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Calumet Farm homebred SHE BE SMOOTH (f, 3, Lexitonian–Seattle Smooth, by Quiet American) went to favored fellow firster Prom Queen (Quality Road) entering the final furlong of their respective one-mile debuts Friday afternoon at Gulfstream Park and kicked home smartly to open her account at first asking in very promising fashion. Fairly well-backed at odds of 9-2, the chestnut filly broke a bit to her inside, but it didn't cost her momentum or position, as she steadily made ground at the inside to enjoy the run of the race from close up in third. Given the hurry-up at the five-sixteenths, She Be Smooth was pulled to the outside to deliver her challenge, dueled with and eventually collared the chalk with about 100 yards to travel and was going away late. The winner's dam celebrated her finest moment when taking out the 2009 GI Ogden Phipps Handicap for Mercedes Stable and Tony Dutrow and was purchased by Brad Kelley's operation for $300,000 in foal to Malibu Moon at the 2015 Keeneland November Sale. The mare's six previous winners includes 2020 GIII Remington Park Oaks third Seattle Slang (Tapit). Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0. O/B-Calumet Farm (KY); T-Todd Pletcher   The post Lexitonian Filly She Be Smooth Professional on Gulfstream Debut appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

German legend Andrasch Starke has retired from the saddle, Galopp Online reported on Friday morning. The most successful German jockey of all time, Starke has at least 2,853 victories to his credit on record during his time in Europe and several more in Asia. Although he won eight Deutsches Derbys and was crowned a champion in Germany 10 times, Starke is best remembered as the partner of the indomitable German Horse of the Year Danedream. The daughter of Lomitas won the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 2011 and added the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes a year later. “This is the end of my career,” Starke told the Turf-Times on Thursday. The post German Legend Andrasch Starke Retires appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

According to a story by David Grening in the Daily Racing Form, according to trainer Bill Mott, the main goal in 2026 for the newly minted Horse of the Year Sovereignty (Into Mischief) will be the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. Mott said that while he has not yet mapped out a schedule for Sovereignty, he has already ruled out a start in the March 28 GI Dubai World Cup. That news came as somewhat of a surprise considering that Sovereignty's owner, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai and often targets the $12 million race run in his home country. Sheik Mohammed's Godolphin Racing has won the race nine times. Mott told the DRF that Sovereignty, who is stabled at his winter base at Payson Park in Florida is “a couple of weeks away” from his first workout on the year and that he is not sure where or when his champion colt will make his 4-year-old debut. “I'd like to make the Breeders' Cup Classic at the end of the year and whatever makes any kind of sense in between,” Mott said. Sovereignty was on target to make the 2025 Breeders' Cup Classic but missed the race after spiking a temperature three days before the big event. Mott acknowledged that missing the Breeders' Cup may have led to the decision to race Sovereignty as a 4-year-old as the Godolphin teams knows that a Breeders' Cup Classic win would only enhance his value as a stallion,. “If he would have won the Breeders' Cup it would have been more difficult to bring him back for a lot of different reasons,” said Mott. Grening also reported that Mott was contacted by NYRA racing officials about the idea of moving the date of the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup. The idea that was floated was to return the race to Belmont Park and run when the track re-opens in mid-September. That would mean it would be held about six weeks prior to the Breeders' Cup. “Funny enough, I gave them my opinion without even thinking I had a horse for it,” Mott told the DRF. “I mean, he was asking about the placement of races and I said it makes perfect sense.” Mott also mentioned the GI Whitney as a possible target for Sovereignty. He also acknowledged the challenges that come with bringing a Horse of the Year back to the races. Mott won back-to-back Horse of the Year titles with Cigar in 1995 and 1996. “It means you don't want to make any mistakes,” Mott said. “That they've made the decision and they're taking the gamble of putting him back into training, there's a little more pressure, a responsibility, a feeling that you want to come back and be able to perform well. I just don't want to mess anything up.” The post Report: Sovereignty Will Not Be Ready For The Dubai World Cup appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Imperial Emperor booked a spot in the Dubai World Cup (G1) and Opera Ballo earned a start in the Dubai Turf (G1T) with victories on Fashion Friday at Meydan Racecourse Jan. 23.View the full article

