The Rest

Byron King's Top 12 on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, presented by Spendthrift Farm.View the full article

Breeders' Cup hero Gstaad (Starspangledbanner) is as short as 8-1 in the betting, as the entries for the G1 Betfred 2000 Guineas and G1 Betfred 1000 Guineas were released on Tuesday. There are 52 colts entered and 57 fillies at this entry stage. Sharing those odds with George Boughey's G2 Royal Lodge Stakes hero Bow Echo (Night Of Thunder), the G2 Coventry Stakes winner is one of nine in the race for Aidan O'Brien and the Coolmore partners. Also narrowly second in a trio of Group 1 races last year–the Prix Morny, National Stakes and the Dewhurst Stakes–the colt is joined by hype horse Albert Einstein (Wootton Bassett), a winner of the G3 Marble Hill Stakes (10-1), the 11-1 French dual Group 1 winner Puerto Rico (Wootton Bassett), G1 Futurity Trophy Stakes victor Hawk Mountain (Wootton Bassett) (14-1), G3 Killavullan Stakes winner Dorset (Wootton Bassett), the winning multiple group-placed Flushing Meadows (Wootton Bassett), Italy, a winner and third in the National Stakes, and the winners Causeway (Wootton Bassett) and Montreal (Sea The Stars). Dewhurst hero Gewan (Night Of Thunder) now races for Yulong's Zhang Yusheng, and he also won the G3 Acomb Stakes. He is 10-1 and is trained by Andrew Balding, as is the two-for-two Item (Frankel) in the colours of Juddmonte. Also with four horses entered is Charlie Appleby, with Godolphin's recent Listed Jumeirah 2000 Guineas third Talk Of New York (Wootton Bassett) currently at 12-1. Fellow royal blue colourbearer Distant Storm (Night Of Thunder) (16-1) won the G3 Tattersalls Stakes in his own right before a third-place finish behind Gewan in the Dewhurst. Undefeated in two starts is Hidden Force (Frankel) and it is a similar story for King's Trail (Sea The Stars), who has been seen just once, running out a 2 1/4-length winner at Kempton in December. John and Thady Gosden have also entered four horses, among them Juddmonte's 16-1 chance and listed second Publish (Kingman), Godolphin's stakes winner and G2 Vintage Stakes second Morris Dancer (Palace Pier), the debut winner Enoch (Frankel) for George Strawbridge and G2 Champagne Stakes second Oxagon (Frankel) for Prince A. A. Faisal. Francis-Henri Graffard has entered the 16-1 Rayif (Sea The Moon), third to Puerto Rico in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, as well as multiple group winner Samangan (Blue Point), both for the Aga Khan Studs. Without Parole's Zavateri, raced by Mick and Janice Mariscotti, is 20-1 for the 2000 Guineas. Trained by Eve Johnson Houghton, the National Stakes winner was fourth in the Dewhurst. Amo Racing holds several entries with G1 Phoenix Stakes victor Power Blue (Space Blues) tops among them for Robson Aguiar. Precise Poised For Classic Laurels The Coolmore partners hold a strong hand in the 1000 Guineas, as well, with the market leader, the 5-2 Precise (Starspangledbanner). The chestnut only lost her maiden, before rattling off a quartet of victories, the final three at stakes level. Successful in the G3 Prestige Fillies Stakes in August, she claimed the G1 Moyglare Stud Stakes at The Curragh over Group 2 winner Beautify (Wootton Bassett) and wrapped her season with a 3 1/4-length win in the G1 Fillies Mile. One of 10 for Coolmore in this Newmarket Classic, Precise's biggest challenge might hail from her stablemates, as the 7-1 Diamond Necklace (St Mark's Basilica) is no stranger to high-class competition. Undefeated in three starts including the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac, the filly is joined by the 12-1 True Love (No Nay Never), the winner of the G1 Cheveley Park Stakes. Other O'Brien entries include the multiple group winner Composing (Wootton Bassett), the group-placed Moments Of Joy (Justify), the winner Simply Astounding (Wootton Bassett), and the G3 Staffordstown Stud Stakes heroine Sugar Island (Dubawi). Karl Burke saddles five here, with Tony Bloom and Ian McAleavy's G1 Prix Morny victress Venetian Sun the jewel of the quintet. Currently 12-1, the daughter of Starman is joined by G2 May Hill Stakes scorer Aylin (St Mark's Basilica) for Al Shaqab Racing and Amo Racing, Forz Europe's G1 Cheveley Park Stakes third Evolutionist (Night Of Thunder) and G2 Lowther Stakes winner Royal Fixation (Palace Pier) and the two-for-two listed winner