Keeneland

Keeneland will host its April Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale following Friday's 10-race card on closing day of the Spring Meet. The fledgling auction will begin at 6:30 p.m. ET. Keeneland's final race will go off at approximately 5:09 p.m. ET. A total of 134 horses--and still growing--have been catalogued to the one-day sale. "It's an exciting sale," Keeneland's Director of Sales Operations Cormac Breathnach said earlier this week. "It's kind of a celebration of the end of our race meet and it also kicks off Derby week. This...

2nd-Keeneland, $77,839, Msw, 4-25, 2yo, 5 1/2fT, 1:03.29, fm, neck. INTO DIAMONDS (c, 2, Into Mischief--Diamond Sparkles {GSP}, by War Front) was overlooked by the betting public at odds of 6-1 for his debut here. The bay settled mid-pack up the backstretch as the tone was set by fellow firster Cheval de Guerre (Caravaggio). Trying to get involved around the far turn, the colt fanned four wide at the top of the lane and uncorked a bid to catch the leader. With a final push just the before the wire,...

A pair of juvenile fillies--Kiss Cam (Mastery) and Vodka With a Twist (Thousand Words)--have been supplemented to Friday evening's Keeneland April Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale.  Kiss Cam, consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, debuted with a second-place finish in maiden special weight company Apr. 18. Vodka With a Twist, consigned by Ballysax Bloodstock, finished fourth, beaten just two lengths, in a maiden special weight race Apr. 24. The enhanced digital catalog is available for viewing here.

War Like Goddess (English Channel) typically makes a single stop at Keeneland per year and she does so exclusively to win the GIII Bewitch S. Not only did the 7-year-old mare win last year's edition, she also won the same race in both 2022 and 2021. Making her first start of 2024 off a seventh to Auguste Rodin (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf at Santa Anita last November, War Like Goddess began her 2023 campaign in exactly the same way, debuting to a win in...

6th-SA, $54K, Msw, 3-5yo, 5 1/2f, 6:30 p.m. ET. PARENTING (Justify) debuts for Gandharvi LLC., who purchased the colt at last year's OBS April Two-Year-Olds In Training Sale for $750,000. The Bob Baffert trainee's dam is a half-sister to Canadian champion turf male El Tormenta (Stormy Atlantic) and GSW Zero Tolerence (Mizzen Mast). The other half of the Baffert uncoupled entry is first time starter Middleburg (Tapit). A $485,000 buy for SF Bloodstock, Starlight and Madaket at the 2022 Keeneland September Sale, the gray is out of MGSW Selcourt (Tiz...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. Among this week's rulings, trainer Candelario Villamar has been suspended 15-days and fined $1,000 after his trainee, Olivia's Choice, tested positive for capsaicin when finishing third at Turf Paradise on Feb. 26. A Class B controlled medication under HISA, capsaicin is the active ingredient in chilli peppers causing burning and irritation, and can be found in topical analgesics. Trainer Valorie Lund has been banned seven days and fined...

9th-KEE, $100k, Msw, 3yo, f, 6f, post time: 5:16 p.m. ET CHC Inc. homebred INTO AMORE (Into Mischief), a daughter of 2015 GI Alabama S. heroine Embellish the Lace (Super Saver), debuts for Todd Pletcher. Embellish the Lace brought $2.4 million from China Horse Club International at the 2016 FTKNOV sale. Drawn widest of all in post 11, Into Amore is the 7-2 morning-line favorite. Into Amore RNA'd for $295,000 as a FTKOCT yearling. The field also includes fellow first-time starter Day Dawning (Classic Empire), a $450,000 OBS March breezer....

Seven supplemental entries have been added to the Keeneland April Horses of Racing Age Sale to be held Friday evening following the closing day card at the Lexington track. The latest entries to the auction include: Life Advice (Into Mischief), consigned by Gainesway, agent; Low Country Magic (Good Magic), a three-length winner in her Apr. 17 career debut at Keeneland, consigned by I. C. Racing, agent; Maghra (Ire) (No Nay Never), consigned by Grovendale Sales, agent; Now and Later (Candy Ride {Arg}), consigned by Claiborne Farm, agent; Proud Mary (Point...

Keeneland has become a sponsor of the International Thoroughbred Breeders' Federation, an organization which serves the members of Thoroughbred breeding associations in 26 countries that produce some 80,000 foals annually. "We are enormously grateful to Keeneland for their support and welcome them as an ITBF sponsor," said Sarah Carmichael,  CEO of ITBF. "As a not-for-profit organization, ITBF has to look to the industry for ongoing financial assistance to facilitate the essential service that we provide to the international breeding industry. Our role is a continually expanding one, and without our...

6th-Keeneland, $96,700, Msw, 4-21, 3yo, 7f, 1:27.39, ft, 3 3/4 lengths. DRAGOON GUARD (c, 3, Arrogate--Filimbi {GSW & MGISP-USA, SW-Fr, $670,763}, by Mizzen Mast) just missed by a neck to future SW Otto the Conqueror (Street Sense) when he debuted last September under the Twin Spires. Back on the work tab in late February for Brad Cox, the homebred went off with Lasix as the 3-5 choice here to kick off his 3-year-old season. The colt charged out of the gate, but was content to lay off of Rock N...

A casino is supposed to be on the way, but in the meantime these are tough times for racing in Chicago and its only remaining racetrack, Hawthorne. They still don't have any outside revenue from a casino, their purses are meager and their simulcast signal gets lost on days like Saturday, when they went up against the likes of Aqueduct, Gulfstream, Keeneland, Oaklawn and Santa Anita. The handle Saturday was $1,019,178. It should have been three times that. We've seen a lot of tracks experiment with lower takeouts. The latest...

2nd-Keeneland, $79,675, Msw, 4-21, 2yo, 4 1/2f, :53.41, ft, head. DREAMAWAY (f, 2, Flameaway--Dream Dancing {GISW, $483,271}, by Tapit) came into this race sporting a recent bullet three-furlong work in :35 3/5 over this surface Apr. 5 and was duly made the 1-2 favorite to make good while facing the boys. Narrowly in front through an opening quarter in :22.48, the grey had to battle all the way through, but proved best at the end, scoring by a head over fellow firster Clever Again (American Pharoah). Mo Hair Sam (Mo...