Man 'o War

Trainer Mike Maker is a man of few words. Really, he is. Don't take it personally. The 56-year-old is just not naturally blabby. The TDN's Tim Wilkin sat down with him in his office on the backstretch at Saratoga Race Course, and found that Maker has some things to say. A former assistant to the late, great D. Wayne Lukas (you know there are stories there), Maker has a favorite horse he has trained, a favorite sports team, and a definitive answer on what actor would play him in a...

With breeding sheds opening last week across North America, farms have been quietly preparing stallions for the demanding months ahead of them. All jokes about them having the best jobs aside, stallions have to be ready for a marathon during breeding season. It's not simply a matter of bringing stallions up from fields and expecting them to be ready to cover a full book of mares over the ensuing months. Perhaps that may work for small operations where a stallion covers a handful of mares all season, but for the...

Last year's champion 3-year-old colt Arcangelo (Arrogate) captured the GIII Peter Pan S. before adding top-level victories in the GI Belmont S. and the GI Travers S. A scratched-down field of six is expected to line up for Saturday's renewal of the Peter Pan at Aqueduct, which serves as the local prep for the final leg of the Triple Crown, which will be held at Saratoga and run at 1 1/4 miles June 8. 'TDN Rising Star' Deterministic (Liam's Map), a fantastic winner of the one-turn mile GIII Gotham S....

Blue Grass Farms Charities (BGFC) was named one of three non-profits to receive the "Maker's Mark Bourbon: Greats of the Gate" Man-O-War bottle proceeds. Proceeds from the Man o' War bottle will support construction of a new food pantry located at The Thoroughbred Center on Paris Pike, Keeneland's year-round training facility, making it accessible to industry workers. For the first three years of the 10-year series, the "Greats of the Gate" bottle will also support Kentucky Harvest and Art Center of the Bluegrass. The Art Center of the Bluegrass connects...

When Gulfstream Park staged the "Race of the Century" 56 years ago this spring, 17,300 fans packed the grandstand. They stared out onto a horseless track, where an empty starting gate was parked ceremonially at the 1 1/4 miles position. They rooted, cursed and cheered home their picks. Not a single person ended up witnessing the race. Yet those in attendance--and a nation of fans who tuned in via the NBC Radio broadcast or read about the outcome in coast-to-coast newspaper coverage--seemed to be in vehement agreement for weeks afterward...

He's such a fixture here, he's even on the sandwich menu. Here you go: the Copelan, grilled cheddar and onion on pumpernickel. True, that only makes Dr. Robert Copelan an institution within an institution. Lunch at Lil's Coffee House on Main Street is a ritual cherished by many other horse folk in the neighborhood of Paris, Kentucky. But it's certainly a joy, for all of them, to see the great veterinarian seated alongside veteran radio host Ercel Ellis Jr., at their usual table in the corner, exchanging wit and wisdom...

They call it "nominative determinism." Your name suggests your path in life: like the world's fastest man being a Bolt. On that basis, you would say that being born a Goodman raises expectation enough--without then going ahead and buying yourself a farm named Mt. Brilliant. The last year or so, however, suggests that things are playing out much as they should. Last September, TOBA presented Greg Goodman with the Robert N. Clay Award for his work in preserving horse country around Lexington from development. In April, the KTA/KTOB honored him...

Godolphin's Yibir (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), named last year's Eclipse champion turf male off of a fast-finishing score in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf, will make his first Stateside start since that effort as the likely favorite in a six-horse renewal of the 1 3/8-mile GI Man O' War S. Saturday at Belmont. Showing just a single Group 3 win in his first nine starts in Great Britain, the chestnut gelding had his breakout performance with a victory in the G2 Sky Bet Great Voltigeur S. last August at York...

Agave Racing Stable, owned by Mark Martinez, will be presenting a major gift to the Ed Brown Society (EBS) Saturday Apr. 30, in the Winner's Circle at Santa Anita Park, after the running of the inaugural Ed Brown Memorial. The race's namesake was born into slavery in 1850 in Lexington, KY. He went on to apprentice under Ansel Williamson, the African-American trainer of the first Kentucky Derby winner, Aristides. Ed Brown went on to become one of the most accomplished horsemen in thoroughbred racing, winning the Belmont Stakes as a...

Sometimes a historical moment has to be pointed out. Australian (GB), Fair Play and Fair Play's son Man O' War each sired three GI Belmont S. winners. Lexington sired four Belmont winners who all won at Jerome Park. Now Tapit joins the illustrious ranks of Lexington. Like Lexington, Tapit has now sired four winners of the Belmont: Essential Quality, Tapwrit, Creator and Tonalist. Tapit also sired Belmont runners-up Tacitus and Frosted, as well as Belmont third finishers Hofburg and Lani. An asterisk might be added for last year's fluke 2020...

Tabor, Magnier and Smith's Sovereign (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), winless since a blowout score in the 2019 G1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby, makes his first start on these shores in Saturday's GI Man O' War S. at Belmont Park. Second to dual Cartier Horse of the Year Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) in the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth for Aidan O'Brien at Ascot last July, the 5-year-old enters off a close third in the Bahrain International Trophy Nov. 20. The rail-drawn, 8-5 morning-line favorite kicks off his campaign...

Throughout time, American bloodstock has been continually infused with new blood from other countries, just as a long history of immigration has made this country a melting pot of cultures. But these things come at some cost, don't they? What of the more or less original American sire and dam lines that have been subverted by the newer arrivals? Who's looking out for their interests as they get forgotten and cast aside? The Tiznow colt Midnight Bourbon, who is on the Gl Kentucky Derby trail after winning the Glll Lecomte...