Claret Beret
GI Apple Blossom heroine Claret Beret (Not This Time) died Friday from a possible cardiac event after returning from a morning work at Palm Meadows, according to her trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.. The Not This Time mare completed the four-furlong breeze (:49.55) normally and returned to the barn, where she apparently suffered a medical incident and passed away. It was her third work since collecting her first elite-level win in the Oaklawn Park marquee for older fillies and mares. "Claret Beret unfortunately passed away at the barn," trainer Saffie Joseph...
In theory, we're in the lull between Kentucky Derby and Preakness excitement, but the Belmont Big A meeting will host a chance for a spot in New York's marquee event in June as colts assemble Saturday for the GIII Peter Pan Stakes. Chad Brown is no stranger to jumping a talented maiden winner straight into the graded ranks, and that's what he's doing with Growth Equity (Nyquist) for owner Klaravich Stables. The colt kicked off his career last July in Saratoga with a runner-up effort against a field which yielded...
When Alvin Haynes passed away in 2014, his son Mitch wasn't exactly sure what to do with the handful of mares and foals his family had inherited. While Haynes had accompanied his father to the races over the years, he had never taken a real interest in the sport. But as he began to oversee the family's equine holdings, a genuine curiosity took hold. By the following year, he was at Keeneland purchasing a mare of his own. That single acquisition has elevated Haynes to the rank of Grade I-winning...
While there isn't a definitive path yet, next-race plans are pending for GI Apple Blossom Handicap victress Claret Beret (Not This Time), according to trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. The Florida-based mare has since returned to the Sunshine State. She posted a 105 Beyer figure in her upset over champion Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) Apr. 11 and her final time of 1:42.21 was the fastest running of the race since Horse of the Year Havre De Grace in 2011. Her speed figure is the highest in the country this year for a...
Predictably, last week's Grade I stakes for fillies and mares generated the week's highest Beyer Speed Figures. 6 - KAPOOR, KEE, 4/8/26, Allowance, about 7 furlongs (Video) Beyer Speed Figure - 94 (f, 4, by Uncle Mo--Kareena, by Medaglia d'Oro) O/B-Godolphin. T-Bill Mott. J-Junior Alvarado. Mott is exercising his trademark patience with the Godolphin filly, shepherding her through her conditions (maiden, allowance, allowance, allowance) and a resulting four-race win streak by a combined margin of 20 3/4 lengths. But now we'll almost certainly see Kapoor show up next in stakes...
So this week it was Not This Time who landed two big punches: a 13th career Grade I scorer, Claret Beret, in the Apple Blossom Handicap; plus the Grade II prize named for his own sire Giant's Causeway, through In Our Time. If Not This Time and Into Mischief are going to slug it out all year long, they will of course be drawing on the same well--each extending a different branch of Storm Cat. How do you trademark that horse's legacy? Well, a couple of years ago we tapped...
Miller Racing's Claret Beret (Not This Time) hit the front at the top of the Oaklawn Park stretch and refused to be pulled back by a charging Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) to win the GI Apple Blossom Stakes, a 'Win and You're In' for this year's GI Breeders' Cup Distaff at Keeneland. The now 5-year-old mare has shown a remarkable uptick in form since being claimed by Saffie Joseph Jr. just about one year. Since winning her first start for him at Gulfstream, a $70,000 handicap race by 19 3/4 lengths,...
The cars scooting along on the nearby Pennsylvania Turnpike may have little from a speed standpoint on Saturday's GI Pennsylvania Derby in Northeast Philly, as the pace looks to be very much on and that could help those with stalking or closing ability in the final age-restricted Grade I of the season around two turns. But make no mistake: speed has been king--by and large--in the $1-million contest over the past dozen years or so. The Bob Baffert-trained Bayern (Offlee Wild)--next-out winner of a much-discussed GI Breeders' Cup Classic--future champion...
It's been a long time between drinks for Vahva (Gun Runner), the 2024 GI Derby City Distaff Stakes winner whose last career win came exactly a year ago in the Chicago Stakes at Churchill Downs, when it was a Grade III event. Upgraded to Grade II this year, the Chicago Stakes was targeted by Vahva's connections after the now-5-year-old made no impact in this year's edition of the Derby City Distaff. Irad Ortiz, Jr. kept her a little closer to the pace than usual in the Chicago, as she tracked...