Mendelssohn

1st-Keeneland, $79,675, Msw, 4-26, 2yo, f, 5 1/2fT, 1:03.35, fm, 1 1/4 lengths. SATURDAY FLIRT (f, 2, Mendelssohn--Dragic {MSP, $104,350}, by Broken Vow) raced near the rear of the field on this unveiling, biding her time in cover as the frontrunners put up :21.89 and :45.18 early splits. Swung seven wide to the grandstand side as they rolled into the stretch, Saturday Flirt closed relentlessly but managed to overhaul 28-1 longshot Bois Blanc (First Samurai) in the late stages to win by 1 1/4 lengths. Out of a half-sister to...

6th-Santa Anita, $65,500, Msw, 3-23, 3, 4,/5yo, f/m, 6f, 1:11.59, ft, 3 lengths. IN THEORY (f, 3, Mendelssohn--Lady Hansen {SP}, by Hansen) was sent right out for the early lead under Juan Hernandez and took control from She's No Angel (Street Sense) through a :21.89 opening quarter. As that rival faded, the 1-2 favorite pulled away handily and turned for home alone on the lead, cruising under a hand ride to win under wraps by three lengths over Queen of Naples (Hard Spun). An $800,000 2-year-old buy out of the...

Du Jour (Temple City) provided the second of trainer Bob Baffert's three graded stakes victories on the card when he powered home first in the GI Frank E. Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita Sunday. Owned by Jill Baffert and Debbie Lanni, the 6-year-old gelding settled towards the back of the field as Goliad (War Front) took the field through fractions of :22.82 and :45.75. The pacesetter was clear into the far turn, but his advantage soon evaporated at the top of the stretch. While 3-2 favorite Easter (Fr) (Exposhere {Aus})...

1st-OP, $115K, Msw, 3yo, f, 1 1/16m, 1:30 p.m. ET. Under the baton of Ken McPeek, MIDSUMMER MARCH (Mendelssohn) debuts for Walking L Thoroughbreds. The dark bay initially sold to Sycamore Hall for $280,000 at the 2021 Keeneland November Sale before hammering down for $425,000 during the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Sale, which was the highest priced yearling for her sire in 2022. Bred by David Fennelly's Mountmellick Farm, the filly is out of GIII Torrey Pines S. winner Munny Spunt (Munnings), who sold for $340,000 at Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed Sale...

Today we'll consider some of the sires standing between $10,001 and $19,999. For a long time, I called this the Lookin At Lucky zone. But don't worry, we won't be deploring his neglect yet again: he's staying in Chile, where they evidently appreciate him rather more. Plenty of horses in this bracket have recently relinquished their brief window of commercial opportunity, and are now hanging around to discover whether they might join the very small group whose first runners generate a fresh vogue. Even with the newcomers out of the...

Over the same surface where her half-brother Corniche (Quality Road) earned GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile stardom en route to Champion 2-year-old colt honors, it was Llorona (Mendelssohn) who effortlessly broke her maiden in the Friday opener at Del Mar's seaside oval. For her handiwork, the dark bay filly became a newly-minted 'TDN Rising Star'. The Richard Mandella trainee at odds of 2-5 broke alertly and vied for the lead with two others up the backstretch. As the far turn arrived, Llorona clearly had more to give and at the quarter...

1st-DMR, $61K, Msw, 3yo/up, f, 6f, 3:30 p.m. ET. Bred by Bart Evans in partnership with Jeff and Chiquita Reddoch's Stonehaven Steadings, LLORONA (Mendelssohn) makes her first start for trainer Richard Mandella. The $750,000 KEESEP graduate is campaigned by Bart and Robert Evans. The MGSW & GISP Wasted Tears (Najran) is also responsible for champion 2-year-old colt Corniche (Quality Road). TJCIS PPS 5th-AQU, $85K, Msw, 2yo, f, 7f, 2:14 p.m. ET. Courtlandt Farms purchased Whocouldaskformo (Uncle Mo) for $450,000 at last year's Keeneland September Sale. She debuts for Shug McGaughey...

Alan Ribble's Honor Marie (Honor Code) became the first graded stakes winner for trainer Whit Beckman after pulling off an 8-1 upset in Saturday evening's GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. at Churchill Downs. Honor Marie earned 10 points as part of the "Road to the Kentucky Derby" series, which offered points on a scale of 10-5-3-2-1 to the top five finishers. "He's a very nice horse and we were confident with his pedigree, and the way he trained, he'd enjoy longer distances," said Beckman, a former assistant to trainers Todd...

Triple Crown winner Justify (Scat Daddy), currently North America's leading second-crop sire in stakes horses, will stand for a fee of $200,000, live foal, at Ashford Stud in Kentucky in 2024, Coolmore America announced on Tuesday. The 9-year-old's fee represents a jump of $100,000 from the figure of $100,000 that he stood for in 2023. Justify's 2024 fee is the fourth-highest of the stallions announced so far for 2024, placing him behind perennial leading sires Into Mischief (Harlan's Holiday) and Curlin (Smart Strike), and third-crop standout Gun Runner (Candy Ride...

If ever there was a horse whose CV matches his pedigree, it is Mendelssohn. He topped the Keeneland September sale on a bid of $3 million from Coolmore in 2016, the year before he captured the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. And that pedigree? When he won the Breeders' Cup, he pushed his dam, the reigning Broodmare of the Year Leslie's Lady, into rare territory: she became what was then one of five mares to produce two Breeders' Cup winners. The year prior, her multiple champion daughter Beholder had captured...

Still a maiden off a pair of seconds in turf sprints at both Ellis and Kentucky Downs, Committee of One jumped up into stakes company and rewarded his backers at 7-1 with the narrowest of wins in the Indian Summer S. Racing in the back half of the field after a bumpy beginning, the Steve Asmussen trainee stayed wide and in the clear up the backstretch run in pursuit of Riparound (Uncle Mo) through a :21.40 opening quarter. As the group fanned across the track passing the quarter pole, Committee...

5th-Belmont The Big A, $90,000, Msw, 9-28, 2yo, 1m (off turf), 1:36.04, ft, 8 lengths. MOONLIGHT (c, 2, Audible--Sundown, by Tapit) showed ability when second by just a neck to GI Summer S. winner Carson's Run (Cupid) when unveiled over 1 1/16 miles on the grass at Saratoga July 29. Racing with blinkers added Thursday, the 6-5 favorite drew in off the also-eligible list in this off-the-turf event and quickly was up to pressure fellow also-eligible entry Stolen Magic (Good Magic) for the lead. As that runner began to fade...