Wathnan Racing

Commandment (Into Mischief), a dominating winner of the Mucho Macho Man S. Jan. 3, will make his next start in the GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth S. at Gulfstream Park Feb. 28. The Wathnan Racing colorbearer returned to the worktab for trainer Brad Cox with a four-furlong breeze in :50.60 (16/27) at Payson Park Jan. 23. "Not long after the Mucho Macho Man, Brad (Cox) was thinking about the Fountain of Youth as a spaced-out target," said Case Clay, Wathnan's Racing Manager, USA. "He looks great and Brad's happy with...

SHARONS BEACH, SA, 1-23, 4th race, 6 1/2 furlongs BEYER SPEED FIGURE-89 (2nd) (g, 3, Omaha Beach--Cosmic Code, by Into Mischief) O-Panic Stable. B-Bryan Hawk (Ky). T-Jonathan Thomas. J-Umberto Rispoli. He has always been auspiciously supported: as a debut 2-1 choice on turf when he lost by 22 3/4 lengths, then at 8-5 on dirt when he faded to lose by 9 1/4 lengths, and again last week at 9-5. This time, he lived up to the stubborn optimism. Few could have expected a Beyer leap from 58 to 89,...

NOBLE AFFAIR (c, 3, Vekoma--Paden Affair, by Rockport Harbor) was unveiled Dec. 27 at this venue but sprinting on the turf, and ran on well to claim third in a blanket finish after trailing early on from eighth. Moved to the dirt for this second jump, he was asked to navigate a sloppy surface as Fair Grounds hustled to beat the weather, and left the gates carrying 3-1 odds on this seasonal debut. Out to set the pace through an opening quarter in :22.38 and after four furlongs in :45.89,...

BLACK CHERRY (f, 3, Liam's Map--Summer Raven {GSW, $168,910}, by Summer Squall) entered this contest with a bullet work to her name in preparation for her debut, and the betting public liked her to the tune of 7-2 odds as the race came off the turf in favor of the Tapeta. Breaking on top to show the way through an opening quarter in :21.77, she was still at the head of affairs as the field swung off the bend for the homeward run. Bracing as challenges arrived on both sides,...

Wathnan Racing's newly minted 3-year-old Commandment (Into Mischief) ran to the billing as the 1-2 favorite with a dominating win in Saturday's Mucho Macho Man S. going a one-turn mile at Gulfstream Park. Drawn on the fence, the $500,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase was fourth through opening fractions of :24.09 and :47.38. All dressed up with nowhere to go at the top of the stretch, Commandment bulled his way through in between horses beneath Irad Ortiz, Jr. and leveled off beautifully from there to win going away by 6 3/4...

Lea Farms' Thunder Chuck (Good Magic) will make his first start beyond 6 1/2 furlongs when he goes postward in the one-mile Mucho Macho Man Stakes at Gulfstream Park Saturday. Trainer Jorge Delgado said he is hoping the race is a first step towards a possible trip on the Triple Crown trail for the chestnut gelding. "We're trying to see how far we can get with him. Hopefully, this will be a step to the graded stakes on the route to the Derby," Delgado said. "The horse has been good...

Ain't she a beaut, Clark? A fantastic field of nine, led by 3-1 morning-line favorite and G1 Dubai World Cup hero Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}), will line up for the GII Clark S. at Churchill Downs on Black Friday. The Wathnan Racing colorbearer defeated last year's re-opposing Clark winner Rattle N Roll (Connect) by a length in the GIII Hagyard Fayette S. at Keeneland last out Oct. 25. "We were really proud of Hit Show's effort in the Fayette," trainer Brad Cox said. "He hasn't missed a beat since...

Courage Mon Ami, the winner of the 2023 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot, has been retired from racing after failing to recover sufficiently from a tibia injury. Trained by John and Thady Gosden, Courage Mon Ami sported the now-familiar silks of Wathnan Racing when defeating Coltrane and Subjectivist in the Gold Cup, having been bought privately by the Emir of Qatar's burgeoning operation after his victory in a Goodwood handicap the previous month, his third win from as many starts for owner-breeder Anthony Oppenheimer. As well as becoming Wathnan's first...

NEWMARKET, ENGLAND - Be it at public auction or the private market, Wathnan Racing has ripped up the playbook in a short space of time and signaled yet another statement of intent at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses-In-Training Sale by adding recent Group 3 runner-up Gladius (Night Of Thunder) to its squad at 950,000gns. It was Blandford Bloodstock's top agent Richard Brown who landed a colt the Wathnan team knows well given he chased home the Qatari-based owner's Damysus (Frankel) in the G3 Darley Stakes at Newmarket when last seen. According...

Continuing a fruitful campaign since returning from his elite-level World Cup triumph in Dubai, Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) put his best foot forward once again to take home the GIII Fayette Stakes on closing day of the Keeneland Fall meet. The grey collected his second win here since returning from Meydan, but had been tasked with taking on some salty company in the contests he didn't claim, too--namely the likes of Breeders' Cup Classic contenders Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) and Mindframe (Constitution) in the GI Stephen Foster back in...

Saturday's G1 Qipco Champion Stakes will feature all the big guns, with Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder), Delacroix (Dubawi), Calandagan (Gleneagles) and Economics (Night Of Thunder) set for a memorable showdown. There will be 11 in the line-up for the feature, where the draw has not been kind to Ombudsman and Economics in nine and 10 respectively but has been to the race's most intriguing runner Almaqam (Lope De Vega) in stall one. There will be 16 lining up for the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, with Juddmonte and the Gosdens'...

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. Favored at 5-2 in his unveiling for Brad Cox in a very deep maiden special weight at Keeneland Saturday, Commandment (c, 2, Into Mischief) stamped himself as one to watch with a "sneaky good" fourth-place finish. Immediately under a ride from his inside draw, the Wathnan Racing colorbearer dropped back to race in 11th through an opening quarter in :22.75. He began to get his legs underneath...