Blackout Time, scratched by regulatory veterinarians from the Oct. 31 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) at Del Mar, posted his first published workout since his withdrawal from that race in breezing 3 furlongs in :37 1/5 Jan. 23 at Fair Grounds.View the full article

By Jonny Turner  It would be a tall order to ask Brett Gray to repeat his recent success at Riverton on Sunday. The Ryal Bush trainer had his best season when notching 40 wins in 2025 and just two weeks into 2026 he produced his first trifecta when Anita Mary, Blaze Lightning and Jaccka Evan filled the first three at Ascot Park last week. “It certainly was a thrill, all three horses went well and it was good to see Anita Mary win for Paul Hailes at the Northern Southland meeting,” Gray said. “He’s a stalwart up that way.” “She’s a nice mare and we are going to give her a crack at the mares races coming up down here.” Gray’s team of seven for the Riverton meeting is spear-headed by his Riverton Cup hope in The Big Lebowski. The giant pacer charged back into form with his second in the Cromwell Cup earlier this month. Gray is hopeful the nine-year-old can now hold his form after putting a few frustrations behind him. “He was coming up nice last year and then he had a few foot issues and things like that.” “We feel like we are on top of things now and he seems pretty well.” “We have given him a bit of work on the grass this week and I’m quite happy with him.” “I think the only question mark would be the weather, I don’t think he would want the track to get too deep with the rain that is meant to be around.” There are plenty of solid chances among the remainder of the Gray team, including Jaccka Jim. The trotter was an impressive debut winner at Omakau before getting it wrong early in his next start at Cromwell. “He’s got the motor there to be winning but it will depend on his manners.” “He is getting better all the time with his ringcraft, but he is still pretty raw with just having the two starts.” Another Jaccka trotter in Jaccka Ace is in a similar spot to Jaccka Jim. Jaccka Ace missed away in his last start, but he also has the ability to win with manners. Daisymerollin is among the trio of trotters Gray starts on the Riverton grass. The four-year-old has trialled well ahead of her return to racing. Last-start winner Our Twinkle will step out at Riverton for Gray after finally breaking his maiden at Ascot Park, following a string of placings. “I don’t think the next grade up will worry him, he keeps going.” “He went well on the grass at Cromwell and he should be a pretty good chance.” Arma Forrest will return to racing in what looks like a suitable field. Havtimefordiamonds lines up in fillies and mares company, the three-year-old hasn’t had much luck in her recent starts. To see the Riverton fields click here View the full article

