SF Bloodstock

Classier went wire-to-wire and resolutely held off stablemate Defunded to give trainer Bob Baffert his fifth straight win in the GIII Los Alamitos Derby Sunday. Sent off at 6-5, Classier was on the lead through fractions of :22.98 and :47.01. Defunded, the 3-5 favorite, rolled up to challenge the pacesetter after three-quarters in 1:11.08 and, while Classier began inching away in upper stretch, the favorite battled back in a stirring stretch battle to the wire. Classier refused to yield and earned his first graded victory in determined fashion. "I waited...

It was a stunning couple of days of trade at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale, held this past Tuesday and Wednesday at the auction house's Riverside complex at Warwick Farm in Sydney. The event averaged A$371,236, a 5% increase on the last comparable sale in 2019 (last year's sale was held virtually) and was the highest since 2008. The median price of A$280,000 represented a healthy 7.9% bump over 2019 and seven out of eight horses to go under the hammer changed hands. Turnover for the sale was A$132 million,...

SF Bloodstock is one of the largest and most successful investors in stallions in the Thoroughbred business worldwide. So when SF throws it support behind a young sire, it's worth taking notice. SF owns stallions in the U.S., Australia and Europe, and this year the group will find out if its backing of the 2016 champion 3-year-old Almanzor (Fr) will bear fruit, with that three-time Group 1 winner soon set to be represented by his first runners. Meanwhile, SF has continued its patronage of the French breeding business, and in...

Speightstown (Gone West)'s highly promising 3-year-old colts Nashville and Charlatan are set to square off in the Gl Malibu S. over seven furlongs on opening day at Santa Anita Dec. 26, and the race already has the feel of an anticipated prize fight to it, all the way down to their respective heavyweight connections, who were once together on the same team that celebrated Justify (Scat Daddy)'s Triple Crown. But an important focus of this race belongs to their top-class sire, himself a champion sprinter, because it's quite a feat...

When SF Bloodstock and Newgate Farm purchased Con Te Partiro (Scat Daddy--Temple Street, by Street Cry {Ire}) for $575,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton November sale, the team was already impressed with her accomplishments, but fast forward two years and it will be an even more imposing mare who goes through the ring during the first session of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale Nov. 9 in Lexington. Out of the Grade I placed Temple Street and a half-sister to multiple graded placed Donworth (Tiznow), Con Te Partiro was purchased by...

MG1SW Persian King (Ire) (Kingman {GB}-Pretty Please {Ire}, by Dylan Thomas {Ire}) will stand at Haras d'Etreham in 2021, Etreham announced on Tuesday. The stud and SF Bloodstock in association with Darley and Dayton Investments will be involved with the three-time Group 1 winner's stallion career. A fee for the Sept. 6 G1 Prix du Moulin hero, who will join Almanzor (Fr), Hello Youmzain (Fr), City Light (Fr) and Scissor Kick (Aus), will be announced later. His final race will be the G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on...

By Brian DiDonato & Jessica Martini LEXINGTON, KY--While Thursday's second and final Book 2 session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale included some lulls without big-money sellers, it finished strong, with the day's top two lots coming in the final 20 or so hips. A colt by the in-demand Into Mischief (hip 1203) was the lone Book 2 offering to reach the seven-figure threshold, selling for an even $1-million to Peter Leidel, who did his bidding on the phone. The son of Grade II winner Teen Pauline (Tapit) was consigned...

Con Te Partiro (Scat Daddy), a stakes winner on three continents and a dual Group 1 winner in Australia in 2020, will return to the United States for an appearance in the Breeders' Cup before being offered at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. The 6-year-old will be consigned by Bedouin Bloodstock as a racing/broodmare prospect. A $130,000 purchase by Gatewood Bell's Cromwell Bloodstock out of the 2015 Keeneland September Sale and trained in America by Wesley Ward, the daughter of Temple Street (Street Cry {Ire}) graduated by 5 1/2...

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. Sheriff Bianco (c, 2, by Speightster--Summer Rules, by Perfect Soul {Ire}), a strong second after a tardy beginning and wide trip on debut for trainer Wesley Ward at Churchill Downs May 22, will look to earn his diploma at the prestigious Royal Ascot meeting. Drawn on the extreme outside in post 11 going 4 1/2 furlongs over the main track beneath the Twin Spires, the Qatar Racing colorbearer...

Most Irishmen that go to Kentucky didn't plan to stay there. And yet, the story seems to be ripped from a template that is repeatedly recycled: they knew someone working on a farm there and decided to go for six months to a year. And then made it another year. Then 10 or 20 more. Many end up staying their whole lives. Dr. Michael Hore may have followed a well-trodden path from his birthplace in County Wexford to Lexington, but in the ensuing 15 years he has set himself apart...

When the balance of power shifts anywhere, one side or another usually makes a move to regain equilibrium. It's the way of the world, the yin and the yang of natural order. In Avengers, a film based on Stan Lee characters from Marvel Comics, a guy named Nick Fury, head of S.H.I.E.L.D., acts to save the earth from an outside threat by recruiting a bunch of superheroes, including Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, and Thor. There's a self-named version of this group in racing now, and they're part of...

The breeding rights to undefeated Grade I winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Charlatan (Speightstown--Authenticity, by Quiet American) have been purchased by Hill 'n' Dale Farm, according to a press release issued by the farm Wednesday morning. No price was given in the release. "Horses with Charlatan's immense ability combined with superior pedigree, conformation, depth of female family and star-quality appeal are a very rare commodity," said John G. Sikura, President of Hill 'n' Dale. Charlatan's perfect three-for-three career has made him the `wow' horse of the Triple Crown trail this...