Wandering Eyes

Group One performer Meritable quenched his thirst after a four year winning drought when victorious in the VS Equine Dannevirke (1200m) at Woodville on Sunday. The seven-year-old son of Snitzel performed with distinction as a three-year-old for former trainers Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman, winning one and finishing runner-up in three of his five starts in New Zealand, including second placings in the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) and Gr.2 James and Annie Sarten Memorial Stakes (1400m). He subsequently continued his racing career in Australia where he ran fourth in the Gr.3 Gold Coast Guineas (1200m) before transferring to the care of Sydney trainer Annabel Neasham. He was then offered for sale in Inglis Digital’s 2023 September Online Sale where he attracted the attention of New Zealand owner Colin Wightman, who bought the entire for A$80,000. Joining the stable of Mark Minervini, Meritable finished runner-up in the Listed Starlight Stakes (1100m) at Rosehill before being retired to stud in New Zealand last year, however, Wightman elected to try his charge on the track once more and earlier this year entrusted him to the care of Hastings trainers Mick Brown and Sue Thompson-Brown. He pleased his new handlers with his four runs before his breakthrough victory at Woodville, his first in nearly four years. “It’s been a long time between drinks,” Brown said. “We were a bit suspect of whether he would go on the ground (Heavy10), but we were happy with his trial, and he went well.” Elite-level targets are once again on the cards for Meritable following the win, with the seven-year-old nominated for the Gr.1 Proisir Plate (1400m) and Gr.1 Howden Insurance Mile (1600m) next month. “We put him in and we said to Colin that he had to win (on Sunday), which he did,” Brown said. “Whether he gets in or not is another matter, but we will aim him for them. If he doesn’t get in, we will find another race for him.” Brown is looking forward to returning north with Meritable and said the addition of blinkers have been a great assist. “We took him up to Ellerslie last season and he was a bit unlucky when he ran (fourth) in that 1400m Open Handicap race,” he said. “We have put the blinkers back on him, which I don’t think he has worn for a few years. He always wore blinkers as a three-year-old.” Brown is enjoying having the Group One performer in his barn, with his placid demeanour making him an instant stable favourite. “He is just a big stable pet, you wouldn’t think he was a seven-year-old entire,” Brown said. Meanwhile, stakes performer Fancy Like Lass is set to return to the stable in the coming weeks, with a stakes target at Riccarton over New Zealand Cup Week in the crosshairs. “Fancy Like Lace is being pre-trained down at the beach and she will come to us at the end of the month,” Brown said. “Hopefully she comes back bigger and stronger. “We wouldn’t mind taking her down south for that 1000m race (Listed Donaldson Brown Pegasus Stakes) at Riccarton in November.” The Hellbent mare had her first tilt at stakes level at Trentham in March, where she ran third in the Listed Lightning Handicap (1200m), and while pleased with her performance in the race, Brown believes she is better suited to shorter trips. “We wanted to get a bit of black-type with her and she deserved it,” Brown said. “She has had plenty of problems, but hopefully she is over them now. “We will keep her to those sprints because I don’t think she gets a true 1200m down that dogleg at Wellington, I think she is better over 1000m and 1100m, or going around the bend over 1200m.” View the full article

War Decree’s daughter Val Di Zoldo will be given opportunities this preparation to lock in the only missing credit on her CV. The six-year-old is the dual Group Two winner of the Travis Stakes (2000m) and Lowland Stakes (2100m) and also has a victory in the Gr.3 Manawatu Breeders’ Stakes (2050m) on her record. Trainer Tony Pike’s aim now is a strike at the highest level with the closing two legs of the Triple Crown series seen as Val Di Zoldo’s best spring options. “She’s coming up really well, but the first one (Gr.1 Proisir Plate, 1400m) isn’t ideal for her fresh-up,” he said. “She’s more of a mile and 2000m horse so we’ll look at alternatives for her first-up run, but at the same time keep it in the back of our minds.” Val Di Zoldo’s main targets will be the Gr.1 Howden Insurance Mile (1600m) and the Gr.1 Livamol Classic (2040m). “Hopefully, she can improve a length or so off last season and probably needs everything to go 100 percent right in weight-for-age company at Group One level, but she seems to have come back better than ever,” Pike said. Val Di Zoldo furthered her preparation on Saturday when runner-up in an 1100m trial at Taupo while stablemate Churchillian finished fourth in her heat. “Unfortunately, she injured a ligament last season, so she was off the scene for a long time, but she has come back in great order,” Pike said. The Gr.3 Windsor Park Stud Canterbury Breeders’ Stakes (1400m) during Cup week is a possible target for the mare, whose seven wins include the Gr.3 Anniversary Handicap (1600m). Hello Youmzain fillies Lucy In The Sky, Cream Tart and Slipper Island also have the Riccarton festival on their programs. “Lucy In The Sky will have a quiet trial at Te Awamutu and both her and Cream Tart are likely to head to the Gold Trail Stakes (Gr.3, 1200m) on September 6 at Ellerslie and we’ll definitely be looking at the 1000 Guineas (Gr.1, 1600m) with them,” Pike said. Lucy In The Sky has won two of her three starts, including the Listed Champagne Stakes (1200m) while Cream Tart was a close second on debut before spacing her rivals at her only other start at Te Aroha. “We’ll look to give Slipper Island a couple of runs before the Stewards (Listed, 1200m), the straight six at Riccarton is very similar to Trentham,” Pike said. He ended his last campaign with four consecutive wins at Trentham and the Gr.1 Telegraph (1200m) a possible longer-term aim. Pike has a promising team of younger horses for the spring, among them the Snitzel three-year-old Storm Front who was an impressive debut winner at two and then suffered cardiac arrhythmia when unplaced in the Listed Star Way Staes (1200m). “He’s a lovely horse and had a jump-out last week and will probably go to the Te Awamutu trials on August 26 and then we’ll decide if he runs in the Sir Colin Meads Trophy (Listed, 1200m) at Ellerslie,” he said. Meanwhile, last season’s Sir Colin Meads winner Poetic Champion will be off the scene for some time. “He’s in the paddock, unfortunately he’s always had very bad knees, so he’s had surgery and unlikely to be seen back until the autumn,” Pike said. View the full article

