Saratoga Derby Invitational

Klaravich Stables' Program Trading (GB) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) showed grit and determination that belied his relative inexperience and dug down deep to stave off a bid from tough-trip Webslinger (Constitution) to win Saturday's GI Saratoga Derby Invitational over a Mellon Turf Course left yielding by torrential rains that spelled doom to the final four races on Friday's program. Favored Far Bridge (English Channel) plugged on at one pace to be third. It was a second Saratoga Derby for Seth Klarman's operation following on from Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB})...

The GI Saratoga Derby Invitational, slated for Saturday, Aug. 5 at Saratoga, will offer the winner an automatic berth into the G1 Ladbrokes Cox Plate, the New York Racing Association, Inc. and Moonee Valley Racing Club (MVRC) announced Wednesday. The new partnership will provide the winner of the Saratoga Derby, a 1 3/16-mile test for sophomores, a place in the starting gate for the Ladbrokes Cox Plate Oct. 28 at Moonee Valley in Victoria, Australia, with winning connections afforded subsidies for transportation and accommodation. In 2021, the Joseph O'Brien-trained State...

Trainer Chad Brown will saddle a trio of runners--led by 5-2 morning-line favorite Public Sector (GB) (Kingman {GB})--in Saturday's GII Hill Prince S. at Belmont. Second behind subsequent GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf upsetter Fire At Will (Declaration of War) in Belmont's GII Pilgrim S. last fall, the Klaravich Stables runner enters riding a hot hand off consecutive graded wins in Saratoga's GII National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame S. Aug. 6 and a one-length score over the re-opposing Never Surprised (Constitution) in the GIII Saranac S. Sept. 4....

The American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association released its listing of U.S. graded and listed stakes races for 2021, the results of its annual grading session conducted Dec. 15-16. A single race, the Saratoga Derby Invitational S. at Saratoga, was upgraded to Grade I status for 2021. No races were downgraded from Grade I to Grade II for 2021. The committee evaluated races conducted following the 2019 Breeders' Cup through Mar. 15 as normal, and races conducted after March 15 were evaluated as normal, as...

On fire trough the first half of the Saratoga meet, trainer Christophe Clement sends out a two-pronged attack in Saturday's Saratoga Derby Invitational S., presented as the first leg of this season's New York Turf Triple. Leading the Clement charge is West Point Thoroughbreds, William Freeman, William Sandbrook and Cheryl Manning's Decorated Invader (Declaration of War). Winner of last year's GI Summer S. at Woodbine and a troubled fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita, the colt kicked off 2020 with 1 1/4-length score in the...

We're all guilty of it. A horse shows talent; we seek its source in the pedigree; and, however discouraging the initial sifting, eventually we pluck out some plausibly glinting nugget to brandish triumphantly aloft. "See! This proves there is a seam of gold!" And that's fair enough. We all have a stake in the viability of selective breeding, albeit we don't actually want its outcomes to become too predictable. If the mysteries of pedigree were entirely transparent, the guy who buys the sale-topper would win the Derby every year and...