Keeneland

I called the elite bloodstock agent Donato Lanni last Wednesday only to tell him I'd call him again Sunday and to expect my call. I was fortunate he picked up, because he was on a golf course enjoying a rare day off following a busy Keeneland September sale where he'd purchased a number of million-dollar yearlings among many others. When we made plans to speak again, neither of us mentioned why I'd be calling. I didn't want to jinx him, with Cave Rock (Arrogate), War Like Goddess (English Channel), and...

"I told them," he says. "You can't make a hardboot out of a Virginia redneck. And that's all I've ever been. Never pretended to be anything else. Just a Virginia redneck that loves horses." When you have spent as much time as Beau Lane among these unerring vehicles of humility--from the Appaloosas of his youth, to two Kentucky Derby starters in the last seven years--you tend to develop total immunity to self-importance. Even at 80, you never know what's coming next; nor, when something does happen, whether it will turn...

Shadwell Stable's Malathaat (Curlin) strode home a powerful winner of the GI Juddmonte Spinster S. at Keeneland, earning an automatic berth to the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. The 2-5 favorite was never far from the front behind a moderate pace and surged up to challenge Letruska (Super Saver) nearing the stretch. Malathaat ricocheted to the lead off the turn and never looked back, storming home a 5 3/4-length winner. "By the quarter pole, I saw Tyler [Gaffalione] was tapping on [Letruska], and I thought, 'You know what, I'm going to...

Susan Moulton's Andthewinneris came flying late to win the GII Castle & Key Bourbon S. at Keeneland Sunday, leading home an exacta for his freshman sire while also becoming the Mill Ridge stallion's first stakes winner. The 4-1 shot broke from the far outside in the field of 12, angled over and settled near the back of the field. Still some 10 lengths back approaching the stretch, the bay made eye-catching progress leaving the turn and closed stoutly down the center of the course, hitting the front at midstretch and...

Saturday's pair of Grade I dirt routes for 2-year-olds solidified intriguing subplots while establishing the three likely favorites for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Undefeated 'TDN Rising Star' Cave Rock (Arrogate) cemented kingpin status with a thorough shellacking of the GI American Pharoah S. field at Santa Anita. But fellow 'Rising Stars' Forte (Violence) and Loggins (Ghostzapper) might have delivered the more nuanced performances with their length-of-stretch slugfest in the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity S. at Keeneland, which supplied both colts with valuable race-over-the-track experience heading into the Nov. 4...

Group 2 winner Persian Force (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) is pointing to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, Amo Racing's Kia Joorabchian announced on Sunday. A winner of the G2 July S. at Newmarket in July, the colt has been placed in three successive Group 1 races since--second in both the Phoenix S. at the Curragh on Aug. 6, and the Prix Morny at Deauville on Aug. 21--and third in the Middle Park S. at Newmarket on Sept. 24. "He'll go to the Breeders' Cup and then we'll make a...

Bass Racing LLC's 'TDN Rising Star' Annapolis (War Front) would have been one of the chief protagonists in the 2021 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar, but was forced to miss the race after the injury bug bit. Twelve months on, connections have their collective minds set on making up for that missed opportunity, as the colt secured the gun run beneath an in-form Irad Ortiz, Jr. and outsprinted arguably the deepest turf Grade I field of 2022 to become the first 3-year-old since Aussie Rules (Danehill) in...

'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence) launched a powerful move on the far turn, outbattled fellow 'Rising Star' and ultra-game pacesetter Loggins (Ghostzapper) and survived an objection in a thrilling renewal of Keeneland's 'Win and You're In' GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity. The last-out GI Hopeful S. winner, who was further flattered when third-place finisher and 'Rising Star' Blazing Sevens (Good Magic) resurfaced to take the GI Champagne S., sat a good trip in seventh in this first foray around two turns as runaway Churchill Downs debut winner and highly regarded 3-2...

'TDN Rising Star' In Italian (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) capped a monumental week both at the track and in the Tattersalls sales ring for her world-renowned sire, with a front-running defeat of her commonly owned 'Rising Star' stablemate Regal Glory (Animal Kingdom) in Saturday's GI First Lady S. at Keeneland. It was a second straight First Lady for owner Peter Brant and trainer Chad Brown, who saddled Blowout (GB) (Dansili {GB}) to defeat Regal Glory 12 months back. In Italian is a sixth winner of the First Lady for Brown and...

In this continuing series, we examine the past winners of significant filly/mare races by the lasting influence they've had on the breed. Up today is Keeneland's GI Juddmonte Spinster S., always a stellar race that also has a number of notable producers to its credit. First run in 1956, the Spinster has become one of the most coveted prizes on the racing calendar. There's just something special about the fall event and the copious champions it has attracted in front of the home crowd. Juddmonte, honored with the Eclipse as...

With two graded events for distaffers and four for juveniles, including including four Breeders' Cup qualifiers, Sunday is basically Saturday part two from coast-to-coast. The day's main event is the GI Juddmonte Spinster S. at Keeneland, a "Win and You're In" event, where champions Malathaat (Curlin) and Letruska (Super Saver) face off yet again. 'TDN Rising Star' Malathaat looks to make amends for a solid third in last year's GI Breeders' Cup Distaff and she enters off a win in Saratoga's GI Personal Ensign S. Aug. 27. Letruska, who won...

Augustin Stable's Delight (Mendelssohn) became the first black-type winner for her freshman sire (by Scat Daddy) with a dominant score in Keeneland's GII J.P. Morgan Chase Jessamine S. The race was a "Win and You're In" for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf S. to be held in Lexington Nov. 4. Hustling up to contest the pace through a :24.32 opening quarter, the 7-2 shot gained a clear lead after that point, clocking a half-mile in :49.61. Showing the way into the lane, Delight rolled clear with ease for...