Horse Racing
Nothing can overshadow the GI Kentucky Derby, but the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks will come as close as it gets. The showdown between the brilliant 'TDN Rising Star' Gamine (Into Mischief) and the indomitable Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) could make for the most compelling race of the year. Both have been so good that it is hard to see one losing, but one must. This is the 3-year-old version of Rachel Alexandra versus Zenyatta. With Swiss Skydiver polishing off the competition once again in last Saturday's GI Alabama S., the last...
One day after Bill Finley wrote about inconsistencies in timing at a handful of racetracks in the U.S.--both big and small--in Wednesday's TDN, Pat Cummings, the Executive Director of the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation, has penned a piece of his own, explaining why accuracy in timing is paramount to the game and offering a framework for how to move forward. "The state of race timing in America is not improving as the years pass. It is getting worse," writes Cummings, who served as the director of racing information for Trakus for...
Win, Place Show, the first lottery game based on horse racing results, has officially launched with the Kentucky Lottery and is available at retailers across the commonwealth. Players are able to purchase quick-pick tickets based on the results of a live horse race each day. Races can be watched live or on replay via the Win, Place, Show mobile app available for Android and iOS devices. "We could not be more delighted to launch our first game in my adopted home state of Kentucky," said EquiLottery Games Founder and CEO...
What a name, for a mare salvaging her sire from extinction: Unicorn Girl. Certainly the faint footprint of A. P. Five Hundred on the North American breed would otherwise, by now, have been thoroughly effaced. His eligibility to compete with other sons of A.P. Indy at stud was marginal in the first place, third place in the GII Super Derby being as good as it got in a light career. And, really, he never got off the grid. After a single spring trying his luck in Florida, in 2004, he...
6th-Saratoga, $72,000, Msw, 8-15, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 1:17.55, ft. CALIBRATE (c, 2, Distorted Humor--Glamour and Style, by Dynaformer) was backed from a morning line of 5-1 to be off as the 2-1 chalk in this salty-looking Saratoga maiden and galloped home a 4 1/2-length winner for the in-form Steve Asmussen barn. Ridden for speed by first-call jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr., the $340,000 Keeneland September purchase argued the pace to the inside of the once-raced Unitedandresolute (Violence) as Restored Order (Frosted) stalked that duo from the three path. Shaken up off...
2nd-Saratoga, $72,000, Msw, 8-15, 2yo, 1 1/16mT, 1:42.55, fm. PUBLIC SECTOR (GB) (c, 2, Kingman {GB}--Parle Moi {Ire}, by Montjeu {Ire}) engaged in a battle for pari-mutuel supremacy with stablemate Polinesia (American Pharoah), a son of GSW Super Majesty that cost $800,000 at Keeneland September last fall. Off as the 2.15-1 chalk to Polinesia's 27-10, Public Sector raced with just two rivals behind him around the first turn and settled at the back of the leading group through the middle furlongs. Appearing full of run nearing the stretch, the 170,000...
3rd-Del Mar, $56,000, Msw, 8-14, 2yo, 5fT, :57.50, fm. GET HER NUMBER (c, 2, Dialed In--Fancier, by Bernstein), off at a well-backed 3-1 in a field scratched down to seven after the chilly-on-the-board Stratofortress (The Factor) got loose while parading, took up a prominent position outside of pacesetting Commander Khai (Twirling Candy) and pressed from the outside. The latter carried the lead into the lane, traveling well, and looked home inside the final half-furlong, but Flavien Prat was able to extract just a bit extra from his mount and threw...
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. With limited American-bred activity on tap for this weekend, we also look at the young progeny of American-sourced mares hitting the track at Kokura and Sapporo Racecourses: Saturday, August 15, 2020 5th-KOK, ¥13,400,000 ($125k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1200mT CYPHER (JPN) (c, 2, Fenomeno {Jpn}-Josh's Madelyn, by Quiet American) is the latest foal...
Officials at the Korean Racing Association (KRA) have announced that the country's two races open to international competition, the Korea Cup and Korea Sprint, have been postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the related compulsory quarantine measures on foreign visitors that have been implemented by the Korean government. Racing at Busan and Seoul, which takes place Friday through Sunday, was shut down beginning Feb. 28, as the government refused to permit the KRA to hold meetings behind closed doors. Other Asian racing jurisdictions, such as Hong Kong and...
Since the last edition of the TDN's Kentucky Oaks Top 10, the question has become, "How good is Gamine?" The daughter of Into Mischief followed up her explosive win in the GI Longines Acorn S. with another stellar effort in the GI Longines Test S., which she won geared down and by seven lengths over the talented Venetian Harbor (Munnings). After the defeat, Venetian Harbor part-owner Domenic Savides said it's unlikely she will contest the Oaks. That leaves three horses, Gamine, Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) and Speech (Mr. Speaker), heading the...
William and Donna Shively's Dixiana Farm is the new sponsor for the $500,000 GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, one of this country's most prestigious races for 3-year-old turf fillies. The QE II Challenge Cup Presented by Dixiana will be held on the second Saturday of Keeneland's fall meet Oct. 10. "Keeneland is pleased that Dixiana has become the sponsor of the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup," Keeneland President and CEO Bill Thomason said. "Dixiana has been a valued corporate partner through its sponsorship of other stakes at Keeneland, and...
Wooderson (Awesome Again--Lotta Kim, by Roar), a half-brother to Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra (Medaglia d'Oro), will enter stud at Burdette Thoroughbred Farm in Arkansas in 2021. The deal was brokered by Chad Schumer of Schumer Bloodstock. Bred by Dede McGehee's Heaven Trees Farm, Wooderson was a $400,000 purchase out of the 2016 Keeneland September Sale, the co-highest priced yearling for his sire in 2016. Trained by Todd Pletcher for Let's Go Stable, the bay was a three-time winner from 10 starts, including a runner-up effort to future MGISW...