High-class filly Tajana has taken an impressive step toward a third Group One fillies’ feature for breeder and owner The Oaks Stud. The Shaun Ritchie and Colm Murray-trained representative opened her classic season at Ruakaka where she overcame trying conditions to land the Gr.3 Northland Breeders’ Stakes (1200m). “I thought the track and the distance was right against her and I told him (Wiremu Pinn) to ride for luck,” The Oaks Stud General Manager Rick Wiliams said. “If she had run on for third, fourth or fifth we would have been happy and it just goes to show that good horses just know how to win, even when things aren’t going for them.” Tajana is on a path toward the Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1000m) in a bid to join Risque (2015) and the great Seachange (2005) as winners of the Riccarton event for the Cambridge nursery. “We’ve had a few placings since as well, but this filly looks our best chance since Risque,” Wiliams said. “She’s only going to get better and certainly wasn’t wound up at Ruakaka. I thought our other filly Cashla Bay might have handled the track better, but she didn’t handle it at all according to Joe Doyle.” The daughter of the now retired Darci Brahma was coming off a juvenile campaign that netted a Matamata win and placings in the Gr.1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) and the Gr.3 Colin Jillings Classic (1200m). “What she did at two was a bonus really, she just didn’t look quite the same filly for the Sires, but still went a huge race,” Williams said. Tajana is out of the late Sakhee’s Secret mare Sleek Secret, who won on five occasions, and is also the dam of Tajana’s retained winning older sister Cypher. “She’s with Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott and just got beaten first-up at Taupo last season and then won really well at Pukekohe,” Williams said. “We ran her at Matamata and thought she would win with the aim of going to the Wellington Guineas (Gr.2, 1400m), but she was galloped on and virtually severed a back tendon. “I thought we would struggle to save her for a broodmare, but right now she’s on the treadmill and might come back to racing.” The two-year-old sister Proclaim is in Melbourne with Williams’ son Dean, who is awaiting confirmation of a training partnership with Steve Richards at Flemington. “She’s the most precocious looking, she’s been in once and has a temperament to die for but has gone shin sore so she’s out for a few weeks,” he said. “We also got a Satono Aladdin filly before we lost the mare. We’ve got a few fillies out of her, so we have to be happy, you have good luck and bad luck in this game.” View the full article

Diego Velazquez earned his first group 1 success in the Prix Jacques le Marois (G1) in a photo-finish Aug. 17, holding off a challenge from the fast-finishing Notable Speech. The colt was recently purchased by Sangster Bloodstock.View the full article

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Thomas Bachman has been breeding Thoroughbreds since the 1980s and, although he's down to just a handful of broodmares, he is not short on quality. His most recent stakes success came when Sammy Davis won the Graduation Stakes Aug. 8 at Del Mar. View the full article

Swamp King held off a rival at the wire to earn his maiden victory and give his sire, Silver State, his first winner Aug. 17 at Ellis Park.View the full article

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — It took Teleport (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) a tad over 1:46.07 to break his maiden Sunday in the sixth race, which took a long time to start and even longer to go official. The $100,000 maiden special weight event at Saratoga Race Course provided an unusual situation in which Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher had to wait in the winner's circle to see which of his runners–Teleport or Scope (Gun Runner)–who bumped twice in the stretch, would come away with the victory. Scope and Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez reached the wire first, a length in front of Teleport, but after a lengthy review, the stewards disqualified Scope and placed him second. In a distinguished career with 26,246 starters, Pletcher found himself in what he figured was a first-time situation of being a winner even if he was a loser. “If I have, I don't remember,” he said. Though scheduled to start at 4:06 p.m. the 1 1/16 miles turf race was delayed to 4:12 because Stone Farm's Expressway (Hard Spun) flipped in the gate and was scratched. While being pressed closely by Dynadee (Mo Town), Teleport and leading jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. led through early fractions of :25.66, :51.61 and 1:16.62. They looked like they might secure a gate-to-wire triumph when a bumping incident with Scope occurred between the eighth and sixteenth poles. It started when Teleport came out a bit and made contact with Scope when they were running shoulder to shoulder. The contact pushed Scope out, but a few strides later he came back in and bumped Teleport while Velazquez was striking him with the crop righthanded. Scope continued on and finished first by a length. A steward's inquiry and a claim of foul by Ortiz led to an extended review by the three judges, who decided on the DQ. Teleport was bred by Newtown Anner Stud who stayed in as a partner when Repole Stable purchased the colt for $403,407 at the 2024 Tattersalls October sale. Bloodstock agent Alex Solis selected Teleport for Repole and said four factors played into the decision to recommend him: “Great physical, very good mover, good looking and we love the stallion.” Teleport is Pletcher's ninth winner in the top-level maiden special weight races at Saratoga this summer. He is the sixth of the nine winners that were first-time starters “He's a horse that has trained, really well for us,” Pletcher said. “He's done all of his training on the dirt, but he's an all-turf pedigree. It seemed like a logical place to get started.” Ortiz seized control of the race with her horse on the lead and dictated the pace. “It was kind of a peculiar-run race, very slow early,” Pletcher said. “I think he was a little bit green by himself. And then obviously some baby stuff going on down the lane. I was happy with the performance of both colts. You hate to have one disqualified, but sometimes that's the way it goes.” Scope, co-owned by Eclipse Thoroughbreds, Bridlewood Farm and Robert LaPenta was purchased for $400,000 at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale. A big rangy colt,” Pletcher said. “He's been training okay on the dirt. We felt like the main thing for him was he needed distance. I thought he kicked in really well, showed a nice turn of foot for a big horse.” Two races after Teleport's victory, Pletcher won the listed Bolton Landing with Snow Face Princess (Midshipman), one of his maiden victors. Pletcher has 20 wins through 28 days of the 40-day season. The post Saratoga Maidens, presented by Keeneland: Pletcher’s Maiden Run of Success Continues with Teleport appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Charting a course by declaring 'here be dragons' when she made land in the seaside oval winner's circle, Explora (Blame–Collections Choice, by Bernardini) set sail from the gate and never looked back in a maiden-breaking performance on Sunday which earned her a 'TDN Rising Star' flag for her top mast. The heavy favorite established her lead up the backstretch and tacked around the far turn like she had even pulled out her pocket handkerchiefs. With rider Juan Hernandez playing the role of bonsun, Explora went easy en route to win by a comfortable 4 3/4 lengths over Revera (Lexitonian). The winner is her dam's last registered foal of record. Out of MGISP Model (Giant's Causeway), Collections Choice (Bernardini) was sent to Korea in 2024. Explora's extended female family includes Irish Group 1 winner Preseli (Ire) (Caerleon). Blame's most recent 'TDN Rising Stars' were Mucho in 2018 and Nadal in 2020. 