Horse Racing
Pastor T (Into Mischief--Top Quality, by Quality Road), named a 'TDN Rising Star' for a 4 1/4-length debut victory at Del Mar Aug. 12, was euthanized Saturday after sustaining fatal injuries in a workout. Bred by WinStar Farm and campaigned in partnership with Siena Farm and trainer Bob Baffert, Pastor T was nearing the conclusion of his workout when he suffered the injury. Pastor T was a likely starter in the GI Del Mar Futurity. California Horse Racing Board chairman Greg Ferraro confirmed that Pastor T suffered an irreparable injury...
On a day that was supposed to be a celebration of the Grade I Travers S., a pall was cast over Saturday's card at Saratoga when two horses broke down on the card and had to be euthanized. Including racing and training, they were the seventh and eighth equine deaths during racing at the meeting. Four horses have died during training. One Saturday fatality was on the turf, the other on the dirt. Both horses were ridden by Tyler Gaffalione. Travers Day continued a very difficult stretch for horse racing,...
Some of the most highly anticipated races during the summer racing season are the 'baby' races during the boutique meetings at both Saratoga and Del Mar and at Ellis Park, which attract its fair share of high-priced offspring from a variety of top national outfits. Summer Breezes highlights debuting 2-year-olds at those meetings that have been sourced at the breeze-up sales earlier in the year, with links to their under-tack previews. To follow are the entries for Sunday at Saratoga and Ellis Park: Sunday, August 27, 2023 Saratoga 1, 2yo,...
6th-SAR, $136.5K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, 2:31 p.m. With some bullet works under her belt at Saratoga (Aug. 23, 3f, :36.00, 1/11), $475,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase SHOP LIFTING (Into Mischief) heads to the post for Team Spoor for her debut. The bay filly's dam GI Personal Ensign S. heroine Miss Shop (Deputy Minister) is a half-sister to the dam of GISW Power Broker (Pulpit) dam and GSW Trappe Shot (Tapit). She also produced GIII Miss Grillo S. winner Tin Type Gal (Tapit). Trained by Tony Dutrow, she will...
In this continuing series, we take 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 Niigata and Sapporo Racecourses: Saturday, August 26, 2023 5th-SAP, ¥13,720,000 ($94k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1700m CLARIFY (c, 2, Justify--Quote {GB}, by Galileo {Ire}) is the first foal from his dam, an €400,000 Arqana October yearling purchase by M.V. Magnier in 2017...
Mike Repole knows a thing or two about impressive Saratoga maiden winners. On the 28th of August, 2010, Repole and Todd Pletcher unleashed a son of Indian Charlie and Playa Maya (Arch) named Uncle Mo, who made a quote of 9-10 seem like a Travers Day gift when rolling home by better than 14 lengths in 1:09.21 to become a 'TDN Rising Star.' Fast forward some 4,742 days and second-generation Repole homebred Fierceness (c, 2, City of Light) put on a show of his own--one day the marquee race of...
Some of the most highly anticipated races during the summer racing season are the 'baby' races during the boutique meetings at both Saratoga and Del Mar and at Ellis Park, which attract its fair share of high-priced offspring from a variety of top national outfits. Summer Breezes highlights debuting 2-year-olds at those meetings that have been sourced at the breeze-up sales earlier in the year, with links to their under-tack previews. To follow are the entries for Saturday at Saratoga, Ellis Park and Del Mar: Saturday, August 26, 2023 Ellis...
It's a bit of Christmas in August Saturday at venerable Saratoga Race Course, which plays host to no fewer than five Grade I events for horses of all ages--on dirt and on turf--topped by the main event on the summer calendar, the $1.25-million GI Travers S. While the fields are short on numbers, they are long on quality, as three of the races have attracted reigning Eclipse Award winners, none of whom are anything close to a cinch in their respective heats. Champion and 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence) has...
Three weeks after Rich Strike (Keen Ice) shocked the racing world with an 80-1 upset of the GI Kentucky Derby last spring, winning trainer Eric Reed encountered an even bigger surprise at his Belterra Park barn: A 3-year-old filly he'd been breezing for her first lifetime start unexpectedly gave birth to a foal on May 28, 2022, without anybody being aware she was pregnant. Now 15 months later, that unraced Gio Ponti filly, Beautyatitsbest, has not only weaned her colt to health, but has overcome medical issues of her own....
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Unbeaten and hardly challenged so far through four starts, New York Thunder (Nyquist) will not be an unknown Saturday in his second visit this summer to Saratoga Race Course. New York Thunder made a grand entry on the big stage at the Spa on July 28 with a resounding victory in the GII Amsterdam S. Sent off at 11-2 in his first race on dirt, he rolled to a 7 1/2-length score under jockey Tyler Gaffalione. Though he was eased up in the stretch when the...
Connections from champions Dayatthespa (City Zip), Mind Your Biscuits (Posse) and Saratoga Dew (Cormorant) will be honored by the New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. during their Showcase Day program after the sixth race on Sunday, Aug. 27 at Saratoga Race Course, the organization said in a release Thursday. The trio were chosen by a panel of New York turf writers and represent the second class of honorees, joining last year's inaugural group of Fio Rito (Dreaming Native), Commentator (Distorted Humor), Fourstardave (Complicance), Funny Cide (Distorted Humor) and Tiz The Law...
Bidding opened Thursday, Aug. 24 at Noon (ET) and closes Tuesday, Aug. 29, at 2 p.m. (ET) for the Fasig-Tipton August Digital Sale, the organization said in a release Thursday. The catalogue features 146 horses of racing age, breeding stock, yearlings and weanlings. The offerings are located in 14 states, as well as Ontario, Canada. "This is our largest digital sale to date since launching the platform in March of 2022," said Leif Aaron, Fasig-Tipton Director of Digital Sales. "We have a particularly strong group of racehorses, as this sale...