Segesta

The remarkable tribute paid to their mutual granddam by the first two in the Breeders' Cup Classic felt especially apt given that Fawn Leap Farm had lost Darling My Darling (Deputy Minister), at a venerable 28, since the same horses finished first and third the previous year. Debby and John Oxley know that these things take time. In 2014 they had sold one of her daughters, by Congrats, for $8,000 as a yearling. At that stage, Darling My Darling was proving a dud in her second career: her first foal...

The FanDuel Racing Turf Festival concludes Sunday afternoon with a trio of graded events at Del Mar, topped by an intriguing renewal of the GI Matriarch Stakes over a mile. Ag Bullet (Twirling Candy) made the majority of the running in this event 12 months ago, yielding grudgingly to finish a length behind Sacred Wish (Not This Time) in third. That effort came on the back of a near-miss third in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, and the grey is arguably in the same sort of form, having run...

Turf distaffers trained by Chad Brown had taken the seven most recent renewals of the GI First Lady Stakes at Keeneland, and the New York native looked to have a fair chance to extend that streak in the Bluegrass on Saturday afternoon. But it was Colebrook Farm's Simply in Front (Summer Front) split rivals inside the final eighth of a mile and found the line first to cause a 13-1 upset in a bunched finish and snap the Brown domination, however temporarily. The mount of Ben Curtis, the $115,000 Keeneland...

The once-beaten Cinderella's Dream (GB) (Shamardal) will look to give Godolphin a third winner in the five-year history of the GII Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Oaks Invitational Stakes as she bids to add to her latest success in the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational over the same mile-and-three-sixteenths journey July 6. The homebred ran the table in the first four starts of her career, a pair of victories at two followed by two more this season at Meydan, including a jaw-dropping score in the Listed Jumeirah 1000 Guineas Mar. 2 that defies any...

Cinderella's Dream (GB) (Shamardal), who lost her undefeated record when beaten just over four lengths into seventh in the G1 QIPCO 1000 Guineas at Newmarket May 5, atoned for that defeat in no uncertain terms, flashing home powerfully through the final furlong to take out Saturday's GI Fasig-Tipton Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes at Aqueduct. With fellow once-beaten She Feels Pretty (Karakontie {Jpn}) taking the lion's share of the pari-mutuel activity at odds of 4-5, Cinderella's Dream was a relatively generous 7-2 at the off and was content to take back...

Sent off at 4-1 with 'TDN Rising Star' Sweet Rebecca (American Pharoah) taking the lion's share of the pari-mutuel action in Monday's GII Wonder Again S. at a rainy Aqueduct Racetrack, Juddmonte's beautifully bred Segesta (Ghostzapper) was given a heads-up ride by Irad Ortiz, Jr. to cause a mild upset. Quickly into stride from the inside gate in a scratched-down field of six, the dark bay--whose dam was highly impressive in winning the GI Just A Game S. for this barn in 2017--led into the first turn, but Ortiz, Jr....

2nd-GP, $89k, Msw, 3yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 12:39p.m. ET RABDAH (Constitution), a half-sister to GSW-Eng Toro Strike (Toronado {Ire}), debuts here for Todd Pletcher and Al Shaqab Racing. Hailing from the immediate female line of Scarlet Tango (French Deputy), who tallies GISW Tara's Tango (Unbridled's Song), herself dam of GSW Capensis (Tapit); GISW Visionaire (Grand Slam); and the dam of SP Ignitis (Nyquist), among others, Rabdah has been given an 8-1 morning line appraisal with jose Ortiz in the irons. To her outside is Segesta (Ghostzapper), a homebred for Juddmonte,...