Rombauer

War Horse Place has secured the opportunity to stand GI Preakness S. hero Rombauer (Twirling Candy) for $6,000 LFSN, the breeding operation said in a release Wednesday. Bred and campaigned by John and Diane Fradkin, Rombauer placed as a juvenile in the GI American Pharoah S. at Santa Anita before finishing third along the Derby Trail in the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. He then won the second leg of the Triple Crown at Old Hilltop before finishing third in the GI Belmont S. Joining him will be French group...

Back in early 2022 when John and Diane Fradkin announced that their homebred GI Preakness winner Rombauer (Twirling Candy) was being retired after suffering a soft tissue injury they went to work to find him his new home. The horse has a good pedigree and is a Grade I winner, so the expectations were that he'd stand at stud in Kentucky. Regional markets were also considered. Another option was Japan. But no matter where their horse might land, the Fradkins decided that Rombauer's racing career was over. That was the...

For every Off-the-Track Thoroughbred enthusiast, having a sound and healthy former racehorse to partner with for a second career is all they hope for. And while these same people will tell you their horse's racing history doesn't matter much, many of these same OTTB devotees will also admit their immense pride in explaining their companion's racing career, recreating as much of it as possible to anyone who will listen. Just about everyone in the Thoroughbred industry understands that most OTTBs are runners who served as the backbone of racing, filling...

The dam of 2021 GI Preakness S. winner Rombauer (Twirling Candy) has been supplemented to the Fasig-Tipton 'Night of the Stars' sale, scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 6 in Lexington. Additionally, Rombauer's weanling full-sister has been supplemented to the same sale. Both will sell under the consignment of Gainesway, agent. The 11-year-old Cashmere (Cowboy Cal) is slated to go through the ring as hip #319. A half-sister to GSWs California Flag (Avenue of Flags) and Cambiocorsa (Avenue of Flags), the latter who also produced two GSWs and is the granddam of...

Last year's edition of the GI Preakness S. marked one of the best days of John Fradkin's life when Rombauer (Twirling Candy-Cashmere, by Cowboy Cal), a second-generation homebred for the California native and his wife Diane, took the second leg of the Triple Crown. Going off as the fifth choice, Rombauer stormed past favorites Medina Spirit (Protonico) and Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) in the stretch to win by 3 1/2 lengths. It was the first Preakness victory for trainer Michael McCarthy and jockey Flavien Prat and the first Grade I win...

Photographer Patrick Smith and writer Mike MacAdam will be among the honorees at the Alibi Breakfast May 19 at Pimlico Race Course. The Alibi Breakfast features a gathering of media, owners, trainers, jockeys, horsemen and fans to celebrate the Preakness. Smith will receive the Jerry Frutkoff Award for the best Preakness picture of 2021, while MacAdam will receive the David F. Woods Award for best Preakness story. Smith is a staff photographer based in Baltimore for Getty Images. This is his second consecutive win, and third overall in the Frutkoff....

Rombauer (Twirling Candy--Cashmere, by Cowboy Cal), who upset Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) and GI Kentucky Derby first past the post Medina Spirit (Protonico) in last year's GI Preakness S., has been retired from racing, according to his owner John Fradkin, who bred and raced the colt in partnership with his wife Diane. Trained by Michael McCarthy, Rombauer was an eye-catching maiden winner at first asking over the Del Mar turf course and finished runner-up when trying dirt for the first time in the GI American Pharoah S. before a creditable fifth...

If any ducks have been careless enough to stray at the Michael McCarthy barn at Santa Anita, they've been promptly herded back into row. The McCarthy office has a new lick of bright white paint and a navy accent wall to compliment the trainer's coat of arms. There's the fancy new desk--one of those good-for-the-back ergonomic types that moves to fit the owner and not the other way around--and a blazing new flatscreen high in one corner. Then there's the trainer himself, freshly shorn from an in-office trim--a precision 10-minute...

ELMONT, NY -- What a difference a year makes. Back in its traditional spot on the calendar and 1 1/2-mile distance after the COVID-19 pandemic turned the world-and Triple Crown-completely upside down in 2020, Saturday's GI Belmont S. will feature a showdown between last year's champion 2-year-old colt Essential Quality (Tapit) and GI Preakness S. upsetter Rombauer (Twirling Candy). The Godolphin homebred was unstoppable in his first five career starts, headed by a win in the 2020 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Sent off as the 5-2 favorite in the GI...

The trend of skipping the GI Preakness S. after a losing run in the GI Kentucky Derby has evolved as a standard 21st Century preparation for the GI Belmont S. This Saturday, five of the eight entrants follow that pattern. Over the past 20 years (not counting the pandemic-altered 2020), the Belmont has been won by nine horses that ran in Louisville then opted out of Baltimore. During that same time frame, seven horses won the Belmont after not having run in either the Derby or Preakness (only one entrant...

ELMONT, NY - The handsome gray Knicks Go (Paynter) was among several high-profile runners spotted stretching their legs on an overcast and humid Thursday morning at beautiful Belmont Park ahead of this weekend's GI Belmont Stakes Racing Festival. The GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Mile H.-bound GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and GI Pegasus World Cup winner wrapped up his exercise just before 6 a.m. With an on-and-off light drizzle falling throughout the morning as temperatures hovered in the low 60s, GI Preakness S. upsetter and Belmont S. second-choice Rombauer...

Godolphin's Essential Quality (Tapit) will break from post two and was installed as the 2-1 morning-line favorite when post positions were drawn Tuesday morning for Saturday's GI Belmont S. The Brad Cox trainee suffered the first loss of his career when fourth in the GI Kentucky Derby, but had previously been undefeated in five starts and was named last year's champion 2-year-old male. "He ran what I thought was a winning race in the Derby; he didn't have the trip, but he showed up and he's been improving in every...