English Channel

HALLANDALE, FL--Kicking off the graded stakes action on Pegasus Day, Gary Barber, Bridlewood Farm and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' Speed Shopper (Quality Road) closed stoutly from off the pace to earn her first graded stakes win in the inaugural running of the GIII Christophe Clement Stakes at Gulfstream. Arya Stark (Arg) (CosmicTiger {Arg}) popped out to the front straight out of the gate as Speed Shopper settled right behind Weighted Average (English Channel) through an opening quarter mile in :24.76. Remaining largely unchanged up front following a :50.20 half and three...

Just One More (English Channel) ran for purse-money only in the 11th race at the Belmont Big A meet Saturday after there was a scratch discrepancy between the tote system and the Talking Horses broadcast, NYRA announced. Stewards were alerted to an issue while runners were in the paddock for the race. Earlier Saturday, Just One More appeared as scratched during a portion of the morning broadcast despite not having been scratched in the tote system at any point. The stewards determined the Horacio De Paz trainee would run for...

It was overcast and foggy, but weather was not going to stop her as Daisy Flyer (Mshawish) flew home in the final yards to take the GIII Lake George Stakes at Saratoga. Sent to George 'Rusty' Arnold as a juvenile, she ran a flat eighth last summer on unveiling July 21 at Ellis Park, but produced her first inkling of the dramatic final kick in her Sept. 5 graduation at Kentucky Downs when she won the photo by a head. When her connections stepped her up into the GII Miss...

Taking the waters proved a fairly literal recreation through opening week at the Spa. Despite short fields and soggy turf, however, there were one or two sunbeams for those who relish a pedigree. 'TDN Rising Star' Far Bridge (English Channel) was scarcely a revelation in outclassing three rivals for the GII Bowling Green Stakes, his fifth graded success in his last seven starts. But his overall body of work and deeper family together demand the opportunity, someday, to extend his sire's legacy at stud. Admittedly Far Bridge's page features little...

'TDN Rising Star' Far Bridge (English Channel) toyed with three rivals Saturday and made easy work over a course labeled as yielding in the GII Bowling Green Stakes at Saratoga. One of the last runners saddled by the late Christophe Clement, the LSU Stables-owned 5-year-old, now in the more-than-capable hands of son Miguel, won his first two starts to kick off 2025 going 1 1/2 miles in the GIII Pan American at Gulfstream before shipping north to take the 1 3/8-mile GII Man O' War Stakes May 10 at Aqueduct....

During the running of the ninth race--the Mount Vernon Stakes--at Saratoga Race Course on Wednesday, the Todd Pletcher-trained SW Whatlovelookslike (English Channel) was pulled up and on Thursday the 6-year-old was humanely euthanized, according to a press release from NYRA VP of Communications Pat McKenna. The wearer of saddle cloth 10 was pulled up by jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. after sustaining an injury to the right hind. The mare was immediately attended to by on-track veterinarians, who stabilized the injury and transported the Barry Schwartz-owned runner to Rood & Riddle...

One thing is certain: there's never been a May like it. Godolphin threw down the graded gauntlet in May with such an unprecedented and historic achievement surely no one dreamed it could be possible. A Classic double in America for the operation turned into a Classic quadruple on both sides of the pond, all in the same weekend. While that feat stands tall among the month's graded races, the rest of May did its part to deliver additional drama, special moments, and superb racing. We take a look at trends...

Returning to the scene of his victory in last year's GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, LSU Stables' 'TDN Rising Star' Far Bridge (English Channel) stamped his authority on Saturday's GII Man o' War Stakes at Aqueduct, defeating his chief market rival Anglophile (English Channel) by a deceptively easy margin. The prohibitive favorite was given a dig away from the stalls by Joel Rosario to open up his early options, but when longshot Decanter (Kitten's Joy) and Capture the Flag (Quality Road) elected to go on with it, Far Bridge was...

In case anyone was worried that the turf marathon would be boring, how's your heart rate after this finish? It was a battle down to the wire, but class prevailed as MGISW Far Bridge (English Channel) made a successful 2025 seasonal bow in the GIII Pan American Stakes. Far Bridge was last seen Nov. 2 fading to ninth in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf but had come into that championship race with back-to-back elite victories under his belt in Belmont Big A's Sept. 28 GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Stakes...

LSU Stables's 'TDN Rising Star' Far Bridge (English Channel), winner of last year's GI Sword Dancer S. and GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic S., will launch his 5-year-old campaign in Saturday's GIII Pan American S. at Gulfstream Park. The Sarf family's gold-and-purple silks will also be carried by Le Mehana (Fr) (Al Wukair {Ire}) in the GIII Orchid S. two races earlier on the sensational GI Curlin Florida Derby program. Both are trained by Christophe Clement. LSU Stables--the 'L' stands for Larry and Leslie (the affable couple went on their...

MGSW Blueskiesnrainbows (English Channel) at the age of 16-year-old passed away due to complications from colic last week, Marcinda Mitchell, DVM from Sunlight Farm and Bad Boy Racing said in a Thursday press release. Blueskiesnrainbows was campaigned by Bad Boy Racing (Kelly Mitchell) and Whizway Farms (Stan Whisenant). During his racing career he was conditioned by Hall of Famers Bob Baffert and Jerry Hollendorfer. According to Equibase, Blueskiesnrainbows made 28 starts, got his picture snapped seven times and took home $672,552 in earnings. His wins on dirt at Southern California...

Class: an elusive concept, in horses as in people. That's because it refers to something inherent, something beyond external trappings. In this business, most of us will have observed how someone can be wealthy and still have no class; and also, more pleasingly, how material poverty need not diminish those human qualities that elevate a person from the mean (in every sense of that word). To whatever extent it may be heritable, then, one core indicator of class is perhaps durability itself. For that is the very opposite of the...