Live Oak

A wide-open field of 13 sophomore filly sprinters will line up for Saturday's GII Lexus Raven Run S. at Keeneland. 'TDN Rising Star' Souper Sensational (Curlin) enters in good form in her last three starts since receiving a freshening. A powerful winner of Belmont's GIII Victory Ride S. July 10, the Live Oak colorbearer followed with a second-place finish behind likely GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint second choice Bella Sofia (Awesome Patriot) in the GI Longines Test S. Aug. 7 and repeated that same position behind the streaking...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency WELL-BRED DUO DEBUT AT THE SPA 6th-SAR, $100K, Msw, 2yo, f, 5 1/2fT, 3:55p.m. Stronach homebred SUPER STING (Awesome Again) is one of two well-bred fillies making her career bow in this event. She is out of champion Perfect Sting (Red Ransom), who is also the dam of GSW Smart Sting (Smart Strike), GSP Perfect Bullet (El Prado {Ire}) and SP Sweet Sting (Awesome Again). Live Oak went to $300,000 at the OBS March Sale to acquire Our Souper Love (Union Rags) after she breezed...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency PRICEY FROSTED FILLY DEBUTS AT THE SPA 5th-SAR, $100K, Msw, 2yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 3:21p.m. Rob Masiello's DIAMOND HANDS (Frosted) makes her career bow in this event for Christophe Clement. A $25,000 KEESEP yearling buy, the bay brought $425,000 at OBS April after breezing in :10 1/5. Out of MSW Love Cove (Not For Love), Diamond Hands is a half to SW Bibby (Stormy Atlantic). Bill Mott unveils $240,000 KEESEP purchase Shine (Jimmy Creed) for Gainesway Stable and LNJ Foxwoods. The bay is out ofo...

In his early days in the Thoroughbred business, Hanzly Albina served the Foustok family's Buckram Oak Farm as assistant farm manager and later managed Four Roses Thoroughbreds for the same operation. "As a young person in the business, you don't get to do a lot, but you get to study a lot," Albina recollects. The horseman is now applying that and other knowledge he's acquired over the years as an advisor to Maurice and Samantha Regan's Newtown Anner Stud, the breeders of 'TDN Rising Star' and GII Rachel Alexandra S....

Sent off the 1.35-1 favorite in what appeared to be an above-average Woodbine maiden Saturday afternoon, Live Oak Plantation's Souper Sensational (Curlin) lived up to her name at first asking, pulling confidently clear to graduate by a bit more than two lengths in a 'TDN Rising Star'-worthy performance. Beaten for speed, the $725,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga grad sat the box seat from third, but traveled nicely on the bridle, with her chief market rival-'Rising Star' Shirl's Speight's full-sister Speightstown Shirl (Speightstown)--lapped to her outside. The Fipke homebred got first run on...

Win Win Win (Hat Trick {Jpn}) did just that in Saturday's GI Forego S., coming from out of the clouds as yet another round of rain poured down over the Saratoga main track to secure his first top-level success. A step slow from the stalls, the Live Oak homebred was not even in the picture early, trailing the field by several lengths as Complexity (Maclean's Music) and True Timber (Mineshaft) duked it out through an opening quarter in :22.28 and a half in :44.63. Rushing up into the frame approaching...