Distorted Humor

Momos (c, 2, Distorted Humor-Inspeight of Us, by Speightstown) kicked off Saturday's card at the Spa with a 'TDN Rising Star' performance. The :21 breezer at OBS March brought $180,000 from Ironhorse Racing Stable LLC and Secure Investments and was off at odds of 6-1 in this unveiling for Christophe Clement. He sped through an opening quarter in :22.20 from his inside draw, was under cruise control as they hit the quarter pole and took off in the stretch to run his five rivals off their feet. It was 6...

1st-SAR, $72K, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 1:10 p.m. ET MO MISCHIEF (Into Mischief), purchased by Myracehorse.com and Spendthrift Farm for $500,000 after breezing a quarter in :21 at OBS March, makes his debut for Todd Pletcher. The 9-5 morning-line favorite is out of the multiple stakes-placed Montbrook mare Montessa G. "He's a horse that we really liked when we bought him," said Spendthrift Farms' General Manager Ned Toffey. "Saratoga is the best of the bests, it's where people love to unveil their 2-year-olds and you better have your big boy...

A colt by Distorted Humor, supplemented to the OBS July sale, sold for $700,000 to bloodstock agent Jacob West late in Thursday's final session of the three-day auction. Out of Tizacity (Tizway), the juvenile was consigned by McKathan Bros. and was purchased by Kevin McKathan for $165,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton October sale. Co-breeder Matt Lyons purchased Tizacity for $5,000 at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton February sale.

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Thursday's Insights features a half-sister to a G1 Moyglare Stud S. heroine. 4.50, Lyon-Parilly, Mdn, €18,000, 3yo, 12fT BEAUTIFUL TIMING (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) debuts for Godolphin, having cost the operation 700,000gns at Tattersalls October Book 1. Henri-Alex Pantall introduces the half-sister to the G1 Moyglare Stud S. winner Cursory...

Forty Niner (Mr. Prospector--File, by Tom Rolfe), a four-time Grade I winner and champion of his generation in 1987 before becoming a sire of considerable importance, passed away Monday, May 18, in Japan due to the infirmities of old age. He had just celebrated his 35th birthday May 11. Owned and bred by Claiborne Farm and trained by Woody Stephens, Forty Niner won the 1987 GI Futurity S. and GI Champagne S. to clinch a divisional championship. A leading sophomore of 1988, Forty Niner missed by a neck to Winning...

Longtime owner/breeder Jack Preston died in his home in Texas earlier this month, the Blood-Horse reported Friday evening. He was 84. Preceded in death by his two brothers J.R. and Art, the Preston family campaigned the likes of GI Belmont S. winner Victory Gallop, two-time GI Breeders' Cup Mile hero Da Hoss and MGISW Flat Out. The Preston brothers partnered on a variety of business ventures involving gas and oil, real estate, restaurants, cattle ranches and geothermal power generation companies. Along with his brothers, he founded Preston Farm near Quanah,...

As the TDN Rising Star Amalfi Sunrise drew off for an easy six-length success in the GII Sorrento S., I was reminded of a commission I received in the fall of 2015. With the Breeders' Cup bandwagon due to roll into Lexington and Keeneland, WinStar wanted to promote its extensive team of stallions. I was asked to write 250-word summaries for each of them, including three which were scheduled to be added to the roster in 2016. Strangely, those three--Constitution, Commissioner and Daredevil--were respectively responsible for Amalfi Sunrise, Powerfulattraction and...