Union Rags

After a career of always showing up for a piece of the pie, it's finally Skippylongstocking (Exaggerator) who's the talk of the town, and the statesman strolled home to the roar of an appreciative Oaklawn crowd to confidently win the GIII Essex Handicap. The seven-year-old entire has been exclusively in graded stakes company since early April 2022, when he ran third in the GII Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. He never left the ranks after that, and placed at the highest levels every year since--hitting the board in the 2022 GI...

Having dealt with the rookies as a case apart, and then sought a couple of bargains at the base of the pyramid, today we move into a category that remains within the reach of many hands-on breeders--from $10,000 to $19,999--while also containing sires that can raise the bar a good deal higher. On the one hand, it includes a number of young horses still to be given adequate (if any) opportunity to show what they can do, yet already finding their books and fees eroded by still newer names. But...

He called it a "once-in-a-lifetime" experience, smiling in the Paris sunshine, spry and dapper in his bow tie and blazer. And then he added: "I mean, I'm 90 years old, so I don't know how much more lifetime there is!" That helped the interview go fairly viral. But there was much else besides: the sheer joie de vivre, the sense of just how much living Russell Jones has crammed into that lifetime; plus an infectious sense of the fulfilment available, when you invest in a horse in a purely sporting...

St Elias Stable's Captain Cook (Practical Joke), a heartbreaking second at 20-1 in the GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S. at Saratoga Aug. 23, will be favored to register a first career graded success in Saturday's GIII Perryville S. at Keeneland. Winner of the Withers S. in February, the 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' was making his first start for Todd Pletcher in the Allen Jerkens. The field of six for the Perryville also includes GII San Vicente S. winner and Allen Jerkens third Barnes (Into Mischief) and GIII...

I have come to really enjoy sharing this aspect of our farm. Last year after I finished describing some of the matings and crazy ways we had found certain mares, I had myself in stitches laughing so much remembering all of the fun stories. So, once again, I will try to keep you all entertained while also sharing why and how we came up with the pairings for some of our 117 (OMG) mares. We breed solely for the physical athlete; we do not use nicks, Goldmine, x-factor, measurements, linebreeding,...

The catalogue for the Texas 2-year-olds in Training Sale, to be held April 2 at Lone Star Park, features 94 horses with a breeze show scheduled for March 31 at the Dallas-Fort Worth area track. Online bidding will be offered for the auction, which is operated by the Texas Thoroughbred Association, and supplements are still being accepted. "Consignors have consistently been bringing quality horses to our sales, and that's been proven over and over on the racetrack," said Sales Director Foster Bridewell. "We had 2-year-old sale graduate Frost Free win...

GI Kentucky Derby hero Mystik Dan (Goldencents) and GISW Power Squeeze (Union Rags) went through their preparations Saturday morning at Gulfstream Park for the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational. The Ken McPeek trainee was out to breeze five furlongs Saturday morning, covering the distance in a bullet move of :59.48 (1/35). Depending on how he does during the week, and after one more work next week, the conditioner says a decision will be made at that point as to whether or not Mystik Dan will be entered in Gulfstream's marquee...

If this seems a strangely specific category, that's because it is. There are two dozen sires standing in Kentucky at $10,000, a fee that attempts to preserve their dignity against a candid slide into the bargain basement. Though you're only a cent away from offering your stallion at four figures, you want him to look accessible without being low-rent. Only a couple are newcomers, all of which were dealt with separately in opening this series. Otherwise this is chiefly the bracket of youngish stallions whose rookie vogue is spent, anxious...

There were two Grade I races last weekend in North America, one at Saratoga and one at Del Mar. One was on the dirt and one was on the turf, one at 10 furlongs and the other at nine furlongs. Other than both being carded for 3-year-old fillies, what did they have in common? Each was won by a daughter of a Lane's End sire. Union Rags captured the GI Alabama Stakes with Power Squeeze, while Twirling Candy took the GI Del Mar Oaks with Iscreamuscream. To add to the...

Once again American investors have shown an increasing receptivity to European bloodlines, this time at the big yearling sale in Deauville. For now, however, we're still only talking about a minority even among those with the resources required to import elite yearlings. But with a reciprocal curiosity also growing in Europe--thanks to Justify, in particular, but also to those breeze-up pinhookers now preparing their next raid on the September Sale--it does feel as though the overdue renewal of transatlantic traffic is beginning to gain commercial traction. We still have a...

With the connections of the well-reputed 'Grizzley' Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) opting to wait another week to face the boys in the GI Travers S., Power Squeeze (Union Rags) took full advantage of the Kentucky Oaks winner's absence and stormed home a narrow winner in the 10-furlong GI Alabama Stakes at Saratoga Saturday. MGSW Chatalas (Gun Runner) broke quickly, going to the front with a host of pursuers at her heels. Meanwhile, Power Squeeze tried to establish a clear path from Post 3, but was squeezed back as America's Vow...

Power Squeeze may have finally put it all together in time to pick up 20 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks with a win in Saturday's Suncoast S. Racing along the Mid-Atlantic last season, it took the $90,000 OBSAPR grad three tries to break her maiden when she caught an off-the-turf one-mile event at Delaware Oct. 7. After a short layoff, Jorge Delgado shipped Power Squeeze south to Gulfstream where she upset the Cash Run S. at odds of 8-1 to open her 3-year-old season Jan. 1. Second...