Classic Empire

The Bill Mott barn was poised for a big Saturday at Oaklawn Park but Stars and Stripes (Not This Time) made sure it was equally exciting for the Keeneland division with a powerful performance in the GIII Ben Ali Stakes. A horse with buzz about him after he dazzled in his June graduation at the Belmont Big A meet last year--a 10 1/2-length masterclass--in start number two, he followed that up with an equally sterling effort in mid-July at Saratoga. Blitzing a field of first-level allowance runners by 7 1/4...

They bet him like he couldn't lose, and Grande (Curlin) came through for his supporters to win his first graded stakes in the GIII Ghostzapper Stakes on Florida Derby Day at Gulfstream Park. One of the most talked about 3-year-olds last season, both for his ability and as a high-profile vet scratch from Kentucky Derby 151 due to a foot issue, the son of Curlin has lost only once in his career--a runner-up effort in the GII Wood Memorial Stakes that preceded the Kentucky Derby drama, and subsequent layoff until...

After a career of always showing up for a piece of the pie, it's finally Skippylongstocking (Exaggerator) who's the talk of the town, and the statesman strolled home to the roar of an appreciative Oaklawn crowd to confidently win the GIII Essex Handicap. The seven-year-old entire has been exclusively in graded stakes company since early April 2022, when he ran third in the GII Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. He never left the ranks after that, and placed at the highest levels every year since--hitting the board in the 2022 GI...

In her second start since topping the 2025 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale at a cool $3.7-million, Lush Lips (Ire) brought her winning streak to three in a row Saturday, capturing the GIII Honey Fox Stakes at Gulfstream Park in her first run against older fillies and mares. Debuted initially in her native Ireland, Saturday's 8-5 favorite really found her footing once shipped to Brendan Walsh's operation in late 2024. She's never been off the board since that maiden-breaking score at Gulfstream, winning five of eight starts and finishing runner...

WinStar Farm's Heartland, a 'TDN Rising Star' son of Justify out of the Cat Thief mare Sambuca Classica and a half-brother to Classic Empire, sired his first reported foal on Friday, Jan. 16, when a colt out of I Love Nola (Champali) was born at Katierich Farm in Midway, Ky, the farm announced Friday. The colt, whose dam is a half-sister to stakes-placed Love Boot (Storm Boot), the dam of stakes winner and graded stakes-placed Made to Love Her (Steve Wonderboy), and hails from the family of multiple stakes winner...

The second choice on the tote at 2-1, Alpine Princess (Empire Maker) gained the lead in the lane and never looked back to take home the GIII Falls City Stakes at Churchill Downs on Thanksgiving. The filly put in an extensive campaign, which included a trio of runner-up finishes at the higher-level dating back to the GIII Comely Stakes at the Big A a year ago. Alpine Princess was last seen running second in the GII Locust Grove Stakes under the Twin Spires Sept. 13. The 4-year-old made the pace...

Grade I winner Eight Rings (Empire Maker) has relocated from Harris Farms to Rancho San Miguel and will stand at the new farm for a 2026 fee of $6,000 with a live foal guarantee, it was announced by press release. The son of Empire Maker claimed his elite-level win in the GI American Pharoah Stakes for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert as a juvenile and went on to be placed in four other graded contests--namely the GI Bing Crosby (second); GIII Native Diver (third); GII San Antonio Stakes (second); and...

7th-Churchill Downs, $122,888, Msw, 10-26, 2yo, 6f, 1:10.22, ft, 5 1/2 lengths. STRADALE (c, 2, Yaupon--Twitterpated, by Stormy Atlantic) hit the board twice during his time at Saratoga, running third and second July 19 and Aug. 30, respectively, against maiden company. He bobbled and was knocked around at the start of the GI Champagne Stakes Oct. 4 and ran a flat fifth by 12 lengths as Napoleon Solo (Liam's Map) won by 6 1/2 lengths. Sent off here as the 9-5 favorite, Stradale bumped with an outside rival after tossing...

A gelding by Spendthrift Farm stallion Vekoma topped the 2025 CTHS Alberta Thoroughbred Sale which closed Friday, Sept. 19. Bought for $70,000 by Norm Tremblay as agent, the colt, named Vekoma's Pride, was consigned by Doug Obert and was the highest priced yearling sold in Alberta since 2015, the sale noted. 73 yearlings sold for a gross of $1,024,600, a 47% increase over the 2024 gross of $699,000. Additionally, the average rose 12% to $14,036 and the median also increased to $10,000. The RNA rate was 10%. Other tops hips...

5. NU WHAT'S NEW, CD, 9/13, 6 furlongs (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure- 84 (2nd) (c, 3, by Munnings--Heavenly Scat, by Scat Daddy) O-Doubledown Stables. B-BlackRidge Stables (Ky). T-James Divito. J-Walter Rodriguez. On paper and in mutuels, this former Taylor Made-sold weanling was in a different hemisphere than Subito (below) and some others Saturday, and it looked that way at the quarter pole when he was still 7 lengths behind and seemingly going nowhere. Then something ignited, and he stormed up the inside to barely miss catching Subito while blowing past...

It was overcast and foggy, but weather was not going to stop her as Daisy Flyer (Mshawish) flew home in the final yards to take the GIII Lake George Stakes at Saratoga. Sent to George 'Rusty' Arnold as a juvenile, she ran a flat eighth last summer on unveiling July 21 at Ellis Park, but produced her first inkling of the dramatic final kick in her Sept. 5 graduation at Kentucky Downs when she won the photo by a head. When her connections stepped her up into the GII Miss...

Sedburys Ghost came flying late to take the Plate Trial Stakes and throw his name into the mix for next month's King's Plate, a race won by his sire in 2015. The 7-1 shot settled in midpack around the first turn as Scorching prompted the pace set by longshot Unbridled Weather and favored Notorious Gangster trailed the field. The pack began bunching up as the half went up in :47.22 and second choice Scorching took charge into the far turn, but Sedburys Ghost was inching ominously through traffic with Notorious...