Maycocks Bay

Those of us most despondent to see the winner of the first leg sitting out the second can console ourselves, precisely on grounds of tradition, that an abbreviated GI Belmont Stakes would never have allowed a "proper" Triple Crown anyway. Even so, with Curlin obviously deploying a rather more important son at Saratoga this weekend, we can be indulged in neglecting his contribution to one of the more intriguing winners of a relatively quiet week. Original Sin is a slower burn than Golden Tempo, but appears to be thriving with...

'TDN Rising Star' Hall of Fame (Gun Runner) enjoyed a beautiful trip in transit, pulled out for the drive and out-bobbed Komorebino Omoide (Jpn) (California Chrome) to take out the GIII Mineshaft Stakes at the Fair Grounds. Favored at 8-5 while in search of his third consecutive victory following an eight-month layoff, the $1.4-million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga graduate box-seated the 8 1/2-furlong contest as Maycocks Bay (Speightstown) led in advance of the Japanese-bred import through modest early fractions. Full of run on the turn beneath Jose Ortiz, Hall of Fame angled...

Godolphin homebred Maycocks Bay (Speightstown), forced to scratch from the GIII Southwest Stakes as the morning-line favorite in February, returned from 11 months on the sidelines to win a 1 1/16-mile allowance at Fair Grounds Saturday. "We're delighted to have him back," trainer Mike Stidham said. "He had been training so well coming up to this that anything short of that would have been a disappointment. Hopefully he comes out of it well and we can start looking for some bigger and better things." In his first race since a...

Repole Stable's newly crowned Eclipse Award winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light) is set to make a much-anticipated sophomore debut in Saturday's GIII Holy Bull S., and--realistically--the homebred may not require his very best to make a victorious return to action. Brilliant as he was in breaking his maiden by better than 11 lengths at first asking in Uncle Mo-esque fashion over the summer at Saratoga, he was equally disappointing when beaten a long ways from home in the GI Champagne S. Those who quickly jumped ship...