Hope Queen (Night Of Thunder) in the silks of Jaber Abdullah. The lone Charlie Appleby entrant at this point is the one-for-one Abashiri (Frankel) in the royal blue, while Andre Fabre has G2 Prix du Calvados heroine My Highness (Ghaiyyath) (16-1) entered, also for Godolphin. Also at 16-1 is David Ward's The Prettiest Star (Starman), who ran second in the G2 Rockfel Stakes over seven furlongs in September. Of the Francis-Henri Graffard 1000 Guineas duo, the Aga Khan Studs' Valasara (Hello Youmzain) (18-1) has yet to taste defeat in two starts. The post Gstaad, Bow Echo And Precise Anchor Guineas Betting As Entries Released appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

This week, five 3-year-old colts made the rankings, topped by a new Derby contender that few saw coming. 5-ALBUS, TAM, 2/27, 1 mile 40 yards (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure-83 (c, 3, by Yaupon–Adream, by Bernardini) O-Pin Oak Stud. B- Susan Casner (Ky). T-Riley Mott. J-Sammy Camacho. As the debate ensued last week about Solitude Dude's chances around two turns in Saturday's Fountain of Youth (he did fine), another Yaupon colt made his two-turn debut Friday at Tampa–and Albus kicked clear to a decisive 6 3/4 length victory. Based on his Gr. I pedigree, his third-out performance was no surprise. He's a half-brother to Allaire du Pont Distaff (Gr. III) winner Song of Spring (trainer Neil Howard's last GSW), but here's the really good part: his dam Adream's half-sister Dream Rush ripped off five straight triple-digit Beyers in 2007 that included wins in two Gr. Is, and back at the farm produced Gr. I winner and 2022 Broodmare of the Year Dreaming of Julia, dam of two-time Eclipse champion Malathaat and Gr. II winner Julia Shining. 4-LINCOLN'S LAW, GP, 2/28, 6 furlongs (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure-83 (c, 3, by Liam's Map–Bernadreamy, by Bernardini) O/B- Rigney Racing (Ky). T-Phil Bauer. J-Luis Saez. This solid debut win spotlights Richard Rigney's success as both an owner and breeder. The Louisville businessman was just getting his feet wet in racing in 2008 when he co-owned Alcibiades (Gr. I) winner and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies runnerup Dream Empress. He later bred Dream Empress to Bernardini to get Bernadreamy, who wasn't a fast runner but joined Rigney's growing broodmare band and now is the dam of Gr. I winner and stallion Chancer McPatrick. Guided by noted bloodstock agent John Moynihan, Rigney sells most of the horses he breeds (he sold Chancer McPatrick for $260k), but this colt was withdrawn from Keeneland September as a yearling and now races in Rigney's colors. 3-WINSTON AVE, SA, 2/27, 1 mile (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure-83 (2nd) (c, 3, by Quality Road–Great Sister Diane, by Will Take Charge) O- Spendthrift Farm. B-Stoneriggs Farm & W.S. Farish (Ky). T-Bob Baffert. J-Florent Geroux. Spendthrift's $325k yearling buy had shown enough in two previous starts to be the 9/5 program favorite and 2/1 second betting choice as he stretched out to a mile–but was no match for the stakes-level performance turned in by stablemate Cherokee Nation (below). Even so, Winston Ave beat the rest of the field by 7 1/2 lengths and should be a short price next time, unless Baffert pulls another ace out of his sleeve. 2. ILLMATIC, AQU, 2/28, 6 furlongs (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure-91 (c, 3, by Honest Mischief–Woodflower, by Woodman) O-Adelphi Racing Club and LJSS Thoroughbreds. B-Sequel Stallions New York (NY). T-Miguel Clement. J-Jaime Rodriguez. Following a disappointing debut in a Saratoga turf sprint in July, Illmatic was kept with Clement's New York winter string–which makes sense, because he is a New York-bred. And last week, he was entered against state-bred maidens on dirt–which makes sense, because Aqueduct isn't running on grass yet. What didn't make as much sense (at least to bettors) was Illmatic's fast six-length frontrunning score at 9/1 odds. New York stallion Honest Mischief (Into Mischief-Honest Lady) has sired seven SWs, but this 91 Beyer is the best for any of his runners to date. 1. CHEROKEE NATION, SA, 2/27, 1 mile (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure-100 (c, 3, by Not This Time–Believe in Charlie, by Indian Charlie) O-SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Bashor Racing, Determined Stables, Golconda