for the Spring Sale will continue on from protocols put in place prior to the March sale, according...

Even if most racing is delayed, we're all hoping it will get underway sometime this spring or early summer, if for no other reason than so we can all find out the answer to our annual favorite question. We surveyed some top judges on who their leading first-crop sire is, and to give us some under-the-radar picks as well. I want to disclose my opinion by saying that most of it is based on the two-year-olds I have seen this past week at the OBS sale. Most of my clients...