Churchill Downs
Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency CLEMENT UNVEILS PHAROAH FILLY 4th-GP, $45K, Msw, 3yo, f, 1mT, 2:15p.m. West Point Thoroughbreds' UNDER THE OAKS (American Pharoah) makes her career bow Saturday for Christophe Clement. She is the first foal out of stakes winner and GISP Maybellene (Lookin at Lucky) and hails from the family of MGSW sire Elusive Quality (Gone West). The bay worked a bullet on the turf at Payson May 4, going five panels in 1:01 2/5 (1/4), and most recently breezed a bullet four panels in :49 3/5 on...
'TDN Rising Star' Mia Mischief (Into Mischief) looks to win her fourth straight race and first at the graded level since capturing last term's GI Humana Distaff in Saturday's GIII Winning Colors S. back beneath the Twin Spires. Closing out her 2019 campaign for the Heiligbrodts with a five-length victory in the track-and-trip Dream Supreme S. Nov. 1, she went through the ring at Fasig-Tipton a few days later, selling to Stonestreet Stables for $2.4 million. Barbara Banke returned the bay to the care of Steve Asmussen and she won...
The Jockey Club, the Breeders' Cup and the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association have filed Amicus Curiae briefs supporting the rights of Churchill Downs and Keeneland to prohibit Lasix in races for 2-year-olds. The two Kentucky tracks are being sued by the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, which is seeking a temporary injunction that would stop the tracks from instituting so-called house rules that cover the Lasix ban. The three groups have asked the court to deny the injunction. The news of the filing of the briefs by the industry groups...
John C. Oxley homebred Beautiful Memories (f, 2, Hard Spun--Sky Dreamer, by Sky Mesa) was hammered down to 2-5 in her Churchill Downs unveiling Thursday, and ran to the money with a 'TDN Rising Star' performance. She was working bullets at the Casse Training Center, including a four-furlong warning shot from the gate in :46 3/5 (1/16) May 2, and wasn't much of a secret here. Hustled to the front from her inside draw, she was on the engine through an opening quarter in :22.00. The chestnut began to separate...
Though he won one of two races for 2-year-olds held last week at Churchill Downs, trainer John Hancock had hoped to do better. A day after the filly Hopeful Princess (Not This Time) broke her maiden, stablemate Cuz (Ironicus) finished seventh in a maiden race for juvenile colts. Hancock said he believes the reason Cuz didn't fare better was because he was, under new rules in place at Churchill, not allowed to run on Lasix. "[Cuz] is an exceptionably nice colt," Hancock said. "We scoped him and he showed signs...
Ken and Sarah Ramsey extended their record number of Churchill Downs wins with their milestone 500th victory at the Louisville oval Sunday. The Ramseys, the all-time leading owners at Churchill Downs ahead of Overbrook Farm in a distant second with 206 victories, won Sunday's third race with Spanned (Arch). The Nicholasville, Ky. couple have won a record 32 owners' titles at Churchill: 13 Spring Meet championships, 15 Fall Meet championships and four September Meet championships. "We've won a lot of races for the Ramseys over the years," trainer Mike Maker...
Godolphin's Maxfield (Street Sense) exited his victory in Saturday's GIII Matt Winn S. in fine shape, according to trainer Brendan Walsh. Plans for the handsome colt's next start are still undecided. "I have just been thinking all along to go one race at a time with this colt," Walsh said. "We'll talk it over with the Godolphin team and plan for our next target, whatever that may be." Maxfield's win in the Matt Winn took his lifetime record to a perfect three-for-three and earned him 50 points on the Road...
Making his first start since winning the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity in handsome fashion nearly eight months ago and his first since undergoing surgery to have ankle chips removed, Godolphin's Maxfield (Street Sense) finished with a flourish down the center of the Churchill Downs main track to take Saturday's GIII Matt Winn S. over a game Ny Traffic (Cross Traffic). 'TDN Rising Star' Pneumatic (Uncle Mo) was a creditable third after arguing the pace in his graded stakes debut. The victory, worth 50 points, on the road to September's GI...
Dunbar Road, last year's GI Alabama S. winner, did herself no favors at the start, but asserted her superiority just the same to kick off her 4-year-old season successfully. Guided to the rail at the back of the pack following a stutter-step start, the bay scraped paint while biding her time under stout Jose Ortiz restraint before coming off the fence and creeping closer midway down the backside. She started to rev up leaving the home bend, and swept up to take a narrow advantage after six panels in 1:13.06....
Sharing picked up her sophomore season where she left off last term with a victory in the Tepin S. at Churchill Downs. Tracking from fourth through a :24.16 opening quarter and a :48.39 half, Maryland bred swept up two wide on the backstretch, took control in early stretch and held off a late bid from Abscond to win by 3/4 of a length. Pass the Plate rounded out the trifecta. A close-up third in her career bow at Saratoga last July, the chestnut earned TDN Rising Star honors with an...
4th-Churchill Downs, $75,368, Msw, 5-23, 3yo/up, f/m, 1m, 1:36.12, ft ALTAF (f, 3, Medaglia d'Oro--Fawaarek, by Smart Strike) was seventh beaten four lengths when unveiled over the Gulfstream grass Apr. 2, but was installed the 5-2 favorite here switching surfaces and circuits. Towards the back of the pack early behind swift splits of :22.58 and :45.62, the bay checked off of heels heading into the home bend but quickly gathered herself back up to pick off rivals out in the clear. She caught the eye past the quarter pole while...
Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 7th-CD, $79K, Msw, 3yo/up, 1m, 4:08 p.m. ET SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables and Fred Hertrich III's BEACON HILL (Blame) debuts for trainer Rodolphe Brisset. The dark bay, who realized a $500,000 final bid at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling sale, was the highest priced yearling out of 27 sold by his sire in 2018. Dam My Mammy, already responsible for the colt's full stakes-winning sibling Sweet Victory and stakes-placed Ferdinanda (Giant's Causeway), is a half-sister to Grade I-winner Bandini (Fusaichi Pegasus) and Group 3...