2nd-Del Mar, $80,000, Msw, 8-17, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 1:03.15, ft, 4 3/4 lengths. EXPLORA, f, 2, Blame 1st Dam: Collections Choice, by Bernardini 2nd Dam: Model, by Giant's Causeway 3rd Dam: Snowfire (GB), by Machiavellian Sales History: $22,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP; $350,000 2yo '25 EASMAY. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $48,000. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. O-Michael E. Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman; B-Mesingw Farm, LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert. #3 EXPLORA ($2.40) was an easy winner of the 2nd race at @DelMarRacing. The juvenile filly by @ClaiborneFarm's Blame was piloted by @JJHernandezS19 for trainer Bob Baffert. pic.twitter.com/1E5TrAbmiH — FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) August 17, 2025 The post ‘Here Be Dragons’ At The Seaside Oval As Blame’s Explora Discovers ‘TDN Rising Stardom’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The victory by Silent Rule (Street Boss) in Thursday's first race at Thistledown barely registered on the national radar. But it was still a pretty impressive accomplishment: With a 2 3/4-length score against the boys in the $100,000 Honey Jay Stakes for Ohio-breds, the 4-year-old filly from trainer Jay Bernardini's barn is now 10-for-10 lifetime. Silent Rule, who sold for $16,000 as a Keeneland yearling, didn't start racing until Aug. 10 last year, in the second half of her 3-year-old season. But she has now bankrolled $355,456 in purse earnings, more than 22 times her auction price. John Hoctel, a Florida realtor, owns Silent Rule. A Horse Racing Nation profile by Ron Flatter last month explained how Hoctel acquired Silent Rule for free prior to her racing career after the previous owner “decided to move on” when it seemed as if setbacks might keep Silent Rule from racing. Initially, Hoctel had planned on rehabbing and selling her himself, but encouraging workouts under the Mountaineer-based Bernardini's care convinced him to race her. Silent Rule won her Aug. 10. 2024, debut at Thistledown against Ohio-breds by 11 1/2 lengths, and has visited the winner's circle every race since. She's primarily roughed up state-bred competition against her own sex, but Silent Rule did also win two allowance races against open competition at Mahoning Valley last winter. Another state-bred allowance score in the Mahoning mud on Apr. 7 earned Silent Rule a career-best 99 Beyer Speed Figure. The filly has since regressed to the mean, numbers-wise (79, 84,83) while continuing her winning ways. But her Aug. 14 victory in the Honey Jay came against males and was punctuated by a nice turn of tactics compared to her usual near-the-lead efforts. Silent Rule stalked from mid-pack, then swung six wide for the drive before seizing the lead a furlong out. Nine of her victories have come at six furlongs, with the lone outlier win at 1 1/16 miles. Bernardini told Daily Racing Form a stretch-out attempt could be in her near future. Slayer of faves… Surface to Air (Midshipman), who was claimed for $30,000 out of a winning Keeneland maiden race last year, has now done something unique while winning two Grade III Monmouth Park stakes in succession this summer: The Panagiotis Synnefias trainee has consecutively beaten heavily bet, odds-on shippers from the nationally prominent Brad Cox barn. The 5-year-old, owned by Premier Stable, orchestrated a 19-1 upset of the 1-10 favorite Just a Touch (Justify) in the July 19 Monmouth Cup on the GI Haskell Stakes undercard. Four weeks later, the 7-2 Surface to Air outlasted the 1-5 favorite and 'TDN Rising Star' First Mission (Street Sense) in Saturday's GIII Philip H. Iselin Stakes. Surface to Air has now compiled a lifetime record of 6-1-3 with earnings of $682,054 from 22 starts. Multi-surface stakes success… The victory by Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) in Saturday's GI Alabama Stakes at Saratoga completed a unique trifecta of sorts for fillies exiting last year's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Participants in that stakes have since come back at age three to win Grade I or Group 1 stakes at a trio of different distances and surfaces. Nitrogen wins Saturday's Alabama | Sarah Andrew The winner of the Juvenile Fillies Turf, 'TDN Rising Star' Lake Victoria (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), captured the May 25 G1 Irish 1,000 Guineas over one mile on grass at The Curragh. Kilwin (Twirling Candy), fifth in the Breeders' Cup, won the GI Test Stakes over seven furlongs on dirt at Saratoga. Nitrogen, third in the Juvenile Fillies Turf at 49-1 odds, registered her 10-furlong Grade I dirt win Saturday after having won three graded grass stakes earlier in the season, romping by 17 lengths in an off-the-turf graded stakes in the slop, and then getting nosed out of a nine-furlong score in the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational on the Saratoga lawn July 5. There was almost a fourth Grade I winner out of that key Breeders' Cup race on Saturday. But Thought Process (Collected)–ninth in the Juvenile Fillies Turf–ended up being the beaten favorite at 11-10 odds when second, 1 1/4 lengths behind a 35-1 victress, in the GI Del Mar Oaks. Five in Travers… Only five horses were entered Sunday for next Saturday's GI Travers Stakes at Saratoga, and the days leading up to this year's “Midsummer Derby” are likely to be dominated by talk of how short the field is. The powerful presence of GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont Stakes winner Sovereignty (Into Mischief) is partially to blame for scaring off a robust and deep field of competition. Previous editions of the Travers in the 2020s decade have featured seven or eight starters. But as recently as the 2010s decade, double-digit entrants were the norm, with every Travers between 2014 and 2019 luring at least 10 starters, including 13 in 2016. Can you name the last time the Travers went with only five starters? You have to go all the way back to 1994, when Holy Bull prevailed by a neck at 4-5 odds over Concern, with the remaining three stragglers at least 17 lengths in the wake of the top two. The 1982 edition also featured a field of five. The 12-1 Runaway Groom, who trailed the field by 15 lengths in the early stages, scored by three-quarters of a length over Aloma's Ruler. The pacemaker Conquistador Cielo, favored at 1-5, was another half-length back in third. In 1975, Wajima prevailed at 4-5 odds by 10 1/2 lengths in another five-horse Travers. As a side note, 1975 was the first year in which all Travers entrants carried equal weights of 126 pounds. It had formerly been conducted under allowance conditions, with earnings deciding the weights. The post Week in Review: ‘Off the Grid’ Ohio-Bred Filly a Perfect 10-for-10 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Snow Faced Princess (Midshipman–Crusin Alone, by Honor Code) timed her run in the Bolton Landing Stakes at the Spa on Sunday to perfection as she nailed at the wire 'TDN Rising Star' Cy Fair (Not This Time). Off as a 6-1 shot here, the filly watched as heavy favorite Cy Fair vied for the lead in between runners up the backstretch. The chalk took control around the far turn, but that is about the time that Snow Faced Princess started to get rolling. With a late burst of speed, the Todd Pletcher trainee hit the wire in the final jump to nail the 'Rising Star' and earn her first black-type score. The final running time was 1:02.61. Lifetime Record: 3-2-0-0. Sales History: . O-Gary F. Lewin; B-Paul Tackett Revocable Trust, Chris Tackett & Julie Tackett (KY); T-Todd Pletcher. SNOW FACE PRINCESS wins the Bolton Landing Stakes at 6-1 under Flavien Prat for trainer @PletcherRacing. pic.twitter.com/PgcFESGEGM — NYRA () (@TheNYRA) August 17, 2025 The post Snow Faced Princess Runs Down ‘TDN Rising Star’ Cy Fair In The Bolton Landing At The Spa appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Kentucky Derby (G1) and Belmont Stakes (G1) victor Sovereignty opens as a heavy favorite for the Aug. 23 Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course. View the full article

