Jonathan's Way

Marc Wampler has been involved with racing since 1993 and currently is the racing manager and bloodstock agent for Pocket Aces Racing as well as offering similar services to private clientele. When breeding, the first thing Wampler asks his clients is whether they are breeding a racehorse or a sales horse. He says he believes it's an important initial step in the process as the pool of potential stallions to use varies depending on the answer. "If breeding to race, the stud book offers many options and an opportunity to...

There's a certain buzz that comes with welcoming a Kentucky Derby winner to a stallion roster. Bret Jones knows the feeling from when Mage retired to Airdrie Stud in 2024. This year, they're repeating the milestone with Mystik Dan (Goldencents), who arrived at the Midway, Kentucky farm three weeks ago. "We've been totally busy since we announced that we were showing him," said Jones. "Everybody wants to see a Kentucky Derby winner. Breeders are coming away impressed with not only how well he handles everything, but with what a beautifully...

Rigney Racing's Jonathan's Way (Vekoma--Female Drama, by Indian Charle), impressive winner of his first two career starts, including the GIII Iroquois Stakes, has been retired from racing and will enter stud for the 2026 breeding season at Airdrie Stud, the Lexington nursery said in a release Friday morning. Bred in Ohio by Susan Anderson, the dark bay was knocked down to John Moynihan on behalf of Rigney Racing for $290,000 as a weanling at Keeneland November in 2022, which would prove to be the highest-priced Vekoma offering of the sales...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - So far, trainer Joe Sharp has done little wrong at the Thoroughbred meet at Saratoga. If you've been following along, you know he has won six races with his first 15 starters. You might not know that he is also doing ok across the street at the harness track. Sharp has been moonlighting as a harness owner at night--along with former jockey Taylor Rice, the wife of jockey Jose Ortiz. They own a pair of pacers named Virgin Honor and Legal Bettor and they will both...

'TDN Rising Star' and GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity winner East Avenue (Medaglia d'Oro) has a chance to set things right as the Derby circus rolls into New Orleans Saturday in the GII Fasig-Tipton Risen Star Stakes, the first race on the 2025 Road to the Kentucky Derby to award 50 points to the winner. "We had a plan after the Breeders' Cup to give him six works into the Risen Star," trainer Brendan Walsh said of his Godolphin homebred. "His breeze (on Jan. 17) was really good. I had him...

With the 2025 breeding season upon us, the TDN staff is once again sitting down with leading breeders to find out what stallions they have chosen for their mares, and why. Susan Anderson is involved in every aspect of the industry as an owner, breeder, and trainer. She runs Point Of View Farm in Ohio, where she bred 'TDN Rising Star' GSW Jonathan's Way (Vekoma), who currently sits in eighth on the 'Road to the Kentucky Derby' leaderboard with 15 points. Anderson shares her 2025 mating plans, including for her...

We're inside the 13-week mark to the GI Kentucky Derby with no seismic changes to the running order at this early stage of the season. The rankings are fairly evenly distributed among contenders based on both coasts and in Kentucky, Arkansas and Louisiana. 1) FIRST RESORT (c, Uncle Mo-Fair Maiden, by Street Boss). O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Eoin G. Harty. Lifetime record GSW, 4-2-1-0, $338,671. Last start: WON Nov. 30 GII Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes. First Resort's 6-1 win in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes Nov. 30 rated as the most visually...

Preparing to make their sophomore debut in the GII Risen Star Stakes on Louisiana Derby Preview Day, both Jonathan's Way (Vekoma) and East Avenue (Medaglia d'Oro) breezed at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots Saturday. The nine-furlong Kentucky Derby prep will award 50-25-15-10-5 Derby points to the top five finishers. Firing the bullet for his trainer Phil Bauer, Rigney Racing's Jonathan's Way breezed 5/8ths in 1:00.20 on Saturday, going in company with stablemate Kalahari Dreams. "[Jonathan's Way] sat right off of him going away from the pole," Bauer said of...

Rigney Racing's 'TDN Rising Star' Jonathan's Way (Vekoma) breezed an easy five-eighths of a mile in 1:03 1/5 Monday morning at the Fair Grounds as he continues towards his seasonal comebacker in the GII Risen Star Stakes on Feb. 15. "Mother Nature has dealt us a few different tracks (conditions-wise) the last couple of days so I was happy with the work," trainer Phil Bauer said. "I wasn't too concerned about the final time. The gallop out was very good. We are still pointing to the Risen Star as our...

We're inside the 16-week mark for the May 3 GI Kentucky Derby. That's roughly 168,000 minutes until post time, but who's counting? The initial Top 12 rankings are largely based on 2-year-old form, but a speculative element is baked into the equation with an eye toward projecting how these still-developing contenders will blossom over the winter and early spring. 1) FIRST RESORT (c, Uncle Mo--Fair Maiden, by Street Boss) O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Eoin G. Harty. Lifetime Record GSW, 4-2-1-0, $338,671. Last start: WON Nov. 30 GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. This...

All of us involved in this game tend to be exposed to its ups and downs on a scale proportionate to our means. That being so, there have unsurprisingly been some pretty wild extremes--for better and worse--in the story of the most lavishly funded program in its history. Just think back, for instance, to the last days of April 2001. Sheikh Mohammed had sent Street Cry (Ire) back to the United States, where he had been skillfully developed as a juvenile by Eoin Harty, with the mission of winning the...

First Resort (Uncle Mo) sat a perfect, stalking trip beneath Luis Saez and held off a late rally from the odds-on 'TDN Rising Star' Jonathan's Way (Vekoma) to give Godolphin a sweep of Saturday's graded races for 2-year-olds in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs. With the victory, First Resort collected 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. Off to a good start from his outside draw racing beneath the lights, the homebred was placed in a fantastic spot in second by Saez to press...