TDN Rising Star

Billed as a showdown between the top three finishers of the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, Keeneland's opening day GI Central Bank Ashland S.--worth not just $600,000 in purse money but also GI Kentucky Oaks points on a 100-50-25-15-10 scale--instead featured the blossoming of Whisper Hill Farm's 'TDN Rising Star' Leslie's Rose (f, 3, Into Mischief--Wildwood Rose {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}), who left no doubt about the top filly on the day with a three-length tour de force. George Krikorian's Breeders' Cup winner and Eclipse champion Just F Y I...

2nd-KEE, $110K, OC/N1X, 3yo, 6f, 1:32 p.m. ET. PIRATE (Omaha Beach) begins his 3-year-old campaign after he broke his maiden at first asking and secured 'TDN Rising Star' honors last July at Saratoga. The dark bay then ran third to Nutella Fella (Runhappy) and fellow 'Rising Star' Timberlake in the GI Hopeful S. just before the meet upstate closed for the summer. A $350,000 purchase by Starlight Racing and Harrell Ventures at the Keeneland September Sale, the Todd Pletcher trainee is a half-brother to GI Preakness S. and GI Pegasus...

4th-KEE, $100K, MSW, 3yo, f, 7f, 2:36 p.m. BELLS BEACH (Curlin) went the way of Jeffrey Drown for $675,000 as a yearling at the Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga Select Sale in 2022 and debuts Friday on Keeneland's opening day for trainer Chad Brown. Dam Luminance, a Grade I-placed and track record setting daughter of Tale of the Cat, twice passed through the auction ring for seven figures--most recently selling to Juddmonte Farms in foal to Gun Runner on a final bid of $1.25m at FTKNOV in 2022. Luminance is a...

Kentucky Senator Henry Clay might be considered one of the premier American politicians pre-Lincoln, but what is not up for debate was his fervent commitment to breeding equine athletes and attending the races. You cannot actually visit his home--Ashland--because the structure that stands on the Clay Estate just south of downtown Lexington is not original to "The Great Compromiser" and his time. However, interpretations of Clay-related objects enliven the tour. Ashland in name was imported as a stakes race when Keeneland opened in 1936. Some familiar female runners who graced...

'TDN Rising Star' Timberlake (Into Mischief), fourth as the favorite in last Saturday's GI Arkansas Derby, will not be pointed to the GI Kentucky Derby, according to a report in Daily Racing Form. The GI Champagne S. winner and GII Rebel S. winner is currently ranked fifth with 81 points for the Kentucky Derby. "Based on the performance over the weekend, we are not going to run in the Kentucky Derby," trainer Brad Cox told DRF. "We are thinking about cutting him back in distance." Cox added, "He came out...

Sunday's Listed Preis von Dahlwitz at Hoppegarten witnessed the return of last year's G1 Deutsches Derby first and second Fantastic Moon (Ger) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) and Mr Hollywood (Ire) (Iquitos {Ger}), but with a two-kilo swing in his favour it was the latter who turned the tables to get his 2024 campaign off to a flyer. Labelled a TDN Rising Star on his jaw-dropping debut at Mulheim last April, Mr Hollywood proved that to be no fluke with success in Munich's G3 Bavarian Classic and runner-up finishes in Cologne's...

'TDN Rising Star' and champion 2-year-old Fierceness (City of Light) exited his 13 1/2-length romp in Saturday's GI Curlin Florida Derby in "great" condition according to a social media post by owner Repole Stables. The post, accompanied by a photo of the colt with his winning flowers, reads: "Good morning from Fierceness. He came out of the race great. What a thrilling and epic performance! Happy and healthy Easter to all." With a leaderboard-topping 136 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, Fierceness is bound for Louisville along with...

If you do not happen to be a Lord of the Rings devotee, then as a horse racing fan you might assume that Gandalf, Frodo, Saruman and Sauron were just names some eccentric owners concocted to toy with The Jockey Club. Well, for true disciples of Tolkein, you understand the 'Two Towers' reference is a major theme in the trilogy, but for our purposes it simply denotes coverage. This Saturday, both Oaklawn Park and Gulfstream Park are those poles of power when it comes to authoring graded stakes. Their cards...

6th-Gulfstream, $72,000, Alw (NW1X)/Opt. Clm ($75,000), 3-28, 3yo, 1m, 1:36.75, ft, 9 lengths. KNIGHTSBRIDGE (c, 3, Nyquist--Tyburn Brook, by Bernardini), a jaw-dropping debut winner going seven furlongs at Churchill Downs Nov. 4, returned to the races in style at Gulfstream Park Thursday afternoon. The 1-9 favorite, drawn widest of all in post five, broke alertly and held a narrow advantage through an opening quarter in :23.40. Facing continued pressure through a half mile in :45.40, the 'TDN Rising Star' began to shake free turning for home and dropped the hammer...

Two days after Classic prospect Narkez (Fr) brought up an 11th TDN Rising Star for Siyouni (Fr), White Birch Farm's unbeaten filly Louise Procter (Fr) made it a dozen for the Aga Khan's star sire when dazzling at Chantilly. Coming into Thursday's Prix du Belvedere off the back of two juvenile wins at Saint-Cloud and Deauville spaced apart in May and December, the Jean-Claude Rouget-trained granddaughter of Anabaa's Creation (Ire) (Anabaa) travelled easily with two behind early. Set alight by Cristian Demuro approaching two out, the 2-1 favourite who is...

The extended 10-furlong View Restaurant At Dundalk Stadium Maiden has been used by Aidan O'Brien for his potential Derby colts in recent years and Tuesday's renewal was no exception as Agenda (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}--Different League {Fr}, by Dabirsim {Fr}) became the stable's latest TDN Rising Star. Following on from Galileo's Changingoftheguard (Ire) who two years earlier had won this en route to taking the G3 Chester Vase and G2 King Edward VII S., the highly encouraging third in a seven-furlong Curragh maiden in October was able to fully justify 11-10...

It was only a matter of time before Andre Fabre unveiled a new bright prospect among his 2024 crop of 3-year-old Classic aspirants and it was during Tuesday's meeting at Saint-Cloud that the Chantilly maestro delivered one of the first. Producing a power-packed performance in testing conditions, Nurlan Bizakov's homebred colt Narkez (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}--Nazym {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}) earned TDN Rising Star status in the card's often-informative mile conditions event, the Prix Comrade, to prompt Prix du Jockey Club talk. Sent off the 3-1 second favourite behind stablemate Supercooled...