Shared Content Archive

Multiple Grade I winner Private Zone (Macho Uno) faces seven formidable foes in Saturday's GIII Belmont Sprint Championship S., the finale on a blockbuster Fourth of July weekend card. Transferred from Alfredo Velazquez to the high-percentage Jorge Navarro barn after running away with Aqueduct's GI Cigar Mile H. in November, the Good Friends Stable colorbearer finished second to 'TDN Rising Star' Honor Code (A.P. Indy) in the GII Gulfstream Park H. Mar. 7. He cut back a furlong to this distance and romped in the GII Churchill Downs S. May 2, and settled for...

By Christie DeBernardis  Francoise Dupuis, a bloodstock agent and California breeder, has enjoyed a lot of success throughout her career in horse racing, but she achieved her biggest success as a breeder last Saturday when she watched Masochistic (Sought After) win the GI Triple Bend S.  "It is something I have never experienced before and I have to assume will never happen again," Dupuis said of seeing a horse she bred win a Grade I. "The beauty of this is, it's an example that the little guy can make it because I...

by Steve Sherack  After Tammy the Torpedo (More Than Ready) blitzed home to a jaw-dropping debut win over the grass at Saratoga last summer, trainer Chad Brown turned to co-owner Jay Hanley, pulled on his shirt and said, "The one we have in the barn is a lot better."  Talk about calling your shot.  With a perfect five-for-five record and just a shade under seven figures in earnings--including a sensational victory in last term's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita--Lady Eli (Divine Park) heads into Saturday's GI Belmont...

by Hal Handel     Over the course of the past 40 years, I have seen the sport of Thoroughbred racing encounter significant challenges and I've witnessed them from a couple of different perspectives.      As a deputy attorney general in New Jersey in 1975-77, I supervised the Tony Ciulla race-fixing case. (For those of you too young to remember, Ciulla admitted to fixing races at a host of tracks, primarily in New England, New York and the Mid-Atlantic region, between 1972 and 1975. Ciulla became a state's witness and eventually...

Richard Hannon has decided to give two of his high profile horses a mid season break following recent disappointing efforts from the pair. Tiggy Wiggy (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) made a bright start to the season when third in the G1 1000 Guineas at Newmarket but failed to build on that when well beaten in the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot and her trainer feels some down time is now required. "I think the ground was probably a little bit quick for Tiggy Wiggy. We scoped her when she came back and...

Trainer Eddie Lynam could be double handed in his bid to land the G1 July Cup for the second year running. Successful in last years Newmarket event with current Darley stallion Slade Power (Ire) (Dutch Art {GB}), Lynam is hoping to be represented July 11 by both Anthem Alexander (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) and Sole Power (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}). Anthem Alexander ran a sound race in Ascot's inaugural G1 Commonwealth Cup, a run that has left Lynam somewhat perplexed. "I don't know what to make of her Royal Ascot run", reported the Meath trainer, before...

WinStar Farms and Stonestreet Stables' Carpe Diem (Giant's Causeway) will not contest Saturday's  GI Belmont S., according to his connections.  "[Trainer] Todd [Pletcher] and I have been talking all of the last week," WinStar Farm CEO Elliott Walden said. "We just felt he wasn't 100% going into what is a phenomenal race, with a horse of such high stature. He was maybe 85 to 90%."  Walden noted that the GI Toyota Blue Grass S. winner will now aim for either the GII Jim Dandy S. at Saratoga Aug. 1 or the GI...

GI Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness S. winner American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) registered his last serious work before Saturday's GI Belmont S. under cloudy skies Monday at Churchill Downs. The bay covered five panels in 1:00.20 (video) with Martin Garcia in the irons shortly after the renovation break. Churchill clocker John Nichols recorded 1/8-mile fractions in :13, :25 (:12), :36.60 (11.60) and :48.60 (:12). He galloped out six furlongs in 1:13, seven-eighths in 1:26 and a mile in 1:39.60.  Baffert noted how pleased he was with the work later in the...

PRIX DU JOCKEY CLUB-G1, €1,500,000, CHY, 5-31, 3yo, c/f, 10 1/2fT, 2:05.69 (NRR), gd/sf.  1--#@NEW BAY (GB), 128, c, 3, by Dubawi (Ire)       1st Dam: Cinnamon Bay (GB) (SW-Fr), by Zamindar       2nd Dam: Trellis Bay (GB), by Sadler's Wells       3rd Dam: Bahamian (Ire), by Mill Reef  O-Khalid Abdullah; B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd (GB);  T-Andre Fabre; J-Vincent Cheminaud. €857,100.  Lifetime Record: 4 starts, 2 wins, 2 places,  €1,005,630. Werk Nick Rating: B+. Click for the  eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.Click for the Racing Post result or the free brisnet.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.  Thanks to the TDN, I...

It was a nondescript autumn day at one of Britain's least storied racetracks. Eight colts and geldings lined up for a maiden race over an extended mile. The action that followed was remarkable, and the stories of the two horses that made it happen are the most notable heading into Saturday's G1 Investec Derby at Epsom.  One horse, Storm The Stars, had already been closely involved in dramatic dealings. As detailed in the TDN the day after the Oct. 29 race last year (click here), he had been the foal in...

The 2015/16 racing season in the UAE will include 62 racedays over five months, with the Dubai World Cup Carnival kicking off Jan. 7 and concluding with the Dubai World Cup card Mar. 26. Meydan Racecourse will have 20 days of racing over the season, while Abu Dhabi will have 15; Jebel Ali 11; Al Ain 10 and Sharjah six. The season will kick off at Jebel Ali Oct. 30.  “We are pleased by this impressive schedule of race meetings to be offered for the 2015/16 ERA season,” said Malih...

The G1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth S., set for July 25 at Ascot, will this year carry a record purse of £1.15 million, up £150,000 on last year's pot. Ascot has also revealed details of enhanced facilities for King George weekend, including two new enclosures: the King George VI Enclosure and the Winning Post Enclosure.  "The King George VI Enclosure will occupy Level 4 of the Grandstand with a reduced capacity of 1,700 [from 4,500 in 2014],” said Juliet Slot, commercial director at Ascot. “Our chefs have created...