Kimari

Trainer Steve Asmussen sent five Breeders' Cup contenders out to work Sunday at Keeneland. Grade I-winning fillies Clairiere (Curlin) and Society (Gun Runner), working in company, went five furlongs in a bullet :59.80 (1/34) in preparation for the Nov. 5 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. The duo worked through fractions of :11.80, :23.80, :35.60, :47.60, :59.80 and out six furlongs in 1:13.20. Epicenter (Not This Time), off since winning the GI Runhappy Travers S. Aug. 27, worked five furlongs in company in 1:00.20 (3/34) in preparation for the Nov. 5 GI...

Kimari (Munnings) tuned up for the GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint with an effortless victory in the GII Gallant Bloom S. at the Belmont at Aqueduct meet Sunday. The 3-5 favorite sat just off pacesetting Lady Rocket (Tale of the Cat) through an opening quarter in :23.55. The pacesetter looked to skip away into the stretch after a half in :46.98, but Joel Rosario was still motionless aboard Kimari. Rosario flicked his wrists at the favorite and she duly inhaled Lady Rocket and strode clear to the wire while under...

'TDN Rising Star' Kimari (Munnings) earned her first graded win of the season Wednesday when rallying to victory in Saratoga's GII Honorable Miss H. The 3-1 third choice in a four-horse field, the bay broke a hair slow from the outside post, though not as slow as second choice Frank's Rockette (Into Mischief) in the one-hole. Kimari sat off the fence in third with Frank's Rockette off her inside flank as favored Bella Sofia (Awesome Patriot) and 8-1 outsider Amadevil (Dominus) knocked heads on the front end. Amadevil cruised clear...

'TDN Rising Star' Kimari (Munnings) looks to successfully defend her GI Madison S. title Saturday at Keeneland. Twice second at Royal Ascot, the bay kicked off 2021 with a win in Oaklawn's Spring Fever S. and took the Madison next out. Sent to the sidelines after that effort, she was ambitiously spotted for her return off that seven-month layoff in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint and she could only manage seventh to stablemate Golden Pal (Uncle Mo). Sent through the ring at Fasig-Tipton's November Sale just days later, Kimari...

By all accounts, trainer Wesley Ward is planning on coming out full force when Keeneland opens the doors on its spring meeting Friday, Apr. 8. To that end, four of the stable's stars tuned up for opening weekend stakes engagements Saturday morning in Lexington. Happy Soul (Runhappy) is set to represent Ward in the GI Central Bank Ashland S., her first try around two turns, and the Gayla Rankin-owned filly blitzed six furlongs in a race-like 1:11.20 Saturday morning. Since dropping her career debut at Keeneland last April, Happy Soul...

Welcome to Insight Outcomes, where we take a look at how the previous week's "Insighted" horses fared. Insights generally focus on well-bred and/or well-sold horses early in their careers, but occasionally we also have a returning older horse that's made a splash. That was the case this week. Thursday's Insights: GISW Kimari Looms Large in Gulfstream Allowance 3rd-Gulfstream, $55,000, Alw (C)/Opt. Clm ($62,500), 3-3, 4yo/up, f/m, 6 1/2f, 1:16.10, ft, 5 1/4 lengths. If her 5 1/4-length tour de force in this Gulfstream allowance is any indication, 'TDN Rising Star'...

3rd-Gulfstream, $55,000, Alw (C)/Opt. Clm ($62,500), 3-3, 4yo/up, f/m, 6 1/2f, 1:16.10, ft, 5 1/4 lengths. KIMARI (m, 5, Munnings--Cozze Up Lady {GSW, $407,169}, by Cozzene), tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' off a dominant debut back in 2019, was a close second in that year's G2 Queen Mary S. at Royal Ascot and won two other stakes. Second in the G1 Commonwealth Cup when returning to the royal meeting in 2020, she captured a sloppy renewal of Oaklawn's Spring Fever S. in February of 2020. Following suit with a win...

3rd-GP, $62K, OC 62k/C, f/m, 4yo/up, 6 1/2f, 2:01 p.m. ET 'TDN Rising Star' KIMARI (Munnings), winner of last April's GI Madison S. at Keeneland for Ten Broeck Farm, Inc. and trainer Wesley Ward, kicks off her 5-year-old season. The 2020 G1 Commonwealth Cup and 2019 G2 Queen Mary S. runner-up, last seen finishing seventh in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint Nov. 6, subsequently brought $2.7 million at FTKNOV from M V Maginer. Kept with Ward, she will make her first start for Derrick Smith, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael...

Trainer Wesley Ward said he will skip Wednesday's GII Honorable Miss S. with Ten Broeck Farm's Kimari (Munnings). The 4-year-old has not run since capturing the GI Madison at Keeneland Apr. 3. According to Ward, the filly wasn't showing the energy she previously had shown during morning training. "She's doing well, just not quite as good as she was previously, so I thought we should err on the side of caution," Ward explained. "We did some X-rays and according to Dr. [Luis] Castro, she was perfect. But visually, she wasn't...

The 2021 yearling season kicks off with Fasig-Tipton's July Sale Tuesday at the Newtown Paddocks in Lexington, Kentucky. With just under 350 yearlings cataloged for the single-session auction, the July sale, which had swelled to as many as 550-600 horses over a decade ago, appears to have found its sweet spot--both in volume and the type of offerings--in recent times. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the July Sale was cancelled last season, with the horses merged into the re-routed Saratoga Select and NY-bred sales held in Kentucky in September. "It...

Fasig-Tipton has cataloged a total of 348 yearlings for The July Sale, to be held at the auction house's Newtown Paddocks in Lexington, Kentucky, in a single session Tuesday, July 13. The catalog is available for viewing online. The front cover for the 2021 edition, which is back in its normal position on the calendar after being pushed back to September last year, is adorned with Grade I graduates of The July Sale, including Derby City Distaff heroine Bell's The One (Majesticperfection), recent GI Madison S. winner Kimari (Munnings) and...

The temperatures were on the cool side Saturday in Central Kentucky, but jockey Joel Rosario was hot. As in en fuego. The Dominican sensation had ridden, in succession, Flagstaff (Speightstown) to victory in the GIII Commonwealth S.; Bound For Nowhere (The Factor)--who was drawn somewhere in the middle of Versailles Road--to win the GII Shakertown S.; and produced 'TDN Rising Star' Malathaat (Curlin) at just the right time to snatch the GI Central Bank Ashland S. Rosario completed a spectacular stakes four-timer in the day's penultimate race, riding Ten Broeck...