Churchill

The start of the Flat season may be more than two months away but there is already plenty of interest in the freshman sires of 2021, and Darley's Profitable (Ire) has been made 3/1 favourite by Fitzdares to take the championship. Ed Guiver, Head of Racing for Fitzdares, said, "We love pricing this market, which would be impossible to price were it not for the Weatherbys Stallion Book used alongside the Weatherbys Return of Mares. "It was hard to split the front four in the market but Profitable by the...

The wait is very nearly over for the young pretenders we will examine in this fourth installation of our multi-part Value Sires series: stallions with their first runners in 2021. While the full verdicts must be delayed until these are given a fair shake with their first full seasons with 2- and 3-year-olds, the reality is that the first juvenile races in the coming months will be akin to a perpetual Christmas morning in the bloodstock world, with each of us eager to unwrap the packages we have been examining...

The coronavirus pandemic may have come into full force halfway through the 2020 covering season but, generally, breeders appear to have stuck to their plans and carried on with their matings. The total number of coverings did drop slightly to 19,961 (from 20,819) with 19% of the mares in production being sent to a stallion with a book in excess of 200. This year, according to the recently published Return Of Mares from Weatherbys, there were 17 stallions in Britain and Ireland in that bracket, 12 of which are standing...

6th-Churchill Downs, $84,814, Msw, 10-25, 2yo, f, 1 1/16m, 1:44.85, ft, 1/2 length. CLAIRIERE (f, 2, Curlin--Cavorting {MGISW, $2,063,000}, by Bernardini), given a 7-2 chance for trainer Steve Asmussen in this unveiling, was four wide into the first turn and remained under restraint despite showing some eagerness to get on with it early. Three wide on the far turn, she began to close on the leading pack, headed by the Norm Casse-trainee Super Quick (Super Saver). Fanned out eight wide turning for home, the bay inched ever closer to the...

NEWMARKET, UK—On a day when Kingman (GB) was given the ultimate boost by being announced as the first suitor of Enable (GB), one of his sons played a leading role in the first session of Tattersalls October Book 2, following on from some notable returns during last week's Book 1. Godolphin has already had its share of success with the progeny of Kingman, notably through Group 1-winning colts Persian King (Ire) and Palace Pier (GB), and Anthony Stroud added another by the sire to Sheikh Mohammed's string for next year...

Italy's Societa Gestione Aste held its one-day select yearling sale in Milan on Saturday, with two fillies bringing six figures. A total of 147 youngsters were catalogued with 130 offered after outs, and 84 of those sold for a clearance rate of 64.6% and an aggregate of €1,651,000. The average was €19,655, and the median €11,000. Predictably given the economic climate, figures took a hit from 2019 when 83 yearlings grossed €2,423,000. The average and median had both experienced huge jumps last year to €29,193 and €18,000, respectively. A first-crop...

KILDARE, Ireland-The Goffs sales year got off to a relatively low key start on Tuesday as the first session of the two day February Sale got underway. Yearlings were the order of the day and it was a handsome son of Coolmore stallion Churchill (Ire) who topped proceedings when selling to leading pin-hooker and breeder Ciaran Conroy of Glenvale Stud for €82,000. This price failed to match the corresponding top price of €120,000 from 2019 but nevertheless trade more or less mirrored last year with 154 of the 237 offered...

Magic Dance (More Than Ready), the TDN Rising Star who stumbled at the start of the GII Adirondack S. at Saratoga Sunday, sustained a bone bruise in her left front leg in the incident and will be off for an undetermined amount of time, according to her trainer, Steve Asmussen. "It was a result of the stumble that she had in the Adirondack which broke the skin in the back of her left front ankle," said Asmussen from Saratoga Friday morning. "It was quite a significant stumble. She actually burned...

When stablemates Bricks and Mortar (Giant's Causeway) and Robert Bruce (Chi) (Fast Company {Ire}) first met in the June 8 GI Manhattan S. at Belmont, division-leading Bricks and Mortar got the jump while Robert Bruce was stuck in some midstretch traffic, and kicked away to a 1 1/2-length conquest. Saturday, the two will reconvene at Arlington Park for the 37th running of the GI Arlington Million, where Robert Bruce will be defending his title after taking home last year's Million trophy. Klaravich Stables and Bill Lawrence's Bricks and Mortar, four-for-four...

Trainer Chad Brown brings a three-pronged attack in the latest renewal of the GI Fourstardave H., headed by a pair of Grade I winners--Uni (More Than Ready), winner of the GI Matriarch at Del Mar last December and GI Hollywood Derby victor Raging Bull (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}) on the same weekend. Since those victories, Uni has added another victory to her resume in Belmont's June 29 Perfect Sting S., while Raging Bull finished fourth in both Keeneland's Apr. 12 GI Maker's 46 Mile S. and the nine-furlong GI Turf...

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Today's Observations features the debut of a full-brother to Churchill and Clemmie. 5.15 Curragh, Mdn, €17,500, 2yo, 7fT PARADISO (IRE) (Galileo {Ire}) is a full-brother to Churchill (Ire) and Clemmie (Ire) who may be down the Ballydoyle pecking order if jockey bookings are to be believed. Seamie Heffernan takes...

Tracy Farmer's Perfect Alibi, a beaten favorite last out, made amends in a big way when prevailing in a roughly-run renewal of the GII Adirondack S. Sunday at Saratoga. An impressive first-out victress May 16 at Churchill when dusting a field of maidens by 9 1/2 lengths, the $220,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga pickup was shipped to Belmont for the June 6 Astoria S. and ran in spots before coming up three-quarters of a length short to debuting 'TDN Rising Star' Maryanorginger (Strong Mandate). Let go as the distant third choice here...