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – As expected, the field for Saturday's 156th running of the $1.25-million GI Travers Stakes will be a small one. That is because the best 3-year-old in the country, Sovereignty (Into Mischief) is running. Only four others will challenge Godolphin's Sovereignty, who is trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott and ridden by Junior Alvarado. The last time only five horses were entered for the Travers was in 1994 when Holy Bull (Great Above) won. The smallest field in Travers history was two horses and that happened four times, the last in 1921. Sovereignty drew post position four and was made the 2-5 morning-line favorite by David Aragona, the oddsmaker for the New York Racing Association. “We're not taking anything for granted,” Mott said. Sovereignty has won four of five starts this year, the last two at Saratoga. On July 26, he won the GII Jim Dandy Stakes by a length over Baeza (McKinzie). Before that, he took two legs of the Triple Crown, the GI Belmont Stakes and GI Kentucky Derby. In both those races, he defeated Journalism (Curlin), who was favored in each one. The connections of Baeza and Journalism have opted to skip the Travers and stay in their home bases in California. Second choice in the morning line goes to 2-1 Magnitude (Not This Time), who missed the Triple Crown races because of an ankle chip. Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC's Magnitude won his first start since February when he romped to a 9 1/4-length win in the Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows on July 5. Before that, he had won the GII Risen Star, like the Iowa Derby, in front-running fashion. He took it by 9 3/4 lengths at odds of 43-1. “That is a horse that is very interesting,” Mott said. “He won the Risen Star easily and then came back off a long layoff and ran equally as well. There are a couple horses (in the Travers) that look like they've got good, reasonable, honest type speed if they want to use it.” BBN Racing's Bracket Buster (Vekoma), trained by Vicki Oliver, could also show speed in the Travers. He finished fourth in his last start, the GI Haskell Stakes; earlier this year he was second in the GIII Lexington. Trainer Chad Brown will run Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables' Strategic Focus (Gun Runner), who was third in the Curlin Stakes as the 3-5 favorite in his last start. Before that, the 'TDN Rising Star' won his first two starts. The Rick Dutrow, Jr.-trained McAfee (Cloud Computing) was last seen finishing second in the GIII West Virginia Derby. He is owned by Black Type Thoroughbreds, Swinbacnk Stables LLC, Judy Hicks and Scott Rice. Here is the field for the Travers, in post-position order, with trainers, jockeys and odds: Magnitude, Steve Asmussen, Ben Curtis, 2-1 Bracket Buster, Vicki Oliver, Luis Saez, 20-1 Strategic Focus, Chad Brown, Flavien Prat, 6-1 Sovereignty, Bill Mott, Junior Alvarado, 2-5 McAfee, Richard Dutrow, Jr., John Velazquez, 20-1 You Win the Alabama, You Get a Carmel Apple After winning the GI Alabama Stakes on Saturday, dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse decided to treat himself. He wanted a caramel apple. And that's exactly what he did. After Casse and wife Tina had dinner at Mrs. London's on Broadway in Saratoga Springs, they moved down the street to Kilwins Ice Cream Shop so he could get his just desserts. “I told her I thought I deserved a caramel apple,” Casse said outside his barn on the Saratoga backstretch Sunday morning. “If my horses run good, I'll go get one.” His horses ran good in the Alabama. Mark Casse feeds Nitrogen a peppermint Sunday morning | Sarah Andrew Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro), the 2-1 second choice, took a giant step upwards in the race for top 3-year-old filly when she won the 1 1/4-mile race by a convincing 1 1/2 lengths over Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro), the 7-5 favorite. Jose Ortiz rode the horse to the victory. Casse's other filly in the race, La Cara (Street Sense) finished fourth. The Alabama is the first Grade I on Nitrogen's resume. She was second, beaten a neck in the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational at Saratoga on July 5. On Sunday morning, Casse accepted well wishes from rival trainers who passed by in golf carts as well as those who were on foot. All was well with Nitrogen, who was wide-eyed and bright as she watched life go by from her stall. Owned and bred by D. J. Stable LLC, Nitrogen has won six of seven starts this year, the first five coming on grass. The only reason she ran in the Alabama was because she had blitzed two other opponents in the off-the-turf GIII Wonder Again on June 7. She won that race by 17 lengths. Casse said it is most likely that Nitrogen will be running on the dirt the rest of the way this year. “I don't think that would even be a question,” Casse said. Nitrogen will probably get one more start before heading to the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff at Del Mar on Nov. 1. The options, Casse said, are a listed stakes at Churchill Downs (the $175,000 Seneca Overnight Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on Sept. 20) or the $650,000 GI Spinster Stakes at 1 1/8 miles against older fillies and mares at Keeneland on Oct. 5. He said he is not going to totally rule out the $1-million GI Cotillion at Parx on Sept. 20, but that is the probable landing spot for La Cara. Casse admitted that going into the Alabama, a race he had never won, he was nervous. “I thought we had a shot to run 1-2 and that's what probably made me nervous,” he said. Cox Not Disappointed in Good Cheer Even though she lost for the second straight race–after starting her career with seven consecutive victories–trainer Brad Cox has not lost any faith in his top 3-year-old filly Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro). Nitrogen outfinishes Good Cheer in the Alabama | Sarah Andrew She finished second in the GI Alabama Stakes on Saturday, but Cox was upbeat as he talked about the loss in his office at his barn at the Oklahoma Training Track Sunday morning. Owned by Godolphin, Good Cheer was defeated by 1 1/2 lengths by Nitrogen in the Alabama. “She ran good,” Cox said. “I felt like she was going to run her race, and I think she did. She just could not overcome the soft pace up front. I'm not disappointed in the effort at all.” Good Cheer had assumed the top spot in the 3-year-old filly division after winning the GI Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 2. That was her first Grade I score and followed a pair of Grade II wins– the Rachel Alexandra Stakes and Fair Grounds Oaks. The first loss of her career came in the GI Acorn Stakes at Saratoga over a sloppy track. That race, which was won by Nitrogen's stablemate La Cara, who was fourth in the Alabama, was dismissed by Cox because of the track. “That is what