Golden Pal
EZ TINA (f, 2, Golden Pal-Risk Model, by Into Mischief), the priciest of dual Breeders' Cup winner Golden Pal (by Uncle Mo)'s first yearlings last year, flaunted her speed on debut Sunday at Woodbine. Favored at 6-5, she went straight to the front out of the gate, set an uncontested first quarter fraction of :23.23, did the same through a :46.22 half as Pietro Moran sat chilly, and hustled home with minimal encouragement over the all-weather surface by 4 3/4 lengths in :58.01 for the five furlongs while never threatened....
A filly by Golden Pal sold to owner/breeder Ken Ramsey for $50,000 to top the 2026 OBSOnline April "Second Chance" sale, a digital auction held Apr. 24-28 featuring horses who breezed during the Spring Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale and either scratched or failed to meet their reserve. Consigned as Hip 777 by Top Line Sales, the dark bay filly is out of the Point of Entry mare Expect an Entry, a half-sister to stakes winner Becky's Exchange (Exchange Rate). The filly breezed in :10 flat during the under-tack show. Expect...
2nd-Keeneland, $69,210, Msw, 4-24, 2yo, f, 5 1/2fT, 1:03.38, fm, 6 1/2 lengths. MORE CHAMPAGNE (f, 2, Golden Pal--Wildcat Gaze, by Wildcat Heir) debuted as a 6-1 shot here after a pair of scratches reduced the field to five. Running into fractions of :21.26 for the first quarter and :45.06 for the first half, the filly gained ground on favorite Shining Moment (Golden Pal) and Extravaganzoo (Golden Pal). The 2-year-old began to target Shining Moment inside the final furlong, raced a touch green as she passed the leader and poured...
1st-AQU, $86k, Alw/Opt. Clm., 4yo/up, f/m, 1mT, 1:10 p.m. ET MATILDA (GER) (Soldier Hollow {GB}) belied odds of 25-1 to defeat the boys in last year's G2 German 2000 Guineas at Cologne in May for owner/breeder Volker Kaufling and was purchased privately thereafter by Peter Brant. Subsequently turned over to Francis-Henri Graffard, the bay filly was as short as 6-1 facing older females in the G1 Prix Rothschild at Deauville in August, but finished well down the field in 10th behind the very talented Fallen Angel (GB) (Too Darn Hot...
Surviving a lengthy objection, And One More Time (Omaha Beach) returned to winning ways with a gate to wire victory in the Plenty of Grace Stakes. Making only two starts last season, the optional claiming contest in mid-September at Woodbine was her first start since she won that venue's GI Natalma Stakes almost a year prior in 2024. Her second, and final jump, as a 3-year-old was a runner-up effort in the Dec. 13 Tropical Park Oaks to 2026 GII Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational victress Destino...
The final day of the under-tack preview show ahead of next week's Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training finished up with a trio of :9 3/5 marks, including one set by the very first horse to work. The filly (hip 1221), by Airdrie Stud's Girvin, was a $165,000 Keeneland September grad last year for CMT Rentals and is out of a Curlin half-sister to GSW Celestial City (Uncle Mo). Consigned by Top Line Sales, she counts GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner Cy Fair (Not...
The first runner and winner for freshman sire Golden Pal (by Uncle Mo), SKARA BRAE (Golden Pal--Mince, by War Front) was installed for her debut as the 2-5 favorite here. The filly exited the gate in good order and proceeded to make every pole a winning one. Running free down the lane, the 2-year-old won by 4 1/2 lengths over Crossfire (Goldencents). On Wednesday at Keeneland, owners Ten Broeck Farm had the first winner for freshman sire Life Is Good, and they also campaigned Kimari (Munnings) who in took home...
Just finished reading the top picks for the juvenile sires (Who Will be the Leading Freshman Sire of 2026? and More Predictions), and rubbing more than two nickels together over calling Essential Quality as top second-crop sire and having clients with mares already under that horse, I thought I would take a crack at the 2023 sires. Top Pick: Life Is Good ($60,000, WinStar) The classic Into Mischief-over-Distorted Humor has proven to be a winner and that nick will unabashedly continue to produce runners. The horse was fast, and his...
A pair of juveniles from the Top Line Sales consignment led the penultimate OBS March under-tack show session Friday with a Drain the Clock filly (hip 508) and a Golden Pal colt (hip 598) sharing the co-fastest furlong breeze in :9 3/5. Setting the mark first of the two, the day's fastest-working colt was one that Top Line's Jimbo Gladwell admitted they stretched on to acquire for $275,000 at the Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga Select Yearling Sale last August. "He had size and a beautiful walk [at Saratoga]," Gladwell said....
G2 Prix Saint-Alary heroine Birthe leads four other wildcards for Arqana's Vente d'Elevage catalogue, which takes place from December 6-9. The daughter of Study Of Man, also second in the G2 Prix de la Nonette, will sell as lot 248E. All five will sell during the first session on Saturday, December 6. Samibaya (Wootton Bassett) (lot 248B) is a half-sister to dual group winner and Classic hopeful Samangan (Blue Point), as well as listed winner Simeen (Lope De Vega). The trio's dam is a half-sister to G1 Prix de Diane,...
2nd-Belmont The Big A, $80,000, (S), Msw, 10-24, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 1:16.77, ft, 2 1/4 lengths. PANTHERIAN (c, 2, Vekoma--Big Thrill, by Big Drama) and Wamo (Yaupon) went at each other for most of this New York-bred maiden, and the Stewards ultimately had to step in to reverse the running order. After a shoe repair in the paddock, Wamo brushed with the off side stall at the jump but recovered well enough to place himself right in the middle of a duel for the lead. Pantherian traveled from four off...
It's rare for a racehorse to have the same exercise rider for his entire career. It's almost unheard of for one rider to have been with a horse since the first time a saddle was on his back. But such is the case for Breeders' Cup hopeful Nakatomi (Firing Line). Jose Hernandez was the first person to ride the Grade I winner when he was just a yearling at Wesley Ward's farm, and five years later, he's still the one galloping him each morning at Keeneland. From the first time...