Mad House

So this week it was Not This Time who landed two big punches: a 13th career Grade I scorer, Claret Beret, in the Apple Blossom Handicap; plus the Grade II prize named for his own sire Giant's Causeway, through In Our Time. If Not This Time and Into Mischief are going to slug it out all year long, they will of course be drawing on the same well--each extending a different branch of Storm Cat. How do you trademark that horse's legacy? Well, a couple of years ago we tapped...

Injuries and a suspension levied by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) have limited Paco Lopez's mounts over the last several months, but he is healthy again, has served his suspension and is ready to resume his career. Lopez will begin his comeback on Apr. 1 at Tampa Bay Downs, reports his agent, Jose Garcia. Lopez received a six-month suspension from HISA Sept. 23. In announcing the suspension, HISA issued a statement, which read: "The suspension stems from Mr. Lopez's violation of the terms of his conditional reinstatement, related...

MAD HOUSE (g, 4, Vekoma--Stifled Heiress, by Munnings) was last seen fading to the back in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint at Del Mar last November, but before that he'd strung together a respectable tally of four consecutive victories which culminated with him taking home the hardware in the Sept. 20 GII Gallant Bob Stakes at Parx. Made the 3-5 heavy favorite here for his seasonal bow, Mad House went right to the front and never looked back after :21.94 and :44.42 sectionals, rolling home by 3 3/4 lengths in...

Precious Dixie (Bernardini), the dam of leading GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf hopeful Final Score (Not This Time), is one of two new supplements to the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale to be held Tuesday, Nov. 4 in Lexington. Consigned to the sale by Taylor Made, the 11-year-old mare is offered in foal to Muth and is a daughter of the Grade II-winning and Grade I-placed turf distaffer Princess Haya (Street Cry {Ire}), herself the dam of GSW & GISP Lady Kate (Bernardini) and of the Irish Group 2-placed $1.8-million...

Steve Venosa's SGV Thoroughbreds, a regular consignor on the 2-year-olds in training sales circuit, made its debut on the digital auction scene and came away with the sale-topper at the Fasig-Tipton October Digital Sale which closed Wednesday. Venosa and partners sold the broodmare Stifled Heiress (Munnings) (hip 242) for $470,000 to Bryant Prentice's Pursuit of Success, LLC. The 9-year-old mare, who sold in foal to Leinster, came into the virtual sales ring with a big update after her 3-year-old son Mad House (Vekoma) won the GII Gallant Bob Stakes at...

Sponsored by Pedigrees360. Candidly, it always feels a little cheap to delve into a pedigree once its functionality is established, scrubbing away any genetic mud before triumphantly producing some hidden nugget to explain how it has all come together. "Post rationalization" of this kind is standard in articles like this, and the absolute opposite of the grueling enterprise that has worn out the soles of so many shoes over the past couple of weeks. As ever, Keeneland presented thousands of perfectly plausible pages to measure against the animals paraded before...

For a mere 50 cents if you had the gumption to exclude heavy favorite Barnes (Into Mischief) from your Trifecta tickets in the GII Gallant Bob Stakes at Park on Saturday and called cold longshots 23-1 Mad House (Vekoma), 83-1 Gateskeeper (Instagrand) and 56-1 Fire Pit (Cairo Prince), then your play would have netted $3,889.50. Kaboom! Mad House came into his first graded opportunity here after three straight visits to the winner's circle at Canterbury in Minnesota. The broke his maiden at fifth asking by an eye-catching 11 1/2 lengths...