Keeneland

Matt Dorman made an immediate impact when he entered the bloodstock sales last fall looking to build a new broodmare band at his Determined Stud. The Maryland native opened his buying spree at the Fasig-Tipton November sale where he purchased four mares--including the $1.1-million Desert Isle (Bernardini) in partnership with John Sikura's Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa--for a total of $2.125 million. Dorman returns to Fasig-Tipton Tuesday, but this time as a seller as he offers three weanlings through Scott Mallory's consignment. "It's mixed emotions," Dorman said of Determined Stud's...

   For those who were unable to travel to Kentucky last year and attend the Keeneland sales, much has changed in downtown Lexington thanks in large part to the completion of the City Center. The residential, commercial and retail project has been in the works for years and was finally completed early in 2020. What was a hive of activity in its first few months of operation quickly became a desolate landscape with the onset of the pandemic. But today, as more and more travelers return to Lexington, the City...

Rockefeller went wire-to-wire to win the GIII Nashua S. at Belmont Park Sunday. The bay colt, sent off at 4-5, sprinted out to the early lead and was pressed by Speaking (Mr Speaker) through a quarter in :23.02 and a half in :46.75. Cooke Creek rolled up four wide to challenge entering the lane, but the favorite shrugged off that foe in upper stretch and scampered clear to an authoritative victory. "I knew the other horses would break from there running, but we have a lot of speed, so Bob...

Any farm, really any farm--right up to the most iconic Bluegrass nurseries--would have been proud to have two juveniles as accomplished as Rattle N Roll (Connect) and Electric Ride (Daredevil) heading towards the Breeders' Cup. And for both to have meanwhile dropped out, in wildly contrasting circumstances, would only have reiterated the odds to be overcome by even the most lavishly resourced operations. Rattle N Roll, winner of the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity, can regroup next year after a minor foot issue ruled him out of the GI TVG Breeders'...

Keeneland has completed construction of six new barns and other enhancements at The Thoroughbred Center (TTC), its 245-acre, year-round training facility on Paris Pike on the northeast side of Lexington. The six new barns contain a total of 240 stalls and feature: • Wider shedrows to accommodate safe winter training for horses housed year-round; • Interior and exterior wash stalls; • Dedicated interior feed rooms along with dedicated hay/bedding storage; • Office tack rooms for trainers; and • A stall layout design that maximizes lighting and airflow with spacious windows...

When pre-entries for the Breeders' Cup were announced last week it was no surprise that Chad Brown's contingent was dominated by turf horses. He has 11 entered for grass races and just three for dirt races. Since he went out on his own in 2007, Brown has established himself as the sport's best grass trainer and grass racing has always been his focus. Entering Sunday's races, he had won 1,316 turf races for a winning rate of 25% and 63.5% of his career wins had come on the grass. Brown...

The 2021 Fall Meet at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky, closed Oct. 30, with record all-sources wagering of better than $181 million over the course of 17 days of live racing at the historic facility. When the dust had settled Saturday afternoon, all-sources wagering (not including whole-card simulcasting at Keeneland) totaled $181,009,626, obliterating the previous record of $164,680,229 established during this year's Spring Meet and the previous Fall Meet record of $160,207,916 set in 2019. This year's all-sources wagering numbers represented a 22% increase over last fall's $148,229,708. Keeneland...

A half-sister to 'TDN Rising Star' and GI Breeders' Cup Classic hopeful Essential Quality (Tapit), Ch. 2yo Colt, MGISW, $4,215,144, Famed (Uncle Mo) followed in the latter's hoofprints with a 'Rising Star'-worthy romp of her own in the fall meet finale from Keeneland Saturday afternoon. The dark bay was bet down to 90 cents on the dollar for her much-anticipated debut at Churchill Sept. 26 and was in the thick of it from the start, but ultimately dropped a one-length decision to Sweet Dani Girl (Jess's Dream), who franked the...

Independence Hall (Constitution) capped a highly productive 20 minutes or so for his sire Saturday afternoon, splashing home a decisive winner of Keeneland's GII Hagyard Fayette S. shortly after fellow WinStar Farm co-owned colt Americanrevolution dominated his elders by nearly a dozen in Belmont's Empire Classic H. A dominant winner of both the GIII Nashua S. as a late season juvenile and the Jerome S. as newly turned sophomore last New Year's Day, Independence Hall was eventually transferred from Mike Trombetta to Michael McCarthy ahead of an optional claiming sprint...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency STONESTREET BLUE-BLOOD DEBUTS IN LEX 10th-KEE, $84K, Msw, 2yo, f, 7f, 5:48 p.m. Stonestreet Stables homebred WILLAKIA (Tapit) makes her career bow in this spot for trainer Graham Motion. Barbara Banke's operation purchased her Sovereign Award-winning dam Hillaby for $500,000 at Fasig July. Her second dam is Canadian Horse of the Year Sealy Hill (Point Given), who is responsible for MGISW Cambier Parc (Medaglia d'Oro) and GSWs Belle Hill (Sky Mesa) and Gale Force (Giant's Causeway). TJCIS PPs

With a stud career at Lane's End just a few short months away, MGISW Code of Honor (Noble Mission {GB}) looks to add to his already formidable resume Saturday in Keeneland's GII Hagyard Fayette S. Winner of the 2019 GI Runhappy Travers S. and GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, the Farish homebred captured the GIII Winchester S. in 2020 and placed in several other stakes, including the GI Clark S. Fifth in his seasonal bow in the GI Pegasus World Cup Jan. 23, the chestnut scored a facile victory in...

Smile Happy (c, 2, Runhappy--Pleasant Smile, by Pleasant Tap) became the second 'TDN Rising Star' for young sire Runhappy with this visually impressive debut score around two turns at Keeneland Friday. The dark bay fired a five-furlong bullet in :59 2/5 (1/57) for Ken McPeek at Churchill Downs Oct. 22 and was backed at 3-1 in this 1 1/16-mile affair. He raced in some traffic on the first turn and settled on the inside in sixth. Locked and loaded heading into the far turn, the Lucky Seven Stable colorbearer split...