Bless the Broken

Any concerns about whether or not she was still Queen of the Hill were dispelled Friday as Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) dominated the GI Ogden Phipps Stakes, earning a guaranteed berth into the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff while she was at it. A lot was said about Nitrogen's defeat last out Apr. 11 in the GI Apple Blossom Stakes behind the late Claret Beret (Not This Time), and that came on the heels of a third-place finish Mar. 7 in the GII Azeri Stakes. She'd never missed the board on the...

Leading stallion Into Mischief picked up his newest Grade I winner Friday, bringing his total to 31, when 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Shred the Gnar (Into Mischief) took down the GI Fasig-Tipton La Troienne Stakes on the Kentucky Oaks undercard ahead of Fully Subscribed (Tiz the Law). Unraced since a sixth after a rough trip in the GIII Royal Delta on Feb. 14, a race which is really her only blemish in an otherwise beautiful career, Shred the Gnar is already a graded stakes winner having captured the...

A trio of graded stakes winners will attempt to take the next step up in Friday's GI La Troienne Stakes at Churchill Downs. Heading the fray is Flying Dutchmen's Shred the Gnar (Into Mischeif), a winner of three straight in 2025 including the one-mile GIII Chilukki Stakes at Churchill Downs on Nov. 15. In her sole start this term, the Brian Lynch trainee finished a troubled sixth as the even-money choice in the 8 1/2-furlong GIII Royal Delta Stakes at Gulfstream Feb. 14. Luis Saez, in the irons for all...

Last year's GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner Splendora (Audible) picked up her second Grade I Saturday, easily taking down the GI B. Wayne Hughes Beholder Mile at Santa Anita for Bob Baffert. Saturday's win, the mare's fifth straight in a streak that began back at Del Mar last summer, was her second of her year after she returned victorious in the emotionally-poignant seven-furlong GII D. Wayne Lukas Stakes Feb. 7. Having shown the ability to be versatile in her wins, the 1-9 favorite needed no help in...

A pair of Keeneland-based contenders for the May 2 GI Kentucky Oaks each drilled four furlongs over the Keenelanf main track Wednesday morning. Cypress Creek Equine and Madaket Stable's Bless the Broken (Laoban), last-out winner of the Listed Bourbonette Oaks over the Turfway Poly Mar. 22, covered the distance in :48 flat (6/43) in the company of her thrice-raced Will Walden stablemate Bermuda Triangle (Justify) in splits of :11.60 and :24.80 before galloping out five-eighths of a mile in 1:01 according to Keeneland clockers. "It was good; we weren't trying...

Cypress Creek Equine and Madaket Stables' Bless the Broken (Laoban) worked five furlongs in company in 1:00.80 (3/21) Wednesday morning at Keeneland as she prepares for her next start in the $1.5-million GI Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 2. "This is the first time I have worked her, and she worked nice," said Velazquez of Bless the Broken, who breezed in the company of her unraced Will Walden stablemate Mackave (Quality Road). Second to Simply Joking (Practical Joke) in the Jan. 18 Silverbulletday Stakes and third to undefeated...

Bless the Broken (Laoban), last seen finishing third behind Saturday's GII Fair Grounds Oaks winner Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro) in the GII Rachel Alexandra Stakes at the Fair Grounds Feb. 15, made a successful transition to Turfway Park's Tapeta surface over the same trip. Biding her time under a patient John Velazquez, the 6-1 fourth choice in the field of 11 sat in seventh early behind White Rocks (Frosted)'s even pace set in :24.24, :49.02 and 1:13.69. Advancing while four-wide on the far turn, she swept past White Rocks, Bracelet...

Only briefly giving her backers worry, Good Cheer (f, 3, Medgalia d'Oro--Wedding Toast, by Street Sense) rolled home the easiest of winners in the GII Rachel Alexandra Stakes and claimed 25 points toward the Road to the Kentucky Oaks. On a four-race win streak which started last August in her debut at Horseshoe Indianapolis, the Godolphin homebred followed that effort up with a 17-length victory against allowance runners at Churchill Downs and never slowed down from there. Claiming the Listed Rags to Riches Stakes Oct. 27 and the GII Golden...