Mike Trombetta

Live Oak Plantation's blue-blooded homebred Ultimate Love (Curlin) will put her perfect record on the line in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar Oct. 31. She will look to emulate Sharing (Speightstown), who followed a win in Laurel Park's Selima S. with a 13-1 upset at the 2019 Championships at Santa Anita. "I think she fits and hopefully she's a logical player to give it a try," trainer Mike Trombetta said. Ultimate Love has won her first three career starts--all on grass--by a combined margin of...

The stable area at Colonial Downs will open on Monday, June 23, with training scheduled to begin two days later at the New Kent facility. An expanded 41-day schedule is set to commence Wednesday, July 9 and continues through Saturday, Sept. 13. Racing will take place weekly from Wednesday to Saturday plus holiday racing on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 1. Mike Trombetta and Ben Curtis are set to defend their respective training and riding titles. "Last year was my first year there and I love the place," said Curtis, who...

As the 2-year-olds in training sales got underway earlier this spring, the first-crop juveniles by Independence Hall generated plenty of buzz and the WinStar stallion duly delivered in the sales ring, led by a $1-million colt at the OBS March sale. Mike Trombetta, who trained the multiple graded stakes winner early in his career, hopes that buzz continues this week in Timonium when he will offer a homebred filly by the stallion at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. Through the Best a Luck Farm consignment, the filly...

7th-GP, $94K, Msw, 3yo, f, 5 1/2f (AWT), 3:32 p.m. ET MISCHIEF IN MOTION (Into Mischief) will make her debut for Live Oak Plantation and trainer Mike Trombetta after bringing $525,000 as a Keeneland September yearling. The 9-5 morning-line favorite is drawn widest of all in post seven and will be ridden by Javier Castellano. The bay hails from the female family of champion Covfefe (Into Mischief) and GISWs Acoma (Empire Maker) and Arch (Kris S.). TJCIS PPS

Sunday's GII Franklin Stakes was a tale of two trips. On one hand, Larry Johnson's Future Is Now (Great Notion), exiting post 5, benefitted from a rail-hugging trip that blossomed into a well-timed opening that propelled her to the front in early stretch and on to victory. On the other end, Godolphin's Star Of Mystery (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) didn't appear a touch sluggish while leaving post 1 and gradually got shuffled to the back of the 12-horse field, necessitating a giant run if there was any hope to even get...

Trainer Cherie DeVaux, who won three stakes races on Black-Eyed Susan day Friday, took home the top prize of $50,000 in the Maryland Jockey Club's $100,000 trainer bonus competition held over the weekend at Pimlico. The first female trainer to earn the top honor, DeVaux took wins in the GIII Pimlico Special S, the Hilltop S. and the Allaire du Pont Distaff on Friday and finished with 34 total points over the two days of stakes racing, four more than runner up Steve Asmussen. Mike Trombetta finished third with 28...

While all eyes turn to Maryland this weekend for Saturday's 149th running of the GI Preakness S. at Pimlico Race Course, Virginia-based owner/breeder Larry Johnson has his sights set strictly on the GII George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan S., Friday's featured race, where his filly Call Another Play (Audible) is the lone Maryland-bred entered in the eight-horse field. The 3-year-old filly is a fourth-generation homebred for Johnson, who owns Legacy Farm in Bluemont, Va., but is a decades-long supporter of the Maryland breeding program. "I've gone to Preakness weekend for...

GIII Honeybee S. winner Lemon Muffin (Collected), eighth behind Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) in last week's GI Kentucky Oaks, will contest the GII Black-Eyed Susan S. Friday at Pimlico Race Course. The field of eight, which was drawn Sunday, also includes Jeanne Marie (Speightster), Ringy Dingy (Dialed In), Call Another Play (Audible), Gun Song (Gun Song), Whocouldaskformo (Uncle Mo), Corposo (Vino Rosso) and Recharge (Gun Runner). "She has her days when she's up and down and everything," said trainer D. Wayne Lukas of Lemon Muffin. "On her best day, she's...

The winners of the seventh annual Renaissance Awards, hosted by the Maryland Horse Breeders Association and the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, will be announced each morning at 10:00 a.m. on Maryland Thoroughbred social media platforms beginning Feb. 26 and continuing through Saturday, Mar. 2. Awards will be given for the top Maryland owner, trainer, jockey, dirt horses, turf horses, claimer, Maryland stallion, broodmare and breeder and champion Maryland-breds of 2023. Special awards will be presented to Pimlico and Laurel Park Backstretch Employees of the Year.   The announcement schedule is...

With the 40th Breeders' Cup World Championships less than two weeks away, a number of hopefuls worked Saturday morning at Keeneland as they make their final preparations before shipping to Santa Anita. Trainer John Ortiz took GISW Brightwork (Outwork) out for a spin on Saturday with William Simon, owner of WSS Racing, on hand as the bay filly points towards the GI NetJets Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Nov. 3. Working with 4 G Racing's GSP Crown Imperial (Classic Empire), a candidate for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf also...

Live Oak Plantation homebred Win Win Win (Hat Trick {Jpn}--Miss Smarty Pants, by Smarty Jones), who capped his career with a head-turning last-to-first victory in Saratoga's GI Forego S. Aug. 29, will take up stud duties next year at Ocala Stud for a fee of $5,000 LFSN. He will stand as property of a partnership between Live Oak, Ocala Stud and Airdrie Stud. "We are very excited to add Win Win Win to our roster," said Ocala Stud's David O'Farrell. "He's a big, grand-looking horse with a lot of presence....

A firming even-money favorite, 'TDN Rising Star' Premier Star (Tapiture) proved far too strong for six other rivals in Wednesday's Jersey Shore S. at Monmouth Park, jogging under the line a very easy winner. Away fairly from his low draw, Premier Star raced in third with a foothold at the fence and Paco Lopez elected to send his mount through a tight inside spot to take up the running with a little less than a half-mile to race. Comfortably in front on the bend, he kicked further in front in...