Medina Spirit
In the wake of 2020 June graduate Medina Spirit (Protonico)'s victory in the GI Kentucky Derby, the catalog for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's 2021 June Sale of Two-Year-Olds and Horses of Racing Age was released Monday and is now available via the OBS website at obssales.com. The iPad version of the catalog is available via the equineline Sales Catalog app. Supplemental entries are being accepted until May 19. There are 858 2-year-olds and 15 older horses cataloged for the three-day sale, with all sessions beginning at 10:30 a.m. EST....
As consignor Christy Whitman remembers, it was deathly quiet when Medina Spirit (Protonico) entered the ring as a yearling at the 2019 OBS Winter Mixed sale. She seemed to be the only one paying any attention to him "I knew he wasn't going to bring much because no one was looking at him," she said. A few minutes later, Medina Spirit would be hers, forever remembered as the GI Kentucky Derby winner who sold for $1,000 as a yearling. It's the umpteenth reminder about how beautifully unpredictable this sport can...
LOUISVILLE, KY - Face masks and all, the fans were back at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May--an announced 51,838 of them--and louder than ever. The mint juleps were flowing, the sun was shining and it was Bob Baffert standing in the winner's circle for a record seventh time, passing the legendary Ben Jones at the 147th GI Kentucky Derby. Zedan Racing Stables overachieving Medina Spirit (Protonico), just a $1,000 OBS Winter Mixed Yearling turned $35,000 OBS July breezer, set the pace and dug down gamely beneath Johnny...
Even after the defection of unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Life Is Good (Into Mischief) due to an ankle chip, Saturday's GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby will still go through Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert's barn. Medina Spirit (Protonico), just a $35,000 OBS July 2-year-old pick-up by Zedan Racing Stables last year, was a game-as-can-be narrow winner of the GIII Robert B. Lewis S. two starts back over 'TDN Rising Star' Roman Centurian (Empire Maker) and subsequent GII Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby winner Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow). Medina Spirit was also...
We should have known better. The moment we deceived ourselves that we had a crossroads of perfect symmetry, with four standout colts converging inexorably on the first Saturday in May, one promptly limped off the trail and then last weekend another was beaten at odds-on. Nobody, then, will be making any assumptions when the other two complete their GI Kentucky Derby preparations, Concert Tour (Street Sense) in the GI Arkansas Derby next week and Essential Quality (Tapit) as the geographical and narrative pivot of three rehearsals staged coast to coast...
Agent Gary Young, acting on behalf of Zedan Racing Stables, went all the way to $1.7 million late in Wednesday's Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale to land a colt from the first crop of Horse of the Year Gun Runner. Consigned by Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds, agent as hip 181, the son of young Ohio-bred MSW Needmore Flattery (Flatter) was $140,000 Fasig-Tipton October yearling. He breezed in :10 1/5. Amr Zedan has made a big splash in the racing world in a short amount of time--he campaigned last year's $1.35-million OBSAPR topper and subsequent...
Zedan Racing Stables, Inc.'s Medina Spirit (Protonico) breezed a half in :48 flat (13/64) Sunday morning at Santa Anita as he readies to represent trainer Bob Baffert in Saturday's GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby. The GIII Robert B. Lewis S. winner has twice finished second to unbeaten stablemate Life Is Good (Into Mischief), who was also pointing for the Santa Anita Derby before being sidelined with an ankle chip. "He went very nice [under jockey Juan Ochoa]," Baffert said. "I also worked [GII Rebel S. runner-up] Hozier (Pioneerof the Nile,...
Life may not be especially Good, just yet--but let's hope that it's at least getting a little better, however slowly. Certainly we must trust that's true of the wider world, as science strives to stem the pandemic. For a margin of our parish going through troubles of its own, equally, no less commitment and tenacity are proving necessary to see out a long road. Two years ago, remember, they couldn't stage the GII San Felipe S. at all after a harrowing spate of catastrophic injuries. A racetrack many of us...
Unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Life Is Good (Into Mischief), the 7-1 individual favorite in Pool 3 of the GI Kentucky Derby Future Wager, will look to go three-for-three in Saturday's GII San Felipe S. The 1 1/16-miles contest offers 50-20-10-5 points on the road to the Kentucky Derby. The blowout debut winner at Del Mar Nov. 22 set an uncontested pace while making his two turn-debut in the GIII Sham S. Jan. 2, and, after very confident handling beneath Mike Smith in the stretch, held a 3/4-length advantage over stablemate...
Year after year, two-time Triple Crown-winning conditioner Bob Baffert has some of the country's top runners in his shedrow and 2021 is no exception. The Hall of Famer has a plethora of possible GI Kentucky Derby runners; a few possible GI Kentucky Oaks contenders; the reigning champion female sprinter; and several exciting unraced prospects. You never know when Baffert will unleash the next superstar or which of his horses will be on top by the first weekend in May, but you can count on him having a live contender in...
Bloodstock Agent Liz Crow joins this week's TDN Writers' Room to share what she looks for in prospects at the sales and discuss what champion Monomoy Girl has meant to her career.
Hall of Famer Bob Baffert will have two shots at adding to his growing record with a potential ninth win in Saturday's GIII Robert B. Lewis S. at Santa Anita. The improving $1-million Keeneland September graduate Spielberg (Union Rags), MGISP as a juvenile, posted a hard-fought, breakthrough nose victory in the GII Los Alamitos Futurity last time Dec. 19. The runner-up that day The Great One (Nyquist), meanwhile, returned with a flashy, 14-length maiden victory for trainer Doug O'Neill last weekend, good for a 92 Beyer Speed Figure. Baffert will...