Keeneland

The GIII Bank of America Valley View S. kicks off the graded action on the final two days of the fall meeting at Keeneland, and a mostly evenly matched group of sophomore fillies will head to the post. Sacred Wish (Not This Time) was something other than a failure on the main track, with placings in the GII Gulfstream Park Oaks--in her first start following a private acquisition by a partnership group headed up by Black Type Thoroughbreds and Swinbank Stable--and a near miss behind Wet Paint (Blame) in the...

8th-Keeneland, $100,000, Msw, 10-26, 2yo, 7f, 1:28.82, ft, 4 lengths. ROCKETEER (c, 2, Curlin--Thirteen Arrows {MSW, $277,375}, by Indian Charlie) went off at 3-1 in this debut spot and was forwardly placed just off pacesetting World Fair (Tapiture). The top pair moved through opening fractions of :22.97 and :46.63 before Rocketeer made his run to strike the front with an outside move passing the quarter pole. The class of the field in the run to the wire, the Brad Cox trainee cruised home to win by four lengths over 25-1...

8th-KEE, $100K, Msw, 2yo, 7f, 4:44 p.m. ET. Hammering down for $1.5 million at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale, juvenile STOP THE PRESS (Uncle Mo) makes his debut for the ownership group led by West Point Thoroughbreds and Woodford Racing. After a sharp work for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey at the Belmont Park training track (Oct. 20, 4f, :48.34, 1/55), the bay colt comes to Keeneland primed for his debut. Out of Secret Sigh (Tapit), Stop the Press is a half-brother to Summer Wind Equine's horse-in-training Pippi...

Godolphin homebred Tarifa (f, 2, Bernardini--Kite Beach, by Awesome Again), possessed of a pedigree that says longer and maybe a bit later, defied both of those premises to graduate over an extended seven-furlong trip Wednesday at Keeneland, winning off by open lengths to become the newest 'TDN Rising Star' and 21st overall for her sadly departed sire. Backed like a good thing to be off at odds of 14-5 (2.83-1) from a 6-1 morning line, the dark bay was a forward factor just in behind the early pacesetters and jockey...

8th-Keeneland, $100,000, Msw, 10-22, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 1:18.24, ft, 1 1/4 lengths. AGOO (c, 2, Munnings--Grandacious {SW & GSP, $206,304}, by Grand Slam) was a strong second after leading late on his six-furlong Churchill debut Sept. 17 behind Stretch Ride (Street Sense), who validated that peformance with a 5 3/4-length allowance victory going two turns here Oct. 14, good for an 86 Beyer. One of the first to break the line from a double-digit gate, the $72,000 KEENOV weanling and $190,000 KEESEP yearling was forwardly placed, but was no better...

Cherie DeVaux had just left a job as an assistant with Chad Brown, where the assembly line churned out one graded winner after another. After nearly eight years with Brown, she was ready to go out on her own and cobbled together a small stable that made its debut in the spring of 2018. Her first starter was Take Charge Tina (Take Charge Indy), who finished a distant fifth in a Belmont allowance race on May 18, 2018. The year would get no better as she went winless in 18...

8th-KEE, $100k, Msw, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 4:44p.m. ET After the turf marathon mares dazzle the Kentucky crowd in Keeneland's GIII Dowager S. a race prior, the juveniles will take to the main track to open their dockets in this maiden dash led by Pin Oak Stud's PHANTOM SPEED (Arrogate) from the rail. A $700,000 KEESEP purchase, the grey is a half-brother to GSW Biddy Duke (Bayern) who hails from the extended female family of juvenile champion MGISW Forte (Uncle Mo); Japanese Triple Crown winner, three-time champion MG1SW Contrail (Jpn) (Deep...

Closing out her sixth year in the training ranks, Cherie DeVaux added yet another notch on her belt, collecting her first Keeneland stakes victory in Saturday's feature, the GII Lexus Raven Run S. Helping her achieve that goal, DeVaux was represented by GIII Charles Town Oaks winner Vahva (Gun Runner), who was accompanied by Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, also aboard in her last-out score in West Virginia. "I don't know if there are words to really describe that," said a visibly moved DeVaux following the win. "Our team...

5th-Keeneland, $100,000, Msw, 10-21, 2yo, f, 6 1/2f, 1:19.58, ft, nose. DENIM AND PEARLS (f, 2, Into Mischief--Majestic Presence {GSP-USA, MSP-Can, $227,896}, by Majestic Warrior) came into this unveiling sporting a bullet five furlong move over the track Oct. 15 (1/25) in 1:00.40, and crowned the 8-5 choice by the betting public, jumped well to find herself in the midst of a hotly contested lead. Losing her advantage to a vying outer rival, she reclaimed command coming into the homestretch and briefly put open air between herself and the field....

With the 40th Breeders' Cup World Championships less than two weeks away, a number of hopefuls worked Saturday morning at Keeneland as they make their final preparations before shipping to Santa Anita. Trainer John Ortiz took GISW Brightwork (Outwork) out for a spin on Saturday with William Simon, owner of WSS Racing, on hand as the bay filly points towards the GI NetJets Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Nov. 3. Working with 4 G Racing's GSP Crown Imperial (Classic Empire), a candidate for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf also...

Highlighted by a special check presentation in the winner's circle, the leadership of Keeneland recognized October 20th as "TRF Cheers to 40 Years" Day at Keeneland in celebration of the Foundation's four decades of commitment to the welfare and retirement of Thoroughbred racehorses. The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF) has been a pioneer in aftercare for retired racehorses since its founding in 1983. Joined by TRF Board Member Katie LaMonica and Warden Abby Caudill of Blackburn Correctional Complex, the Keeneland team presented the TRF with a donation of $4,000 toward the...

9th-SA, $61K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 8:11 p.m. ET. The rail-drawn URBAN LEGEND (Into Mischief) is one of three Bob Baffert trainees to debut in the Santa Anita finale. Out of MSW Singing Kitty (Ministers Wild Cat), the bay colt went for $300,000 at Keeneland September before bringing $1.3 million at the OBS April Sale. He is campaigned by Morplay Racing LLC, Rosedown Racing Stables, LLC and Kerri Radcliffe. The Hall of Fame conditioner will also saddle Nysos (Nyquist), who was purchased by Baoma Corp. for $550,000 at OBS April, and...