Elliott Walden

A colt by Triple Crown winner Justify (hip 215) brought a final bid of $1.2 million from WinStar Farm's Elliott Walden to jump to the head of the class during Monday's first session of the OBS March sale. The dark bay colt is out of graded-placed Zinzay (Smart Strike) and is a half-brother to Grade I-placed Moon Over Miami (Malibu Moon). He was consigned by Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds. Randy Hartley and Dean DeRenzo purchased the colt for $250,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale. The consignment was also responsible for a...

They could have entered him in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile or the Sprint, where he would have been a top choice in either spot, but the connections of Life Is Good (Into Mischief - Beach Walk, by Distorted Humor) opted to send their versatile 4-year-old to the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic. While there was no beating Flightline (Tapit) that day, Life Is Good threw it down with his undefeated competitor, forcing Flightline to chase him through blazing early fractions of :22.55 and :45.47. The Classic marked only his...

With Constitution leading the way at $110,000, WinStar Farm has released the 2023 stud fees for its stallion roster. Constitution, the sire of eight individual runners who have earned 100+ Beyers in 2022, has been represented this year by GIII Peter Pan S. winner 'TDN Rising Star' We the People, GIII Distaff H. winner Glass Ceiling, GIII Greenwood Cup S. winner Ridin With Biden and GIII San Juan Capistrano S. winner Breakpoint (Chi). He was also responsible for a pair of seven-figure yearlings at the Keeneland September sale. Constitution stood...

Jody and Michelle Huckabay's Elm Tree Farm consigned a son of Curlin on behalf of Barbara Banke's Stonestreet Bred & Raised that topped Saturday's fifth session of the Keeneland September Sale in Lexington on a bid of $900,000. Just 48 hours later, the couple sold a colt by leading sire Candy Ride (Arg) for $600,000 to repeat the dose during yet another solid day of trade Monday which saw the sale surpass its turnover from last year with fully five days of selling remaining. Monday's topper was one of 10...

By Christie DeBernardis and Jessica Martini A $1.4-million son of super sire Into Mischief (Hip 604) led a sextet of seven-figure sellers during the opening session of Book 2 of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale Wednesday. Consigned by Summerfield on behalf of Stonestreet Stables, the colt was purchased by Larry Best of OXO Equine. With six horses eclipsing the million-dollar mark Wednesday, the sale total now comes to 28. During the equivalent session last year, just two yearlings brought seven figures, including the $1.7-million sale topper. "It was a great...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - Fasig-Tipton will be looking to continue the momentum set by its record-setting select sale when bidding returns to the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion Sunday evening for the first of two sessions of the New York-Bred Yearlings Sale. Bidding begins Sunday at 7 p.m. and Monday's session will begin at 12 p.m. With the end of the sweltering conditions which punctuated the last week in upstate New York, activity was high at the sales barns on a picture-perfect Saturday morning as a mixture of end-users, pinhookers and...

Barbara Banke (Stonestreet Farms), Walker Hancock (Claiborne Farm), Gray Lyster (Ashview Farm), and Elliott Walden (WinStar Farm) were each elected by the Breeders' Cup Members to serve a four-year term on Breeders' Cup's Board of Directors, Breeders' Cup announced Thursday. Banke, Hancock, and Walden were re-elected as Directors. Lyster, who was elected a Breeders' Cup Member in 2020, has been involved in the equine industry for his entire life. His family operates Ashview Farm. Lyster is a breeder, owner, farm operator, and consignor. He co-bred Breeders' Cup Champion Runhappy, and...

Celebrity chef Bobby Flay has acquired an interest in recent GIII Peter Pan S. romper and 'TDN Rising Star' We the People (Constitution), who figures to be one of the top betting choices in Saturday's GI Belmont S. on Long Island. The famed restaurateur also bought into Creator (Tapit) ahead of his Belmont victory in 2016. Flay joins an ownership group that consists of WinStar Farm, CMNWLTH and Siena Farm on the Rodolphe Brisset trainee. "I'm thrilled to join the We the People team," said Flay. "I have been an...

CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm's track record-setting Nashville (Speightstown--Veronique, by Mizzen Mast) has been retired from racing and will stand alongside his sire at WinStar, the farm announced Thursday. Tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' off his impressive 11 1/2 length debut romp at Saratoga in September of 2020, the $460,000 KEESEP buy followed suit with a dominant Keeneland allowance win a month later, good for a 103 Beyer Speed Figure. Nashville may not have won the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, but he was the fastest sprint winner on the card....

The Louisville Courier-Journal is reporting that Laoban (Uncle Mo)'s death last year resulted after the stallion was injected with a cocktail of vitamins and minerals they called the "Black Shot," which was meant to increase his interest in breeding after he struggled to cover mares toward the end of the season. The Courier-Journal based much of its reporting on insurance documents it obtained regarding the death of the stallion that stood at WinStar Farm. Part-owners Cypress Creek Equine and Southern Equine Stables filed suit last month in Fayette Circuit Court...

It wasn't that long ago that Will Walden, recovering from substance addiction, was working the morning shift at Wendy's, walking a mile and a half, sometimes in the snow, to get to a job where his duties included scraping old ketchup packets off of the concrete in the parking lot. "I got to a place that I'm not proud of. I was at the end of my rope. I was broken," Walden said. But his time at Wendy's, as humbling as it may have been, was an important step. He...

Following their performances in the GI Dubai World Cup, beaten favorite Life Is Good (Into Mischief) and race winner Country Grammer (Tonalist) are on their way to WinStar Farm for a freshening before they return to serious training. WinStar President and CEO Elliott Walden estimated that their stay at the farm will last from 30 to 45 days. WinStar is the co-owner of both horses. Colonel Liam (Liam's Map), who finished ninth in the GI Dubai Turf, is also being sent to WinStar. The heavy favorite in the wagering, Life...