Godolphin

'TDN Rising Star' and GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity winner East Avenue (Medaglia d'Oro) has a chance to set things right as the Derby circus rolls into New Orleans Saturday in the GII Fasig-Tipton Risen Star Stakes, the first race on the 2025 Road to the Kentucky Derby to award 50 points to the winner. "We had a plan after the Breeders' Cup to give him six works into the Risen Star," trainer Brendan Walsh said of his Godolphin homebred. "His breeze (on Jan. 17) was really good. I had him...

4th-FG, $55K, Msw, 3yo, f, 6f, 2:30 p.m. ET. A $1.15 million buy for Mike Rutherford during Keeneland September, BUNDLE (Volatile) makes her debut for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. Bred by Three Chimneys, the gray is out of MGISW Love and Pride (A.P. Indy), who is responsible for a pair of stakes winners in Princesinha Julia (Pioneerof the Nile) and Bella Runner (Gun Runner). Bundle's third dam, GISW Cara Rafaela (Quiet American), produced generational sire Bernardini (A.P. Indy). TJCIS PPS 4th-GP, $94K, Msw, 3yo, 1m, 1:47 p.m. ET....

Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) launches his 7-year-old campaign in defence of his title in Saturday's US$2.5-million G3 H.H. The Amir Trophy in Qatar, where he will face seven other rivals that own nothing close to the resume amassed by the Godolphin homebred. Having defeated a pair of Japanese raiders, including the third-placed and re-opposing Satono Glanz (Jpn) (Satono Diamond by {Jpn}) by a convincing three-length margin 12 months ago, Rebel's Romance landed Group 1s in Hong Kong, Germany and America, where he took out the GI Breeders' Cup Turf...

3rd-TAM, $53K, Msw, 3yo, f, 7f, 1:50 p.m. ET. MEURSAULT (Tapit) is set for her first start under the care of trainer Chad Brown for Alpha Delta. A $700,000 Keeneland September buy, the filly is out of unraced Lasy W (War Front), who claims one other foal--a yearling filly by Quality Road. The first-time starter's second dam, GI Acorn Stakes heroine Zaftig (Gone West), is also responsible for MGSP Spinoff (Hard Spun). Joining Meursault at the barrier is homebred Smoothly (Nyquist). Godolphin also campaigned her dam Via Strata (Street Cry...

When the winners of the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards, which are sponsored by Godolphin, were announced, anyone who knew the story of Julianne Stowell could not have been surprised that she won the "Newcomer Award." It wasn't just that she was thriving as the Client Relations Manager at Niall Brennan Stables, it was how far she had come in such a short time to land that position. Six years earlier, she was locked up at the Lowell Correctional Institution in Ocala, Florida. When it came to her future, she felt...

8th-GP, 94K, Msw, 3yo, f, 6f, 3:49 p.m. Debuting for Flying Dutchmen Breeding and Racing and trainer Brian Lynch, SHRED THE GNAR (Into Mischief) is a full-sister to MGSW/MGISP Owendale. Purchased for $610,000 at FTSAUG in 2023, the filly is out of a Bernardini half-sister to GI Lane's End Breeders' Futurity winner Great Hunter (Aptitude). This is the family of champion 3-year-old filly Stellar Wind (Curlin). Just to her outside, Kapoor (Uncle Mo) is a Godolphin homebred out of a Medaglia d'Oro half-sister to Japanese MG1SW Mozu Ascot (Frankel {GB})....

From Godolphin's 12 starters in 10 renewals of the GI Kentucky Derby, favored Essential Quality (Tapit)'s promoted third-place finish following Medina Spirit (Protonico)'s medication disqualification in 2021 has been the best result to date. With four serious contenders--all homebreds--on target for upcoming Kentucky Derby preps and fresh off a fifth consecutive Eclipse Award as outstanding owner, could this be the year for Sheikh Mohammed's powerhouse global operation? "We've been there before and we've had chances," Godolphin USA Director of Bloodstock Michael Banahan said. "Who knows what's written in the stars,...

We're inside the 13-week mark to the GI Kentucky Derby with no seismic changes to the running order at this early stage of the season. The rankings are fairly evenly distributed among contenders based on both coasts and in Kentucky, Arkansas and Louisiana. 1) FIRST RESORT (c, Uncle Mo-Fair Maiden, by Street Boss). O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Eoin G. Harty. Lifetime record GSW, 4-2-1-0, $338,671. Last start: WON Nov. 30 GII Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes. First Resort's 6-1 win in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes Nov. 30 rated as the most visually...

Godolphin homebred First Conquest (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}) made it three wins on the bounce after claiming the G3 Dubai Millennium Stakes sponsored by Emaar at Meydan on Friday. The victory was the 12th for a Godolphin runner in the race named after one of their former top-liners, who sired only one crop of foals before succumbing to grass sickness. Allowed to be the rear marker as Dolayli (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) led the way out of the chute and onto the backstretch, the bay proved a touch keen for the first...

The royal blue silks of Godolphin have been carried to victory a record 11 times in the G3 Dubai Millennium Stakes sponsored by Emaar, and on Friday, it is the task of First Conquest (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}) to make it a dozen such wins. A debut winner at Newmarket last April, the bay is on a two-race winning streak, having claimed a handicap there in July, before making his 4-year-old bow a winning one in an 1800-metre turf handicap over this course on Jan. 10. "First Conquest won impressively on...

NEWMARKET, UK -- It's not everyday you see an order of nuns at Park Paddocks but the sisters from the Community of Our Lady of Walsingham were a very welcome presence and appeared to be enjoying their outing to Tattersalls.  Spotting showing legend Katie Jerram-Hunnable riding around the walking ring on the late Queen Elizabeth's 23-year-old Barbers Shop (GB) was another Tattersalls first and, for the royalists among us, the initials 'ER' on the great chaser's paddock sheet were a poignant throwback.  Whether it was the nuns' influence or not...

Darley nominations manager Eamon Moloney has shared the high opinion that Charlie Appleby has held Opera Ballo (Ire) (Ghaiyyath {Ire}) in all winter and revealed that the colt's impressive victory at Kempton on Wednesday has resulted in a slew of calls from breeders either side of the Irish Sea booking in mares to his sire.  Opera Ballo, who fetched €600,000 at the Arqana August Yearling Sale, won the same Kempton maiden that Appleby landed with subsequent 2,000 Guineas hero Notable Speech (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) last year.  The wide-margin win, which...