happens in shorter fields,” Cox said, referring to the six-horse Alabama. “You don't get pace. When you have a larger group of fillies, there is more pressure on everybody; jockeys have to make decisions, and they just naturally go quicker. We got a good ride yesterday and a good effort.” Pace-setting La Cara set fractions of :24.94 for the quarter, :49.70 for the half and 1:13.24 for the first six furlongs. Nitrogen was able to get the jump on Good Cheer and hold her off to the finish. “That filly is the leader (of the division) and she deserves to be,” Cox said. “But the season is not over.” Cox said he hopes to get another race into Good Cheer before heading to the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. Sunday, Cox sent out another Godolphin runner, Highland Falls (Curlin) for a four-furlong work in :49 (30/106) on the main track. Regular rider Luis Saez was on board. In his last start, Highland Falls finished second behind 'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) in the GI Whitney Stakes earlier this month. “He breezed real good,” Cox said. “It was foggy when he went there, and we had someone let us know when he hit the half-mile pole, and we saw him from the eighth pole home. He was traveling well, and Luis was happy with him.” Cox said that Highland Falls could run next in the $1-million GI Jockey Club Gold Cup on Aug. 31. He also said if he does not run in that race, he could be pointed to the $500,000 GII Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs or the $300,000 GII Woodward at Aqueduct. Both of those races are on Sept. 27. The post Saratoga Notebook, Presented by NYRA Bets: Sovereignty Will Face Just Four in Travers appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Part of an uncoupled entry from the barn Todd Pletcher, Teleport (Ire) (Lope de Vega (Ire)–Gravitee (Fr), by Galileo {Ire}) was elevated to the top spot in a Saratoga maiden after the stewards said that Scope (Gun Runner) fouled his stablemate in the stretch. After three scratches earlier in the day and one at the gate, Teleport went off as the race favorite. Controlling the tempo throughout, the chestnut colt was looking to close out a gate to wire performance when Scope caught him inside the final eighth of a mile. With John Velazquez aboard, Scope bumped his shedrow rival and went on to win the race. However, after an objection by Teleport's rider Irad Ortiz Jr. the stewards took down Scope and placed him second. Teleport was then declared the winner. The final running time was 1:46.07. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0. Sales History: TATOCT '24 300,000gns. O-Repole Stable and Newtown Anner Stud Farm; B-Newtown Anner Stud Farm; T-Todd Pletcher. It was a TAP exacta in R6 at Saratoga! After a stewards inquiry and jockey's objection, Teleport was moved up to first place over stablemate Scope. @iradortiz was aboard. pic.twitter.com/xqJziXY4bQ — TwinSpires Racing (@TwinSpires) August 17, 2025 The post Pletcher’s Uncoupled Entry In Spa Maiden Switch Positions After Foul appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Like an everlasting gobstopper, Swamp King (Silver State–El Piba, by Lookin At Lucky) kept going to best his opponents at second asking in a Pea Patch maiden on Sunday. Getting his picture taken was the signal that his freshman sire celebrated his first winner. Owned by Claiborne Farm, the dark bay made his first start over the grass at Ellis and was well-beaten July 21. Fitted with blinkers and off as a 5-1 shot here, the 2-year-old bided his time along the rail as a scramble for supremacy between longshots ensued up front around the first turn. Getting into action up the backstretch, Swamp King took the controls and tried his best to separate himself from the rest of the field around the far turn. The colt dug deep down the lane and despite heavy pressure from Epic Horsepower (Not This Time) and a late-run from favorite Fulleffort (Liam's Map) got the job done at the wire. A half-sister to MSW Mobil Solution (Mobil) and the dam of GSW West Coast Belle (Tapit), the winner's dam is responsible for a yearling colt by Jackie's Warrior and a March colt by Mandaloun. She visited Army Mule for next season. During his lucrative racing career, Steve Asmussen trainee Silver State rattled off six wins in a row for co-owners Ron Winchell and Willis Horton, which included the GII Oaklawn Handicap and GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Mile Handicap. This first-crop sire (by Hard Spun)–who stands at Claiborne for a stud fee of $10,000–has 126 foals of racing age to his credit. 6th-Ellis, $99,844, Msw, 8-17, 2yo, 1mT, 1:36.64, fm, neck. SWAMP KING (c, 2, Silver State–La Piba {SW, $157,001}, by Lookin At Lucky) Sales History: $60,000 Wlg '23 KEENOV; $70,000 RNA Ylg '24 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-0, $59,526. Click for the Equibase.com chart. O-Claiborne Farm; B-Clarkland Farm LLC (KY); T-Riley Mott. Swamp King hangs on to win R6 at @ellisparkracing at 5/1 odds for trainer @riley_mott with @a_concepcion16 in the saddle! #TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/lx4qXnBsba — TwinSpires Racing (@TwinSpires) August 17, 2025 The post Freshman Sire Silver State Gets First Winner With Swamp King At Ellis Park appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The leading owners battled it out for the progeny of Wootton Bassett on a day when the Coolmore stallion was responsible for the €2.3 million top lot DEAUVILLE, FRANCE — What more can you say that hasn't already been said about Wootton Bassett? If Aidan O'Brien was asked to sum up the stallion, you can be sure the words, different, special and unusual would be the first ones to be ticked off that bingo card. Even the most cynical of people will have to start agreeing with the master of Ballydoyle's appraisal of Coolmore's most expensive stallion standing in Europe following the exploits of Henri Matisse, Camille Pissarro and Whirl, who from the first crop of runners conceived since he moved to Ireland, have won Classics and Group 1 races this season. No surprise then that after day two of the Arqana August Yearling Sale, Wootton Bassett is the leading sire on every metric here in Deauville and, along with Coolmore going to €2.3 million to secure the most expensive horse to sell at the sale thus far, even Godolphin pushed the boat out to spend €1.3 million on a filly and a colt by the stallion on Sunday. It was MV Magnier who secured the top lot, who was consigned by Haras des Capucines on behalf of Jean-Philippe Dubois of Haras des Fresnaux, with Amo Racing, an online bidder and bloodstock agent Jason Kelly involved in the battle. Magnier said, “He's a lovely horse and Wootton Bassett is doing very well. We had his brother in Ballydoyle and he was nearly a very good horse. All the guys really liked this fella and Wootton Bassett is flying at the moment. In fairness to Mr Dubois and everyone involved, they've always been a big supporter of ours and are very good breeders. Michel Zerolo was always praising this horse a lot so let's hope he's good.” The Wootton Bassett colt is out of Invincible Spirit mare High Celebrity, who won a Group 3 herself before placing behind Tiggy Wiggy – later bought by Coolmore for 2.1 million gns – in the Cheveley Park Stakes in 2014 when trained by Andre Fabre. High Celebrity has already produced two Stakes horses, including Highbury, who O'Brien trained to finish second in last year's G2 Queen's Vase at Royal