Merneith

Triple Crown season might be heating up but the well-bred handicap divisions are keen on having a say in how the big stage shapes up. Here's who's been shouting the loudest this week. Stonestreet Gold Again a Rising Star... The famous silks have done it once more, this time with Marsalis (Curlin) adding another 'TDN Rising Star' accolade to GISW Hot Dixie Chick's already impressive tally as a broodmare. Full-brother and New York's Leading Second Crop sire Union Jackson also claimed Rising Stardom in his racing days; while half-sister Pauline's...

Leading Southern California dirt mares As Time Goes By (American Pharoah) and Merneith (American Pharoah) have been retired from racing, trainer Bob Baffert told Daily Racing Form. Twice a Grade II winner last year as a 4-year-old, Coolmore's As Time Goes By retires on a three-race winning streak and picked up the first Grade I victory of her career last out in the Beholder Mile S. Mar. 5 at Santa Anita. A half-sister to Grade I winners Will Take Charge (Unbridled's Song) and Take Charge Indy (A.P. Indy) out of...

A hearing has been set for November 12 before the California Horse Racing Board's Board of Stewards after a split sample confirmed a positive result for the presence of Dextrorphan, a cough suppressant, in the sample from the Bob Baffert-trained Merneith (American Pharoah), who was second in the fourth race at Del Mar July 25, 2020. "Unfortunately, it's just another case of contamination," Craig Robertson, Baffert's attorney, told the TDN. "One of Bob's grooms had COVID, and he was the groom who was handling Merneith. He was taking both DayQuil...

Peter Callahan's streaking Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) headlines a compact field of five set for Saturday's GII Santa Anita Oaks. The rail-drawn chestnut ships in from trainer Ken McPeek's Kentucky base after posting a pair of impressive upsets in the GII Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Park Oaks Mar. 28 and GIII Fantasy S. at Oaklawn May 1, respectively. She earned a field-best 99 Beyer Speed Figure after stalking and pouncing and defeating the talented Venetian Harbor (Munnings) by 2 1/2 lengths in the latter. Hall of Famer Mike Smith picks up the mount...

10th-Oaklawn, $60,000, Msw, 4-19, 3yo/up, f/m, 6f, 1:09.96, sy. MERNEITH (f, 3, American Pharoah--Flattermewithroses {SW}, by Flatter) With American Pharoah and Cairo Prince around, one would naturally expect Egyptian choices to be popular in the naming of horses, but the name of Oaklawn winner MERNEITH is really outstanding and fitting. She is a filly by American Pharoah and, "Merneith may have been the first female pharaoh and the earliest queen regnant in recorded history", according to Wikipedia. Please note the slight difference in the spelling of the designation of the...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 8th-GP, $46K, Alw/OC ($75K), N1X, 3yo, 1mT, 4:25 ET ERJ Racing and Gary Barber's PATROL (Liam's Map) takes on an experienced group of foes as he looks to remain unbeaten in his turf debut Sunday. A $190,000 KEESEP yearling, he was the second-priciest juvenile to sell at Keeneland April last term at $360,000 off a co-quickest furlong breeze in :10 flat. Turned over to Mark Casse, he made a successful debut sprinting at Aqueduct Feb. 15. He has a right to handle the surface switch...