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By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Chris Waller extended his remarkable hold on the Coolmore Classic (G1) at Rosehill Racecourse March 14 when the admirable Lazzura handed the champion trainer a fourth successive win in the group 1 feature.View the full article -
By Murray Fish · Posted
hi, one never takes only one shot of any horse.. more to come, will send them later to you via email... by, we got to meet a couple of owners of SS, will include the photos of them as well, amongst other stories, I share some stories about the 'other Freda' -
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By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Taj Mahal (Nyquist), two-for-two after winning the Miracle Wood Stakes at Laurel Feb. 21, is expected to make his next start in the Apr. 4 GII Wood Memorial, Tom Ryan of co-owner SF Racing confirmed Sunday. “The notion is he'll take his shot in the Wood Memorial,” Ryan said. “He's done nothing wrong so far, and he's ran himself up the ladder while improving his numbers. He's got some nice time in between after his first two starts were close together. I personally believe the distance is not going to be an issue for him, the question is just if he has the ability to compete with the field that will line up.” Trained by Brittany Russell, Taj Mahal won his six-furlong debut at Laurel Park Feb. 6. He broke slowly that day and tracked in last-of-six under Sheldon Russell before pouncing with a four-wide bid to take the lead in upper stretch, powering home strongly to post the 4 1/4-length score in a final time of 1:12.42 and earning a 73 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort. Just 15 days later, Taj Mahal wheeled back for the one-turn mile Miracle Wood, where he switched up his tactics and took a 2 1/2-length lead early after a clean break under Russell. He was met with an outside challenge from Let's Go Lando in the turn, and the two slugged it out down the lane with Taj Mahal prevailing by a neck in a final time of 1:39.47 over the muddy and sealed footing. He improved his Beyer to an 86 in victory. “That stakes came back up two weeks off his first run, but we felt in his first run he did it all well within himself,” Ryan said. “Brittany said he gave all the indications he had come out of it the right way and was enjoying himself. He lined right back up there, changed tactics, and went coast-to-coast. It was lovely to see some versatility, and it feels like he's got a good mind. He was in California for a while before we brought him East and it's all worked out the way it was supposed to. He seems to act better on the East Coast surfaces than on the West.” Taj Mahal returned to the work tab on Sunday, covering a half-mile in :50.80 (48/55) over the Laurel Park dirt. Also looking to step up to graded company in the Wood is Tom Coulter's Red Zone Runner (Practical Joke), who was a romping 15 1/2-length winner of the Mar. 3 City of Brotherly Love Stakes at Parx. “We nominated him. That's the plan, this is where we are aiming,” trainer Hugo Padilla said. “So far, that's the plan because the horse came out of his last race absolutely outstanding. He's doing very well, he's very happy. We couldn't have asked for any better.” Red Zone Runner was making his first start for Padilla in the 1 1/16-mile City of Brotherly Love following his four outings for trainer Erin McClellan, including stakes thirds in the Pennsylvania-bred Pennsylvania Nursery in November at Parx and the open-company Heft Stakes in December at Laurel Park. “The whole time I've had this horse, I've seen him growing, getting better and better,” Padilla said. “I was trying to run him earlier than his last race going longer, to get the lungs and the stamina to stretch him out, but I could not get races to go anywhere. We just took a shot at the stakes. We hoped for the best and he showed us he could handle the distance. He did it easily. He was impressive.” Bravaro | Coglianese Also aiming for the Wood is Bravaro (Upstart), who won his first two starts at Aqueduct before a runner-up effort in the Jan. 31 GIII Holy Bull Stakes and fourth-place effort in the Feb. 28 GII Fountain of Youth Stakes. “The plan is that if all stays well and he's healthy, we'll go to the Wood,” said Niall Brennan, whose wife Stephanie Brennan is breeder and co-owner of the bay colt. “He's won on the track twice and we're confident he's a very nice horse. Whether he's a Derby horse, that remains to be seen. Obviously, he would have to show up in the Wood to progress on, but we feel like we've got a really nice