Ascot. Magnier added, “He's a very nice horse by Wootton Bassett bred by one of the best breeders in France. It's a lot of money, I appreciate that, but he's a good horse and Wootton Bassett is breaking all the rules at the moment. The boss man [John Magnier] is here and it was his call.” Dubois has retained High Celebrity, according to Capucines boss Eric Puerari, who showered the top lot with praise. He said, “I'm very happy for the breeder, Jean-Philippe Dubois, who has a great operation, both Flat and trotting. He's a leader in his business, and he goes to the best stallions. He kept this very good racemare, the dam of that beautiful colt. The price was deserved, because the colt was exceptional all along. All the main players were on him and we knew it was going to go like this.” Godolphin Doubles Up On Wootton Bassett Coolmore has not been shy about supporting Godolphin stallions for nearly a decade now, notably in the case of Dubawi, and that love was reciprocated on Sunday when Anthony Stroud spent €1.3 million on two Wootton Bassett yearlings on behalf of Sheikh Mohammed's powerful operation. The seven-figure spend on the progeny by the stallion was headed by lot 103, a €900,000 colt out of Hidden Breeze (Dark Angel), a sister to G1 Matron Stakes runner-up Lily's Angel from Haras d'Etreham. Godolphin also landed a Wootton Bassett filly out of Listed scorer Flighty Lady (Sir Percy) from Haras du Cadran for €400,000. Stroud commented, “The stallion speaks for himself – he's done so well. He is a top-class stallion and is very versatile.” For Haras d'Etreham, the sale at €900,000 of Hidden Breeze's colt marked a poignant record. “It's our best result selling a yearling by Wootton Bassett,” said Nicolas de Chambure, the man chiefly responsible for getting the stallion's career off the ground when standing him at Etreham in his early years. “We've been better at breeding good Wootton Bassetts than selling expensive ones. His dam is a young mare and it's great to be able to get a good result in the ring, but obviously we hope he is good on the track for Godolphin. It's great to have them here and supporting us like that so I hope he is very lucky for them.” When it comes to breeding good colts by Wootton Bassett, Etreham was responsible for the first of them, the European champion three-year-old Almanzor. Though he is now a permanent resident at Cambridge Stud in New Zealand, his parting gift to his breeders was this year's Prix de Diane winner Gezora, who was bought privately in training by Peter Brant of White Birch Farm. “It's been a good season on the track and, as we advertised a little bit before the sale, we try to race a few who haven't made it to the sale and sell them later, so we are an open market at any time of their career,” de Chambure added. Tweenhills Reluctantly Parts With a Gem Tweenhills Farm arrived in Deauville with its first draft of August yearlings and sold all three at an average of €566,667, including Lot 140, a colt by Siyouni out of one of Sheikh Fahad's earliest Group 1 winners, Lightening Pearl (Marju). The final bid of €1.25 million was placed online with the buyer later being identified as the American Racing Corporation, an unfamiliar name in racing circles. Speaking as he exited the ring, David Redvers of Tweenhills said, “I feel slightly sick. We've been a full-blown operation for a long time and we've never had a nicer colt than this with a stallion's pedigree. So obviously I am sick to see him go.” He added, “When Sheikh Fahad saw him for the first time he said that he thought he was the best horse we've ever bred on the farm and I'll take that as a major compliment. We've underbid him here and now I have to go to find out who bought him.” Talking Points The general chat has been that the best is yet to come on Monday but already the figures are looking pretty healthy, highlighted by an 11% rise in the average. After some day one jitters, the figures took a big step forward on Sunday, with the average for day two alone up a massive 25% compared to this day last year. The Sunday session also posted a rise in the aggregate – up 8% to €15,035,000 – while the clearance rate was up 2% to 84%. The overall clearance rate for the sale stands at 78% – up 3% on last year. For €500,000, you could buy yourself a gorgeous little chalet in Normandy. But for half a million quid, you can also get yourself a Frankel colt out of a Classic winner. Depends how you define value but, most people in attendance on Sunday might suggest that it was Japanese trainer Yoshito Yahagi who got the most bang for his buck. The colt in question, of course, is out of French 1,000 Guineas winner Mangoustine (Dark Angel) and was consigned by Monceaux. He will be joined by a Siyouni filly and colt on the plane back to Japan, taking his total spend at this sale to €1.42 million. Yahagi said, “It was a good price. Mozu Ascot (Frankel) won two Group 1 races and he [Frankel] is a very good stallion at the moment. I think this horse is a miler, so maybe the Prix Jacques le Marois! We bought two other Siyounis yesterday. We're done now.” The ever-entertaining American owner Mike Repole, whose colours are synonymous with brilliant horses like Uncle Mo, Stay Thirsty and more recently Fierceness, has big plans for his €300,000 Dubawi filly (lot 109) that was purchased from Baroda Stud. Rather than returning to the States, where the majority of Repole's string is trained, the idea is being floated for the filly to stay in Europe – with Italy being put forward as the most likely jurisdiction for her to be trained in. Asked where the horse was destined for shortly after the hammer had dropped, Repole replied via text message, “That's a great question. My team just asked me that and I don't know. There is a 15 per cent tariff and, while I haven't made any decision yet, I am leaning towards keeping her in Europe. Alex [Solis], Madison [Scott] and Ed [Rosen] are all working together. They present everything to me and we discuss it as a group. We then vet, come up with a price range and bid. We could leave this horse in France or even Italy – I plan on sending some horses to Endo Botti. I go there every year and I need a reason to go more.” It is understood that Repole has already sent three horses to be trained by Botti, one of the leading trainers in that country. Lot 109 is out of Galileo mare How, who is a daughter of multiple Group 1 winner Lillie Langtry (Danehill Dancer), and a sister to high-class mares Minding, Tuesday, Empress Josephine and Kissed By Angels. Popular owner-breeder Craig Bernick added a potential long-term prospect to his team in the shape of lot 102, a Monceaux-consigned Sea The Stars filly from the family of Emily Upjohn. Bernick has enjoyed huge success in Europe, notably with trainer Fozzy Stack in Ireland, but the Sea The Stars will be joining the stable of Francis Graffard, who sent out Audubon Park (Dubawi) to win a Listed contest on behalf of the American-based owner this year. Speaking about his new addition, Bernick said, “She's got a great outlook. A plain, bay filly with a great walk. We've only had one Sea The Stars at Glen Hill Farm and, long-term, he's probably going to be one of the best broodmare sires. It's just one of those families that, if you see a good individual, it's definitely one that's always on the radar. We're excited to have her and she will go to Francis Graffard.” Lot 102 was knocked down to bloodstock agent Hubie de Burgh, who showed his age