Stable, Waves Edge Capital and Catherine Donovan. B-Fortune Farms and William & Corinne Heiligbrodt (Ky). T- Bob Baffert. J-Emisael Jaramillo. Baffert had never before ridden 49-year-old Jaramillo, who recently transferred his tack to Santa Anita from Florida. But Jaramillo is noted for prowess with speed types, and Baffert was frustrated with his $240,000 Fasig-Tipton November weanling turned $1.15-million yearling's persistent problems leaving the gate on time. Problem solved, at least for now. Jaramillo not only got Cherokee Nation to break running, he was perched just outside frontrunning stablemate Winston Ave (above) while under a pull and breathing fire. The end result: a 10-length victory and a triple-digit Beyer that undoubtedly will earn this colt new respect if he winds up in the Santa Anita Derby, as expected. The post Five Fastest Maidens: Feb. 23-March 1 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) and Woodbine Entertainment have joined forces to create the Empire Trillium Series, a 14-race program of stakes races restricted to horses foaled in New York or Canada worth $3.2 million in total purses, the pair announced Tuesday. The Empire Trillium Series will begin at the new and reimagined Belmont Park with eight stakes to be contested between December 2026 and February 2027 on the one-mile Tapeta course. “NYRA looks forward to partnering with Woodbine Entertainment in this unique venture to create additional black type opportunities for owners and breeders on both sides of the border and to drive further interest in the inaugural winter meet at the new Belmont Park,” said Rob MacLennan, NYRA's Racing Secretary. The Empire Trillium Series will then head north to Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, with a further six stakes–four of which are to be contested on Tapeta and two on turf–to be held between April and July in 2027. “Woodbine is excited to partner with NYRA on this new racing series that creates opportunities for not just our racetracks, but for those that invest in the racing programs in New York and Canada,” said Tim Lawson, Vice-President of Thoroughbred Racing for Woodbine. “It's important that we be innovative and look to try new things, and we're optimistic the Empire Trillium Series will generate positive results for everyone involved.” The marquee events of the series at Belmont Park will be held in late January with the inaugural editions of the $300,000 Long Island Derby and Oaks, which will serve as the middle leg of the New York segment of the series. The remaining six races in the series at Belmont Park will all be run for foals of 2024 with purses of  $200,000 each. Four of those races will comprise the inaugural Empire Trillium opening day, when a sprint and route race for each sex will be run on the last Saturday of 2026. The final two races will be sprints, one for each sex run in late February. “The Empire Trillium Series represents a meaningful step forward in strengthening regional breeding programs across borders while creating new racing opportunities for New York-breds and Canadian-breds alike,” said Najja Thompson, Executive Director of the New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. (NYTB). “We commend NYRA and Woodbine for their collaborative vision, and NYTB is proud to support an initiative that showcases the quality, depth, and competitiveness of our respective programs on an international stage.” Woodbine Racetrack will then host six races for 3-year-olds and up, including four $200,000 events comprised of six-furlong sprints for both boys and girls on Tapeta during Spring 2027, followed by seven-furlong sprints on Tapeta in the same categories in July 2027. The Woodbine Racetrack-based races are headlined in June 2027 by a pair of $300,000 events, one each for older boys and girls, at one-mile on the world-famous E.P. Taylor Turf Course. The post NYRA And Woodbine Create Empire Trillium Series appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

