Bob Baffert

A "headline" horse will cover a multitude of sins for a stallion; very often, too many. If a single flag-bearer gets too far ahead, however, people tend to start asking what might have happened to the rest of the army. In the case of Midnight Lute, there's no doubt that Midnight Bisou has helped to keep him in the game. On the other hand, her $7.25 million in earnings might seem to rebuke her sire for his failure, thus far, to come up with a second millionaire. His two previous...

After giving some thought to passing the race, trainer Bob Baffert said he is leaning toward starting Charlatan (Speightstown) in the GI Belmont S. June 20. Baffert had been considering running Charlatan the GI seven-furlong Woody Stephens S., also June 20, and Nadal (Blame) in the Belmont. But Nadal was injured last week and retired. "I was thinking about running Charlatan in the Woody Stephens and then the Haskell because I had Nadal for the Belmont. Now that has changed," he said. Charlatan is scheduled to breeze Monday morning. Baffert...

So that's why they had to split the GI Arkansas Derby. One division apiece for Kipling's "twin imposters,"--Triumph and Disaster. Though we've all felt otherwise, from time to time, Lady Luck is as proportionate as she is indiscriminate in her dealings with Thoroughbreds. If Bob Baffert is better placed to absorb the loss of a servant as talented as Nadal (Blame), only a barn of such depth could have achieved the level of Triumph, in the first place, to have meanwhile registered a commensurate sequel of Disaster. It's not the...

Unbeaten superstar sophomore and 'TDN Rising Star' Nadal (Blame) exited a breeze Thursday morning with a condylar fracture and has been retired. The Bob Baffert trainee was credited with a four-furlong drill in :48.80 (7/45) (XBTV Video) at his Santa Anita home base before X-rays revealed the injury and he underwent surgery, requiring two screws. "I always say to get my trophies--and I have three Eclipse Awards and one Cartier--you have to get massive scars along the way," co-owner George Bolton told the TDN. "You have to understand days like...

To paraphrase the Rolling Stones, you can't always get what you want. But sometimes, you get what you need. That might end up being the case regarding the retooled GI Belmont S. announced last week by the New York Racing Association (NYRA). For its 2020 running, COVID-19 has transformed the $1.5-million, 12-furlong "Test of Champions" concluding leg of the Triple Crown into a one-turn, nine-furlong prep for the other two Classics with two-thirds its original purse. The revised Belmont S. will be run June 20 in a spectator-free Belmont Park...

8th-SA, $50K, Msw, 3yo/up, 5 1/2f, 7:00 p.m. ET HRH Prince Sultan Bin Mishal Al Saud's FIERCE FOR SUL (Speightstown) has strung together a series of solid Santa Anita works--including a four-furlong move in :47 flat May 10 followed by a five-furlong breeze in 1:00 3/5 (XBTV) May 18--leading up to this first go for Bob. Baffert. At the OBS March Two-year-olds in Training sale last season, the :10 flat breezer was secured for $650,000, the highest price paid for a Speightstown juvenile from 12 sold in 2019. Dam CJ's...

Authentic has already carved one significant milestone for his sire, his debut success at Del Mar last November having qualified Into Mischief as the first North American stallion to accumulate 200 individual winners in a calendar year. If he can also become a Classic winner, however, he will need a chapter to himself in the Spendthrift phenomenon's epic tale. Because the rise of Into Mischief, sealed by a first general sires' championship in 2019, has primarily been powered by speed. As his books have gained in quality, the last big...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 4th-CD, $85K, Alw/Opt. Clm ($80K), 3yo/up, f/m, 1m, 2:32 p.m. ET Wildly popular champion MONOMOY GIRL (Tapizar) headlines a stacked opening day card at Churchill as she makes her long-awaited return in the day's fourth race. Unseen since locking up her 3-year-old filly title with a score in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff over this track in 2018, the chestnut has overcome a variety of issues and comes back with a snappy worktab in tow for trainer Brad Cox. Showing a half-dozen breezes at...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 4th-GP, $45K, Msw, 3yo/up, 5fT, post time: 2:41 p.m. ET UNCLE GEORGE (Uncle Mo), a $310K acquisition out of the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-Bred Sale, gets his career started for Jump Sucker Stable and trainer Christophe Clement. The bay colt is a half-brother to fellow Empire-bred Epping Forest (Exchange Rate), who defeated open company at first asking sprinting five furlongs over the Belmont turf and was runner-up in the 5 1/2-furlong Coronation Cup S. at the Spa in 2017. Uncle George's dam was a...

It's a French word, applied to a young woman of attractively boyish features. But the naming of Gamine (Into Mischief) appears to reflect a less elfin quality; to suggest something closer to the power and masculinity of the "tomboy." For here is a young female with all the assertive virility of her barnmates Charlatan (Speightstown) and Nadal (Blame), who followed in her scalded prints when also scoring on the final card of the Oaklawn meet 10 days ago. The two colts, of course, won a division apiece of the GI...

As Honor A. P. (Honor Code) was gearing up for his career debut at Del Mar last summer, owner Lee Searing had some fun with trainer John Shirreffs while inquiring about a potential rider for his stunning $850,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling acquisition. "I asked John, it wasn't like I didn't know, and said, 'Who are you going to be putting on this big horse,'" Searing said of the veteran conditioner widely known for playing his cards close to his vest. "He said, 'Well, I don't know Lee.' As we got...

When the balance of power shifts anywhere, one side or another usually makes a move to regain equilibrium. It's the way of the world, the yin and the yang of natural order. In Avengers, a film based on Stan Lee characters from Marvel Comics, a guy named Nick Fury, head of S.H.I.E.L.D., acts to save the earth from an outside threat by recruiting a bunch of superheroes, including Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, and Thor. There's a self-named version of this group in racing now, and they're part of...