Whitmore

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--To illustrate his point about Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect), trainer Ron Moquett stepped into the Eclipse Award winner's stall Sunday morning saying, "This is not the time to do this," and rubbed his star's coat with a small towel. Showing his displeasure, Whitmore promptly kicked the wall. Hard. "He is as consistent as the day is long," Moquett said, smiling. "He will do everything the exact same way. Our job is to get done, working with him, knowing his idiosyncrasies." Moquett and his staff live in Whitmore's world, ruled...

Reigning champion sprinter Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect), third in his latest start in the May 1 GI Churchill Downs S., recorded his final serious breeze Friday in preparation for the GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. July 31 at Saratoga. The 8-year-old, who won the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint in November at Keeneland, went a half-mile in :48.78 seconds over a fast main track, 12 days after completing the same distance in a swift :47.21 seconds. Trained by Ron Moquett, the gelding has amassed more than $4.4 million in lifetime earnings through...

It's not often you come across a 13-horse Grade I sprint with no confirmed frontrunner, but the Churchill Downs S. Saturday is just that, with only lightly raced 20-1 shot Get the Prize (Candy Ride {Arg}) having gotten the first call last out. Stalker Flagstaff (Speightstown) gets the tepid 3-1 nod on the morning line coming off a victory over three of these foes in Keeneland's GIII Commonwealth S. going the same distance Apr. 3. He shipped into Oaklawn after that to fire a pair of quick bullet breezes, and...

Well, I guess in the week we lost Mrs. Chandler--that elegant bridge at the center of five generations (and counting) of Kentucky horse lore--nobody will need reminding to take the long view. Certainly not Shug McGaughey, who will perhaps be reminding the disappointed connections of Greatest Honour (Tapit) how things didn't turn out too badly for Coronado's Quest (Forty Niner) after he was likewise derailed from the Classic trail. Maybe Greatest Honour can now become Shug's fifth winner of the GI Travers S., a race with an even longer history...

The ageless champion Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect) will try for an unprecedented fourth victory in the GIII Count Fleet Sprint H. in a competitive seven-horse field Saturday at Oaklawn. Annexing the Count Fleet in 2017 and 2018, the chestnut ran into a buzzsaw in champion Mitole (Eskendereya) when second in 2019 and gutted out his third score in the race last year. Winless in his next three, he finished his campaign with an 18-1 upset of the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint to earn an Eclipse Award for champion male sprinter. Making...

The freshly-minted Eclipse Award winning sprinter Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect) will try to add to his seven Oaklawn stakes wins this winter, according to part-owner--along with Bob LaPenta and Head of Plains Partners--and trainer Rron Moquett. Whitmore punctuated his 2020 campaign with a dominating victory in the Nov. 7 GI Breeders' Cup Sprint at Keeneland. "I think the reaction that we get from the rest of the people kind of mimics how we feel all the time about him," Moquett said Friday morning. "It's like everybody's giving him credit, loving him...

Voting for this year's Secretariat 'Vox Populi' Horse of 2020 Award is now underway online at Secretariat.com or AmericasBestRacing.net. Created by Secretariat's late owner Penny Chenery, the Vox Populi, or "Voice of the People," award recognizes the racehorse whose popularity and racing excellence best resounded with the public and gained recognition for the sport during the past year. Fans can vote on one of five nominees selected by the award's committee, or choose a write-in option, through Nov. 30. The nominees are: GI Kentucky Derby and GI Breeders' Cup Classic...

Making his fourth consecutive appearance in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, the 7-year-old gelding Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect) did what few have done over the course of the weekend--rally from far back on the main track to score an 18-1 upset in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint Saturday at Keeneland. The $4.2-million earner lagged in the latter third of the field early as Japanese raider Jasper Prince (Violence) ensured a fast pace, chased along by fellow longshot Empire of Gold (Goldencents). Traveling nicely within himself on the turn, Whitmore crept into...

In these days of wilful division and reluctant separation, perhaps the wider world could for once learn something from our own community. For while our preoccupations may be frivolous, relative to such momentous challenges as the securing of democracy or public health, they do at least inculcate precisely the kind of calm forbearance most needed, right now, to quell the hysteria and despair infecting national wellbeing. It's pouring with rain? Go feed your horse and clean out the stall. Middle of a heatwave? Go feed your horse and clean out...

The final chapters have yet to be penned in Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect)'s book, but it's safe to say the 7-year-old sprinter is in the autumn of his career. He's a closer who has excelled in a division where out-and-out front-end speed often dominates, he's run in three consecutive GI Breeders' Cup Sprints that have each drawn as "loaded" affairs won by the eventual Eclipse Award champ, and he'll seek his first Breeders' Cup win in start number four over a host track (Keeneland) whose main-track profile has been tilted toward...

Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect) shoots for his second win in Friday's GII Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix S. at Keeneland, a 'Win and You're In' for the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint. After narrowly annexing this event in 2017, the hard-knocking and popular as ever 7-year-old gelding has since completed the bottom half of the exacta in the last two renewals. Whitmore captured his third GIII Count Fleet Sprint H. at Oaklawn in April, then was second to the ultra-talented Volatile (Violence) in the GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. at Saratoga July 25....

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency HALF TO WHITMORE DEBUTS AT CHURCHILL 4th-CD, $75K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 2:14p.m. Ron Moquett unveils a half-brother to his stable star Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect) in SKIP INTRO (Liam's Map). The $190,000 KEESEP buy's talented older sibling has captured 10 graded events so far for earnings over $3.1-million. Juddmonte homebred Floriform (Into Mischief) also debuts in this test. The bay is out of MSP July Jasmine (Empire Maker), who is a half-sister to MGSW & MGISP Rob Roy (Lear Farn). TJCIS PPs   MOTT UNVEILS GODOLPHIN...