Claiborne Farm

7th-Ellis, $70,000, Msw, 8-27, 2yo, 6f, 1:10.80, ft, 2 3/4 lengths. AWESOME ROAD (c, 2, Quality Road--Orate, by A.P. Indy) was bet down to even money and had plenty of early speed, racing between foes in a three-pronged battle for the lead. With the best closing kick of the trio, the $600,000 Keeneland September grad was left to contend only with Stronghold (Ghostzapper) into the lane and turned that rival back in the final sixteenth to score by 2 3/4 lengths. Chryso Alogo (Bolt d'Oro) checked in fourth while Loma...

Claiborne Farm's first-crop sire Demarchelier {GB) by Dubawi {Ire}) was off the mark at Clairefontaine on Friday as White Birch Farm's homebred colt De Sica (Fr) captured the Prix de Roncheville over a mile. Runner-up on debut at Dieppe last month, the Jean-Claude Rouget-trained 4-1 shot raced behind the leading trio early and took time to warm up as the dash began in early straight. Building a head of steam to reel in Mister Fernando (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}) inside the last 50 metres, the bay asserted for a 3/4-of-a-length success...

1st-Del Mar, $83,500, Msw, 8-4, 2yo, f, 5fT, :58.17, fm, 1 1/4 lengths. MYSTICISM (f, 2, War Front--Clairvoyance, by Arch) caught a flier on debut here and despite drifting in greenly, corrected quickly to set all the fractions on a wholly uncontested lead in :23.04 and a half in :46.30. Headstrong passing that half, she rated better coming two wide around the turn and responded when asked to produce a second wind in the stretch. Her advantage diminishing, but not fast enough, Mysticism sailed in 1 1/4 lengths to the...

1st-DMR, $82K, Msw, 2yo, 5fT, 5:00 p.m. EISENHOWER (War Front), a juvenile homebred colt for Ramona S. Bass and Perry R. Bass II, debuts for Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella in the Del Mar opener. Ridden by Ramon Vazquez, the bay is out of GSW and MGISP My Miss Sophia (Unbridled's Song), who counts GI Florida Derby champ Materiality (Afleet Alex) as a half brother. In addition to Eisenhower, she is also responsible for his full brothers: GISW Annapolis, who is also campaigned by Bass Racing and Alpha Delta...

Lady d'Oro (Catholic Boy) is freshman sire Catholic Boy's first winner with her grass victory at Monmouth Park on Sunday afternoon. The filly was 49-1 in her debut when she finished sixth over a sealed track June 16 at the New Jersey track. Still overlooked at the windows at 14-1 here, the bay filly avoided Momma Kim (Noble Mission {GB})'s fall, who stumbled up the backstretch after clipping heels with Gold Alliance (Goldencents), which also caused Bingo's Girl (Yoshida {Jpn}) to go down. Rounding the far turn, Lady d'Oro made...

Just shy of a century ago, Thoroughbred racing was undergoing a massive transformation in breeding and technology that would set it on a path towards expansion. The importing of international sires, the building of new racetracks, the development of starting gates and the implementation of what was called the totalisator, a device that tracked odds and payouts for pari-mutuel wagering, became all the rage into the 1930s. As you probably know, the 'tote' became linked to a board that everyone on-track could see and was intended to democratize laying a...

It felt like a literal solstice, a moment marking our transition to a different phase in the alignment of the Thoroughbred firmament. Because the meteoric performance of Equinox (Jpn) in Dubai on Saturday night, as highlight of another momentous evening for Japan, left rival breeders everywhere speechless. Perhaps, they wondered next morning, this was what was meant by a Sunday silence. There are so many lessons in Japan's accession as a dominant influence on the 21st Century Thoroughbred, a trend that even the most obtuse and parochial of us cannot...

It can be one of a farm manager's biggest headaches: the weather. As Spring brings severe weather across central Kentucky, farms across the state are forced to deal with multiple threats along with the changing seasons--snow or ice storms, heavy rain and flooding, high winds, lightning, and even tornadoes. With herds of horses scattered across hundreds of acres, those fast-moving Spring systems require a farm to be ready at a moment's notice to keep both human and equine safe. A strong area of low pressure swept across the region Friday,...

7th-Fair Grounds, $50,000, Msw, 3-19, 3yo, 1 1/16m (off turf), 1:45.25, ft, 4 1/4 lengths. PROMISE ME A RIDE (c, 3, Mastery--Promise Me More {SW & GSP, $171,866}, by More Than Ready), Triple Crown-nominated and sporting many of the same owners as his stablemate one race prior, 'TDN Rising Star' Bishops Bay (Uncle Mo), raced from the second flight in this off-turf unveiling and rode the rail going into the first turn. Angled out into the four path and pulling for his head to take command, Promise Me a Ride...

He was tailor-made for both walks of life; raised to be equally at home with the racetrack cavalcade, or the catwalk parade. From the outside, fashion and the Turf perhaps share their most obvious bond in pageant: all those shimmering silks, all those sleek creatures. To Andrew Rosen, however, it's a more internal thing. Outlook, not aspect. In both cases, he explains, you're adding one plus one and hoping to get four. "Or six, or eight," he says, smiling. "So, it's all about anticipating the future. In the clothing industry,...

Coolmore and Westerberg's dual Group 1-placed 4-year-old colt Ancient Rome (War Front--Gagnoa {Ire}, by Sadler's Wells) returns off a ninth in June's G1 Prix du Jockey Club when last seen and registers a stylish comeback win at Chantilly in his first start for over nine months. 6th-Chantilly, €18,000, Cond, 3-7, 4yo, 9f (AWT), 1:50.78, st. ANCIENT ROME (c, 4, War Front--Gagnoa {Ire} {MGSW & MG1SP-Fr, G1SP-Ire, $597,492}, by Sadler's Wells) snagged the G3 Prix des Chenes and placed in the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and G1 Criterium International as a...

A few weeks ago, I was a guest on the weekly Going In Circles podcast, which is hosted by Chuck Simon, the former trainer who's also a top-notch writer at his blog, and Barry "The Sniper" Spears, an excellent handicapper and well-known figure on Twitter. Simon asked for my opinion on which stallion I'd consider to be the most influential of the past 50 years. You can listen to a nine-minute clip of the conversation here. My answer? Claiborne's iconic Mr. Prospector, of course. The clip generated quite a bit...