Saffie Joseph

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - A year ago, trainer Chad Brown thought he had his best chance ever when he ran 'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) in the $1.25-million GI Travers Stakes. The best he could do as the 8-5 favorite was a third-place finish. Brown accepted the verdict and vowed that he would keep trying to win the Midsummer Derby, a race he grew up with. The 46-year-old Brown grew up in the shadow of Saratoga Race Course, in nearby Mechanicville, so, of course, the Travers is the...

One thing is certain: there's never been a May like it. Godolphin threw down the graded gauntlet in May with such an unprecedented and historic achievement surely no one dreamed it could be possible. A Classic double in America for the operation turned into a Classic quadruple on both sides of the pond, all in the same weekend. While that feat stands tall among the month's graded races, the rest of May did its part to deliver additional drama, special moments, and superb racing. We take a look at trends...

E Five Racing Thoroughbreds's Nemo (c, 3, Into Mischief--New Money Honey, by Medaglia d'Oro) came flying late to graduate on debut at Gulfstream Park Sunday. Dismissed at 20-1, the bay colt was taken in hand soon after the break and settled at the back of the field behind fractions of :24.56 and :47.86. Next to last at the top of the lane, he closed with a powerful kick, splitting horses in the final strides to just nab War Legend (War of Will) on the line, completing the mile over the...

White Abarrio followed up his scintillating win in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational in January with a romping score in the GIII Ghostzapper Stakes at Gulfstream Park Saturday. Sent off the 1-9 favorite, the gray veteran broke sharply and sat just off pacesetting longshot One Sharp Cookie (Sharp Azteca) with the filly Power Squeeze racing just to his outside through an opening quarter in :22.82. He moved to take the lead with Power Squeeze matching his move as the half went up in :45.98. White Abarrio skipped clear of...

Gulfstream Park's GI Curlin Florida Derby tips off one hour ahead of Oaklawn's GI Arkansas Derby on Saturday and, with 100 points on the 'Road to the Kentucky Derby' on offer in each spot, both races offer what amounts to a 'win and you're in' spot in the gate on the first Saturday in May. Between them, the two tracks host eight of the day's 10 graded stakes. Godolphin homebred Sovereignty (Into Mischief), one of two runners in the Florida Derby along with Madaket Road (Quality Road) facing a jockey...

C2 Racing Stable, Agave Racing Stable and Ken Reimer's champion female sprinter Soul of an Angel (Atreides) is being pointed towards the Apr. 5 GI Madison Stakes at Keeneland, trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. confirmed Sunday. The 6-year-old mare had been on the alternate list for the Feb. 22 G1 Saudi Cup and, had she kept that engagement, would have shipped to Riyadh on a Tuesday flight. "She's not going for sure," Joseph said of the overseas trip. "That's official. She's going to go to the Madison. We're going to give...

Saffie Joseph Jr. has had some big days since he came to the U.S. from his native Barbados in 2011, but perhaps none bigger than last Saturday at Gulfstream Park. He had three stakes wins, including a score with Be Your Best (Ire) (Muhahaarar ({GB}) in the GII Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational S. and a win with Mystic Lake (Mo Town) in the GII Inside Information S. But the one that really mattered was the victory by White Abarrio (Race Day) in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S....

White Abarrio (Race Day) remains under consideration for the Feb. 22 G1 Saudi Cup, trainer Saffie Joseph confirmed Sunday, a day after the 6-year-old's runaway victory in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park. "The ownership group is going to speak to each other and decide on what happens with [White] Abarrio," Joseph said. "The Saudi Cup is possible." Joseph called Saturday's Pegasus World Cup Day, "one of the best days of my career" after saddling Be Your Best (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}) to win in the GII TAA...

We're learning more every day about the relationship between horses and mankind and how people struggling with such things as PTSD so often thrive and recover when working closely with horses. But can it work the other way? Can a human have such a positive and calming effect on a horse that a bond and relationship develops that makes the horse prosper? In the case of GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational winner White Abarrio (Race Day) and his groom Eduardo (Lalo) Diaz, it looks like that might be the case....

Talk about a tried and true stakes horse. Since breaking her maiden at Woodbine in Sept. 2023, Mystic Lake (Mo Town) has contested nothing but stakes or graded stakes races and, with her win in Saturday's GII Inside Information Stakes, has earned over $1,000,000 while also winning such races as the GIII Miss Preakness Stakes and the GII Charles Town Oaks both last year. 5 3/4 lengths behind Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) in the 1 1/16-mile GI Cotillion Stakes at Parx in September, the daughter of...

A total of 1,123 entries, including 81 Group or Grade I winners from no fewer than 21 racing jurisdictions from all over the world were received for the 2025 Saudi Cup meeting, to be held Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21 and 22 and King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh. The entries were released Friday by the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia (JCSA). (See TDN Europe for the entries to the meeting's turf events) Some $38.1 million in prize money will be on offer over the course of the weekend, headed up...

Though he won the 2022 GI Florida Derby with White Abarrio (Race Day), Saffie Joseph, Jr. isn't necessarily thought of as someone to fear on the roads to the GI Kentucky Oaks and GI Kentucky Derby. His bread and butter remains claimers and tough older horses like the now 5-year-old White Abbario and Skippylongstocking (Exaggerator), who won this year's GII Oaklawn Handicap and the GII Charles Town Classic Stakes. But that may be about to change. It's early yet and Todd Pletcher has yet to send his first string to...