Justify

3.18 Nottingham, Mdn, 2yo, f, 5f 8yT SENORITA BONITA (IRE) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) topped the Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale at 900,000gns and debuts for Victorious Forever and Simon and Ed Crisford in the maiden won in the last three years by Zelaina, Leovanni and Beautiful Diamond. Jaber Abdullah's Queen Of Christmas (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) also makes her debut, with the Karl Burke-trained €305,000 Arqana Deauville October purchase a half-sister to the Listed-winning dam of last year's Prix du Moulin de Longchamp hero Sahlan (Wootton Bassett).   5.40 Curragh, Mdn, 2yo,...

4th-CD, 125K, O/c, 3yo, f, 1m, 2:15 p.m. 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' MASHALLAH (Maxfield) earned an eye-popping 106 Beyer Speed Figure in her Keeneland debut going six furlongs for Brendan Walsh Apr. 23. That form was flattered when the third-place runner from that field, In Scope (Gun Runner), went on to earn the 'Rising Star' moniker herself in her next start May 22. Jockey Tyler Gaffalione takes over the ride from Joel Rosario Saturday from the far outside gate as the $1.25-million OBS March grad stretches out against...

Pop quiz: what do 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify and Atomic Blonde, dam of last week's GI Preakness Stakes winner Napoleon Solo (Liam's Map), have in common? Both are by Scat Daddy, both were bred by the Gunther family, and both were raised at Glennwood Farm near Versailles, Kentucky. Justify and Atomic Blonde also have something else in common with a number of other Glennwood-bred and -raised Grade I winners such as Vino Rosso, Tamarkuz, First Samurai, and Stevie Wonderboy. "We do tend to raise some good chestnuts on this...

Coolmore's Scandinavia (Justify) has undertaken Ballydoyle's tried-and-trusted route towards next month's G1 Gold Cup and last term's G1 St Leger and G1 Goodwood Cup hero backed up his win in last month's Listed Vintage Crop Stakes on seasonal return with a workmanlike performance in Friday's G3 Saval Beg Levmoss Stakes at Leopardstown. "This was the perfect race to bridge the gap [to Royal Ascot] and we'll get more serious as we go along," said Aidan O'Brien. "He's a big, relaxed horse and we couldn't be happier really. Ryan [Moore] was...

Craig Bernick's $220,000 Keeneland November graduate Nola Soul (Justify) is quite some way from being the finished article, but overcame greenness to secure an ultimately impressive debut success and a TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard, rosette in Friday evening's Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden at Leopardstown. The seven-furlong heat's recent winners include Italy (Wootton Bassett), Scorthy Champ (Mehmas), Deepone (Study Of Man) and Alfred Munnings (Dubawi), and he becomes the 13th Rising Star for his sire. "He was just about ready to start there today, he's a nice horse...

1st-SA, $65K, Msw, 3-5yo, 6f, 4:00 p.m. ET. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has an uncoupled entry with 3-year-old Sir Davis (Justify) and 4-year-old Pecos River (McKinzie). The former was a $450,000 Keeneland September grad, while the latter went for $750,000 at the 2024 OBS March sale. Out of MSW Lovely Syn (Freud), Sir Davis is a half-brother to MSW Love in the Air, who was purchased by Japan's Dr. Masatake Iida for $425,000 during the 2023 Keeneland November sale while in foal to Life Is Good. As for...

SOARING HIGH (f, 3, Curlin--Songbird {Ch. 2-year-old Filly, Ch. 3-year-old Filly, MGISW, $4,692,000}, by Medaglia d'Oro) made her second try a winning one when she turned in a sterling campaign opener on the Kentucky Oaks undercard Friday afternoon. The Cherie DeVaux trainee was unveiled beneath these Twin Spires last September, and ran midpack in a field that yielded Kentucky Oaks contender GSW Counting Stars (Honor A.P.) and SW Coco Connect (Connect). She went on the shelf after that effort and returned to the public worktab Mar. 26 at Keeneland when she...

Following the example of stablemate Charles Darwin in the preceding race at Navan on Saturday, Scandinavia (Justify) kept to the script when making a winning return in the Listed Vintage Crop Stakes. Sent off the 11-10 favourite for the 14-furlong contest used by Ballydoyle for many years for their star stayers such as Kyprios, Order Of St George and Yeats, last year's St Leger and Goodwood Cup hero waited behind the leading duo early. Sent forward by Ryan Moore to gain the edge approaching the furlong pole, the leading player...

3.05 Navan, Listed, 4yo/up, 14fT SCANDINAVIA (Justify) is the day's big news as he returns for Ballydoyle in a race used for several of their leading stayers such as Kyprios, Order Of St George and Yeats. Last year's St Leger and Goodwood Cup hero meets the Leger fifth Carmers (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), Fiona Carmichael's Queen's Vase winner who remains unexposed over these staying trips.   1.55 Navan, Mdn, 2yo, 5f 180yT WEST OF EDEN (IRE) (No Nay Never) is the chosen representative from Ballydoyle in a maiden that has...

The Bill Mott barn was poised for a big Saturday at Oaklawn Park but Stars and Stripes (Not This Time) made sure it was equally exciting for the Keeneland division with a powerful performance in the GIII Ben Ali Stakes. A horse with buzz about him after he dazzled in his June graduation at the Belmont Big A meet last year--a 10 1/2-length masterclass--in start number two, he followed that up with an equally sterling effort in mid-July at Saratoga. Blitzing a field of first-level allowance runners by 7 1/4...

When last seen in Grade I company at Keeneland, Hat Creek Racing's Percy's Bar (Upstart) crossed the wire an apparent open-lengths winner of the GI Darley Alcibiades S. last October, only to be demoted from the victory for causing interference and placed second. The $52,000 Keeneland September bargain was back in Lexington in Friday's opening-day feature, the GI Central Bank Ashland S., and with a rail-skimming run into the short stretch, Percy's Bar went on to an authoritative 2 1/4-length defeat of heavily favored Zany (American Pharoah). French Friction (City...

Payson Stud's breeding program has been a fixture in the Thoroughbred industry for more than four decades, built by the late Virginia Kraft Payson. Since Mrs. Payson's passing in 2023, trustee Christian Erickson has carried her legacy forward, and I've been fortunate to serve as bloodstock advisor to the program. Our goal in recent years has been simple: upgrade the broodmare band. That goal led to some of the hardest--and best--decisions we've made. Together with the team at Gainesway Farm, we sold foundation mare Summer Sweet, the dam of champion...