New York-bred for the summer. We'll give him a shot and see if he belongs with that group, or we'll plan a different route for the summer.” The Brennans, well-known for their Ocala training center, keep about six broodmares at Ascendant Farm outside Saratoga Springs to foal each spring. “We've always had our mares in New York. We like to have New York-breds and it makes sense for us,” Brennan said. “We aren't big breeders–we are more into training and the farm here [in Florida], but being New York-bred gives us more value if we are selling and if we end up racing them, the purses and awards are huge, so that's why we have them. The reality is that people want to race where the purses are healthy, and having the New York-bred stakes program is a big help. Outside of Kentucky, it's tough to be anywhere else.” As a juvenile, Bravaro went a perfect two-for-two against fellow state-breds at the Big A, graduating by one length in his six-furlong debut in September en route to a 2 1/2-length annexing of the state-bred Sleepy Hollow Stakes when stretched out to a one-turn mile in October. “Physically, he's always been a nice horse. He's a fabulous-looking horse, is about 16.1 [hands], and he's a tall and powerful colt,” Brennan said. “He was a very nice yearling, and a very nice 2-year-old. This time last year, we had him entered in the sale, but he dug a huge hole to China in his stall at the sales grounds and gave himself a foot bruise, so he ended up scratching from the sale. “Things happen for a reason, and a guy who works for me was friends with Albert Ciuffetelli in New York, and they were looking for a racehorse,” Brennan continued. “We stayed in, and Al and his son are very excited and their whole family is involved. That's what the whole game is about–introducing people like this to the passion of it. We're excited to be partners, and [trainer] Saffie [Joseph] is still very high on him. We know he'll have a good career.” The nine-furlong Wood Memorial offers 100-50-25-15-10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top-five finishers. The post Taj Mahal Looks to Step Up in Wood Memorial appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Elite winners are always cause for celebration. With racing at the highest levels quickly ramping up for 2026, we continue to spotlight some of the special Grade I producers of the last several months. Up today, we get a glimpse into a quartet of mares who produced homebred stars. Stormy Welcome, dam of Raging Sea “Great families might sleep, but they don't die, and she's a great example of that,” said Mill Ridge's Price Bell last summer when musing over the unraced Stormy Welcome (Storm Cat), a now-20-year-old mare whose ninth foal, Raging Sea (Curlin), put together an exceptional race record, including wins in the 2025 GI Fasig-Tipton La Troienne Stakes and the 2024 GI Personal Ensign Stakes. Reynolds Bell–uncle to Price–bought Stormy Welcome for $600,000 on behalf of Jon Clay of Alpha Delta Stables at the 2015 Keeneland November sale, a $1-million discount off her price as a yearling in the same ring eight years prior. “I think in a commercial market we are often very quick to jump ship and I don't fault anybody for it because you really don't know,” said Bell. “You've got a moment in time. She sold for $600,000 as a 9-year-old. Well, if she had not produced two more years, she might have sold for $50,000. The drop in value is like a hot knife through butter, to be honest. Oftentimes you find that people will sell as a hedge if they have other fillies from the family because then they still have the benefit with the family and you can't keep them all, but I think it's also a great opportunity.” Mill Ridge's Headley Bell with Stormy Welcome | Sarah Andrew Stormy Welcome's own dam, winner of the 2000 GIII Dogwood Stakes, made headlines when sending a trio of Storm Cat yearlings through the Keeneland ring to net $12.6 million in a four-year span. Stormy Welcome's full-brother is the well-remembered $8-million yearling Mr. Sekiguchi. Surely a factor in the extraordinary prices was one of the deepest families in America's stud book, as Stormy Welcome is a granddaughter of 1992 Broodmare of the Year Weekend Surprise (Secretariat), herself producer of both A.P. Indy and Summer Squall. “It's a great testament to a family the Farishes developed going back,” said Bell, who added that Stormy Welcome “has a lot of class and quality. I think at her foundation she has that great bloodline and that great family behind her that was nurtured by the Farishes and for generations before. It's as quality an American family as it comes.” He