Epicenter

LEXINGTON, KY - The four-day Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale reached its halfway point in Lexington Tuesday and continued to produce figures significantly ahead of its record-setting 2024 edition. Through two sessions, 540 yearlings have grossed $33,091,000 for an average of $61,280 and a median of $30,000. At the same point last year, 544 horses had grossed $28,753,000 for an average of $52,855 and a median of $20,000. The 2024 auction concluded with a cumulative record gross of $58,575,500 and a record average of $52,206. "The second session of the...

Graded winner Magnitude (Not This Time) prepped for Saturday's GI Travers Stakes with a half-mile breeze over the Oklahoma dirt training track Sunday morning. Clocked in :50.22 (31/49) while working through a blanket of fog, the Steve Asmussen charge has been training up to the feature race this weekend after producing a 9 1/4-length masterclass last out July 5 in the Listed Iowa Derby. The son of Not This Time missed the Triple Crown series with an ankle chip, but has been moving forwardly since his return to the races...

Bidding commenced Aug. 14 and runs until Tuesday, Aug. 19 at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m PT for the major reduction of Harris Farms on Fasig-Tipton Digital, according to a press release from the platform on Thursday. Ninety entries are catalogued as part of the reduction of leading California owner and breeder John C. Harris who participated in all aspects of the Thoroughbred business until his passing at the age of 81 in July. The reduction consists of breeding and racing stock.  Included in the catalogue are: Nu Pi Lambda (City...

LEXINGTON, KY - The day, which began at Newtown Paddocks Tuesday with a steady renewal of the Fasig-Tipton July Selected Yearlings Sale, ended with a record-blasting edition of the Fasig-Tipton July Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale and it was the very last horse through the ring who made the loudest noise when stakes-winning 2-year-old Romeo (Honor A. P.) sold for $1.7 million to the bid of Mahmud Mouni. The Horses of Racing Age catalogue, down to 70 entries from 123 a year ago, may have been small, but it...

Forced to miss the Triple Crown series after exiting his sensational GII Fasig-Tipton Risen Star S. victory with an ankle chip, Magnitude (Not This Time) makes his highly anticipated return in Saturday evening's $250,000 Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows. He is the 9-5 morning-line favorite. The Winchell Thoroughbreds colorbearer was a 9 3/4-length, front-running winner of the Risen Star at odds of 43-1 Feb. 15, good for a 108 Beyer Speed Figure. His final time of 1:48.85 was the fastest Risen Star in seven runnings (including one year with split...

Feel free to make plans, working with Thoroughbreds--just don't be deceived that it'll ever be you who decides how far they work out. With a young son to raise, Becky Maker had quit the rootless life of a trainer and taken a role on the pre-training team at WinStar. "Just to stay in one place, have a salary and be safe," she remembers wryly. "Within six months I had a horse rear up and flip over in the shedrow. Severe fracture of the femur. So after 20 years galloping on...

6th-FG, 52K, Msw, 3yo, f, 1 1/16m, 4:15 p.m. Westwind Farms homebred EPISIST (Outwork), out of SW/GSP and $625k KEENOV broodmare buy Silent Candy, is a half-sister to champion 3-year-old colt Epicenter (Not This Time) who captured that GI Runhappy Travers Stakes and placed in both the GI Kentucky Derby and the GI Preakness during his Eclipse-winning season. In addition to Epicenter, Silent Candy has produced three other winners from seven to race. Episist lines up just inside of the well-bred second-time starter Bundle (Volatile), a daughter of MGISW and...

4th-Turfway, $78,125, Msw, 3-6, 3yo, f, 6f (AWT), 1:12.25, ft, 4 3/4 lengths. FAMILY (f, 3, Sharp Azteca--Heidi Maria {MSW, $220,764}, by Rockport Harbor) was let go on this unveiling at a chilly 27-1 but ran like the favorite en route to her graduation. Employing her early foot to get out and lead, she was challenged by Maclean's Lullaby (Maclean's Music) entering the bend after splits of :23.01 and :46.45, but managed to repel that rival coming into the lane. Giving the field the slip, she strode out to a...

We don't often see 43-1 shots winning graded stakes by 9 3/4 lengths, and when we do, those victories are often subsequently proven to be flukes. If you go by the numbers, an off-the-charts, outlier effort like the one orchestrated by Magnitude (Not This Time) in Saturday's GII Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds--in which his 108 Beyer Speed Figure equated to a walloping 34-point improvement off his last race--is more likely to be met with pari-mutuel skepticism than enthusiasm when this colt races next, most likely in the GII...

First let's salute two horses in this category just emerging from surely the most competitive freshman title race ever. The lead changed hands between both, as well as McKinzie (now $75,000), through the final hours of 2024, with VEKOMA ultimately seizing the crown--partly through belated processing of a son in Panama--by $22,939 from McKinzie, with TIZ THE LAW breathing down their necks $9,334 behind. In fact, his "extra" winner gave Vekoma a share of the North American record of 39 first-crop juvenile winners. Admittedly he was working from corresponding volume,...

How has your year gone? With the holidays approaching in earnest, it's not uncommon for American families to send a letter to loved ones sharing highlights from their year. If a stallion were to do that, Not This Time's letter might go something like this: Dear Friends and Family, It's been another great year! One son set the North American record on grass for 5 1/2 furlongs and has been billed as "the fastest horse in the world." Another couldn't be beaten at marathons on the dirt. Yet another was...

Clark Brewster and William and Corinne Heiligbrodt's Cogburn (h, 5, Not This Time--In a Jif, by Saintly Look) made it a perfect three-for-three on the year with another powerhouse performance in Saturday's 'Win and You're In' $2-million GII Ainsworth Turf Sprint S. at Kentucky Downs. The even-money favorite blasted out to the front, raced under pressure while setting fast fractions of :21.82 and :44.14 and kept on motoring down the stretch to win going away by 3 1/4 lengths. Second-place finisher Khaadem (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and third-place finisher Axthelm...