Charlie Chu

Last week, I stopped by John and Leslie Malone's 2,200-acre Bridlewood Farm in Ocala before attending the OBS June sale and got a good look at an intriguing freshman sire who'd topped the June sale six years earlier at a then-record price of $680,000. By Candy Ride (Arg) from the unraced Deputy Minister mare Spooky Minister, Valiant Minister was bred by John Sikura's Hill 'n' Dale and had breezed a bullet eighth in :9 4/5 for consignor Eddie Woods. He was purchased on the advice of Donato Lanni by Charles...

Three-time Grade I winner Bast (Uncle Mo--Laffina, by Arch) has been retired from racing after suffering a soft tissue injury, trainer Bob Baffert reported Thursday afternoon. "She wasn't off at all, but we noticed some slight filling in an ankle," Baffert said. "It's minor, but she'd need at least four months off and there is no guarantee how she'd come back. So we just decided to retire her. She'll go back to Kentucky to be bred." Owned by Susan and Charlie Chu's Baoma Corporation, Bast broke her maiden with an...