Horse Racing
When trainer George Leonard III began training horses in 1991, his stable was represented by two winners that earned a grand total of just over $5,000 combined. The conditioner's 15th winner of 2021, California Angel (California Chrome), earned a check better than 20 times that amount in Wednesday's GII JP Morgan Chase Jessamine S. at Keeneland, coming with a strong finishing kick over the top of rivals to give Leonard III his first stakes victory of any variety while securing a fees-paid berth into the field for the GI Breeders'...
Trainer Hideyuki Mori will send four Japanese-based American-bred horses under his care to the Breeders' Cup, according to the Daily Sports newspaper, including 2-year-old colt Jasper Great (Arrogate), who became the first Japanese winner for his late sire (by Unbridled's Song) with a victory over the past weekend. Mori has become an active buyer at American bloodstock sales and acquired Jasper Great for $200,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearling Showcase. The half-brother to GISW Power Broker (Pulpit) and SW Fierce Boots (Tiznow) was sent off at debut odds of...
Peter Brant's Blowout (GB) (Dansili {GB} gave trainer Chad Brown his fourth consecutive victory in Keeneland's GI First Lady S., leading every step of the way to just stave off a final-furlong rally from the commonly owned 'TDN Rising Star' Regal Glory (Animal Kingdom) to punch her ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Del Mar Nov. 6. Empress Josephine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire} x Lillie Langtry {Ire}) ran with merit to be third. Blowout was kicked straight into the lead by Flavien Prat from an outside...
Bell's the One stamped her ticket to the Breeders' Cup with a gritty score in the TCA at Keeneland Saturday. Heavily favored here, the bay trailed the field through a :21.57 opening quarter. Making an eye-catching move on the backstretch, she launched a five-wide bid turning for home to put herself in contention and fought her way past her foes in mid-stretch, edging clear to score. "She's one of the best mares, if not the best horse, I've ever had," trainer Neil Pessin said. "The only thing I regret with...
Looking to rebound off a disappointing and well-backed seventh in the G1 Coolmore Nunthorpe S. at York Aug. 20, Golden Pal (Uncle Mo) was made to work for it up front, but he found an extra gear in the final furlong and came away to a relatively easy victory in Saturday's GII Woodford S. at Keeneland. The 1-2 chalk bounced well from his low gate, but was closely followed by Firecrow (Maclean's Music), who forced the pace through an opening quarter in :21.51. The latter looked poised to strike and...
Less than an hour after Profondo (Aus) stamped his authority on the G1 Spring Champion S. at Randwick at just his third career start, 'TDN Rising Star' Command Line (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) followed suit in the G3 Saudi Arabia Royal Cup (1600mT) at Tokyo Racecourse in his second trip to the races and first appearance graduating stylishly over the course and distance June 5. Sent off the marginal favorite in advance of Sternatia (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}), a half-sister to Group 1-winning miler Stelvio (Jpn), the athletic colt was...
Mischevious Alex (Into Mischief--White Pants Night, by Speightstown), the romping 5 1/2-length winner of this year's GI Carter H. at Aqueduct, will enter stud in 2022 at the Shizunai Stallion Station on the island of Hokkaido, according to a release from the Japan Bloodhorse Breeders' Association (JBBA). Bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm, Mischevious Alex was a $75,000 Keeneland September yearling and was acquired privately by Charles Zacney's Cash Is King LLC after failing to meet his reserve at $140,000 at OBS April in 2019. A debut winner at Parx...
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 Hanshin and Tokyo Racecourses. While no Group 1 racing is scheduled for the weekend, 'TDN Rising Star' Command Line (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}--Condo Commando) makes a much-anticipate second trip to the races in Saturday's G2 Saudi Arabia Royal Cup (1800mT)...
Handicapping and turf writing legend Steve Crist joins this week's TDN Writers' Room to share how he is enjoying retirement and to discuss his thoughts on growing the game.
A quartet of horses headed towards engagements at the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar Nov. 6 were out for serious workouts Saturday morning at both major Kentucky venues. Champion Essential Quality (Tapit) worked five furlongs in the company of Ellis Park allowance winner Colonel Bowman (Curlin) just after the track opened for business shortly after 5:30 Saturday morning. The duo broke off at the half-mile pole, crossing the wire in :46.80 before completing the move around the clubhouse turn in :59.20. Essential Quality outgamed Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) to...
Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 7th-SA, $61K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, post time: 7:03 p.m. ET SIR LONDON (Malibu Moon) was led out unsold on a bid of $135,000 at the 2020 Keeneland January Sale, but improved over the next 17 months and was knocked down to agents Alex Elliott and Ben McElroy for $700,000 after breezing a furlong on his wrong lead in :10 flat (see below) at this year's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale. The priciest of 24 juveniles (32 ring) for his late sire in 2021, Sir London is a...
A diverse field of 16 short-track specialists converges on Nakayama Racecourse Sunday as Japanese Group 1 racing emerges from a three-month hiatus in the 1200-metre Sprinters' S. Koji Maeda's Gendarme (Kitten's Joy) was a Group 2 winner over a mile and Group 1-placed going 10 furlongs at two, but has gone through a renaissance of sorts since being cut back to distances between six and seven panels about this time last year. A listed winner at Niigata at seven-eighths last October, the homebred son of 2002 Sprinters' heroine Believe (Jpn)...