Horse Racing

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 10th-DMR, $70K, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2f, post time: 9:07 p.m. ET CORNICHE (Quality Road) topped this year's OBS April Sale on a bid of $1.5 million from Peter Fluor and K.C. Weiner's Speedway Stable and has drawn gate 10 as the 9-5 favorite Saturday at Del Mar. The son of six-time GSW and GI Matriarch S. runner-up Wasted Tears (Najran) was led out unsold on a bid of $385,000 at KEESEP last year, but turned in a smooth sales breeze in :10 flat to become...

At the completion of Wednesday's card, all-sources handle for the Saratoga meet stood at $709,437,410, which was enough to set an all-time handle mark for the historic race meet. After Wednesday, there were still five days left to the meet, which means the final handle number will shatter all records. The previous handle record was set in 2019, when $705,343,949 was wagered. With fans not allowed on-track last year due to COVID-19 concerns, the 2020 handle came in at $702.5 million. "The record-breaking handle numbers reflect the quality of racing...

Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt's Yaupon (Uncle Mo--Modification, by Vindication), who became his sire's ninth Grade I winner with a tenacious victory in the Forego S. at Saratoga Aug. 28, will enter stud at Spendthrift Farm for the 2022 breeding season. The 4-year-old has the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint at Del Mar as his long-term objective before retiring to the stallion barn. Trained by Steve Asmussen, Yaupon was victorious in his first four career trips to the post, including Saratoga's GII Amsterdam S., clocking 1:08.50 for the six furlongs, and the...

Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing's Silver State (Hard Spun), who had a six-race winning streak snapped with a third-place effort behind Knicks Go (Paynter) in the GI Whitney S. Aug. 7, going remain at the nine-furlong distance for the GI Woodward S. Oct. 2 or could cut back to Belmont's one-turn mile for the GII Kelso S. Sept. 25. The 4-year-old has already shown an affinity for the latter track and trip, having made the GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. the last of his half-dozen victories in a...

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 Kokura, Niigata and Sapporo Racecourses. It could be a good weekend for Into Mischief and for his son Practical Joke, who is to be represented by one of his first-crop runners in Group 3 company Sunday at Kokura: Saturday, September...

4.27 ParisLongchamp, Debutantes, €27,000, 2yo, c/g, 8fT CHANCELLERY (IRE) (Medaglia d'Oro) starts out for Godolphin and Andre Fabre three months after topping the Arqana Breeze Up Sale at £675,000. From the family of Aljabr (Storm Cat), the March-foaled bay meets Hypotenus (GB) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), the Wertheimers' full-brother to the G3 Prix d'Aumale scorer Soustraction (Ire) and a half to the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac runner-up Matematica (Ger) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}) who debuts for their trainer Carlos Laffon-Parias. 4.30 Dundalk, Mdn,  €12,000, 2yo, 6f (AWT) NEW YORK CITY...

Duramente (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}--Admire Groove {Jpn}, by Sunday Silence), Japan's champion 3-year-old colt of 2015 and the country's leading first-crop sire in 2020, passed away Tuesday after being struck by a case of acute colitis. He was just nine years old. Duramente, whose dam was Japan's champion older mare of 2004 and whose granddam Air Groove (Jpn) (Tony Bin {Ire}) took home Horse of the Year honours in 1997, never finished outside the top two in nine career starts, winning five of those, including the 2015 G1 Satsuki Sho...

5th-Louisiana Downs, $22,000, (S), Msw, 8-30, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 1:06.90, ft, 9 1/2 lengths. DROP DEAD SEXY (f, 2, Unified--Half a Notion, by Half Ours) became the sixth winner for her freshman sire (by Candy Ride {Arg}) with a dominant debut display. Bet into 49-10 from a morning line of 6-1, the $15,000 KEESEP yearling was driven through by Alexander Castillo to take up the running after a furlong and led narrowly into the turn with three pursuing her from the outside. She began to assert five-sixteenths of a...

Electric Ride (f, 2, Daredevil--Why Oh You, by Yes It's True) stormed home through the final furlong to earn 'TDN Rising Star' honors on her Del Mar unveiling Saturday afternoon. Sent off at odds of 23-5 beneath an in-form Joe Bravo, the Indiana-bred bay broke alertly and took up a pace-pressing position from second through an opening quarter-mile that was timed in :22.19. Appearing to have front-running Gritty Girl (Street Boss) when she wanted, Electric Ride poked her head in front at the five-sixteenths pole, was shoved on entering the...

I read with interest the article about using speed figures to "flag" trainers who may be using performance enhancing drugs. Whereas it may be a useful tool to focus on which trainers to keep an eye on, we should not jump to conclusions too hastily : there are plenty of other reasons a trainer might frequently improve a horse he has received. He may have treated the horse for ulcers, any physical discomfort ranging from the cervicals to the sacro iliac, improved his shoeing, or just given him more work...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 1st-SAR, $100K, Msw, 2yo, 1 1/16mT, post time: 11:35 a.m. ET Though there are more fashionable pedigrees on display for the Saturday opener at the Spa, DAUNT (Nyquist) may present longshot players something to grab on to. Owned and bred by Marc Keller and trained by Bobby Ribaudo--who teamed to win back-to-back renewals of the GI Sword Dancer Invitational in 2007 and 2008 with Grand Couturier (GB)--the February-foaled dark bay is the first produce for his dam Promotional (Artie Schiller), third in the GIII Rood...

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 Sunday running at Kokura and Niigata Racecourses: Sunday, August 29, 2021 5th-KOK, ¥13,400,000 ($122k), Newcomers, 2yo, 2000mT PEACE FINE (c, 2, Gun Runner--Status Pending, by Tale of the Cat) is out of a stakes-winning half-sister to MSW & GSP Rock Candy (Mineshaft), GSP...