when suggesting that Bernick might well be around longer to enjoy these top-notch families. De Burgh said, “Really what Craig is, is he's a collector of long-term breeding prospects. Fillies like Audubon Park will go back to the farm and she is a long-term breeding prospect so Craig is buying into the best families. Hopefully he'll be around in 50 years' time to enjoy them. I'll be in my wheelchair and he'll be pushing me around!” Golden Touch It's hard to remember a sale where Roderic Kavanagh didn't enjoy a major result and, not for the first time, the 'Golden Touch' accolades were rightly his after he turned 45,000gns into €220,000 within the space of eight months. Lot 114, a Showcasing filly that went the way of Kenny McPeek on Sunday, had been sourced at the December Foal Sale at Tattersalls. The yearling was pinhooked by Ronald Rauscher in partnership with Peter and Roderic Kavanagh and Cormac O'Flynn. Roderic said, “We're very happy with that. She's a lovely filly and that was a great turnaround. I'd say it hasn't been easy on the whole here for pinhookers so we're delighted to come out very much on the right side of it.” He added, “She's going to a great home as well: Kenny McPeek, what a cool guy. He described her as sexy and I thought that was a good way of describing her, she's a jet-black filly and a beauty.” The post Coolmore And Godolphin Hoover Up Wootton Bassett Yearlings At Arqana appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

British racing is set to stage a one-day strike on Wednesday, Sept. 10 in a remarkable protest against plans to raise taxes on horseracing betting. It is thought to be the first voluntary blackout in British racing's modern history.View the full article

Diego Velazquez earned his first group 1 success in the Prix Jacques le Marois (G1) in a photo-finish Aug. 16, holding off a challenge from the fast-finishing Notable Speech. The colt was recently purchased by Sangster Bloodstock.View the full article

Dean Reeves named the colt after a long-dormant nickname for the Georgia Tech University football team, a suggestion that came from a corner of the racing world that one might not expect to be up on obscure United States football monikers.View the full article

Late in the day, a son of Siyouni and the G1 Cheveley Park Stakes heroine Lightening Pearl (Marju) brought a winning bid of €1.25 million from the American Racing Corporation, bidding online. Sold as lot 140 from the Tweenhills draft, the colt is a half-brother to the G3 Athasi Stakes victress Lightening Quick (Frankel), and the Japanese stakes-placed Matenro Diva (Deep Impact). Under the second dam is the two-time top-level winner Satono Crown (Marju). The bay was bred by Qatar Bloodstock. A new top lot at #TheAugustSale, as American Racing Corp went to €1,250,000 online to secure Lot 140, a colt by Siyouni?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Siyouni @AgaKhanStuds out of Gr.1 winner LIGHTENING PEARL. He was offered by @Tweenhills. pic.twitter.com/6oxnwMZopq — ARQANA (@InfoArqana) August 17, 2025 The post Siyouni Colt Out Of Lightening Pearl Brings €1.25 million From The American Racing Corporation At Arqana appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

“Come on now, attention at the back!” But let's make a plea for indulgence, should any of the law lecturers at University College, Dublin, happen to find one student uncharacteristically distracted on resuming his course in September. Because whatever broad principles of contract may yet require elucidation, there are extremely good reasons why Freddie Duignan could find his thoughts straying to the value of a signature even then being scrawled on a document, 4,000 miles away in Kentucky. “My first day back in class is the first day of the September Sale,” Duignan explains. “So I will probably be in a lecture, the day he sells. I suppose I'll just have to follow it online and try to keep quiet when they drop the hammer, whether it's good or bad.” Obviously he wouldn't have planned things this way, but then nor did he exactly plan the transaction that has brought this impending one to our attention. That was also at Keeneland, in November 2022. Even though Duignan was then only 16, he already felt thoroughly at home in the sales environment. As the son of Gabriel (“Spider”) and Aisling Duignan, he has long been familiar to their many friends in the Bluegrass community-whether made through their own Springhouse Farm; Spider's collaboration with Pat Costello at Paramount; or Aisling's work at Coolmore. More importantly, young Duignan felt just as comfortable among the horses themselves. “That was how I was raised, every time we sat round the dinner table the talk always revolved around horseracing. And at breakfast, and lunch, and everything in between. So I always had some interest, from the get-go, and it just grew and grew as I got older.” In fact, it all came to Duignan so naturally that already as a 14-year-old he was not discouraged from an experimental pinhook. He showed an immediate aptitude, his first punt being a $10,000 Oscar Performance weanling deep in the November Sale of 2020. He was sold in the same ring the following September for $100,000 and, under the name Act a Fool, ran up a sequence of four as a sophomore, culminating in the Hawthorne Derby. Suitably emboldened, here was Duignan prospecting weanlings to bring back the following September. His mother would take a piece of something, so would one or two others, but it was again going to be the young man's call. The one he adored was Hip 892, a Not This Time colt in the Warrendale consignment. He was probably too blatant to be missed, but they would follow him through just in case. And in the back of their minds they were also mindful of the fact that the colt's dam, a once-raced daughter of Bernardini named Rockadelic, would be following him onto the rostrum directly afterwards. “Obviously we really liked the foal, so we looked at her as well,” Duignan explains. “And she was a very nice mare, by probably the best broodmare sire around right now, and out of [dual Grade I winner] Octave (Unbridled's Song). And in foal to McKinzie.” Sure enough, the foal went way beyond reach at $310,000. “That was out of our price range,” Duignan recalls. “But then the mare was stalling at $100,000, so we said we'd hit her once. And we got her. It hadn't really been the objective, but we were just going to make sure she didn't slip through the cracks.” The project started well when Rockadelic's McKinzie colt sold in the equivalent sale, the following November, for $100,000. He made a promising debut at Gulfstream in June, winning a photo only to be disqualified for interference. By that stage, however, the Not This Time colt had already transformed the page. He had duly advanced his value as a pinhook, sold to Winchell Thoroughbreds for $450,000 at the September Sale. They named him Magnitude-and, after one or two uneven performances as he developed, he proved a revelation when romping by almost 10 lengths in the GII Risen Star Stakes. Suddenly Duignan found himself with the dam of one of the Derby favorites. “Last year was my first over in Dublin, so I was in Ireland when he won the Risen Star,” Duignan says. “I was just blown away, I didn't expect him to win like that.” The excitement admittedly proved brief, Magnitude soon being sidelined by an ankle chip, but he proved his Fair Grounds exhibition to be no flash in the pan when resuming earlier this month