Chad Brown

With Saratoga opening, NYRA TV Analyst and Handicapper Andy Serling will be ultra busy over the next seven plus weeks, spending countless hours on every card as he tries to pick winners and give his viewers valuable betting advice. But he's not complaining. It's hard to imagine anyone who loves Saratoga more. To talk about the meet, Serling joined the team on this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland. Serling, who has been attending the meet on a regular basis since 1975, was the Green Group Guest of...

After a close battle with his brother through the final days of the 40-day spring/summer meet at Belmont Park, jockey Jose Ortiz secured the leading riding title on Sunday at the Belmont oval, finishing the meet just one win ahead with 59 total victories. Ortiz celebrated his 12th overall meet riding title. He was also the leading rider on the NYRA circuit in 2016, 2020 and 2021. Ortiz closed out the meet with a record of 246-59-44-38 and total purse earnings of $4,921,926, putting him at a win rate of...

A pair of Grade I events for 3-year-olds on grass will co-anchor a loaded 12-race program at Belmont Park Saturday. European invader The Foxes (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}), a narrow winner of the G2 Dante S. May 18 and fifth-place finisher after stumbling at the start in the G1 English Derby June 3, will make the trip across the pond for trainer Andrew Balding for the GI Belmont Derby Invitational. The 7-2 morning-line favorite, drawn widest of all in post 11, will square off against 10 rivals, including GII Pennine Ridge...

In this series, the TDN takes a look at notable successes of European-based sires in North America. This column is highlighted by the victory of Fev Rover in the GII Nassau S. at Woodbine. Gutaifan Mare Takes Second Canadian Grade II The G1 1000 Guineas-placed Fev Rover (Ire) (Gutaifan {Ire}) added her third group/graded win to her resume with an open-length victory in the Nassau S. for Tracy Farmer and trainer Mark Casse (video). Bred by Manister House Stud, the 5-year-old was a £20,000 Goffs UK Premier yearling turned 695,000gns...

Trudy Veinot's Dreamcatcher consignment makes its second auction appearance in the Fasig-Tipton July Sale of Selected Yearlings and, while a son of Gift Box (hip 107) is the veteran horsewoman's sole entry in the sale, she is excited about the colt's prospects in the ring Tuesday. Veinot, a transplanted Canadian now living in Lexington, purchased the colt for $30,000 at last year's Keeneland November sale. "I liked his frame," Veinot said of the weanling's appeal. "There wasn't a lot of meat on those bones, but there was a beautiful frame....

Ellis Park will host its first Grade I race in its 100-year history Saturday, but there are plenty of other graded stakes scheduled before the Fourth of July at Belmont Park, Delaware Park, Woodbine Racetrack and Gulfstream Park. Here's a rundown of what's on tap. Showdown in Belmont's Dwyer One of two graded stakes on Saturday in Elmont is the GIII Dwyer S. Going a mile, the race pits Fort Bragg (Tapit), who was forced to scratch from the GI Woody Stephens S. by trainer Bob Baffert when the 3-year-old...

Last year's champion female sprinter Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper), a luckless third as the heavy favorite in the GI Derby City Distaff S. May 6, stayed out of trouble this time and was along in time for a narrow success in Saturday's GII Bed O' Roses S. at Belmont Park. Drawn on the fence, the 1-4 chalk broke on top and dropped back to caboose the tightly bunched field of five beneath the hot-handed Irad Ortiz, Jr. through an opening quarter in :22.90. Traveling nicely approaching the quarter pole, Goodnight Olive...

1st-Belmont, $90,000, Msw, 6-17, 3yo/up, 6fT, 1:08.74, fm, 3/4 length. MISCHIEVOUS ANGEL (g, 3, Into Mischief--Sabrina's Angel, by Scat Daddy), the only first-time starter in the field and the 2-1 selection with a $600,000 purchase price, spotted the field a step at the break and had only a single rival behind him through a half mile in :45.26. He began to make up ground as the leaders hit the far turn and tipped out to be five wide with room to run at the top of the stretch. Pacesetter Beer...

4th-ELP, $120K, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 3:16 p.m. OXO Equine's BALTA (Munnings), a $685,000 '23 OBSMAR purchase who went :9 4/5 during the under tack show, debuts Saturday for Paulo Lobo. The 2-year-old chestnut colt's family tree includes GISW Cupid (Tapit) and is a half-brother to SW Opus Forty Two (Mendelssohn). Opposing him will be fellow firster, trained Kenny McPeek, Northern Flame (Flameaway), who brought $425,000 at the Fasig-Tipton August sale last year. Also entered is D. Wayne Lukas trainee Just Steel (Justify), who went for $500,000 at the '22...

While the $150,000 Pegasus S. (more on that below) serves as the local feeder into next month's GI TVG.com Haskell Invitational S., the graded events on Saturday's Haskell Preview Day at Monmouth Park are set to mark the seasonal debuts for a pair of Chad Brown-conditioned Grade I winners from last term as well as a 'TDN Rising Star' from the same shedrow looking to kick start what connections hope will be a productive 4-year-old campaign. Peter Brant's Gina Romantica (Into Mischief) makes her first appearance since taking out the...

2nd-ELP, $120K, MSW, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 2:20p.m. BC Stables's Cowboy Code (Into Mischief) gets a start for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas. Bred by Aaron and Marie Jones, the grey was a $1-million yearling purchase out of the Taylor Made Sales consignment at Keeneland last September. Out of Not In Jest (Unbridled's Song), the filly is a granddaughter of MGISW Stop Traffic (Cure the Blues). OXO Equine's Balta (Munnings) debuts for trainer Paulo Lobo. Working sharply at The Thoroughbred Center, the half to SW Opus Forty Two is...

First Row Partners and Team Hanley's Prerequisite went wire-to-wire to take the rescheduled GII Wonder Again S. in just her third career start at Belmont Park Sunday. Sent off at 7-1, the bay filly rushed up to take the lead into the first turn and she was tracked by Spansive (Karakontie {Jpn}) through fractions of :23.67 and :47.94 in a strung-out field down the backstretch. She scampered away into the lane and was clear in upper stretch, but was all out to hold off the late-closing Be Your Best. "I...