By now, no doubt, it must be among my most wearily familiar complaints. Only last week, in fact, I was again lamenting the days when old-school trainers would start Classic campaigns round one turn, gaining sharpness and conditioning without entering a stress zone. Nowadays those benefits are forfeited by the twin imperatives of hiding horses in their stalls, even as they need GI Kentucky Derby points. Those points being unavailable in sprints, the defining test of the American Thoroughbred has duly been shorn of raw speed. Other traditionalists presumably shared my satisfaction, then, on seeing an outstanding modern trainer apparently dusting off the strategy of past masters to set up the GII Rebel Stakes success of Class President (Uncle Mo) with a spin over seven furlongs in the Swale Stakes. In the event, it turned out that connections had been reluctantly forced into that corner by the weather. But necessity is the mother of invention, and maybe people will observe the palpable benefits to this colt. The last horse to win the Derby off this kind of launchpad was Nyquist, who beat another subsequent Classic winner in Exaggerator in the GII San Vicente Stakes. Nyquist, of course, headed Uncle Mo's debut crop and similarly got him started as sire-of-sires. And, as sire of GIII Gotham Stakes winner Iron Honor, Nyquist made Uncle Mo's legacy the central motif of last weekend's Derby trials. Uncle Mo | Sarah Andrew That legacy was tragically curtailed by Uncle Mo's death, at 16, in December 2024. Without a posthumous Class President or two, however, it might be argued that his profile was flattening out somewhat. However premature his loss, the fact is that Uncle Mo covered huge books year after year. With 1,630 named foals, he left a bigger footprint than Curlin, still going strong at 22 but so far responsible for 1,426; or Speightstown, who covered his final book at 25 and left 1,524. Now I have no idea what substance there may be, if any, in the theory that sheer mare volume can erode a stallion's genetic prowess. As ever, any black-and-white “rule” feels wrong: Into Mischief, with his phenomenal libido and fertility, is certainly showing no sign of tapering off. But it cannot be denied that Uncle Mo's performance in 2025, with sophomores conceived at a career high $175,000, was tepid: he dropped to 18th in the general sires' table, with 10 stakes winners at 3.3 percent of starters, and a solitary Grade I performer. But any stallion can have a thin year. And the bottom line remains that overall Uncle Mo, with all his volume, has maintained a rock-solid 9.4 percent stakes winners-to-starters. Besides, as always, we must also honor the contribution of his partners! Class President was bred by WinStar out of Top Quality (Quality Road). (Ah, Quality Road…20-year-old sire of 1,147 named foals!) A triple black-type winner, albeit round Emerald Downs and Hastings, she was purchased on retirement for $335,000 and has been given every chance with her covers. She started with resident prove-your-mare option More Than Ready (their son was stakes-placed before losing his way) and was then given consecutive dates with Into Mischief. One resulted in a colt who won his only start, a juvenile sprint; the other produced a filly, retained at $725,000 as a yearling, who also showed ability in a light career, last seen finishing second in a sprint stakes at Prairie Meadows last May. Class President duly takes a promising mare to a new level, and the farm must be delighted to have daughters by Justify and Nyquist lined up. WinStar being WinStar, Top Quality had more to recommend her than merely racetrack competence. She was a way into a wonderful Kinsman Farm family under her granddam Undeniably, who was by In Reality out of GI Hollywood Oaks winner Past Forgetting (Messenger of Song). Though purchased for just $31,000 after a middling track career, Undeniably produced five graded stakes performers, including millionaire Concerto and GI Florida Derby runner-up Wondertross (both by Chief's Crown); and Illusioned (Woodbine), who broke the Churchill 7.5f track record in the GIII Ack Ack Handicap. Another was Sweet Fervor (Seeking the Gold), a Grade II winner over seven furlongs at Gulfstream. Sweet Fervor has attested to the efficacy of Quality Road with this blood as granddam of Strong Quality, who remains in training at seven with stakes wins to his name on both turf and dirt. Sweet Fervor's unraced daughter by Bernardini, Lemon Bay, also clicked with Quality Road: their son won a seven-furlong stakes round Belmont, while their daughter is now dam of Class President. Though sown by serial Classic brands (and outstanding broodmare sires) in Bernardini, Seeking the Gold and In Reality, there's plenty of single-turn dash in this family. Yes, Class President rallied