with another runaway success in the Iowa Derby. As a fresh horse, he will ask a new question of crop leader Sovereignty (Into Mischief) in the GI Travers Stakes on Saturday. Just a couple of weeks after that, a Bolt d'Oro half-brother will be gratefully taking any updates into the September Sale as Hip 888. Magnitude | Horephotos “It's great when a young mare has already shown that she can throw a nice product,” Duignan says. “And she seems to have proved it again, because this one seems to have pretty similar qualities to Magnitude. He's a nice, big, pretty horse. He's with us at Springhouse and coming along nicely in his prep, seems to be handling everything well and strengthening up. Hopefully he'll keep progressing. The mare has a very nice weanling by Jack Christopher, and is back in foal to Not This Time.” No surprise there, obviously, but Duignan is taking nothing for granted. While others of his generation are entering the business via lavish international programs, he has been no less privileged to receive his own education, by sheer osmosis, in a domestic environment that just happens to be suffused with the insight and example of one of the sharpest couples in the game. So when it is suggested to Duignan that he has shown a Midas touch with both his first pinhook, Act a Fool, and now his first mare, he has an unsurprisingly level-headed response. “It may look like that,” he says. “But look, both my parents been very helpful and steered me in the correct direction. I hope they're very happy to have a kid interested in what they're doing. I've just tried to absorb as much as I can. Even as a boy I would get to go to the sales with friend, and we'd sit in the back ring looking at horses going through. And I'm so lucky to have been able to follow my dad around, looking at foals, learning why some make his shortlist and others don't. My parents have always tried to point things out: 'See how this horse uses his shoulder when he walks,' or 'See how this one's over at the knee.' And of course they have so many friends in the business, who've all been really helpful as well.” Even this fairytale mare, after all, has already reiterated the axiomatic unpredictability of the Thoroughbred: Duignan had barely 48 hours to enjoy the possibility of Magnitude wearing a blanket of roses before being abruptly brought back to earth. “Steve Asmussen is a great trainer who will give him the best chance of getting on the big stage,” Duignan says with a shrug. “It was obviously the right call and Magnitude came back with a 105 Beyer the other day. Hopefully he can have a good second half of the season. It's the nature of the game to have ups and downs, horses will get hurt or have bad luck in a race. Things will happen and you just have to take them in your stride.” So here's a young man with the right attitude as well as the right grounding, should he wish to persevere with the same vocation as his parents. Like his older sister, who is likewise studying law (in Georgia), he's sensibly giving himself options. “I love UCD Dublin,” he confirms. “There are loads of racetracks nearby, which I try to get to for the big days at least. While I've been going round the sales for years already, I've loads still to learn. For my first mare to be doing this, obviously it's all downhill from here! It will be tough to top this. But surrounded by the people that I am, I won't be short of good advice.” The post Duignan Jr. Building On Rock appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Graded winner Magnitude (Not This Time) prepped for Saturday's GI Travers Stakes with a half-mile breeze over the Oklahoma dirt training track Sunday morning. Clocked in :50.22 (31/49) while working through a blanket of fog, the Steve Asmussen charge has been training up to the feature race this weekend after producing a 9 1/4-length masterclass last out July 5 in the Listed Iowa Derby. The son of Not This Time missed the Triple Crown series with an ankle chip, but has been moving forwardly since his return to the races last month. “He worked good,” said Scott Blasi, assistant trainer to Asmussen on-site for the work. “They [the instructions] were just to go a half-mile. We feel like he's really fit. We were just letting him stretch his legs over the track and he's doing well.” The Asmussen and Winchell Thoroughbreds combination is no stranger to winning the Travers as they last took home the spoils in 2022 with MGISW Epicenter, coincidentally also by Not This Time. The post Magnitude Breezes Over Oklahoma Track for Saturday’s Travers Tilt appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Experienced Ontario-bred Ready for Candy (Twirling Candy–Enoree, by More Than Ready) established her lead after the bell and did not look back as she took the Sunday opener at the Spa. Last summer as a 2-year-old, the filly ran through some of the toughest races Woodbine had to offer. To cap her season in November, Ready for Candy was third in the GIII Mazarine Stakes and the runner-up in the Princess Elizabeth Stakes for trainer Michael DePaulo. Debuting for new trainer Philip Antonacci here, the even-money favorite controlled the pace into the first turn and proceeded to make every pole a winning one. Cruising down the lane, she won by multiple lengths over Inesperee (Flintshire {GB}). The final running time was 1:48.60. Lifetime Record: 8-1-3-2. Sales History: FTKOCT '23 $62,000, OBSAPR '24 $60,000, FTKFEB '25 $400,000. O-Lindy Farms; B-Mark Dodson (ON); T-Philip Antonacci.. The post Twirling Candy’s Ready For Candy Sweet Off The Bench In The Spa Opener appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Some of the most highly anticipated races during the summer season are the 'baby' races during the boutique meetings at Saratoga and Del Mar and at Ellis Park, which attract its fair share of high-priced juveniles from a variety of top national outfits. Summer Breezes, sponsored by OBS Sales, highlights debuting and stakes-entered 2-year-olds at those meetings that have been sourced at the breeze-up sales earlier in the year, including links to their under-tack previews. Here are the horses entered for Monday at Ellis Park. Information compiled by Alan Carasso: Monday, August 18, 2025 Ellis 6, $100k, 2yo, f, 1mT, 3:12 p.m. ET Horse (Sire), Sale, Price ($), Breeze Stunning Sapphire (Win Win Win), OBSAPR, 230,000, :10 C-Shooting Star Sales LLC; B-Niki Goodwin, agent Ellis 9, $100k, 2yo, f, 1mT, 4:42 p.m. ET Justa Rebel (Justify), FTMMAY, 180,000, :10 4/5 C-Wavertree Stable Inc (Ciaran Dunne), agent; B-Robbie Medina, Agent for Stone Bridge Farm The post Summer Breezes Sponsored By OBS: Monday, August 18, 2025 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The first yearling to break seven figures during the Arqana August Yearling Sale was lot 104, an elegant son of Wootton Bassett and the Invincible Spirit mare High Celebrity, a winner of the G3 Prix d'Arenberg. Bred by Jean-Philippe Dubois and consigned by Haras des Capucines, he was knocked down to MV Magnier for €2.3 million. His dam, already responsible for the stakes-placed Galileo duo of Friendly Face and G2 Queen's Vase second Highbury, was also second in the G2 Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes and third in the G1 Cheveley Park Stakes. The third dam is four-time American Grade I winner Surfside (Seattle Slew). The post MV Magnier Snaps Up Wootton Bassett Colt For €2.3 Million At Arqana appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article