Not This Time

7th-SAR, $100k, Msw, 2yo, 6 1/2f, post time: 3:54 p.m. ET INVICTUS (Into Mischief), the first foal from 2019 GI Kentucky Oaks and 2020 GI Ballerina Stakes winner Serengeti Empress (Alternation), cost China Horse Club, Siena Farm and WinStar Farm $1.2 million at last year's Keeneland September Sale, and the Jan. 29 produce carries the WinStar colors for this first go. The bay, bred on similar cross to this sire's Grade I winners Life Is Good and Practical Joke, has been made the 3-1 choice on the morning line for...

Cut the Dust (Not This Time) ran a hole in the wind on this unveiling and cruised home to the easiest of victories, earning a 'TDN Rising Star' nod in the process. Breaking well with the field and out to take command quickly, the chestnut was still in hand as he distanced himself from his rivals passing the three furlong pole after :22.48 and :45.29 splits. He had built up a six length lead turning for home and from there on, the question was how much he'd like to win...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - In the fall of every year, Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse is out on the recruiting trail. He looks for the best four-legged athletes he can find. He goes to Lexington to seek out young talent. If Thursday's sixth race at Saratoga Race Course-- a $100,000 maiden special weight at 5 1/2 furlongs on the Mellon Turf--is any indication, coach Casse may have found a couple of  blue chippers at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Tracy Farmer's Abientot (Not This Time) finished strongly to...

by Christina Bossinakis & Stefanie Grimm Lexington, KY--The onset of the yearling season every summer can be a bit of a worrisome time for many. With the yearlings that have been so painstakingly selected by Fasig-Tipton's team for its first yearling sale of the season, it can often be a bit unnerving whether things will go off without a hitch or not. And at the conclusion of Tuesday's yearling session, it appeared that it had. "It was a fantastic start to the 2024 yearling sales season," affirmed Fasig-Tipton President and...

Marathon specialist Next (Not This Time) made it five straight victories while successfully defending his title in Friday's 1 3/8-mile GII Brooklyn S. at the Big A. The 2-5 favorite stalked Drake's Passage (Tonalist) through a half mile in :49.29, took over under confident handling approaching the quarter pole and opened daylight in the stretch to win by 9 1/4 lengths. The gray completed his final eighth in a sensational :11.89. Crupi (Curlin) tagged Drake's Passage for second. "I always say that I don't know if the horse can do...

The Cloudy Dancer (GB) Flash Sale on Fasig-Tipton's Digital platform ended Friday afternoon with a bang as a bidding war stopped the clock at 2:04 pm with the mare sold for $430,000 to David Hutson. On June 20 of this year, Cloudy Dancer (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) 's second foal--Shareholder (Not This Time)--captured the G2 Norfolk Stakes for 2-year-olds at prestigious Royal Ascot to remain undefeated. His victory was the third fastest time in the last 40 years of the race's history. Cloudy Dancer's connections opted to offer her on...

It is the typically interesting opinion of John Sikura that "a stallion's genetic switch is either on or off." The quality and quantity of his books may affect his profile, but his potency (or otherwise) will be operative the day he covers his first mare. Sure enough, six Grade I winners to date for Not This Time all belong to his first two books, conceived at just $15,000. Whatever he might yet achieve with his upgraded mares, paying $135,000 last year and now $150,000, he did not need their help...

It had been a bit of a tough run for Skyfall Thoroughbreds' Geoffrey Von Honste, truth be told, and he was thinking that it was time to call it quits. Covid had been hard on business, there were a couple of bad breaks with the horses, and things just didn't seem to be working out for him in the Thoroughbred game. But they say that life is what happens when you're making other plans, and on Thursday, the thing that happened was that he became a Royal Ascot-winning breeder when...

When Aidan O'Brien resurrected City Of Troy (Justify) to win the Derby, he was rightly hailed as a genius. Sadly, it didn't take long for that piece of brilliance to be overshadowed by an expose-style documentary carried out by Ireland's national broadcaster [RTE] which concentrated on horses being sent to slaughter.  Admittedly, the documentary featured mostly non-thoroughbreds but the build-up and reaction to the programme has dominated the mainstream coverage of this sport in recent times. Not O'Brien's moment of magic that arguably should have been celebrated more than it...

Wathnan Racing's Shareholder (Not This Time--Cloudy Dancer {GB}, by Invincible Spirit {Ire}) had only announced himself a G2 Norfolk Stakes candidate 12 days ago when winning Beverley's Two Year Old Trophy Conditions Stakes and made light of the quick turnaround to capture the Royal Ascot prize. Held on to by James Doyle early among the group racing up the centre, the Karl Burke-trained 12-1 shot was in front passing the two-furlong pole and asserted to score by a length from Tropical Storm (GB) (Eqtidaar {Ire}), with a head back to...

5th-CD, $120k, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2f, post time: 6:56 p.m. ET Some 120 members of the first-crop of Horse of the Year Authentic went under the hammer at public auction in 2023, and the most expensive of them, INNOVATOR, debuts for BC Stables and trainer D. Wayne Lukas Thursday beneath the same Twin Spires where the sire won the 2020 GI Kentucky Derby. Bred by Peter Blum, also the breeder of Authentic, the dark bay colt was hammered down for $900,000 at the Keeneland September Sale, the dearest of the...

Debuting in Saturday's Two Year Old Trophy at Beverley, Wathnan Racing's €460,000 Arqana May Breeze Up purchase Shareholder (Not This Time) made the perfect start to point to Royal Ascot's juvenile features. Slowly away under James Doyle, the Karl Burke-trained 6-4 favourite quickly recovered to track his four rivals racing a touch freely without cover. Delivered to take a narrow lead approaching the furlong pole, he belied inexperience to hold the previous winner Moving Force (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) and score by a short head. "He was a little tardily away...