Forte

6th-Santa Anita, $61,000, Msw, 5-10, 3, 4,/5yo, 6 1/2f, 1:14.98, ft, 1 1/4 lengths. SOUTHERN GENTLEMAN (r, 3, Mitole--Midnight Magic, by Midnight Lute), a $250,000 yearling turned $750,000 2-year-old, faced older rivals Saturday on debut for Bob Baffert including well-met stablemate Sierra Silver (Game Winner) who was last third behind 'TDN Rising Star' and GI Preakness Stakes entrant Goal Oriented (Not This TIme). Showing speed from an outside draw, the 7-2 second choice led from the first jump, rationing his speed ahead of his stablemate through fractions of :22.08 and...

Albaugh Family Stables and Castleton Lyons's Cyclone Mischief (Into Mischief--Areyoucominghere, by Bernardini), third to 'TDN Rising Star' and champion Forte (Violence) in the GI Curlin Florida Derby and GII Fountain of Youth Stakes in 2022, will enter stud at Haras Don Florentino in Argentina for the 2025 breeding season, Turf Diario reported on Friday. Bred in Kentucky by Castleton Lyons and Kilboy Estate, Cyclone Mischief cost $450,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September Sale and won two of his first four starts for trainer Dale Romans, including a 5 3/4-length allowance...

3rd-Keeneland, $108,925, Msw, 4-9, 3yo/up, 6f, 1:11.45, ft, 1/2 length. DR. PARK (c, 4, Uncle Mo--Queen Caroline {MSW, $401,608}, by Blame) debuted in California for then-trainer John Shirreffs, weakening to fourth in a 6 1/2-furlong sprint Jan. 25. Shipping to Keeneland under new direction from Peter Eurton, the half-brother to 2-year-old champion Forte (Violence) drew outside as one of the more inexperienced runners in the scratched-down field of six. Lacking much early foot, the 3-5 favorite was outrun in the opening furlong by a trio of runners to his inside...

The New York Racing Association (NYRA)and Spendthrift Farm have entered a multi-year agreement for the stallion operation to serve as the title sponsor of the $300,000 GI Spendthrift Farm Hopeful Stakes, announced NYRA Friday morning. The seven-panel dirt sprint for juveniles anchors the closing day program of the 40-day summer meeting Monday, Sept. 1 at Saratoga. One of the oldest races for 2-year-olds, the Hopeful had its inaugural running in 1903, and several winners of the contest would go on to enjoy victory in the GI Belmont Stakes, including the...

2nd-GP, 94K, Msw, 3yo, 7f, 11:30 a.m. Gulfstream Park will kick off it's Pegasus World Cup card with a pair of classy maiden special weight races headlined by DISRUPTOR (Gun Runner), a $1,150,000 KEESEP yearling out of the Todd Pletcher barn for the partnership group of Repole Stable, Spendthrift Farm, Big Easy Racing, Titletown Racing, Winners Win, Golconda Stable, Ali Goodrich and Mark Parkinson. The chestnut, out of a full-sister to MGSW Bridgetown (Speightstown), put in a drill at Palm Beach Downs Jan. 18, going four furlongs from the gate...

A filly born at Darby Dan Farm near Lexington, Kentucky is the first reported foal for champion 2-year-old colt Forte (Violence). Gravy (Collected--Flawless Diamond, by Saint Ballado), a $160,000 2024 Keeneland November purchase by Darby Dan client Gary Holland for Kamden Favorites, had a dark bay filly Jan. 8 at 6:00 p.m. ET. "She is a flashy filly with plenty of leg, we are thrilled with the result, especially as this is the mare's first foal," said Darby Dan Farm Manager Charlie McKinlay. Forte, named a 'TDN Rising Star' and...

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,...

National Treasure, the three-time Grade I-winning son of Quality Road, has been retired from racing and will take up residence at Eric & Tamara Gustavson's Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, where he will stand stud in 2025 for an introductory fee of $40,000 S&N, according to a post on the farm's website. A classic winner of the GI Preakness Stakes and victor in this year's GI Pegasus World Cup and GI Metropolitan Handicap, National Treasure is now available for inspection by appointment. Spendthrift acquired the breeding rights to the colt,...

Liable (Seeking the Gold--Bound, by Nijinsky II), the dam of GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Blame (Arch), died July 19 due to the infirmities of old age. She was 29. A homebred for Claiborne Farm, in partnership with Nicole Perry Gorman, Liable was out of the Grade I-placed Bound, who herself was bred by and raced for Claiborne. Adele Dilschneider later assumed Gorman's place in the partnership prior to Liable's racing career. Multiple stakes-placed on the track, Liable retired to the Claiborne broodmare band in 2000. Her first foal, Apt...

4th-Churchill Downs, $123,820, Alw (NW2$X)/Opt. Clm ($80,000), 5-18, 3yo/up, 1 1/16m, 1:45.88, ft, 1 1/2 lengths. DISARM (c, 4, Gun Runner--Easy Tap, by Tapit), a 'TDN Rising Star', was a major player on last year's Triple Crown trail, hitting the board in both the GII Louisiana Derby and the GIII Lexington S. before running fourth behind Mage (Good Magic) in the GI Kentucky Derby. Fourth again in the GII Jim Dandy S., he chased home champion 3-year-old male Arcangelo (Arrogate) to be second in the GI Travers S. in his...

The New York Supreme Court for the County of Schenectady on Friday granted trainer Todd Pletcher a preliminary injunction precluding the New York State Gaming Commission from enforcing penalties related to the disqualification of Forte (Violence) from his win in the 2022 GI Hopeful S. at Saratoga Race Course, meaning that the sanctions are halted until the court decides issues of the case related to due process and rules interpretations. According to the Mar. 29 court order, the NYSGC had found that "based upon blood and urine samples taken after...

The TDN's popular annual series 'Mating Plans, presented by Spendthrift,' continues today in a conversation with Hanzly Albina of Newtownanner Stud. "I don't take this lightly at all," said Albina, who is both general manager of Newtownanner's Kentucky farm and North American bloodstock manager of the operation. "It's a ton of fun when it works out. For me, the physical is what I'm shooting for as I can't predict performance. We want to produce what we would buy in a sales ring, want to produce as nice a horse as...