Olympiad

Olympiad (Speightstown--Tokyo Time, by Medaglia d'Oro), a five-time graded stakes winner, led by the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup S., and most recently second in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, has been retired to Gainesway Farm. The $700,000 Keeneland September graduate will stand for an advertised fee of $35,000 LFSN. One of North America's top older males of 2022, Olympiad posted eight wins in 13 career starts for earnings of $3,027,560 for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott and owners Grandview Equine, Cheyenne Stables and LNJ Foxwoods. Olympiad's year started...

Tapit's stud fee will remain at $185,000 in 2023, according to a press release from Gainesway Farm Wednesday morning announcing their roster and stud fees for the coming breeding season. The farm's top stallion is currently the leading active sire in North America by Grade I winners (29), Grade I horses (62), graded stakes winners (96), graded stakes performers (184), stakes winners (154), and stakes performers (299), and he is the all-time leading sire by lifetime progeny earnings ($188,654,112). The fee is the third-highest announced thus far for 2023, behind...

Grandview Equine, Cheyenne Stable and LNJ Foxwoods' Olympiad (Speightstown--Tokyo Time, Medaglia d'Oro) will take up stallion duties at Gainesway Farm upon his retirement from racing. To date, Olympiad has won eight of 12 career starts, including five graded stakes victories, highlighted by the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup. Having already amassed over $2-million in earnings, the 4-year-old is expected to make his next start in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland next month. Trained by Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, Olympiad captured five graded victories this season, beginning...

Undefeated Flightline (Tapit) closed as the 4-5 favorite following the completion of betting Monday in Pool #2 of the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Future Wager. After a 19 1/4-length victory in Saturday's GI TVG Pacific Classic at Del Mar, Flightline led the listing of 23 horses and one "all others" wagering interest in the second Future Wager pool for the $6-million Longines GI Breeders' Cup Classic, which will be run at Keeneland Nov. 5. Pool #2 of the Future Wager generated $437,147 in total handle, more than doubling the $205,349...

Grandview Equine, Cheyenne Stable and LNJ Foxwoods's Olympiad (Speightstown), a head-scratching fourth in the GI Whitney S., bounced back with a powerful performance in Saturday's 'Win and You're In' GI Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga. The 8-5 favorite jumped well from his inside draw and sat a perfect, stalking trip in second behind longshot pacesetter Tax (Arch) through fractions of :24.54 and :49.70. Racing in between rivals as last year's GI Cigar Mile H. winner Americanrevolution (Constitution), one of four entered for Todd Pletcher, continued to draw closer heading...

There is no such thing as a sure thing in horse racing, but 'TDN Rising Star' Flightline (Tapit) will be bet as if Saturday's GI TVG Pacific Classic--a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland Nov. 5--is already the proverbial fait accompli. And why not, really? His four towering victories in as many trips to the races have come by an average winning margin of better than 13 lengths. His lowest Beyer Speed Figure is a downright pedestrian 105 earned for his debut just...

Life Is Good (Into Mischief) caught a flier right out of the gate, strutted his stuff up front for six furlongs and fought off a pair of stubborn challengers through the Saratoga stretch to capture Saturday's $1-million GI Whitney S., punch his ticket to the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic and stick his nose in front of a crowded Horse of the Year race. Running away to a 9 1/2-length debut romp and 'TDN Rising Star' honors for Bob Baffert in November of 2020 at Del Mar, the $525,000 Keeneland...

Hall of Famer Todd A. Pletcher, currently sitting in second place in the Saratoga trainer standings, will be locked and loaded in a pair of Grade I events at the Spa Saturday, led by the 'Win and You're In' GI Whitney S. With the unbeaten sensation and 'TDN Rising Star' Flightline (Tapit) awaiting the GI TVG Pacific Classic at Del Mar Sept. 3, a pair of New York-based heavyweights in the handicap division will throw down in the 12-race card's feature. The uber-talented 'TDN Rising Star' Life Is Good (Into...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - At this time last year, trainer Todd Pletcher and his staff were getting to know Life Is Good (Into Mischief). Some 400 days after he arrived and with four wins from six races, the bay colt is an unquestioned standout in Pletcher's powerful and deep stable. Up next for Life Is Good in a season that could yield an Eclipse Award and possibly even a Horse of the Year title is the $1-million GI Whitney S. Saturday at Saratoga Race Course. The historic Whitney, first run...

Breeder Emory Alexander Hamilton is looking forward to her trip to Saratoga this weekend to cheer on the talented Olympiad (Speightstown) in what looks to be an ultra-competitive edition of the GI Whitney S. "He has done so well; it's really amazing," Hamilton said enthusiastically. "The Whitney is going to be a tough race. There are some really good horses going there, but Bill Mott and his owners have been patient with him and it has paid off." Hamilton, who looks forward to drawing out the mating plans for her...

Since the advent of the simulcasting era 30 years ago, I've never understood why some enterprising track somewhere hasn't seized a late-morning first-post slot and carved out its own niche at a time of day when no other pari-mutuel competition on the continent is running. Be it midweek in the winter, when most of the fair-to-middling Eastern time zone tracks do little to distinguish their products, or as a Saturday special during the summer when some C-level track could have an uncontested advantage for several hours as a lead-in to...

The connections of impressive Saturday graded stakes winners Life Is Good (Into Mischief) and Olympiad (Speightstown) reported Sunday that both horses came out of their efforts well and are likely headed for a star-studded matchup in the Aug. 6 GI Whitney S. at Saratoga. Life Is Good, this year's GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. romper, bounced back from a fourth-place finish in the G1 Dubai World Cup with a dominant five-length score in Saturday's GII John Nerud S. at Belmont, earning a 112 Beyer, tied for the second-highest figure...