Street Sense

by Bill Finley & Patrycja Szpyra On paper, Saturday's seventh race at Saratoga looked wide open and loaded with talent. All the major players had horses in the race, Wayne Lukas, Chad Brown, Steve Asmussen, Brad Cox , Bill Mott and Todd Pletcher, who had two starters in the six furlong maiden special weight event. The race figured to be fought all the way to the wire. Instead it was the Asmussen horse, Valentine Candy (Justify), who ran them off their feet right out of the gate. Sent off at...

Hoping that the GIII Dinner Party S. might be a sampling of things to come later on the Preakness Day card, Never Explain came from off the pace to collect his first black-type victory for trainer Shug McGaughey. Handily away from gate six, the dark bay settled off the pace in fourth as GI Pegasus World Cup Turf winner Atone (Into Mischief), sent off at 5-2, strode to the front with MGSW 'TDN Rising Star' Emmanuel and Rising Empire (Empire Maker) in hot pursuit rounding the first turn. With the...

Godolphin's First Mission (Street Sense), the runaway winner of the GIII Lexington S., completed his final major work Saturday ahead of next Saturday's GI Preakness S. at Pimlico. The colt covered five furlongs in :59.20 early yesterday morning at Churchill Downs. "He's lightly raced, but I liked what I saw of him all winter and into the Lexington," said trainer Brad Cox. "He bounced out of it in good shape and he's got a lot of talent. I'm looking forward to giving him a swing at a Grade I." Runner...

Godolphin homebred First Mission, coming off an impressive maiden-breaking score at Fair Grounds last month, made the jump to graded company with aplomb, striding home a determined victor of the GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. at Keeneland Saturday. Sent off at 2-1, the dark bay colt sat just off pacesetting Arabian Lion through fractions of :24.12 and :48.01. He cut the corner into the stretch as the pacesetter drifted out into the lane and gamely persevered as that foe drifted back in on him and he was inching clear late. "This...

MGSW 'TDN Rising Star' Cazadero (Street Sense), GISW Doppelganger (Into Mischief) and MGSW Messier (Empire Maker) can be found in the catalog for Keeneland's April Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale, to be held Sunday, Apr. 30 at 4 p.m. ET. The sale will be live-streamed on their website, Keeneland said in a Friday release. "The April Sale will take place at a key time, two days after Keeneland's Spring Meet and at the start of Kentucky Derby week, when the energy and excitement for Thoroughbred racing are at a...

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running at Hanshin and Nakayama Racecourses: Saturday, April 1, 2023 1st-HSN, ¥10,480,000 ($79k), Maiden, 3yo, 1400m TAKE A STAB (JPN) (f, 3, Justify--It Was Magic, by War Front) is the first foal out of a daughter of 2011 G1 Irish 1000 Guineas...

First Mission (c, 3, Street Sense--Elude, by Medaglia d'Oro), a strong second on debut behind his highly regarded Brad Cox-trained stablemate Bishops Bay (Uncle Mo) with a gaudy 96 Beyer sprinting at Fair Grounds Feb. 18, ran to the money as the 1-5 favorite with a 'TDN Rising Star' performance in his two-turn debut in New Orleans Saturday. Fractious in the gate, the Godolphin homebred shot out to front and bobbled slightly shortly after the start. The blinkered dark bay recovered nicely and tracked in the garden spot in second....

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. First Mission (c, 3, Street Sense--Elude, by Medaglia d'Oro) earned a gaudy 96 Beyer Speed Figure sprinting on debut on the GII Risen Star S. undercard at Fair Grounds Feb. 18. And he didn't even get his picture taken. The Triple Crown-nominated Godolphin homebred fell three-quarters of a length short to his highly touted and Brad Cox-trained stablemate Bishops Bay (Uncle Mo) in a very live-looking, six-furlong...

As we approach the opening of the 2023 breeding season, the TDN staff is once again sitting down with leading breeders to find out what stallions they have chosen for their mares, and why. Today we caught up with JCB Stables' Ezequiel Cesar Valle, who represents the aforementioned American branch of Haras Firmamento, one of the largest farms in Argentina. MAID OF HONOR (6, Medaglia d´Oro--Lovely Regina, by Deputy Minister), to be bred to Street Sense We bought five mares at the last Keeneland November Sale, and she was the...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 7th-GP, $84K, Msw, 3yo, f, 6f, 3:07 p.m. Debut filly HOLLYWOODLAND (Quality Road) was a $500,000 KEESEP purchase as a yearling by owner Joseph Allen, who bred and campaigns recent GIII La Prevoyante S. winner Personal Best (Tapit). This filly's dam, Union City, is a sister to MGSW Dixie City, whose own offspring Reef Point (Giant's Causeway) produced MGSW Bubble Rock (More Than Ready). Not to be outdone, Union City is responsible for GII Peter Pan S. hero Unified (Candy Ride {Arg}). Breaking from the...

Speaker's Corner (Street Sense - Tyburn Brook, by Bernardini) and Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper - Music Note, by A.P. Indy), both Grade I-winning homebreds for Godolphin, have joined the Darley America stallion roster for 2023. The newcomers hail from impressive Godolphin families. Speaker's Corner, who will command an initial stud fee of $20,000, is out of a daughter of GI Breeders' Cup Distaff victress Round Pond (Awesome Again), while Mystic Guide, a 'TDN Rising Star' who will stand for $15,000, is a son of five-time Grade I winner Music Note. "We...

5th-AQU, $85k, Msw, 2yo, f, 6 1/2f, 1:46p.m. ET Purchased for an eye-catching $825,000 from KEESEP by Mike Ryan for CHP Racing, MODERN LOVE (Curlin) will look to justify that price here against a well-connected field of maidens. The half-sister to GISW Competitionofideas (Speightstown) hails from a winning family line--the second and third dams claim 17 winners immediately beneath them, combined, and six with black-type. Her Chad Brown-trained stablemate Ana's Gun (Gun Runner) will also carry a flashy pedigree in her maiden voyage; being the half sister to GI Breeders'...