Heartland

WinStar Farm's Heartland, a 'TDN Rising Star' son of Justify out of the Cat Thief mare Sambuca Classica and a half-brother to Classic Empire, sired his first reported foal on Friday, Jan. 16, when a colt out of I Love Nola (Champali) was born at Katierich Farm in Midway, Ky, the farm announced Friday. The colt, whose dam is a half-sister to stakes-placed Love Boot (Storm Boot), the dam of stakes winner and graded stakes-placed Made to Love Her (Steve Wonderboy), and hails from the family of multiple stakes winner...

Steve Kornacki is more than the political junkie who, for years, has had a way of explaining things when it comes to elections that help make everything make sense. He does so by turning statistics into an easy-to-understand formula and displaying his findings on an interactive map that is known as the big board. But Kornacki sometimes needs a break from politics, and he has found one in horse racing. It's been his passion since his uncle started taking him to the harness races at Scarborough Downs in Maine. He...

WinStar Farm's first-year stallions Cogburn (Not This Time), 'TDN Rising Star' Timberlake (Into Mischief), and 'TDN Rising Star' Heartland (Justify) have each had their first mares checked in foal, the farm announced Friday. For more information on Cogburn ($30,000 S&N), Timberlake ($20,000 S&N), and Heartland ($10,000 S&N), visit the WinStar Farm website here.  

With breeding sheds opening last week across North America, farms have been quietly preparing stallions for the demanding months ahead of them. All jokes about them having the best jobs aside, stallions have to be ready for a marathon during breeding season. It's not simply a matter of bringing stallions up from fields and expecting them to be ready to cover a full book of mares over the ensuing months. Perhaps that may work for small operations where a stallion covers a handful of mares all season, but for the...

Edited Press Release WinStar Farm will host an Open House for breeders each day from Jan. 12-15, between 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The open houses will be held at the farm's stallion complex on Paynes Mill Road in Versailles. Visitors are welcome without an appointment during those times to view the WinStar roster for the 2025 season, led by Constitution and Life Is Good. Breeders will also be able to see WinStar's newest additions for the breeding season: Eclipse Award finalist for Champion Male Sprinter Cogburn (Not This Time),...

With 'TDN Rising Stars' Sierre Leone (Gun Runner) and Fierceness (City of Light) extending their rivalry into 2025, and the GI Kentucky Derby winner also persevering to a third campaign, there's no denying that the new intake of Bluegrass sires has a fairly bunched look. A cluster of second-tier names can duly compete for mares that might otherwise have favored one of the sophomore leaders, with eight of the 23 newcomers targeting broadly similar budgets between $40,000 and $30,000. Whether that qualifies any of them as "value" can only be...

WinStar Farm will host open houses at the farm beginning Nov. 6 and running through Nov. 15 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the farm's complex on Paynes Mill Road in Versailles. No appointment is necessary to inspect the WinStar stallions for 2025, headed up by Constitution and Life Is Good, in addition to two of WinStar's newest stallions, Heartland (Justify) and Timberlake (Into Mischief). Heartland, a 'TDN Rising Star', is a son of Justify and a half-brother to Classic Empire. Heartland flashed his brilliance in a head-turning career...

Chad Brown never arrives at the Breeders' Cup with a weak hand. But for a trainer who has won 19 Breeders' Cup races, this could be the best team he's ever sent to the Cup. His ammunition includes horses like Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), the 3-year-old filly sprinting sensation Ways and Means (Practical Joke), Turf miler Carl Spackler (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) and one of the top 2-year-olds in training in Chancer McPatrick (McKinzie). Joining us on this week's TDN Writers' Room Podcast presented by Keeneland, Brown went through...

Constitution (Tapit) continues to lead the roster at WinStar Farm and will stand the 2025 season for $110,000 S&N alongside Life is Good (Into Mischief) who will stand for $75,000 S&N, the farm announced Monday. The roster will be fortified further by new additions Cogburn (Not This Time), who will make his next start in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint with a stud fee to be announced after the race; Timberlake (Into Mischief), who will stand for $20,000 S&N; and Heartland (Justify), who will stand for $10,000 S&N. "We...

One-for-one Heartland (c, 3, Justify--Sambuca Classica, by Cat Thief), whose debut maiden victory in 2023 stamped him as a 'TDN Rising Star' under Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, has been retired from racing and will stand at WinStar in 2025. His introductory fee will be $10,000 S&N. "One might ask, 'Why stand a maiden winner?'," said WinStar President, CEO, and Racing Manager Elliott Walden. "Well, he looks the part, he's by Justify, and he's a half-brother to Classic Empire. It makes perfect sense to us because we know what we...

When Hall of Famer Bob Baffert debuts a well-bred 2-year-old colt at Del Mar's summer meeting, the horse racing world pauses to pay attention. Taking money opposite the MyRacehorse entry of A Day to Remember (American Pharoah), Heartland (Justify) proved his mettle with a near last-to-first effort to become the newest 'TDN Rising Star'. Off at 4-5 as the gates opened, the race looked like it may be over for the colt before it even began when Heartland ducked to the inside in the opening strides and nearly unseated jockey...

7th-SAR, $136K, Msw, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 3:52 p.m. Leading off a group of well-related maiden colts at the Spa, DORNOCH (Good Magic), the full-brother to this year's GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage, finally gets to debut after failing to draw in as a main-track only entry last week. A $325,000 Keeneland September yearling, the Danny Gargan trainee recorded a four-furlong work from the gate in :46 2/5 July 22, the best of 119 at the distance. The dam, herself a stakes-winning and graded-stakes placed 'TDN Rising Star', is a half...