continued: “I think it also helps that [members of the family] are in a lot of different hands. I think it works if one human family nurtures one Thoroughbred family, but it's also good when it spreads out because it's not always the same ideas. When a horse is bought, there's different perspectives that can change a breeding trajectory. It's all the stuff of dreams. Anytime you're buying a horse, you're dreaming about what it can become in your program. Stormy Welcome herself is such quality, but it's also taken a team of people and other breeders that have helped really bring the family forward.” Stormy Welcome grazes at Mill Ridge | Sarah Andrew Clay offered Raging Sea for sale as a yearling at the 2021 Keeneland September sale, where she RNA'd for $300,000. Bell believes her reserve was set at around $325,000 and said Clay is a very disciplined commercial breeder who offers most of his horses for sale but races them himself if they don't bring their reserve. “I don't know what Curlin's yearling average was the year Raging Sea was offered, but I suspect it was going to be higher than $325,000 [editor's note: Curlin's 2021 yearling average was $409,400]. She was there to sell and at a fair price. He wasn't willing to give her away. He was happy to race her.” Bell continued: “It feels like very successful commercial breeders will also be willing to race. I think they also make sure the horse has every chance in their program. Some sale days aren't that horse's best day and if you can weather a few more months, weather further investments, I think more often than not you're well rewarded. And then it compounds throughout the entire family and that's the real reward, not to mention the joy of wining races. It is all about winning races.” In addition to her dual Grade I scores for Clay, Raging Sea has also captured four other graded events, while her three other Grade I placings included both the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and the Breeders' Cup Distaff. “I remember her as slower-developing, if you will,” said Bell. “Certainly when you're by Curlin out of this family, the expectations are so high that it's very difficult to ever live up to those expectations. She was maybe just not quite as progressive as some of the other yearlings. They gave her plenty of time and it's been just a really wonderful journey, to say the least.” Mares and foals at Mill Ridge | Sarah Andrew Clay has an unraced 3-year-old City of Light filly named Raging Vortex out of Stormy Welcome, as well as a yearling full-sister to Raging Sea. The mare was bred back to Good Magic on a May cover last year. Bell said Stormy Welcome has been an easy mare to have around. “I think all her foals have a lot of class to them, which I appreciate is a difficult thing to measure and describe, but there's just a genuine quality to them. For the most part, they've all been pretty straightforward as well.” Bell said it was especially gratifying to raise a homebred Grade I winner for Clay, as they'd had a number of others who came close, including Lewis Bay (Bernardini), a five-time graded winner whose five top-level placings included the 2016 Kentucky Oaks. “It seems like homebred programs and breeding programs are doing better today than maybe they were a decade ago,” said Bell. “In fairness, Godolphin is certainly flying a big flag there and deservedly so because they've been investing for decades. I'm excited and thankful for that trend if it continues. It's really tricky. “There's a great gas in selling a horse well, but there's an equal and maybe better enjoyment of seeing your idea play out on the racetrack. Because at the end of the day it's one person's theory verses another person's theory and who can get to the finish line first.” Mother Mother, dam of Tommy Jo With America's seven-time leading sire at their disposal, as well as a top-notch broodmare band, Spendthrift Farm is bound to come up with some good ones. How satisfying must it be for everyone at the organization when one of last year's dual Grade I winners was a homebred by their own sire? Mother Mother at Spendthrift in October | Sarah Andrew Tommy Jo (Into Mischief), named for the granddaughter of Spendthrift owners Eric and Tammy Gustavson, was tabbed as a 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' on debut, then went on to capture the GI Spinaway Stakes and GI Darley Alcibiades Stakes. The now-3-year-old filly is currently on the sidelines and targeting a return later this year. Spendthrift purchased Mother Mother (Pioneerof the Nile)–also a 'TDN Rising Star'–at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton