St Elias Stable

It didn't take long for champion Forte (Violence - Queen Caroline, by Blame) to settle in at Spendthrift Farm and after just a few weeks of breeder inspections, the 'TDN Rising Star' is already booked full for his first year at stud. "Any time you get a chance to show a champion off to your breeders, it makes the sales team's job pretty easy," said Spendthrift's Mark Toothaker. "He has been hugely popular and is completely sold out. Most every mare that he got is a blacktype mare, so he's...

2-year-old champion and 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence), whose retirement was announced earlier this week, has arrived at Spendthrift Farm where he will take up stud duty in 2024. His introductory fee will be $50,000 S&N and he is available for inspection by appointment. "The first thing I think about Forte is just how much of an honor it is for us to bring a horse like him to Spendthrift. He's the fifth champion we've been fortunate enough to add to our stallion ranks since 2020, and that's a testament...

5th-KEE, $100K, Msw, 2yo, 7f, 3:08 p.m. ET Gold Square's AIR OF DEFIANCE (Quality Road), a $400,000 Keeneland September purchase, is the 3-1 morning-line favorite after running a solid second behind 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light) over a muddy strip at Saratoga in his six-furlong debut Aug. 25. The Brad Cox trainee is the second foal out of graded stakes winner Faypien (Ghostzapper). St. Elias and Starlight Racing's It'smyluckytime (Not This Time), a $450,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling, makes his first trip to the post for trainer Todd Pletcher....

Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's 'TDN Rising Star' Agate Road (Quality Road) saved his best for last, as he found his best stride inside the final furlong and edged away to take Wednesday's GII Pilgrim S., earning an all-expenses-paid trip to Santa Anita for the Nov. 3 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf in the process. Favored at a shade under 5-2 the $650,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase--carrying the St. Elias colors this time--was content to sit one from the tail as the outposted Spirit Prince (Cairo Prince)--a latest third...

LEXINGTON, KY - A bevy of high-priced yearlings provided a late spark to the first Book 3 session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, but the auction--which had kept pace with its record-setting 2022 renewal during Books 1 and 2--lost a bit of its steam as it entered into its second week Saturday. A total of 289 yearlings sold Saturday for $46,697,000. The average of $163,849 dipped 7.3% from last year's Book 3 opener and the median fell 7.1% to $130,000. The buy-back rate remained steady at 22%. During the...

Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's lightly raced Bright Future (Curlin), a well-backed 7-2 in Saturday's GI Jockey Club Gold Cup S. at Saratoga, dug down deep beneath the ageless Javier Castellano to hold off Proxy (Tapit) by a nose and punch his ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita. "It was a good spot to try a Grade I and he delivered a big performance," winning trainer Todd Pletcher said. "In order to go to the next one, he's going to need to make another move...

Repole Stable and St Elias Stable's Agate Road (c, 2, Quality Road--Yellow Agate, by Gemologist) was hammered into even-money favoritism for his turf and two-turn debuts on the strength of a near-miss runner-up effort in a rained-off maiden Aug. 5. At the end of 8 1/2 very eventful furlongs Saturday afternoon at the Spa, the $650,000 Keeneland September purchase was named a 'TDN Rising Star'. Drawn widest in a field of 10, Agate Road was behind the eight ball right from the opening bell, as he broke a good two...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's  Forte (Violence) worked in blinkers Saturday morning at Saratoga Race Course and Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said the colt will have them on in the GII Jim Dandy on July 29. "We just want to get him a little bit more locked in," he said. Pletcher described the small blinker is a French cup with some holes in it. Under jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., Forte, who worked in company with MGSW Emmanuel, breezed a half-mile on the main...

Repole Stable and St Elias Stable's Up To the Mark (Not This Time) consolidated his position at the top of the American turf division with a second straight dominating performance at the top level in Saturday's GI Resorts World Casino Manhattan S. at Belmont Park. Made the 8-5 chalk on the strength of a much-the-best victory in the GI Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic on the Kentucky Derby undercard at Churchill Downs May 6, the $450,000 Keeneland September graduate was away in good order and landed just ahead of centerfield...

Having swallowed the most bitter of bitter pills earlier in the morning with news that Kentucky Derby morning-line favorite and 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence) was being scratched from the GI Kentucky Derby, owner Mike Repole was handed a measure of consolation when Up to the Mark (Not This Time) came rolling down the center of the Matt Winn turf course to prove a comprehensive winner of the GI Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic. Exchanging bumps at the break with Earls Rock (Ire) (Fascinating Rock {Ire}), Up to the Mark...

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis OCALA, FL - The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training opened Tuesday with a session that produced figures nearly identical to the auction's 2022 opening session. "It was a good start to the sale," said OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski. "A lot of horses sold very well. And I'd like to think the strength will continue through the next three days. I feel pretty good about that. There are a lot of good horses left to sell." During Tuesday's...

1st-GP, $50K, Msw, 3yo, 5fT, 12:40 p.m. A Triple Crown-nominated colt for the connections of Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg, Jonathon Poulin and St. Elias Stable, SOUTH SIDE (Curlin) was a $500,000 yearling purchase out of the Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga Select Sale. His dam, while unplaced herself, is out of the graded stakes winning mare Mariah's Storm (Rahy), who readers will recognize as the dam of none other than the full-brothers by Storm Cat, Giant's Causeway and Freud. In addition, this is the family of several...