Horse Racing
Mendelssohn Bay (Mendelssohn), whose sire won the 2018 G2 UAE Derby by an Arabian desert in track-record time and whose broodmare sire Curlin counts the G1 Dubai World Cup amongst his conquests, stalked a good pace and kept on gamely through the final 200 metres to win Friday's G3 UAE 2000 Guineas at Meydan Racecourse. Ridden forward by Pat Cosgrave, the Bhupat Seemar stable's second string sat just outside of pacesetting Military Artist (Munnings), as that one took the Guineas field along at a decent tempo. Asked to come after...
Kabirkhan (California Chrome) continued a most improbable fairy-tale run at the Dubai Racing Carnival, as he raced prominently following a bit of a sluggish dispatch and powered home late to easily take out Friday's US$1-million G1 Al Maktoum Challenge at Meydan. The chestnut with a big white blaze--eerily reminiscent of his G1 Dubai World Cup-winning sire--was returning just a fortnight after annexing a 2000-metre handicap, and for all intents and purposes forced the hand of trainer Doug Watson. After racing for next to no prize-money while winning eight of nine...
It was an evening to remember for Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum's Godolphin team, as the worldwide operation accumulated no fewer than five statuettes over the course of the evening at Thursday's 53rd Annual Eclipse Awards Presented by FanDuel TV, John Deere, Keeneland and The Jockey Club, honoring and recognizing excellence in Thoroughbred racing. And they saved the best for last, as Cody's Wish (Curlin), whose story resonated with nearly every fan of Thoroughbred racing and beyond, was named Horse of the Year and champion older dirt male for...
8th-TAM, $53K, Msw, 3yo, 7f, 4:03 p.m. ET. Bred by Clearsky Farms, ACCLAIMED VICTOR (Omaha Beach) makes his first start for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. The $725,000 Keeneland September grad, who was purchased by St. Elias, was the third highest selling yearling in 2022 by his top five first-crop sire. Out of Color Me Flying (Distorted Humor), the 3-year-old is a half-brother to MGSP Colorful Mischief (Into Mischief), who St. Elias acquired at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Select Yearling Sale for $300,000. Acclaimed Victor's extended female family includes his...
A record $5.03 million has been allocated to the 2024 stakes schedule at Horseshoe Indianapolis, a program highlighted by the $300,000 GIII Indiana Derby and the $200,000 GIII Indiana Oaks, each to be contested Saturday, July 6, 2024. Some 42 stakes will be offered over the course of the season, which gets off to a unique beginning on Monday, Apr. 8 to coincide with Total Solar Eclipse Day. The afternoon's features include the appropriately named Dark Side of the Moon and Total Eclipse of the Heart handicaps for Indiana-bred and...
In this continuing series, Alan Carasso takes a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running at Tokyo Racecourse: Saturday, January 27, 2024 4th-TOK, ¥14,880,000 ($101k), Allowance, 3yo, 1600m SONIC STAR (c, 3, Into Mischief--Carolina Bertie, by Speightstown), a $300,000 Keeneland September purchase by Katsumi Yoshida, was a handy winner of his 1800-meter debut at Hanshin...
The winners in 10 equine and seven human categories will be revealed beginning around 7:30 Thursday evening at the 53rd Annual Eclipse Awards at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida. A who's who of the American Thoroughbred industry will be dressed to the nines as the newest group of champions is announced. Of the equine divisions--as is frequently the case--the majority feature little suspense, while there exists a fair bit of intrigue and arguments to be made for multiple horses in the older dirt male division, the female sprint division,...
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) and Daily Racing Form announced that for the second year running, the story of Cody's Wish has been voted the FanDuel Racing/NTRA Moment of the Year based on the results of nearly 4,000 votes case via Twitter in an online poll. Cody's Wish thrilled his fans, including his late namesake Cody Dorman, with a successful defense of his title in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile Nov. 4 The Moment of the Year will be recognized during the...
The Grade II, $750,000 Wood Memorial Presented by Resorts World Casino is the richest of 12 added-money events scheduled worth a combined $2.675 million for the Aqueduct spring meeting, to be held Apr. 4 through Apr. 28. NYRA has increased the purse of six stakes to be contested during the Aqueduct spring meet. Four listed events have received a $50,000 boost, including the Top Flight S., Danger's Hour S., Plenty of Grace S. and Memories of Silver S. The GIII Distaff H. and the Woodhaven S. have each been increased...
Last year, no one seemed prepared to head to the head of the class when it came to the group of 3-year-old fillies heading to the GI Kentucky Oaks. Eclipse Award winner Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief) was defeated in her two preps for the Oaks and finished out the year at 0-for-4 before being retired. Hoosier Philly (Into Mischief) failed to live up to the considerable hype and never even made it to the Oaks. The regally bred Julia Shining (Curlin) went 0-for-2 in her preps and also failed to...
Juddmonte's Laurel River (Into Mischief), last seen running out a 3 3/4-length winner of the GII Pat O'Brien S. in August 2022 for Bob Baffert, has been entered for the G3 Al Shindagha Sprint (1200m) and the G3 Firebreak S. (1600m) on 'Fashion Friday' at Meydan Racecourse Jan. 26. "Everything seems to be fine, we've gotten nothing but good reports from over there," said Garrett O'Rourke, general manager of Juddmonte USA, who confirmed that the 6-year-old stallion will take part in the shorter of the two races Friday evening. An...
Make no mistake. Even a sidelined Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro) remains the king of the hill among Hong Kong milers, if not the entire planet. The 8-year-old showed he still had plenty to give with a remarkable first-up performance from a terrible draw in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile Dec. 10, and the horse he beat that day, Voyage Bubble (Aus) (Deep Field {Aus}), showed that his effort was anything but a one-off, outlasting Beauty Eternal (Aus) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) in Sunday's G1 Stewards' Cup at Sha Tin Racecourse....