Horse Racing

Between them, they won two Japanese Horse of the Year titles, three additional divisional awards and four major races on foreign soil. Late Sunday evening, Lys Gracieux (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) was represented by her first foal when she produced a colt by the brilliant Maurice (Jpn) (Screen Hero {Jpn}). Trained by Yoshito Yahagi and carrying the green-and-white colours of Carrot Farm, Lys Gracieux retired to stud in 2019 after winning seven of her 22 trips to the post, four of which came at the highest level. The dark bay,...

The 'Wild West Bonus,' offering a $1-million payday to the connections of any horse that is able to win the $400,000 GI Santa Anita H. Mar. 6, the $300,000 GI Gold Cup at Santa Anita May 31 and the $750,000 GI TVG Pacific Classic at Del Mar Aug. 21, was unveiled Monday morning by officials at Santa Anita Park and the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. Any horse that manages a sweep would take home a total of $1,870,000. Each of the three events is contested over the Classic distance of...

This Saturday, Steve Kornacki, a national political correspondent for NBC News, will compile and study reams of data and make informed decisions. But he won't be trying to figure out if the numbers say that Joe Biden Jr. will beat Donald Trump in Pennsylvania or anything else politically related. His main concern will be who is going to win the feature at Gulfstream Park. Kornacki is well known to NBC and MSNBC viewers and political junkies. For hours before and after each election, stationed in front of an electoral map,...

Favored at 9-5 while making her return to stakes company in Saturday's Suncoast S. at Tampa Bay Downs, Breeze Easy's Curlin's Catch (Curlin) split horses decisively at the entrance to the home stretch and powered clear to score by daylight. Beaten for speed in a scratched-down field of seven, the Ontario-bred raced slightly worse than midfield through the opening stages with a couple of rivals behind. Ridden quietly down the backstretch, she caught the eye when rallying between rivals three furlongs out, took an inside path into the lane and...

There is quite a lot of marriage material in the name and family of 3-year-old winning filly Postnup (f, 3, Declaration of War--I'm Engaged, by Broken Vow). Is the proposal of a "postnup" somehow related to a declaration of war? Hopefully not. According to Google a "postnup" is "a legally binding contract--entered during the marriage, as opposed to a prenup--that spells out who gets what portion of specified assets and how liabilities are shared in the event of a divorce." So it is more like a treaty, and treaties, among...

For years a top player on the National Horseplayers' Championship (NHC) tour, Sally Goodall claimed her first NHC title in 2020, earning 22,330 points to just edge Dylan Donnelly. Goodall's early-season surge--she had secured two spots in the NHC by March--and consistency throughout 2020 saw her outfinish Donnelly, a five-time contest winner, by just 54 points. Goodall's husband Richard won the NHC title in 2008 and was inducted to the NHC Hall of Fame last February. The couple freely admits that they schedule their year around the NHC, held annually...

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 Chukyo and Tokyo Racecourses: Saturday, February 6, 2021 6th-TOK, ¥11,400,000 ($108k), Newcomers, 3yo, 1800mT JOYOUS CHANT (c, 3, Kitten's Joy--Sweet Chant, by Distorted Humor) cost $140K as a weanling at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton November sale, and the fact he was...

Saturday's 12-race program at Gulfstream Park, topped by Greatest Honour (Tapit)'s powerful victory in the GIII Holy Bull S., set a new record for handle for the program. Total handle on the afternoon was $21.87 million, eclipsing the previous record of $19.775 set in 2017 and surpassing last year's total handle by 20%. "It was a wonderful day of racing, and we want to thank the fans and the horsemen for supporting our program," said Aidan Butler, Chief Operating Officer of 1/ST Racing. "Congratulations to Greatest Honour and all of...

The silks of the late Prince Khalid Abdullah's Juddmonte Farms were already set to be carried aboard US raider Tacitus (Tapit) in the $20-million Saudi Cup (1800m, dirt) Feb. 20, and the breeding operation will also be represented by Derevo (GB) (Dansili {GB}), after the former Sir Michael Stoute galloper arrived in the nick of time to take out the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup (2000m, dirt) Saturday at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh. The 340,000gns Tattersalls Autumn Horses In Training acquisition just touched off the commonly owned...

Gainesway Stable's White Frost (Candy Ride {Arg}), impressive in winning her turf and two-turn debuts to close out her freshman campaign, rates a slight edge in what appears a wide-open renewal of the GIII Sweetest Chant S. Saturday at Gulfstream Park. A debut fourth to $1-million KEESEP yearling Zainalarab (War Front) at Belmont Sept. 18, the homebred was a distant second in the slop Oct. 31 before parlaying a perfect, ground-saving trip into a a 1 1/4-length graduation at Aqueduct Nov. 21. The form of that race was franked when...

King Abdulaziz Racetrack in the Saudi capital of Riyadh plays host to the $266,667 Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup (King's Cup) Saturday afternoon, a 10-furlong affair that will produce a handful of runners for the second running of the $20-million Saudi Cup in three weeks' time. Scars Are Cool (Malibu Moon) won three of his 13 starts in the colors of Sagamore Farm and fetched $175,000 from Saudi Arabian interests during the Horses of Racing Age section of the Fasig-Tipton July Sale last summer. The Florida-bred was well-beaten...

We watched him grow up before our eyes. Authentic (Into Mischief), freakishly talented, but prone to--well--mischievous behavior during the early part of 2020, was a finished product by year's end and his on-track accomplishments landed him Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old honors at Thursday's Eclipse Awards. The ceremonies were held virtually, fittingly enough and among other locations, at Spendthrift Farm, who campaigned the Peter Blum-bred son of Flawless (Mr. Greeley) in partnership with the 5300-some micro-share holders of MyRaceHorse Stable, Madaket Stables LLC and Starlight Racing. And Authentic...