Simon Callaghan

Kaleem Shah's Madone found running room late and surged to  victory in the Del Mar Juvenile FilliesTurf S. Sunday evening. The favorite was unhurried early and fell well back in the field. Racing keenly behind tepid splits, she took closer order but ran up on heels in the tightly bunched field. Full of run but with nowhere to go nearing the home stretch, the dark bay filly finally found a seam to run through and surged to the wire ahead of Nimbostratus (Fr) (Wooton Bassett {GB}) and Ivy League (Medaglia...

6th-Del Mar, $55,500, Msw, 8-29, 2yo, 6f, 1:11.10, ft. VITTORIO (c, 2, Ghostzapper--Roberta Turner, by Smart Strike) was away slowly from a wide stall in his Aug. 1 debut, then traveled very awkwardly, covered ground on the turn and could do no better than fifth to the impressive odds-on favorite Freedom Fighter (Violence). But the betting public did not lose faith in the colt and made him the 11-10 favorite to make the requisite improvement at second asking. Much more smoothly away from gate six with Mike Smith back at...

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Madaket Stables' GI Ashland S. victress Speech (Mr Speaker)--third in the TDN Kentucky Oaks Top 10--drilled a half-mile in :47.60 (XBTV video) beneath exercise rider Osman Cedeno over the Churchill Downs main track Friday morning, her final major work ahead of the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks Sept. 4. Working by her lonesome in the 7:30-7:45 a.m. window reserved for Kentucky Derby and Oaks horses, the Mike McCarthy trainee galloped through an opening quarter-mile in :24 flat and pulled up five furlongs in 1:00.20. It was the...

Harvest Moon (Uncle Mo) remained perfect in three starts going long on the dirt and gave her sire yet another new graded winner with a determined success in the GIII Torrey Pines S. on the Pacific Classic undercard. The betting favorite was beaten for speed and was content to race in the one out and one back position with cover rounding the first turn as Secret Keeper (Into Mischief) led narrowly from Provocation (Into Mischief) to her outside. Mike Smith atop the latter upped the ante through the middle stages,...

GSW Donna Veloce (Uncle Mo) posted a six-furlong work at Del Mar Friday afternoon in advance of an upcoming start in the GI Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs Sept. 4. Campaigned by Kaleem Shah, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith, the filly completed the task in 1:11.60, the fastest of seven moves at the distance Friday. Commencing at the five-furlong pole, she completed her first quarter in :25.00 followed by a half :47.80 before hitting the wire :59.80. She galloped out seven eighths in 1:26.20. An $800,000 2-year-old...

An unproven but potential-laden field of seven will do battle early on Saturday's blockbuster card at Del Mar in the GIII Torrey Pines S. going a mile over the main track. Pam and Martin Wygod's Secret Keeper (Into Mischief) looks to remain unbeaten in her two-turn bow. Unveiled going 5 1/2 furlongs May 25 at Santa Anita, the homebred reeled in an odds-on Bob Baffert firster to triumph going away before stretching out a furlong and scoring in similar fashion over Baffert's re-opposing pair of Merneith (American Pharaoh) and Provocation...

Considered one of the leading members of her division before she went to the sidelines this spring Donna Veloce (Uncle Mo) has reemerged as a serious candidate for the Sept. 4 GI Kentucky Oaks. After finishing second as the favorite in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and again in the GI Starlet S., Donna Veloce began her 3-year-old campaign with a win over Speech (Mr. Speaker) in the GIII Santa Ysabel  S.Mar. 8 at Santa Anita. Sidelined with what trainer Simon Callaghan called "a little minor thing," she has...

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. Vittorio (c, 2, Ghostzapper-Roberta Turner, by Smart Strike), a $750,000 OBS Spring purchase by Kaleem Shah, has every right to build off a better-than-it-looked debut fifth going five furlongs at Del Mar Aug. 1 (video). Off to a tardy beginning after breaking inward at the start, the 4-1 chance, equipped with blinkers, was slow into stride and trailed the field in ninth through an opening quarter in :23.28....

Trainer Simon Callaghan and Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano are the special guests for this week's installment of the Breeders' Cup's Cocktails & Conversation. The broadcast is a recurring virtual happy hour series designed to rally the industry into raising funds for communities that have been profoundly impacted by COVID-19. It airs Thursday, Aug. 6 at 6 p.m. ET via Breeders' Cup's Twitter,  Facebook and YouTube. The episode will be hosted by Nick Luck and Britney Eurton of NBC Sports and 21 Club mixologist and creator of Breeders' Cup's...

Sunday May 17 at Santa Anita rather disappeared into the ether of a weekend dominated by the resumption of live racing after a COVID-fueled two-month hiatus. But Sunday May 17 was notable in itself given how it christened the first 2-year-old race in California under the state's new Lasix-free rules. The chronology of events leading to that watershed is now something approaching lore. During Santa Anita's much-publicized troubles early last year, the track instituted a ban on Lasix, an action the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) synthesized into a state-wide...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 7th-CD, $79K, Msw, 3yo/up, 1m, 4:08 p.m. ET SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables and Fred Hertrich III's BEACON HILL (Blame) debuts for trainer Rodolphe Brisset. The dark bay, who realized a $500,000 final bid at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling sale, was the highest priced yearling out of 27 sold by his sire in 2018. Dam My Mammy, already responsible for the colt's full stakes-winning sibling Sweet Victory and stakes-placed Ferdinanda (Giant's Causeway), is a half-sister to Grade I-winner Bandini (Fusaichi Pegasus) and Group 3...

Three-time GISW Bellafina (Quality Road) will look to snap a six-race losing streak in Sunday's GIII Desert Stormer S. at Santa Anita. The $800,000 FTFMAR breezer, winless since posting a dominating score in last term's GI Santa Anita Oaks, sports a record of 6-4-2-0 at the Great Race Place, including a very strong second in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint Nov. 2. After closing out her 3-year-old campaign with a runner-up finish as the 3-5 chalk in the GI La Brea S. Dec. 28, nothing went right...