The Rest of the World

Beyond the headline-worthy feat that Taken by the Wind (Rock Your World) provided trainer Ken McPeek with his record fifth win in Saturday's GIII Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill Downs are several beneath-the-radar nuggets. For starters, even though McPeek has recently dominated a stakes that has a 56-year history, his victories in that fixture for 2-year-old fillies have all come since 2015, meaning that Taken by the Wind's 5 ¼-length score was the fifth by a McPeek trainee in the last 11 editions of that race. And it's not like all of those fillies were standouts on paper: Taken by the Wind was 6-1 in the betting, and only one of McPeek's quintet of winners in the Pocahontas went off favored. In 2023, the McPeek-trained GISP and 'TDN Rising Star' V V's Dream (Mitole) was the winning 6-5 choice. But Fun and Feisty (Midshipman) was 6-1 when she scored in 2022; GISW Daddys Lil Darling (Scat Daddy) was 7-2 in 2016, and MGISP Dothraki Queen (Pure Prize) was 7-1 in 2015. While the tote board provides one interesting aspect, the timer reveals another: Not only has McPeek now trained three of the last four winners of the Pocahontas, but the last two times he's won that stakes, the final clockings for his juvenile fillies have been faster than the times of 2-year-old colts and geldings in Churchill's same-day, same-distance companion race, the GIII Iroquois Stakes. Taken by the Wind's winning time for the one-turn, main-track mile in the Pocahontas Sept. 13 (1:36.50) was nine-hundredths of a second faster than the victory an hour later by Spice Runner (Gun Runner) in the Iroquois. In '23, V V's Dream bested the clocking in the Iroquois by .83 seconds. On Saturday, making her second lifetime start off a 13-1 seven-furlong, main-track debut maiden win in a rained-off Saratoga turfer, Taken by the Wind broke running, conceded the lead, then stalked inside while always covered up in a tight pack under Irad Ortiz Jr. She was right behind the heels of dueling leaders through a brisk tempo for the first half of the race, backed off a beat while racing “on hold” in traffic approaching the far turn, then was patiently handled while still awaiting running room at the top of the stretch. Taken by the Wind then pounced through a gap between leaders in upper stretch before cracking open the race in the final furlong, with trip-troubled 9-5 maiden favorite Miss Complicated (Complexity) trying to make up ground but unable to close the gap.   Family Affair The neck victory by Positano Sunset (Goldencents) in the Open Mind Stakes at Churchill on Saturday vaulted the 5-year-old GISW mare over the million-dollar earnings mark. For co-breeder and co-owner Randy Bloch, the achievement was the result of 22 years of female-family bloodstock commitment with roughly the same group of breeding and ownership partners dating back to the mare Humorous Gal, who was foaled in 2003. “This is such a special filly,” said Bloch. “This is the fourth generation of this family we've had for [trainer] Ian [Wilkes] and going back to [Hall-of-Fame trainer] Carl Nafzger. We were riding hard in the stands for her to get through, and she battled back.” More than two decades ago, Bloch and Phil Milner bred a mare named Essen of Roy to Distorted Humor and formed a partnership that raced the allowance-winning Humorous Gal through 2008. When Humorous Gal retired, Bloch and Milner mated her to Consolidator. The resulting filly, Gigglin' Gal, won at the allowance level while racing through 2014. Gigglin' Gal has since produced five foals, with Positano Sunset the most accomplished earner. She's co-owned by Bloch, Six Column Stables, John Seller and David Hall.   Short-stretch Switch In a switch from previous seasons, the grass races on Woodbine's Turf Champions Day on Saturday were conducted over the seven-furlong inner course because of scheduled reconstruction on the 12-furlong E.P. Taylor course. The project involves restoring a five-furlong section of the backstretch and the installation of a more modern drainage system. As a result, a trio of Grade I “Win and You're In” qualifiers for the Breeders' Cup were run under a configuration that more closely matches the layout of this year's host track at Del Mar. The three Grade I one-mile Woodbine races Sept. 13 all started in front of the stands and were conducted around two turns instead of beginning from the long one-turn chute and culminating with a run through a home straight that measures a demanding 1,440 feet from the turn to the wire. On Woodbine's inner course, the length of the stretch off the final turn is only 978 feet, which better resembles Del Mar's 919-foot run from the top of the homestretch to the finish. 'TDN Rising Star' Notable Speech (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) earned a 101 Beyer Speed Figure for his winning run in the Woodbine Mile. Argos (Nyquist) garnered an 81 Beyer for his head victory in the Summer Stakes. Corsia Veloce (Practical Joke) also got an 81 Beyer for her win in the Natalma Stakes.   The post Week in Review: McPeek’s Last Two Pocahontas Winners Faster Than Males in Same-Day Stakes appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Al Riffa is all set for the Melbourne Cup (G1) after an impressive triumph in the Irish St. Leger (G1) at The Curragh Sept. 14.View the full article

Mr Brightside enhanced his reputation as a people's horse when he benefited from a Craig Williams riding lesson to secure a 10th elite-level success in the Makybe Diva Stakes (G1) Sept. 13.View the full article

Four-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Terry Bradshaw has won plenty of big games in his career, but he celebrated a different kind of victory when Taken by the Wind captured the $251,250 Pocahontas Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs Sept. 13.View the full article

Well now we await the revised assessment of the local experts e.g. @Transparency , @JJ Flash , @Newmarket and a number of others. This announcement reinforces my original assessment that ENTAINS discretions (Ladbrokes and Neds before ENTAIN bought them) are at the low end of the scale and any financial penalty will not be substantial and possibly confined to remedial action.