Resolute Racing

Sporting an afterburner that would make any jet jock high-five over the need for speed, Verifire (Authentic--Ruby Trust, by Smart Strike) went Mach 1 with his hair on fire en route to a successful unveiling at Colonial Downs. The score gave trainer Brad Cox his second 'TDN Rising Star' on Saturday afternoon. Initially sold for $260,000 during Keeneland September, Verifire was taken home by John Stewart of Resolute Racing for a cool $1 million at last year's OBS March Sale. Sent to Cox, the chestnut drilled at Payson Park in...

6th-Fair Grounds, $53,000, Alw, 3-1, (NW1X), 4yo/up, 1 1/16m, 1:42.23, ft, 10 1/2 lengths. JUST A TOUCH (c, 4, Justify--Touching Beauty {GSW, $183,166}, by Tapit) was training 'exceptionally well' ahead of a pending return to action, Qatar Racing U.S. advisor Fergus Galvin told TDN Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack on Feb. 21, and those words proved more than prescient, as the 4-year-old colt galloped his rivals into the ground, suggesting the sky is the limit in the handicap division for 2025. Ridden forward from gate three, the bay colt had...

Last year's King George hero Goliath (Ger) will make his 2025 bow in Hong Kong on Champions Day, Apr. 27, according to an X post by the gelding's co-owner, John Stewart of Resolute Racing. Stewart purchased a majority share in the son of Adlerflug (Ger) after he landed the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes for trainer Francis-Henri Graffard last summer. Geldings remain barred from participating in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. "I am dedicated to international racing at the highest level," Stewart told TDN Europe....

The biggest surprise of the two-and-a-half hour livestream which revealed Resolute Racing's mating plans for 2025 was that Puca will be bred to Frankel (GB) on Southern Hemisphere time. That was only one of the revelations as John Stewart--accompanied by Coolmore's Adrian Wallace, Resolute Racing's Director of Breeding and Bloodstock Chelsey Stone, farm manager Noel Murphy, and general manager Gavin O'Connor--discussed the 2025 matings for his 41 mares in the livestream. Several stallions will receive multiple mares; Resolute will send four mares to Justify, three to American Pharoah, two to...

The English polymath John Ruskin, who was always hard at work scribbling a well-timed observation for some future generation to co-opt, said when it came to the weather, "Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather." Well, bully for you Mr. Ruskin! Send him a going stick and put him to work on the nearest turf course. Some might care to offer quite a different observation after recent events. What...

The Kentucky-based private-equity firm founder and manager John Stewart, who heads Resolute Racing, has reached an "agreement in principle" to settle a civil complaint against his MiddleGround Capital, which was sued last month by another investment company over an alleged "bad faith" refusal to pay $22 million in contractually due revenue shares. News of the in-the-works settlement was posted on the online court docket for the New York Supreme Court shortly after 5 p.m. Jan. 22. The one-page entry on the docket did not explain the terms that are being...

The Kentucky-based private-equity firm founder and manager John Stewart, whose aggressive spending and outspoken attitude have made a big splash in the global bloodstock and racing worlds since he entered the Thoroughbred business from scratch a little more than a year ago, is being sued in a New York court by an investment firm that provided initial funding for Stewart's MiddleGround Capital. That plaintiff, Archean Capital Partners, is now alleging that Stewart and other MiddleGround defendants are acting in "bad faith" for purportedly falling behind and refusing to pay $22...

Jenna Elliot, the groom of 2025 Steeplechase Horse Eclipse Award finalist Snap Decision, has won the Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards Sweepstakes after random selection, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) announced Monday afternoon. Drawn at random from 340 other entries, Elliot and a plus one will be guests of the NTRA and Resolute Racing at the 54th Eclipse Awards Jan. 23 at The Breakers Palm Beach in Florida. They will also be guests of Resolute at the Pegasus World Cup Jan. 25. As part of the promotion, fans were encouraged...

The Thoroughbred Daily News's Publisher and CEO Sue Finley and Columnist Chris McGrath both won 2024 Eclipse Media Awards from the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB), according to a release from the NTRA on Wednesday. The 2024 Media Eclipse Award winners across six categories are as follows: Multimedia - Sue Finley, Thoroughbred Daily News, "After Saving Two Horses from a Kill Pen, Stewart Aims to do More to End Slaughter," July 15, 2024. Sue Finley produced a multimedia piece...

by Thomas Baddock/Kristen Manning/TTR AusNZ Day 1 of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale saw a rush of action late, with progeny by Written Tycoon (Aus), Wootton Bassett (GB), I Am Invincible (Aus) and Snitzel (Aus) sending buyers into a frenzy towards the end of the session. The auction began with a sense of caution, with several lots by champion sire Snitzel garnering most of the early attention, however the bidding became fast and fierce later in the afternoon with Written Tycoon, I Am Invincible and first-season sire Wootton...

Dornoch (Good Magic), Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) and Fierceness (City of Light) in the Three-Year-Old Male category were among the finalists for the 2024 Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards, recognizing excellence through the past year in Thoroughbred racing, the National Thoroughbred Racing Associaiton (NTRA) said in a Sunday release. Winners in 17 horse and human categories will be announced on FanDuel TV, and other outlets, during the ceremony, presented by John Deere, Keeneland, and The Jockey Club, on Thursday, Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The evening will culminate with the...

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), National Turf Writers And Broadcasters and Daily Racing Form will offer a live announcement on FanDuel TV of the finalists for the 2024 Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards on Sunday, Jan. 5 at Noon ET, the NTRA said via a press release on Friday. The network will televise live the 54th annual awards show itself, which is held at The Breakers Palm Beach in Florida, on Thursday, Jan. 23. New to this year's event, will be an Eclipse Awards Charity Golf Tournament benefitting the Thoroughbred...