Del Mar

Street Sense Colt the Latest 'Rising Star' for Avengers

Murray (Street Sense), the most fancied of a trio of Bob Baffert-trained juveniles owned by the stallion-making conglomerate most easily referred to as "The Avengers" and seeking their diplomas in Del Mar's second race Sunday, blew past the buzzed-about even-money Peter Miller newcomer Drink the Wind (More Than Ready) en route to 'TDN Rising Star'-dom. The $300,000 Keeneland September yearling broke on top at 5-2 but Drink the Wind was ridden along to seize a clear lead. Murray was content to sit second under Flavien Prat and began to ratchet...

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Into Mischief Filly Rolls to 'Rising Star'-dom at Del Mar

Building on a debut second to Just Distorted (Distorted Humor) for which she earned a lofty 89 Beyer, Gainesway Stable and LNJ Foxwoods' 2-5 favorite Sea Dreamer (Into Mischief) was never out of a high gallop in graduating by 9 1/2 lengths Saturday afternoon at Del Mar to become another 'TDN Rising Star' for her incomparable sire. Smartly into stride from the two hole, the $250,000 Keeneland November weanling turned $285,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga buyback skipped along comfortably with some mild pressure to her outside through an opening quarter in a...

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Sunday's Racing Insights: Flashy Juveniles Line Up on Both Coasts

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 1st-SAR, $100K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, 1:05 p.m. Tout Ensemble (Practical Joke) makes her first start here for Chad Brown and the powerful partnership of Peter Brant, Mrs. M. V. Magnier and Mrs. Paul Shanahan. The $185,000 KEENOV weanling topped the Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale this April at 360,000gns (approximately $520,000). Click for more. A half to Group 2-placed juvenile Rebel Tale (Tale of the Cat), the May 4 foal hails from a productive female family of graded/group winners. Her dam is half to...

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Saturday Insights: Dance to the Music Looks To Validate Price Tag

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 7th-DMR, $70K, Msw, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, post time: 8:06 p.m. ET DANCE TO THE MUSIC (Maclean's Music) was a work in progress when Walnut Stream Enterprises, a partnership led by 2-year-old consignor Paul Sharp, snapped her up for a mere $40,000 at Keeneland September last fall. Seven months later, the long-striding chestnut was hammered down to Red Baron's Barn and Rancho Temescal for $575,000 at OBS this past April after breezing in a bullet :10 flat. "We were looking for horses with nice physicals...

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Homebred Smooth Like Strait Runs for More Than Mike Cannon

For obvious reasons, Mike Cannon has enjoyed the run that Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute) is on. It's not just that he's become a Grade I winner this year, has earned $933,823 in his career or that he is the morning line favorite in Saturday's GII Eddie Read S. at Del Mar. That matters to Cannon, but maybe not as much as the fact that the horse's success has allowed him to pump a large sum of money into a charity he supports, The Special Operations Care Fund (SOC-F). While...

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Level Playing Field For Eddie Read

Saturday's GI Eddie Read S. at Del Mar brings together arguably the Southern California circuit's best middle-distance horse in the form of LNJ Foxwoods' United (Giant's Causeway) and Cannon Thoroughbreds' Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute), clearly best at a mile, but who has run with merit over the nine-furlong trip as well. United, runner-up in the 2019 GI Breeders' Cup Turf over a mile and a half, made last year's Eddie Read the third of a three-race winning streak and he added a victory in the 10-furlong GI John Henry...

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Going Global Rides Hot Streak Into San Clemente

Going Global (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) looks to take her American record to five-for-five in Saturday's GII San Clemente S. at Del Mar. Breaking her maiden in her fourth and final European start, the bay captured the GIII Sweet Life S. at Santa Anita Feb. 14 in her first start for Phil D'Amato. Capturing the China Doll S. Mar. 6, she took the GIII Providencia S. Apr. 3 and was a decisive winner of the GIII Honeymoon S. May 22. Madone (Vancouver {Aus}) looks to rebound off a sixth-place finish in...

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In-Person OwnerView Conference Scheduled for Breeders' Cup Week

OwnerView will host an in-person Thoroughbred Owner Conference in Del Mar, CA on Wednesday of Breeders' Cup week, Nov. 3. Registration is now open for the event. "Our monthly virtual Thoroughbred Owner Conference series has been enthusiastically received this year with more than 1,100 registrations, so we are excited to carry this momentum forward and return to hosting a live event during the week of the Breeders' Cup," said Gary Falter, project manager for OwnerView. "We are looking forward to again offering existing and prospective Thoroughbred owners the invaluable face-to-face...

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Royal Ship Looms Large in San Diego

Fox Hill Farms and Siena Farm's ascendant handicap division contender Royal Ship (Brz) (Midshipman) figures to be tough to beat in Saturday's GII San Diego H. at Del Mar, the seaside oval's traditional prep for its marquee GI TVG Pacific Classic Aug. 21. Earning a trip to America by reeling off five consecutive open-lengths turf victories in his native Brazil, capped by a score in the G1 Estado do Rio de Janeiro, the gelding was third making his Stateside bow in the GII Del Mar Mile H. over the turf...

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Grigsby, TVG, Prepare to Put On a Show at Del Mar

Southern California native Kevin Grigsby, the Executive Producer and Senior Vice President of Television at FanDuel Group & TVG, doesn't give a lot of interviews. "It's a personal preference of mine," says Grigsby. "I love having the network speak for itself, more so than I like to speak for the network." But when the Del Mar meet opens Friday, the network will kick off a comprehensive programming schedule that includes hundreds of hours of live coverage, seven on-air talent, dozens of cameras, and new technology, and so Grigsby has come...

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Maggie Wolfendale Joins Writers' Room As Show Returns to Studio

It's been a long 16 months since the crew for the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland were all together in their actual studio to record the podcast, and they reunited at last Wednesday morning, welcoming Fox Sports and NYRA paddock analyst Maggie Wolfendale on the show to share excitement about the opening of Saratoga to fans once again and discuss how to pick winning horses based on physical appearances. "It's not even just the racetrack," Wolfendale, calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, said...

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Discounted BC HORA Nominations Due By July 15

Edited Press Release Owners of horses of racing age currently not nominated to the Breeders' Cup program can nominate their runners at discounted rates on or before Thursday, July 15 for competition in this year's Breeders' Cup World Championships, Nov. 5-6 at Del Mar. All horses must be nominated in order to compete in any of the 14 Breeders' Cup World Championship races. In addition, a Breeders' Cup-nominated horse is eligible to participate in all Breeders' Cup purse and awards programs for its entire racing career without any further nomination...

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