Jeff Mullins

Four of the six 2-year-old runners in Saturday's GI American Pharoah Stakes at Santa Anita had graded stakes experience, but it was one of the two maiden winners making his stakes debut who came home with the victory and secured a 'Win and You're In' spot for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Del Mar in four weeks time. Intrepido (c, 2, Maximus Mischief--Overly Indulgent, by Pleasantly Perfect), named a 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' in his Aug. 23 Del Mar win, rated and showed fight in between horses...

The Saturday opener at Del Mar featured two of the sexier pedigrees in the entire 2025 crop of 2-year-olds in the form of Provenance (Into Mischief), the first foal to the races out of two-time Eclipse Award winner Monomoy Girl (Tapizar), and Plutarch (Into Mischief), a son of fellow champion 3-year-old filly Stellar Wind (Curlin). But in the end, it was Intrepido (r, 2, Maximus Mischief--Overly Indulgent, by Pleasantly Perfect) who stole the show, repelling a wide bid from 1-2 Provenance and shooting clear to score by 3 1/4 impressive...

After being a frequent face in the graded ranks since last April, class relief in the Listed Osunitas Stakes at Del Mar provided Medoro (Honor Code) with her moment in the sun as she rolled by runners late to score. Twice placed at the elite level, the Honor Code filly was last seen Dec. 25 in the GI American Oaks where she ran third behind MGISW She Feels Pretty (Karakontie {Jpn}) and GISP Kathrynmarissa (American Pharoah). Before that she'd missed winning Santa Anita's GIII Autumn Miss Stakes by a nose...

Queen Maxima (Bucchero) is a 'princess' in the barn but a 'tiger' on the track in the estimation of trainer Jeff Mullins, who registered his first graded-stakes victory beyond the borders of California since 2017 when the Florida-bred 4-year-old filly overwhelmed her rivals in Friday's GIII Unbridled Sidney Stakes at Churchill Downs. The final time of 1:01.29 establishes a new course record, despite significant rainfall that resulted in a downgrade of the turf from firm to good for the 5 1/2-furlong dash. A filly speedy enough to make the running,...

Queen Maxima (Bucchero) validated odds of 1-5 in Saturday's GIII Monrovia Stakes down the hill at Santa Anita, winning for the fourth time in succession and for the fifth time in her eight career starts. Making her graded stakes debut following a facile success in the restricted Wishing Well Stakes over the flat six-furlong course on Feb. 22, the $40,000 OBS June graduate was last to load and first out of the gates and, having shown versatility in terms of running style, was allowed to make the running beneath leading...

Queen Maxima, featured earlier this week on these pages and last seen Jan. 23 registering a facile 3 1/2-length score versus allowance company on the downhill turf course here, put forth a similar display over a sixteenth shorter in her return to stakes competition in Saturday's Wishing Well Stakes at Santa Anita. Second last Sept. 28 in the Unzip Me Stakes to Toupie (Uncle Mo), who proved victorious in the GIII Las Cienegas Stakes Jan. 19, Queen Maxima, sent off at 3-10, drubbed her five foes after biding her time...

A bevy of horses pre-entered in next weekend's Breeders' Cup at Del Mar worked Saturday at Santa Anita. Out in force were horses trained by Bob Baffert and Phil D'Amato, who combined pre-entered 18 horses to the 41st Breeders' Cup. D'Amato worked all eight of his Breeders' Cup pre-entrants. One Magic Philly (Good Magic) (Filly & Mare Sprint), winner of the GIII Chillingworth Stakes last out, and Vodka With a Twist (Thousand Words) (Juvenile Fillies), second in the GI Del Mar Debutante, worked in company. One Magic Philly was clocked...

In the race named after America's sweetheart, it was Sugar Fish (Accelerate--Madiera Park, by Langfuhr) who saved her best stride for the stretch and took home her second piece of graded Arcadian hardware in the GII Zenyatta Stakes. A modest auction buy with modest beginnings, the former $40,000 maiden claimer has risen through the ranks on a noticeably sharp incline, having sailed through her conditions since breaking her maiden Mar. 29 by 10 lengths, and finally finding herself the 9 3/4-length GII Summertime Oaks victress by June 8. Stepping up...

10th-Del Mar, $77,500, Msw, 8-10, 3yo/up, f/m, 5fT, :57.42, fm, 1 3/4 lengths. QUEEN MAXIMA (f, 3, Bucchero--Corfu Lady, by Corfu), off at a firming 5.70-1 while making a belated first trip to the races, overcame a couple of spots of adversity to post an extremely impressive victory in the Saturday finale at Del Mar. Drawn the fence, the $40,000 OBS June graduate bombed the start and was clearly last early before making some ground to be about midfield into the turn. Traveling strongly and full of run passing the...

Sugar Fish (f, 3, Accelerate--Madeira Park, by Langfuhr), the longest shot at 5-1 in a short field of four, looked to lose all chance when she tumbled out of the gate as the sophomore fillies were sent on their way Saturday in the GII Summertime Oaks at Santa Anita. She immediately lost at least three lengths on the field in the first few seconds and trailed as early fractions were clocked in :23.80 and :47.41. Previously unbeaten Jane Austen (Tapit), like Sugar Fish trying stakes company for the first time,...

   In this series, the TDN takes a look at notable successes of European-based sires in North America. This column is highlighted by the victory of Pipsy during the Belmont at the Big A meeting in New York. Pipsy Soars In New York  Pipsy (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), who races for Woodford Throughbreds, LLC, earned the first graded win of her career in the GIII Soaring Softly S. during Belmont's spring meeting at Aqueduct on Sunday (video). Trained by Will Walden, the filly is now three-for-four. The Noel Finegan-bred was a...

Every week, the TDN publishes a roundup of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky. Here's a primer on how each of these jurisdictions adjudicates different offenses, what they make public (or not) and where. The TDN will also post a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA)-related rulings from the same week. These will include decisions from around the country. California Track: Santa Anita Date: 06/16/2023 Licensee: Ian Kruljac, trainer Penalty: $1,000 fine...