Antonoe

After a lengthy delay following the gate scratch of Bernieandtherose (Accelerate), 2-5 choice Directive (Gun Runner) took it all in stride, going on to earn her second consecutive victory at Saratoga on Thursday. A debut second sprinting at the Big A on Apr. 3, the Juddmonte homebred relished the wet going while extending to a mile at that venue on Apr. 30. Joined by a red-hot Flavien Prat, who already won the first two races on Thursday's card, the Chad Brown trainee allowed U Lite Up My Life (City of...

Directive (Gun Runner), now with the experience of a start under her belt, made the most of her second start against an over-matched field of experienced maidens. Second going 6 1/2 furlongs on the local track Apr. 3, Thursday's 1-5 favorite had to contend with a muddy track but took advantage of her early speed to keep her face clean while largely left alone through fractions of :23.08 and :46.20. 18-1 longshot Moonlit (Daredevil), the other second-time starter in the field, did well to keep pace into the stretch but...

Despite a few downgrades due to weather and a cancellation here and there, the U.S. and Canada still combined to run 446 graded races in 2025. What stands out after another full year of North American graded racing is in the books? All 98 scheduled Grade I races were run, with just three horses scoring a trio of successes at the elite level: Journalism, Sovereignty, and Ted Noffey. Another nine horses doubled up with two Grade I wins on the year. In addition to the 98 Grade I events, there...

The remarkable tribute paid to their mutual granddam by the first two in the Breeders' Cup Classic felt especially apt given that Fawn Leap Farm had lost Darling My Darling (Deputy Minister), at a venerable 28, since the same horses finished first and third the previous year. Debby and John Oxley know that these things take time. In 2014 they had sold one of her daughters, by Congrats, for $8,000 as a yearling. At that stage, Darling My Darling was proving a dud in her second career: her first foal...

Continuing the powerful run during Del Mar's closing weekend of racing, trainer Chad Brown and Juddmonte once again held the winning card in the day's feature, taking Sunday's GI Matriarch Stakes with Segesta (Ghostzapper), a half-sister to Saturday's GI Hollywood Derby winner, Salamis (Speightstown). In Our Time (Not This Time) and Ag Bullet (Twirling Candy) went to the front early as 8-5 choice Segesta was allowed to settle in fourth through :23.65 and :48.06 initial splits. With the 25-1 still cruising along up front through a half in :48.06, the...

Juddmonte homebred Salamis (Speightstown) largely avoided traffic issues in what ended up a sit-sprint renewal of the GI Hollywood Derby, and, with clear sailing through the final furlong, was along in the final strides to give his late sire his second new graded winner on the program. The half-brother to Sunday's GI Matriarch Stakes hopeful Segesta (Ghostzapper) was taken back to the latter third of the field by Umberto Rispoli, with odds-on Test Score (Oscar Performance) riding the rails to his inside and Salamis had cover on the back of...

Sent off at 4-1 with 'TDN Rising Star' Sweet Rebecca (American Pharoah) taking the lion's share of the pari-mutuel action in Monday's GII Wonder Again S. at a rainy Aqueduct Racetrack, Juddmonte's beautifully bred Segesta (Ghostzapper) was given a heads-up ride by Irad Ortiz, Jr. to cause a mild upset. Quickly into stride from the inside gate in a scratched-down field of six, the dark bay--whose dam was highly impressive in winning the GI Just A Game S. for this barn in 2017--led into the first turn, but Ortiz, Jr....

2nd-GP, $89k, Msw, 3yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 12:39p.m. ET RABDAH (Constitution), a half-sister to GSW-Eng Toro Strike (Toronado {Ire}), debuts here for Todd Pletcher and Al Shaqab Racing. Hailing from the immediate female line of Scarlet Tango (French Deputy), who tallies GISW Tara's Tango (Unbridled's Song), herself dam of GSW Capensis (Tapit); GISW Visionaire (Grand Slam); and the dam of SP Ignitis (Nyquist), among others, Rabdah has been given an 8-1 morning line appraisal with jose Ortiz in the irons. To her outside is Segesta (Ghostzapper), a homebred for Juddmonte,...