Future Is Now

"Doing matings with my clients is very much a team thing," says Headley Bell, whose Nicoma Bloodstock has been helping clients mate their mares since 1979. "My role is to try to assist in fulfilling dreams." Nicoma got off to a quick start with mating success, and the hits just keep on coming: in late December, George Strawbridge was first and third in the GI American Oaks with Ambaya (Ghostzapper), who was closely followed by Will Then (War Of Will) in third. Previous successes include two Arc de Triomphe winners...

Northview Stallion Station has pensioned Great Notion (Elusive Quality) ahead of the 2026 breeding season. A top stallion in Maryland, Great Notion, who will turn 26-years-old Jan. 1, sired 55 stakes winners led by MGSW Future Is Now, MGSW Havelock and millionaire GSW Coastal Mission. On the track, the son of Elusive Quality broke his maiden on debut at Churchill Downs for Silverton Hill and trainer Darrin Miller. Silverton Hill, who purchased Great Notion as a yearling at Keeneland September in 2001 for $82,000, raced him across the country, winning...

Laurel Park staged the Maryland Million program on Saturday, and arguably the best Maryland-bred filly in training, The Estate of the Late R. Larry Johnson's Future Is Now (Great Notion), will have every chance to surpass the $1-million mark in career earnings when she defends her title in Sunday's $400,000 GII Franklin Stakes at Keeneland. Since she is bred outside of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the 5-year-old races for just a $300,000 pot, and she'll jump favored to win for the fourth time in five starts this season. The fresh-up...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Jockey Junior Alvarado, the race day partner of Sovereignty (Into Mischief), the leading 3-year-old in the country, knows how everyone feels now. That's because he saw up close just how powerful Sovereignty is. Sovereignty had his final work before next weekend's $1.25 million GI Travers Stakes Saturday morning at the Oklahoma Training Track. As usual, he was being ridden by Neil Poznansky, the assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. Alvarado, helping the barn out, climbed aboard Fort Nelson (Bernardini), who was Sovereignty's workmate for...

She's the queen of turf speed at Saratoga and it's her summer we get to witness. Future Is Now (Great Notion) has now claimed seven wins from her last nine starts with a sparkling defense of her title in the Listed Smart And Fancy Stakes Friday afternoon. Not off the board since mid-May of last year, the Great Notion mare has taken home the hardware in four graded races and hit the board in two others. Her last start July 19 at this venue was a half-length victory in the...

Long live the classy mares. A fan favorite and honest as the day is long, Future Is Now (Great Notion) was ultra game in the lane to take home the GIII Caress Stakes at Saratoga. Off the board just once in her last 10 starts, the Michael Trombetta-trained star has won six of them including the GII Intercontinental Stakes and GII Franklin Stakes last year, and she kicked off her 2025 season Apr. 13 at Keeneland with a nose victory in the GIII Giant's Causeway Stakes over multiple Group/Graded stakes-placed...

The 2025 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival--held for the second straight year at Saratoga Race Course while the transformation of the new Belmont Park continues--begins with a 10-race program saluting New York-breds on Wednesday. 'New York Showcase Day' will feature six $200,000 stakes races exclusively for New York-breds--the Bouwerie S., Commentator S., Critical Eye S., Kingston S., Mike Lee S. and Mount Vernon S. Morning-line favorites for the six stakes races are as follows: Kay Cup (Instagrand) (Bouwerie) (9-5); Bank Frenzy (Central Banker) (Commentator) (7-5); Sterling Silver (Cupid) (Critical Eye) (1-1);...

As is tradition with turf races, the GIII Giant's Causeway Stakes at Keeneland came down to a thriller on the wire as the Maryland-bred Future Is Now (Great Notion) got the best of the photo to win her 2025 seasonal now. Racing almost on a monthly basis last year, she wrapped her 2024 campaign on a win streak with a three-quarter length victory Oct. 13 in Keeneland's GII Franklin Stakes. That lifetime best 99 Beyer there came on the back of her half-length win in Saratoga's Listed Smart N Fancy...

MSW Determined Kingdom (Animal Kingdom) captured the title of Virginia-bred Horse of the Year and will be recognized--along with other 2024 award winners--during Virginia Derby Day festivities at Colonial Downs Mar. 15, the track said in a Thursday press release. A series of award presentations will take place between various races from the paddock infield that day and broadcast over the simulcast feed. Determined Kingdom's year was marked with his third straight win in the Punch Line Stakes at Colonial last July. The 6-year-old was also rewarded as the Virginia-bred...

For the first time in his 17-year stud career, Northview's Great Notion surpassed $6 million in progeny earnings in one year, joining Not For Love as the only other Maryland stallion to hit that mark when the farm's legendary sire did it back-to-back in 2008 and 2009, according to a press release on Thursday from Northview Stallion Station. Great Notion and Golden Lad, who is also on Northview's roster, ended 2024 as the Mid-Atlantic region's leading general sire and juvenile sire respectively. Both stallions hit career milestones last year. With...

Sunday's GII Franklin Stakes was a tale of two trips. On one hand, Larry Johnson's Future Is Now (Great Notion), exiting post 5, benefitted from a rail-hugging trip that blossomed into a well-timed opening that propelled her to the front in early stretch and on to victory. On the other end, Godolphin's Star Of Mystery (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) didn't appear a touch sluggish while leaving post 1 and gradually got shuffled to the back of the 12-horse field, necessitating a giant run if there was any hope to even get...

Godolphin's Star of Mystery (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) leads an oversubscribed renewal of the GII Franklin Stakes at Keeneland Sunday. With 12 listed in the body of the field and an additional four waiting on the A/E list, the 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint offers contenders an opportunity to earn their way into one of a few options during next month's Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar. The Charlie Appleby runner certainly hasn't been ducking anyone since embarking on her 3-year-old campaign, having made all six prior starts this season against...