Morplay Racing

by Jessica Martini & Stefanie Grimm OCALA, Fl - Following its third of four sessions Thursday, the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training needed just north of $14 million to secure its highest-ever gross. That amount was almost entirely secured Friday through the sale of one horse when Donato Lanni, bidding on behalf of Saudi businessman Amr Zedan, went to all-time high $10.5 million to acquire a colt by champion Flightline from the Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbred consignment. By the close of business Friday, the Spring sale had...

"I just watched the Breeders' Cup as a fan. Now we're here!" Jose Francisco D'Angelo was overcome with emotion as he spoke with Nick Luck on the NBC broadcast from the winner's circle at Del Mar. Some 3,500 miles away in Caracas, Venezuela, his friends and family were gathered to celebrate as Shisospicy (Mitole) claimed the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, handing D'Angelo his first victory at the World Championships. It turned out the party was just getting started. Roughly 30 minutes later, D'Angelo was back in the winner's circle...

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis OCALA, FL - With brisk activity at the top of the market, the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training opened Tuesday with a lively day of trade topped by a $1.35-million son of Corniche. The colt was one of three to bring seven figures during the session. The entire 2025 March sale produced seven million-dollar juveniles. "Certainly an excellent day," said OBS president Tom Ventura. "We had a lot of activity in the barns during the week and expected that...

A colt by Nyquist (hip 88) out of Argentinian champion older mare La Extrana Dama (Arg) was the first horse to cross the seven-figure threshold at the OBS March Sale's opening session Tuesday, bringing a final bid of $1.2-million from a partnership that includes Marquee Bloodstock And Morplay Racing. Consigned by Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables, the Kentucky-bred colt worked his furlong in a sharp :9 4/5. Bred by De La Pomme Kentucky Inc, he was initially purchased as a yearling out of the Keeneland September Sale last year for $170,000...

The Eclipse-Award winning female sprinter Shisospicy (Mitole) spiked a fever following a recent workout, which will cause her to miss the G2 1351 Turf Sprint scheduled for Feb. 14 in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabian race was supposed to kick off her 2026 campaign, and Shisospicy was scheduled to leave for there on Feb. 2. The Blood-Horse was the first to report the story. "She spiked a little bit of a fever," said Rich Mendez, who heads the Morplay Racing partnership that owns the 4-year-old filly. "If you look at...

Under the leadership of Rich Mendez, Morplay Racing has come a long way in a short time. The Morplay team, which also includes Mendez's son, Josh, Randy Hartley, and Dean DeRenzo, and started up in 2023, has already won at the highest levels with Shisospicy (Mitole) and got a taste of Derby Fever when it won the 2024 GIII Sam F. Davis Stakes with No More Time (Not This Time). Morplay will look to add to its accomplishments when sends out its most recent acquisition, Brotha Keny (Mo Town), in...

Rich Mendez joins this week's TDN Writers' Room to discuss how he got involved in racing, how Morplay Racing got its start, and stable stars Brotha Keny and Shisospicy.

Morplay Racing LLC's 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard Shisospicy (Mitole), who beat the boys in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint and is a finalist in no fewer than three Eclipse Award categories, will begin her 4-year-old campaign in the Middle East before following a similar course to the Breeders' Cup as in 2025. The news was revealed by Morplay's Rich Mendez and trainer Jose D'Angelo on FanDuel TV midday Thursday. D'Angelo is set to be represented for the second straight season in the G2 1351 Turf Sprint on...

Brotha Keny (Mo Town) parlayed a recent stakes victory into a record-sized payday for his connections on Wednesday during the Inglis Digital USA December sale with his $550,000 hammer price being the highest in the online auction platform's history and propelling a top overall gross of $869,250, the company said in a press release late on Wednesday. The 3-year-old gelding sold to Meah/Lloyd Bloodstock, as agent for Michael and Jules Iavarone, TCC Stables and Morplay Racing. Brotha Keny entered the December sale off a victory in the Zia Park Derby...

by Christina Bossinakis, Alan Carasso & Jessica Martini LEXINGTON, KY - The Fasig-Tipton November Sale, led by the $6.2-million Streak of Luck (Old Fashioned), produced strong results with increases in average and median over its 2024 renewal during its single session Monday in Lexington. "The market was very, very good, but it's still rational," Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning said. "I think that's one of the things that we've seen in recent years during the November sale that there is still a sense of rationality to it. The buyers are demanding....

"Tum-ta-tum-tum-TUMS!!" Ordering up some hot sauce with the ring of the bell, Shisospicy (Mitole--Mischief Galore, by Into Mischief) dished out a torrid serving of pace and winged her way to World Championship glory as she downed the GI Prevagen Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint to beat the boys and give them a dose of heartburn. Maybe an appearance by the filly on 'Hot Ones' is in the offing? Shisospicy broke her maiden on first-asking at trainer Jose D'Angelo's Gulfstream base with a 16 1/4-length score last October, which made her a...

Calumet Farm homebred Gin Gin (Hightail) and Morplay Racing and Qatar Racing's Shisospicy (Mitole) turned in works over the Keeneland main track Thursday morning in advance of next weekend's Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar. Returning to the worktab for the first time since narrowly defeating top 3-year-old filly Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) in the GI Juddmonte Spinster Stakes on Oct. 5, Gin Gin had Luis Saez in the irons when covering a half-mile in :49.40 (20/48) (video). Gin Gin, whose sire--a son of Mineshaft--won the short-lived Breeders' Cup Juvenile...