Flameaway

Neither wind nor water could stop her, and Roses for Debra (Liam's Map) streaked home at a rain-drenched Saratoga to take the Smart N Fancy S., securing her fourth win in a row in the process. Only once off the board in her career, the grey was last seen putting up a career-high Beyer of 99 en route to winning the GIII Caress S. over this course last month and had two victories over the lawn at Belmont and Pimlico since changing from the barn of Michelle Brafford to Christophe...

Dreamfyre (f, 2, Flameaway--Appreciating, by Sky Mesa) may not have been the GIII Sorrento S. favorite behind 'TDN Rising Star' Benedetta (City of Light) and flashy Baffert/Zedan runner Dua (Arrogate), but she ran like it, controlling the 2-year-old filly contest from pillar to post. In Del Mar's co-feature Saturday, Dreamfyre broke like a shot from the inside post and immediately put daylight on the rest, clicking off early fractions in :21.74 and :45.10. Benedetta and Dua followed with the rest of the field stretched out well behind. Coming off the...

Set for a debut at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club on Sunday afternoon, Julias Dream (Flameaway) gave her freshman sire something to cheer about as she came home a newly-minted 'TDN Rising Star'. Taking to the grass, the chestnut filly at 6-1 odds shot to the lead up the backstretch and held sway around the far turn. Into the stretch, Julias Dream went on comfortably to win by 5 1/2 lengths and stop the clock at :56.97 over fellow first timer Avoir (More Than Ready). The winner's dam is a half-sister...

Some of the most highly anticipated races during the summer racing season are the 'baby' races during the boutique meetings at both Saratoga and Del Mar and at Ellis Park, which attract its fair share of high-priced offspring from a variety of top national outfits. Summer Breezes highlights debuting 2-year-olds at those meetings that have been sourced at the breeze-up sales earlier in the year, with links to their under-tack previews. To follow are the horses entered for Wednesday at Saratoga: Wednesday, August 2, 2023 Saratoga 5, $88k, 2yo, f,...

OCALA, FL - A flurry of late activity carried the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training to its conclusion Thursday in Ocala, with final numbers slightly off the auction's robust 2022 renewal. "Coming off of a record gross of last year, I think we kind of held our own," said OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski. "It seemed like the market held up through the entire season. There were no big surprises--the market is what the market is. There is money for the perceived higher quality...

For the past few days, we have been hearing from top judges on whose progeny will come out of the gate flying. MIKE RYAN Top pick: Omaha Beach (War Front-Charming, by Seeking the Gold). Spendthrift Farm, 2023 fee: $30,000. My pick is Omaha Beach. There is a tremendous amount of quality and class there. He is a beautifully-bred horse. He was very fast and he got great support from the breeders and was well-supported in the sales ring. It's a close call, but he is my pick over Audible. Under-the-radar...

With the 2-year-old sales season having kicked off and the first 'baby' races of the year ready to get going in a few weeks, laser focus will be placed on the up-and-coming first-crop stallions. Rightfully so, as we all hunt in earnest for the next breakout young sire. Could there possibly be another Gun Runner in the freshman class of 2023? A total of 16 young guns in North America have 50 or more current 2-year-olds resulting from their first covers in 2020. A great many more have fewer than...

No getting away from it, the young stallions we assess today have already completed their service to many breeders. They've processed a debut crop of yearlings, often on an industrial scale, and many have obliged with the kind of averages that vindicate the familiar, self-fulfilling commercial cycle that so favors new sires: demand generating supply, and the quality incidental to that increased supply in turn increasing demand. That leaves us with another tricky podium. You can't just congratulate those who have "won" on this system, topping out the first-crop yearling...

Jared Shoemaker, co-managing partner of Pocket Aces Racing, grew up in Lexington and fondly remembers going to Keeneland with his extended family from the time he could walk. It was one of his favorite things to do as a child. By the time he was in high school, he admits to spending a lot of afternoons at the track while supposedly in class. Not one to miss a good day of racing--no matter the reason--he scheduled all of his lectures at the University of Kentucky to be done by noon...

Flameaway (Scat Daddy) will shuttle to South America to stand at Haras Dadinco in Chile for the upcoming Southern Hemisphere breeding season. The deal was brokered by Matt Bowling Bloodstock and Sullivan Bloodstock. The two-time graded winner and GII Toyota Blue Grass S. and GII Jim Dandy S. runner-up stands at Darby Dan Farm in Lexington, Ky. "We are thrilled to partner with Haras Dadinco," said Ryan Norton, stallion director at Darby Dan Farm. "Flameaway was a versatile racehorse and he has a stallion's pedigree. He generated a lot of...