Breeding

4th-ELP, $100K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, 2:16 p.m. ET. Peter Blum homebred ELITE (Into Mischief) makes her first start for trainer Rodolphe Brisset. Out of Flawless (Mr. Greeley), the 2-year-old is a full-sister to current sire Authentic. Also drawn in the same race is Gary & Mary West homebred Fashion Designer (Into Mischief), who is trained by Brad Cox. Her dam Beach Walk produced current sire Life Is Good and GSW Most Wanted (Candy Ride {Arg}). Woodslane bred Sister Troienne (Munnings) is a Brian Lynch trainee whose own dam is...

Bidding commenced Aug. 14 and runs until Tuesday, Aug. 19 at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m PT for the major reduction of Harris Farms on Fasig-Tipton Digital, according to a press release from the platform on Thursday. Ninety entries are catalogued as part of the reduction of leading California owner and breeder John C. Harris who participated in all aspects of the Thoroughbred business until his passing at the age of 81 in July. The reduction consists of breeding and racing stock.  Included in the catalogue are: Nu Pi Lambda (City...

The Florida breeding program has a long and proud history that we all recognize is a major component of the racing industry in the state. Traditionally, we have been the strongest of the regional (non-Kentucky) programs, ranking ahead of California and New York despite our year-round racing program not being up to par with those two locations. Yet when The Stronach Group (TSG) took control of South Florida racing years ago, that status as a third-place racing state changed as our purses and handle numbers all trended upward while New...

Last week in this new series, we put the spotlight on some of the trends--or lack thereof--among the mares that make up the Grade I-producing ranks of 2025 and spent time with multiple Grade I winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Locked (Gun Runner)'s dam, Luna Rosa (Malibu Moon). We asked her connections about her story and the thoughts behind her matings. This week, we do the same with the dams of two Grade I-winning 3-year-olds of 2025: GI Curlin Florida Derby star Tappan Street (Into Mischief) and GI Toyota Blue...

In this new series, we'll spotlight the dams and connections of some of 2025's racetrack superstars. First up, we'll set the scene by explaining our objective and search for trends, then for a curtain raiser we'll kick off the series by checking in with the dam of one of the top older horses of 2025. Tabbed to be something special from the start, 'TDN Rising Star' Locked (Gun Runner) is a multiple Grade I stakes winner and future Gainesway stallion. Grade I-Winning Trends The end of June marked the halfway...

Jay Goodwin, the former stallion sales director at Walmac Farm, will be the new account manager for Vinery Sales and Silver Springs Training, according to a press release from the sales company on Friday. Goodwin moved to Lexington in 2005 and gained sales experience through working with several top consignment agencies. He continues to own and operate his own Good Win Farm in Paris, Kentucky where he manages several client's mares and foals in addition to his own broodmare band. "Jay is a high integrity, high energy guy, with decades...

Bill duPont's program today is much smaller than it was back in the 1980s, when he stood 15 stallions across three continents. Nonetheless all his experience keeps telling in a fashion very hard to emulate for anyone now trying to fill that kind of space. Under the banner of Pillar Properties Services Inc., duPont bred GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies runner-up Vodka With a Twist (Thousand Words) from a $6,000 mare. Then there's Irish Maxima (Maximus Mischief), whose recent graded stakes breakout at Aqueduct was her eighth win in 11....

Longtime owner and breeder Deanna Manfredi has been named the new president of the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, the organization announced Wednesday. Most recently secretary of the association, she succeeds Gregory Newell who has held the role since 2019. "I haven't been a very political person, which is why this has been a long time coming," said Manfredi. "I don't have a political bone in my body. Unfortunately, we find ourselves now where our whole future, our whole program, the sport essentially, has become a political issue. Owner of Ascoli...

To adapt Shakespeare on Cleopatra: "age cannot wither him, nor custom stale his infinite variety." To be enjoying an Indian summer like this, however, Medaglia d'Oro has had to stem what often proves an inexorable tide once a stallion enters the evening of his career. For the ageism so common among breeders can be self-fulfilling. Any stallion still operating at 26 must have shown an unequivocal prowess over the years. That being so, however, he will typically have produced fashionable sons to erode his own market share. And once enough...

It's not just the horses that are called upon. Horsemen, too, must measure up to the challenges of our sport. To many, that now means rescheduling the Triple Crown series. To some of us, however, it means the very opposite. Our community was similarly divided in 2023 by the loss of two horses easing to Grade I success, right in front of the Saratoga grandstand. That trauma prompted many to demand that all dirt tracks be dug up. Others, however, urged persevering with the ancestral core of American racing so...

As you review the entries for the marquee races this weekend at Churchill Downs, namely the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks on Friday and the GI Kentucky Derby on Saturday, you'll notice a common name listed among the connections: Brereton C. Jones. Though many outside of the Thoroughbred industry will recognize the name as that of the former governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, for those within it, it's one that evokes immense pride and gratitude for a man who was a true stalwart of the sport. Sadly, Brereton--the founder and...

Precocious kid, streaks ahead of his peers, brought crashing to earth? Hang in there, boy. Because if that's pretty much where the champion juvenile finds himself, heading into the GI Kentucky Derby off a disappointing run at Santa Anita, he need not seek far for inspiration. Robert Low bred Citizen Bull (Into Mischief) with his wife Lawana from their mare No Joke (Distorted Humor), who had cost them $750,000 as a yearling at the 2017 Keeneland September Sale--just days after her half-sister Moonshine Memories (Malibu Moon) had won the GI...