Jolie Olimpica

The 2026 Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby kicks off Saturday afternoon with the running of the $196,541 Cattleya Stakes, an allowance race over the one-turn 1600-meter configuration at Tokyo Racecourse. And if the ante-post market is anything to go by, horses bred in and/or sourced out of American bloodstock markets should have a giant say in the outcome with the first Saturday in May just over five months away. The cat was very much out of the bag when Magna Victor (Maxfield) made his first trip to the races...

9th-Tokyo, ¥21,610,000 ($140,357), Allowance, 2yo, 1400m, 1:23.2, gd. SATONO VOYAGE (JPN) (c, 2, Into Mischief--Jolie Olimpica {Brz} {Horse of the Year, Ch. 2yo Filly & G1SW-Brz, Ch. Turf Female & GSW-Can, MGSW & GISP-US, $460,507}, by Drosselmeyer), a debut second in a 1200-meter test at Hanshin June 14, set a juvenile course record when graduating by 10 lengths at Niigata in a slick 1:10.80 Aug. 9. Favored at 70 cents on the dollar, Satono Voyage broke alertly and was content to let the other speed go on with it, settling...

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are a trio of debuting 2-year-olds of interest for this Saturday running at Hanshin and Tokyo Racecourses: Saturday, June 14, 2025 5th-HSN, ¥14,250,000 ($99k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1200mT SATONO VOYAGE (JPN) (c, 2, Into Mischief--Jolie Olimpica {Brz}, by Drosselmeyer) is the first foal for her dam, the 2019 Horse of the...

Trainer Richard Mandella has been fined $500 by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) for a Class 4 and Penalty Category C methocarbamol positive that turned up in the post-race test of Jolie Olimpica (Brz) (Drosselmeyer) after the MGSW mare ran third in the GIII San Simeon S. at Santa Anita Mar. 13. The stewards' ruling was issued May 29. According to the original May 7 complaint, split-sample blood testing had confirmed the presence of the skeletal muscle relaxant. Methocarbamol's 4C categorization is on the least-severe side of the scale...

Trainer Richard Mandella has been summoned to a stewards' hearing to answer a California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) complaint of an over-threshold test finding for methocarbamol, a Class 4 and Penalty Category C skeletal muscle relaxant that turned up in the post-race test of Jolie Olimpica (Brz) (Drosselmeyer) after the multiple graded stakes winner ran third in the GIII San Simeon S. at Santa Anita Mar. 13. According to the May 7 complaint, split-sample blood testing confirmed the presence of the drug. Methocarbamol's 4C categorization is on the least-severe side...

Fox Hill Farms' Jolie Olimpica (Brz) (Drosselmeyer) and Team Valor's Oleksandra (Aus) (Animal Kingdom), first and a slow-starting second, respectively when hooking up for the first time in last year's GII Monrovia S., are the marquee names for Saturday's GIII Las Cienegas S. at Santa Anita, a race short on numbers, but high on quality. An undefeated Group 1 winner at home, Jolie Olimpica launched the U.S. portion of her career with a handy tally in this event last year and reported home a half-length to the good in the...

Fox Hill Farms' speedy Jolie Olimpica (Brz) (Drosselmeyer), a close runner-up to division leader Rushing Fall (More Than Ready) last out, will go postward as the horse to beat in Saturday's eight-horse GII Yellow Ribbon S. at Del Mar. Undefeated in three starts in her native land, capping her Brazilian career with a dominant win over males in the G1 Jockey Club Brasileiro at Gavea last June, the chestnut got off to an auspicious start Stateside when annexing the GIII Las Cienegas S. going 5 1/2 furlongs Jan. 11 at...

Already a Grade I winner at ages two, three and four, 'TDN Rising Star' Rushing Fall (More Than Ready) made it four straight seasons at the highest level with a record-setting victory in the GI Coolmore Jenny Wiley S. at Keeneland Saturday, which she also won last season. Away in good order, the 4-5 chalk was hot on pacesetting Jolie Olimpica (Brz)'s (Drosselmeyer) tail in second with Juliet Foxtrot (GB) (Dansili {GB}) to her inside through upbeat fractions of :23.42 and :46.94. Ranging up to look Jolie Olimpica in the...

Already a four-time stakes winner at Keeneland, eFive Racing Thoroughbreds's 'TDN Rising Star' Rushing Fall (More Than Ready) looks to add to that total in defense of her title in Saturday's GI Coolmore Jenny Wiley S. Winner of the GIII Jessamine S. at two and the GIII Applachian S. and GI QE II Challenge Cup at three, Rushing Fall controlled the pace in last year's Jenny Wiley, her one-length victory belying the ease with which it was accomplished. The $320,000 FTSAUG acquisition repeated the dose in the GI Just A...

The mantle passes. Now that he is himself such a model for young Californian trainers, it is touching to think of Richard Mandella back in the days when he, too, would look up to those who set the standards in the previous generation. "I remember sitting in my box seat, with my horse going to the post, and I could feel my heartbeat all the way through my body," he recalls. "People used to think I was taking it well, but I wasn't inside. I could feel the pounding. And...

Keeper Ofthe Stars (Midnight Lute) forged past previously undefeated 3-5 favorite Jolie Olimpica (Brz) (Drosselmeyer) late to pull off a shocker in the GII Buena Vista S. at Santa Anita Saturday. Away well from the far outside post in this 11-horse affair, the 35-1 shot kept tabs from fourth as the heavy favorite cruised along on the front end, clocking early splits of :23.23 and :46.49. Ranging up two wide to tackle the pacesetter turning for home, the gray pushed past Jolie Olimpica in the final strides to spring a...

Fox Hill Farms Inc.'s exciting Jolie Olimpica (Brz) (Drosselmeyer) makes her first two-turn North American start in Saturday's GII Buena Vista S. at Santa Anita. A perfect three-for-three in Brazil, capped by a six-length romp going a mile over heavy ground in the G1 Gran Premio Jockey Club Brasileiro at Gavea last June, the chestnut was subsequently sold privately and turned over to Richard Mandella. She debuted in the Fox Hill red and white in the local GIII Las Cienegas S. Jan. 11, scoring by 1 1/4 while lowering the...