Sam-Son Farm

LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale continued to keep pace with its 2021 renewal with a day of competitive bidding topped by the 3-year-old filly Ancient Peace (War Front), who sold for $650,000 to Travis Boersma's Boardshorts Stables late in Tuesday's second session of the four-day auction. "It started strong and it held pace," said Keeneland's Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy. "We've got to be very encouraged with the consistency within the market. Quality was selling well. There was hunger for the good stock...

Seven-year-old Count Again (Awesome Again) sliced through horses and blew past heavily favored Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute) in the lane to annex Monday's GI Shoemaker Mile S. at Santa Anita. Picking up an automatic spot in the starting gate for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile later this year, Count Again's victory was the fourth on the card for East Coast invader Irad Ortiz, Jr.--with a runner-up finish in the only other race run to that point--and was won in notably similar fashion to Ortiz's score in the GI Hollywood...

Cannon Thoroughbreds' Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute) will attempt to defend his title in the GI Shoemaker Mile--a Win and You're In event for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile--when he faces five rivals in the Santa Anita contest Monday. The 5-year-old, the 4-5 morning-line favorite, was runner-up in four graded events following last year's Shoemaker, setting the pace before getting past late by Space Blues in the Nov. 6 GI Breeders' Cup Mile. Making his 2022 debut, he set the pace before ending up third in a blanket finish in...

2nd-Woodbine, C$92,730, Msw, 5-14, 2yo, f, 4 1/2f (AWT), :52.41, ft, 4 3/4 lengths. ADORA (f, 2, Into Mischief--Southern Ring {MGSW-Can, SP-USA, $343,998}, by Speightstown) was heavily favored in this debut and ran to the money with a decisive graduation. Dueling on the front end early, the $450,000 FTSAUG buy sauntered clear with ease in the lane to win by 4 3/4 lengths in :52.41. Delilah's Revenge (Good Magic) closed greenly late to get the better of a photo for second at 44-1 for her freshman sire (by Curlin). The...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 2nd-WO, $126K, MSW, 2yo, f, 4 1/2f, 1:43 p.m. Trainer Mark Casse debuts 2-year-old ADORA at Woodbine on Saturday for owner Tracy Farmer. The daughter of leading sire Into Mischief was purchased for $450,000 from prolific Canadian breeder Sam-Son Farm at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale. Dam and Sam-Son home-bred Southern Ring, out of a half-sister to Canadian Ch. 3-year-old filly Catch the Ring (Seeking the Gold), took both the GIII Ontario Fashion S. and the GIII Whimsical S. and was herself sold for $875,000...

Canada's 2020 Horse of the Year Mighty Heart (Dramedy) took home the same honors for the 2021 season at the 47th Annual Sovereign Awards, hosted by The Jockey Club of Canada Thursday at the Universal Eventspace just outside of Toronto. A homebred for Larry Cordes, Mighty Heart won the GII Autumn S. and GIII Dominion Day S. in Canada, as well as the Blame S. at Churchill Downs. The popular one-eyed 4-year-old had won the same award last year on the strength of his victories in the Queen's Plate and...

Making just his 15th start at the age of seven, Agave Racing Stable and Sam-Son Farm's Count Again (Awesome Again) uncorked his usual late run to come out on top of a tight finish in Santa Anita's GI Frank E. Kilroe Mile S. A close third in last year's Kilroe and most recently a winner of the GIII Thunder Road S. here Feb. 5, the Ontario-bred gelding sat in a joint second last around the first turn while scraping paint. He continued to draft from a nice spot as GISW...

The Jockey Club of Canada has announced the finalists for the 2021 Sovereign Awards, which honor Canada's champions and recognizes their outstanding achievements in Canadian Thoroughbred Racing and Breeding. The winner of each category, along with Canada's Horse of the Year for 2021, will be announced during the 47th Annual Sovereign Award Ceremony that will be held on the evening of Thursday, Apr. 14, 2022 at Universal Eventspace in Vaughan, Ontario. Tickets can also be purchased online here. The 2021 Media Awards finalists, the winner of the Award for Outstanding...

Here we are, then, in what Oliver Hardy could only call "another nice mess." But let's disentangle this flourishing sapling Messier (Empire Maker) from the tentacles that may restrain him from a timely bloom on the first Saturday in May, and take a moment to celebrate not only the storied nursery that cultivated his family but also the alert grafting that now involves another farm in his future success. For this horticultural analogy permits only one classification of the spectacular GIII Robert S. Lewis S. winner--as a young maple. Messier...

LEXINGTON, KY - The Fasig-Tipton October Yearlings Sale, with a session still to come, soared past its record gross with another day of break-neck bidding Wednesday at Newtown Paddocks. By the close of business Wednesday, 856 yearlings had sold at the October sale for a total of $39,511,600, bettering the previous record gross of $38,258,900 which was set in 2019. "Obviously, it was a continuation of the euphoria/excitement and enthusiasm throughout the day," Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning said of the October sale's third session. "It's beyond what we could have...

Demand remained high as the Book 4 section of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale concluded with a daughter of first-crop sire Collected leading home a top one-two-three finish for Ontario-breds when selling for a session-topping $320,000 to Speedway Stables. Bloodstock agent Marette Farrell made the winning bid on behalf of Peter Fluor and K.C. Weiner's operation and the yearling was bred and consigned by Dave Anderson's Anderson Farms. "It's the greatest market I've ever seen in my lifetime," Anderson said of the September sale. "I have never been so busy...

Dual Canadian Classic winner Mighty Heart (Dramedy), a homebred for Lawrence Cordes, was named Canadian Horse of the Year at the 46th Annual Sovereign Awards ceremony held Thursday evening. It marked the second year in a row Canada's championship awards were held virtually due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Trained by Josie Carroll, Mighty Heart began his sophomore campaign in July with a maiden special weight victory at Woodbine, then went on to capture the Sept. 12 Queen's Plate S. and the Sept. 29 Prince of Wales S. The one-eyed...