In an exhibition of pure sprinting prowess, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum's Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) brought all his power to bear on his rivals on Friday to register back-to-back successes in Goodwood's G2 King George Qatar S. Despite the contrasting ground conditions to the easy turf he encountered 12 months ago and the obvious questions posed by defeat in the June 19 G1 King's Stand S. at Royal Ascot, the bay attracted heavy support as the 8-11 favourite and was in front before he had raced two...
The 17th edition of the Claiming Crown, held Saturday at Gulfstream Park, generated total handle of $10,118,000--up 0.57% from 2014 despite rainy conditions which caused four races to be taken off the turf. Gulfstream was hosting the event for the fourth year. "We're extremely pleased with the success of Saturday's Claiming Crown," said P.J. Campo, General Manager of Gulfstream Park and Vice President of Racing for The Stronach Group. "We had big fields and tremendous participation from horsemen throughout North America. We're confident the numbers would have been even more...
Buyers looking for both domestic and international-quality talent need look no further than the Fasig-Tipton March Digital Sale which opened for bidding Thursday. Maximum Bourbon (Maximum Security) (hip 5) will look to become the next Grade I winner to exit the platform. A 4-year-old gelded son of MGISW Maximum Security under the tutelage of trainer Joe Sharp, he broke his maiden by 7 1/2 lengths as the only first-time starter in a $50,000 maiden claimer at Churchill Downs in late November of last year. In his four starts since, he's...
Riley Mott, the son of Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, has come a long way in the 3 1/2 years he has been training on his own. He's already won more than 100 races and collected a pair of Grade I wins, including World Beater (Oscar Performance)'s score in last year's GI Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes. And now it looks like he'll have a starter in this year's GI Kentucky Derby. In winning the Virginia Derby, the Mott-trained Incredibolt (Bolt d'Oro) earned enough points to guarantee himself a spot in...
Rome was not built in a day. So at a time when Derby dreams can only be maintained by one horse dashing those of several others, let's celebrate a revival that should give hope to any now finding themselves obliged to retreat and regroup. This time last year Built (Hard Spun) was slithering down the sophomore pyramid. He had started out thrashing a smart horse in the Gun Runner Stakes, but each of the three subsequent Fair Grounds trials went worse. He did make Churchill on the first Saturday in...
BUILT (c, 4, Hard Spun--Sea Garden, by Curlin) twice hit the board last season on Louisiana's Road to the Kentucky Derby, second and third in the GIII Lecomte Stakes and GII Risen Star Stakes, respectively, before missing the money in two subsequent starts. Sent to the shelf in early May after disappointing in the GII Pat Day Mile, he resurfaced Dec. 18 at this venue to wrap his '25 season with a win against allowance company. Tried on the turf last out Feb. 14 to kick off his 4-year-old campaign,...