November sale for $1.8 million. Tommy Jo is just her second foal. A dual black-type winner and multiple Grade I placed, the 10-year-old dark bay lost her 2024 foal, was not bred for 2025, and was covered by Vekoma for this spring. Zindaya, dam of Carl Spackler Before his final campaign in England for Zhang Yuesheng of Yulong Investments, Carl Spackler (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) was a homebred for Bob Edwards and his e Five Racing. The flashy chestnut with the fun name, a 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard', annexed three Grade I victories for Edwards: Keeneland's Maker's Mark Mile and Coolmore Turf Mile, as well as Saratoga's FanDuel Fourstardave. Zindaya at Indian Creek last summer | Sarah Andrew Carl Spackler is now standing his first season at Lane's End near Versailles, while his dam is about 40 miles and two counties over at Indian Creek near Paris. Zindaya (More Than Ready) spends her days in an idyllic 45-acre field and was bred to Into Mischief for 2026. “She's awesome,” said Indian Creek assistant manager Cesar Aguilar last summer. “She's one of those mares who takes care of herself, no issues. She's very nice to have. “Carl Spackler came here after the [2024] Breeders' Cup for about a month to layup and he was also nice to be around. While he and Zindaya are very different horses, we've noticed all her foals carry her demeanor. She's very calm and classy. We can't ask for anything more.” Zindaya has also produced Sandtrap (Ire), a full-sister 'TDN Rising Star' to Carl Spackler who placed in the 2024 G3 Darley Prix des Reservoirs in Deauville, and a 2-year-old colt from the final crop of Uncle Mo, who sold at last year's Keeneland September sale for $200,000 to Repole Stable. Her current yearling is a colt by Justify. Zindaya strikes a pose | Sarah Andrew Aguilar said Edwards has a team of people, particularly bloodstock agent Mike Ryan, who works with him on matings for Zindaya and the rest of his mares. Ryan had purchased Zindaya on behalf of Edwards for $550,000 as part of the Regis dispersal at the 2015 Keeneland November sale. Zindaya gave Edwards his first stakes win as an owner in the Intercontinental Stakes at Belmont the next summer, then added the GII Goldikova Stakes that fall at Santa Anita. “She's class obviously,” said Aguilar, “and she was e Five's first stakes winner. She has a lot of meaning to them, a lot of sentiment.” Tiffany Case, dam of Nitrogen It's been quite a ride for Tiffany Case (Uncle Mo), the older half-sister to 2018 GIII Indiana Oaks winner and GI Acorn runner-up Talk Veuve to Me (Violence), who sold for $1.3 million to Stonestreet Stables in 2019 at Keeneland November. Tiffany Case would bring nearly seven figures less at the same sale, but far more down the road. Tiffany Case at Taylor Made in October | Sarah Andrew A daughter of a Point Given mare who was exported to Korea after selling for $1,500 in foal to Shackleford at the 2015 Keeneland November sale, Tiffany Case has herself been through a public sales ring eight times, bringing as little as $30,000 as a winning 5-year-old at Keeneland January in 2018. She added modest black-type after that sale–finishing third out of four in the 2018 West Virginia Secretary of State Stakes at Mountaineer–and reappeared the following year at Keeneland November carrying her first foal by Violence. D. J. Stables bought her for $320,000, but not even that astute breeding entity could have anticipated she'd bring 10 times that amount in 2026 at Keeneland January when selling for $3.2 million to Whisper Hill Farm out of the Taylor Made consignment. The Violence filly she was carrying in 2019 became Love to Shop, a four-time graded-placed winner of the 2023 Toronto Cup Stakes at Woodbine. It turns out that was just a warm up for Tiffany Case's abilities as a broodmare. Her second foal is, of course, the 2025 Eclipse champion 3-year-old filly Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro), who has captured the GI Alabama Stakes and a slew of other graded events. The talented filly–also champion in Canada at two–is so adept on both dirt and turf that she's placed in Breeders' Cup races on both surfaces: the Distaff and the Juvenile Fillies Turf. D. J. Stables has retained Nitrogen, as well as Tiffany Case's 2-year-old filly by Gun Runner–a July foal named Sniper–and opted not to breed the mare back for 2025. She is due in the coming weeks to Not This Time for Whisper Hill. The post The Producers: A Selection of Homebreds appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article
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