Brad Cox
Once she got to the lead in the lane, they couldn't reel her back in, and Destino d'Oro (Bolt d'Oro) sailed home much the best in the GIII Pucker Up Stakes at Ellis Park. The Brad Cox runner started her career as a juvenile at Kentucky Downs in late August last season, and went back to front in a maiden special to win by 2 1/4 lengths. Deep in the field behind her were two next-out winners and GSW Will Then (War of Will). She tried a similar tactic Oct....
7th-SAR, $110K, ALW, 3yo/up, 6f, 4:36 p.m. ET. MIDLAND MONEY (Shancelot) was pinned with a 'TDN Rising Star' after the colt won by six lengths to start his career as a juvenile at Santa Anita June 14. Not seen since, the Bob Baffert trainee who shipped from Del Mar is one of seven foals for his dam and her second winner. TJCIS PPS 4th-ELP, $100K, Msw, 2yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 2:16 p.m. ET. Godolphin homebred Infinite Sky (Not This Time) makes the races for trainer Brad Cox. The dark bay...
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - There was no head scratching at the end of Friday's fourth race at Saratoga. At least not from the winners. The $100,000 maiden special weight for 2-year-old fillies went to the aptly named Scratch It (Tapit), who was virtually ignored at the windows. She was allowed to go off at 12-1 odds in the 1 1/8-mile race on the Inner Turf. She was the second longest price on the board in the field of eight. At the end, Scratch It had gone gate-to-wire and won by...
4th-Saratoga, $100,000, Msw, 8-1, 2yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 1:45.83, fm, 1 1/4 lengths. SCRATCH IT (f, 2, Tapit--Carolyn's Cat {MGSW, $307,415}, by Forestry), nearly the longest shot on the board at 12-1, was sharp from the middle of the gate and led the field into the first turn dogged throughout by Miss Picky (Uncle Mo). The two held a narrow advantage over a three-wide wall of challengers just behind as the opening half went in :51.04. Hugging the rail around the far turn, Scratch It got first jump into the...
5th-SAR, 100K, Msw, 3yo/up, f, 7f, 2:13 p.m. Shadwell's now 3-year-old METFARDEH (Into Mischief) makes her debut two years after the operation picked her up as a yearling at Keeneland September for a Book One-topping $2,300,000. Bred by International Equities Holding, the filly is out of GIII Monmouth Oaks winner Delightful Joy who retired to IEH for $700,000 at KEEJAN in 2017. Herself a half to SW/MGISP Quickick (McKinzie), she's produced three winners from three to race led by GII Summertime Oaks winner Window Shopping (American Pharoah). TJCIS PPS 6th-SAR,...
4th-SAR, $100K, Msw, 2yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 2:52 p.m. ET. John Stewart's Resolute outfit went to $500,000 during Keeneland September to acquire BLUE MADAME (Dubawi {Ire}). The Chad Brown trainee is the first foal out of English & French Group 1 stakes winner Fancy Blue (Ire) (Deep Impact {Ire}), who is a half-sister to French MSW Casterton (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) and is herself out of the full-sister of dual U.S. champion grass horse High Chaparral (Ire) (Sadler's Wells). Making the races is Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale grad Scratch...
Reigning champion 3-year-old colt and 'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), second last out in the GI Stephen Foster on June 28 at Churchill Downs, worked a half-mile in :48.80 (52/167) Saturday to the inside of Secured Lender over the Spa main track. The Chad Brown runner is expected to start in next Saturday's GI Whitney Stakes, a 'Win and You're In' race for the GI Breeders' Classic in November at Del Mar. "He worked super. It was just maintenance," Brown said. "He's bounced out of the Stephen Foster...
4th-ELP, $100K, Msw, 2yo, 1mT, 2:16 p.m. ET. A $500,000 buy during Keeneland September, PIASTRI (Not This Time) gets behind the wheel for L & N Racing and Robert Zoellner. The Steve Asmussen trainee is out of SP Boule (Exchange Rate), who herself was purchased for $160,000 by Rhianon Farms at the 2020 Keeneland November Sale while in-foal with current 4-year-old filly Thorny (Violence). Boule is a half-sister to GSW Tide of the Sea (English Channel) and her own grand dam is MGISW Tates Creek (Rahy), who is responsible for...
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--The work is done. Now, Sovereignty (Into Mischief) waits for the $500,000 GII Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga Race Course next Saturday. Winner of the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont Stakes, Sovereignty's connections are confident he is ready to make his first start since that Triple Crown campaign. Saturday, morning at 7:30, Sovereignty had his final work for the Jim Dandy--and third since the Belmont--going four furlongs in 49.82 (12/41) under Neil Poznansky, the assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. Sovereignty worked by himself; in...
Winchell Thoroughbreds' Magnitude (Not This Time) went a leisurely half-mile in :51.68 (34/41) over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga Saturday morning and is being pointed for the $1.25-million GI DraftKings Travers Stakes at the Spa on Aug. 23. A $310,000 Keeneland November weanling and $450,000 Keeneland September yearling, Magnitude led every step of the way to take the GII Risen Star Stakes by 9 3/4 lengths at the Fair Grounds on Feb. 15, good for a 108 Beyer and stamping himself as a leading contender for the GI Kentucky...
Saturday at Saratoga, while stuck in Mother Nature's crosshairs, provided trainer Chad Brown a tenth GI Diana Stakes victory with Excellent Truth (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}) and saw 'TDN Rising Star' Far Bridge (English Channel) dominate the GII Bowling Green Stakes. With their charges emerging from the efforts in good shape, the connections are tentatively looking to the future. In the Brown camp, Excellent Truth's effort only served to strengthen what the conditioner already believed going into the contest--that his mare was one of the best in the country. After...
Resolute Racing owner John Stewart is making good on his promise that he posted on X this past Wednesday to offer a quarter stake in promising 'TDN Rising Star' Verifire (Authentic) when the flash sale goes live on the Inglis Digital USA platform Monday, July 14 at 2 p.m. ET. and will close Friday, July 18 at 2 p.m. ET., according to a press release from the sales company on Friday morning. "For me, it makes a lot of sense to offer this opportunity to a potential partner," said John...