to repel his Oaklawn challenger, and his people are keen to stretch him out. But if they are correct that the Swale didn't play to his genetic strengths, then maybe that test was precisely what sharpened him sufficiently to press the pace and get first run next time out. Iron Honor | Sarah Andrew Striking While The Iron Is Hot Another recurring theme: if people really believed in all these new stallions, the time to double down would be exactly when everyone else moves on. That's what Mike Freeny and his late wife Pat did with Uncle Mo, sending him a mare from Dunquin Farm when cut to $27,500 in his third season. The result was Dream Tree, foaled the year Nyquist emerged as champion juvenile and winner of her first five starts including the GI Starlet Stakes. Dunquin did something similar with Nyquist himself, sending him Orencia (Blame) when his fee was throttled back to $55,000 in 2022, down from $75,000 after the 2020 champion freshman mustered a single graded stakes winner in 2021. They were duly able to sell the resulting colt as a short yearling for $230,000 to Scoot Stables at the 2024 Keeneland January Sale. Unfortunately they also sent his dam into the ring, and she went for just $20,000. (A coup for Machmer Hall, agent for Glen Eden.) Both proved very sharp buys. The colt was pinhooked for $475,000 back in the same ring that September. And now that we know him as the aforementioned Gotham winner, Iron Honor, the mare could soon become hot property. Orencia won a couple of times–a Churchill maiden claimer, then a turf allowance at Gulfstream–in seven starts in the Freenys' silks. They had bred her from Curry Cat (Tale of the Cat), an unraced daughter of the useful grass performer Pratella (Jade Hunter), whose three stakes wins were crowned in the GIII Cardinal Handicap. Pratella was a four-generation Hickory Farm project, a granddaughter of its important mare Terpsichorist (Nijinsky), herself daughter of the imported European Classic winner Glad Rags II (Ire) (High Hat {GB}). Terpsichorist, full-sister to the charismatic British juvenile Gorytus, won the GII Sheepshead Bay Handicap and became granddam of Lane's End stallion Union Rags, and third dam of globetrotter Declaration of War. By the way, Iron Honor combines two principal legacies of that gloriously wholesome influence, Arch–responsible both for damsire Blame and for the mare who produced grandsire Uncle Mo. The Only Blame Worth Pursuing Which takes us to yet another familiar topic! Because if Iron Honor reiterates Blame's stature as a remarkably precocious broodmare sire, then GIII Honeybee Stakes winner Explora confirms how he continues to sire very classy runners in his own right. Explora was bought in utero with her dam, Collections Choice (Bernardini), for $75,000 at the 2022 Keeneland November Sale. She brought just $22,000 as a Keeneland September yearling, before soaring to $350,000 at Timonium last May. Meanwhile, between those transactions, her dam was discarded back at Keeneland for $24,000 to Korea. But these things will always happen with horses, and the only Blame anyone needs to pursue is the stallion. Though Collections Choice won only a Belterra turf maiden, she's out of Model (Giant's Causeway), who was placed in three Grade Is (on synthetic). Admittedly Model's five other named foals contributed nothing to the page: all were male, stood little racing, and showed little when they had the chance. But we can certainly forgive the next dam Snowfire (GB) (Machiavellian) for failing to match her racetrack quality as a producer. A granddaughter of the GI Kentucky Oaks winner White Star Line (Northern Dancer), she was beaten a neck in a British Classic but her breeding career was cut cruelly short and Model was her only daughter. Whatever happens now, Explora looks a priceless broodmare prospect: a multiple graded stakes winner by Blame out of a Bernardini mare! Their respective records, as distaff influences, were refreshed over the weekend by the further success of Magnitude (Not This Time) and Knightsbridge (Nyquist), both out of daughters of Bernardini; and then by graded stakes success at Gulfstream for Just Basking (Arrogate). Just like Explora, she was acquired in utero with a Blame mare. The post Breeding Digest: Class Renews Sire’s Posthumous Momentum appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. 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