While Grade I victories and a 'TDN Rising Star presented by Hagyard' nod make for a potent double, Spendthrift Farm's Stallion Sales Manager Mark Toothaker suggests that the defining narrative for Spendthrift's new stallion duo is the surging commercial power of their sires. This year Goal Oriented becomes the fourth son of Not This Time to go to stud in Kentucky and the first to retire to Spendthrift, while Chancer McPatrick is the first son of McKinzie to join the stallion ranks. “With these stallions being by hot sires in McKinzie and Not This Time, it certainly gets breeders out here on the farm to take a look,” said Toothaker. Goal Oriented, whose retirement was announced after his decisive in last month's GI Malibu Stakes, will stand for $30,000 in 2026. Dual Grade I winner Chancer McPatrick enters stud at $25,000.   GOAL ORIENTED (Not This Time — Bizzy Caroline, by Afleet Alex) Goal Oriented has only been available for breeders' inspections for two weeks, but Toothaker reported the response has already been enormous. “We've had so many inquiries about the horse that I have just told everybody to submit the best mare they can,” he shared. “At this point, we're so overwhelmed that we are just going through these things one at a time.” Goal Oriented takes in his new surroundings at Spendthrift | Sara Gordon To what does Toothaker attribute such strong demand? “Not This Time is the reason he's being received this way,” Toothaker concluded. “He is a really fast dirt horse by Not This Time.” Not This Time wrapped up 2025 as the runner-up to Into Mischief on the General Sires' list. Among the Taylor Made stallion's first sons at stud, Goal Oriented joins GI Travers Stakes hero Epicenter, whose first juveniles debut this year, as well as the turf Grade I-winning duo of Up to the Mark and Cogburn, who have their first yearlings and foals, respectively, this year. “The one thing missing on our roster was a Not This Time,” said Toothaker. “Goal Oriented was a horse that we had wanted all year long, but we were looking for him to win that Grade I. For him to round out his career running a 108 Beyer and a 4 on the Sheets, he ran the race we had been waiting for him to run. He's a very fast dirt horse, but he has a grass pedigree woven inside his female family, so I think it gives breeders great options. Bred by Runnymede Farm and CWC Investment 2, Goal Oriented is out of the Afleet Alex mare Bizzy Caroline, a dual Grade III winner on turf and a half-sister to champion turf female Lady Eli (Divine Park). Purchased as a yearling for $425,000 by Donato Lanni for a partnership led by SF Racing, Starlight Racing, and Madaket Stables, the Bob Baffert trainee earned 'Rising Star' status in his Santa Anita debut last April and then added a victory at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby weekend. He was fourth in a rough-run GI Preakness Stakes before adding a pair of third-place finishes in the GI Haskell Stakes and GI Pennsylvania Derby. “He's a horse that went to battle with some of the best of his generation,” said Toothaker. “He ran an extremely game race in the Haskell and was beaten three quarters of a length by Journalism (Curlin), who needs no introduction.” In his career finale in the Malibu, Goal Oriented stopped the clock in 1:20.97, marking the fastest winning time in the Malibu since 2016 and the fastest seven furlongs run in a Grade I in 2025. Toothaker noted that Goal Oriented's imposing physical makes him a natural choice for breeders looking to add size to their mares. The dark bay stands at 16.3 “He's got plenty of stretch to him and he has a beautiful shoulder,” he said. “He's got a really good hip and he's outstanding up front, very correct. There are a lot of mares that could use a little leg around town, whether they are for commercial breeders looking to add some height for that resulting yearling they may be taking to the sale or people going to the track that need to upgrade their mare a little bit.”   CHANCER MCPATRICK (McKinzie — Bernadreamy, by Bernardini) Chancer McPatrick wins the GI Champagne Stakes | Sarah Andrew The Spendthrift scouting team had their eye on Chancer McPatrick from the time he was an unraced juvenile. Bred by Rigney Racing, the bay was a $260,000 yearling before he breezed in :21 flat at the 2024 OBS April Sale. “We fell in love with this horse down at the sale and got permission to take a swing,” recalled Toothaker, “We went to $700,000 and wound up the underbidder on him.” Flanagan Racing landed the winning bid of $725,000. Trained by Chad Brown, Chancer McPatrick put in a dramatic come-from-behind debut win at Saratoga before reeling off back-to-back scores in the GI Hopeful Stakes and GI Champagne Stakes. “It's extremely difficult for a two-year-old to be able to put those two top races together,” said Toothaker. “Jackie's Warrior, another one of our stallions here, was able to do that.” Practical Joke is the third horse to have completed the prestigious double since 2013. At three, Chancer McPatrick's highlights included a runner-up effort in the GIII Tampa Bay Derby, a win in the Curlin Stakes at Saratoga, and a third-place finish in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. “He ran a great race to close out his career, finishing behind Nysos (Nyquist) and Citizen Bull (Into Mischief) on a track that was impossible to close against,” Toothaker said. “He was able to make up ground to finish third that day, running a 5 1/2 on the Sheets. He was a horse that showed toughness and grit.” Chancer McPatrick is out of the winning Bernardini mare Bernadreamy, a daughter of GI Alcibiades Stakes victress and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies runner-up Dream Empress (Bernstein). While Chancer McPatrick was McKinzie's first 'Rising Star' and his first Grade I winner, the Gainesway sire has since added two more Grade I winners in Baeza and Scottish Lassie and his fee has increased to $75,000 from the $30,000 price point Chancer McPatrick was bred on in his first year at stud. Toothaker said that breeders have responded to Chancer McPatrick's $25,0000 debut fee paired with his striking build. “I'd put him up against anybody physically,” he shared. “He's a touch below 16.1 and has got an unbelievable hip. He's not an overly huge horse, so I think he fits a lot of mares. His book filled up extremely fast.” The post A Pair of Grade I-Winning Rising Stars New at Spendthrift appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Six Speed, racing for new American owners, won the UAE Two Thousand Guineas (G3), surprising his jockey and trainer and moving one step closer to returning to the Bluegrass for the Kentucky Derby (G1).View the full article

The New York Racing Association is preparing to pass the torch to a newly reconstructed Belmont Park and goodbye to Aqueduct, ending more than a century of racing in Ozone Park.View the full article