Munnings

From Godolphin's 12 starters in 10 renewals of the GI Kentucky Derby, favored Essential Quality (Tapit)'s promoted third-place finish following Medina Spirit (Protonico)'s medication disqualification in 2021 has been the best result to date. With four serious contenders--all homebreds--on target for upcoming Kentucky Derby preps and fresh off a fifth consecutive Eclipse Award as outstanding owner, could this be the year for Sheikh Mohammed's powerhouse global operation? "We've been there before and we've had chances," Godolphin USA Director of Bloodstock Michael Banahan said. "Who knows what's written in the stars,...

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher is in the process of making plans for a trio of stable stars which includes the Florida-based River Thames (Maclean's Music), Gate to Wire (Munnings) and Locked (Gun Runner). WinStar Farm and CHC Inc.'s undefeated 3-year-old colt and 'TDN Rising Star' River Thames bounced out of his Feb. 1 optional claiming allowance victory in good order and will have plenty of options moving forward said Pletcher. The New York-bred bay romped by 6 1/2 lengths as the favorite going one mile in 1:36.34 on...

Based at his Mill Ridge Farm, Headley Bell and his Nicoma Bloodstock have been helping clients mate their mares since 1979. With such notable successes as Trempolino, Suave Dancer, Keeper Hill, Barbaro, Street Sense, Havre de Grace, Oscar Performance, Bricks and Mortar, and the 2024 Preakness winner Seize the Grey, it's no wonder that many of the clients he discusses below have been with him for over 40 years. "It's such a gift to be able to assist our clients in this manner because it's something I'm passionate about," said...

Shaking off a more experienced and favored rival at the top of the Gulfstream stretch, Blueberry Hill (Munnings) powered home in eye-catching fashion Thursday to become the latest 'TDN Rising Star' for Coolmore's Munnings. The 3-1 second choice behind third-time starter Keepsake (Into Mischief), the Todd Pletcher trainee led from the jump but never got too comfortable up front as her rival stalked just off her hip through much of the running through fractions of :22.43 and :45.43. As the top pair opened up a gap back to the rest...

Fasig-Tipton has catalogued an additional 28 entries, which includes GISW Unbridled Mo (Uncle Mo), to its upcoming Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale, to be held on Monday, Feb. 3 in Lexington, Kentucky, according to an auction company press release on Thursday. These newest entries to the sale are catalogued as hips 376-403. Unbridled Mo (Hip 401), winner of the GI Apple Blossom Handicap and a multiple graded stakes winning millionaire on the racetrack, is a half-sister to GSW Unbridled Essence (Essence of Dubai). She is offered as part of the dispersal...

Fasig-Tipton has released the first group of supplemental entries for its Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale--adding 27 head to the auction--which will take place on Monday, Feb. 3, beginning at 10 a.m. ET in Lexington, Kentucky, the company said via a press release on Wednesday. These latest entries, catalogued as hip 349-375, include: Greavette (Astern {Aus}) (Hip 356): 4-year-old MSW is consigned as a racing/broodmare prospect by Grovendale Sales, agent. R Harper Rose (Khozan) (Hip 364): Four-year-old who won the GIII Forward Gal Stakes last year. Consigned as a racing/broodmare prospect...

'TDN Rising Star' Mullion (Into Mischief) sired his first foal when Maggiore (Speightstown) gave birth to a filly, announced Sequel New York in a release Saturday evening. The first foal for her dam, a half-sister to MGSW & MGISP Bonny South (Munnings), the filly was bred by Albaugh Family Stables. The mare is also a half to GSP Sun Path (Munnings), SP Capella (Quality Road), and to the dam of MSW Mister Omaha (Omaha Beach). The female family includes the likes of multiple Group/Grade I runner Etoile Montante (Miswaki), herself...

Chilean import Richi (Chi) (Practical Joke), second while making her North American debut in the Desert Stormer Stakes June 2, went one better off the bench to upset 1-5 favorite and her Bob Baffert-trained stablemate Pleasant (Munnings) in Saturday's GIII Las Flores Stakes at Santa Anita. Off at odds of 3-1 with the blinkers coming off here, Richi sat a tracking trip in an inside third, shot through an opening along the rail at the top of the stretch and blasted off from there to defeat the GI Breeders' Cup...

Windy Walk, the longest shot in the five-horse field, upset her more-fancied Grade I-winning foes with a wire-to-wire victory in the Rampart Stakes Thursday at Gulfstream Park. The chestnut filly was quickly at the head of affairs and was under a snug hold while setting a dawdling opening quarter of :25.82 as GI Alabama Stakes winner and 5-2 second choice Power Squeeze and GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint winner and 2-5 favorite Soul of an Angel were second last and last, respectively. Power Squeeze rolled up three wide on the...

3rd-GP, $60k, Msw, 3yo/up, 6 1/2f, 1:18p.m. ET Fashionably late to the party, but making it to the races for the partnership of WinStar Farm, Siena Farm, and Rockridge Racing, TUCSON (Constitution) seeks to validate their patience against a field of experienced maidens over the main track. Hammered down for $1.3-million at KEESEP in 2022 but later having to be resold by Keeneland the following spring, the chestnut has been working steadily for Todd Pletcher out at Palm Beach Downs. A half-brother to Grade I-winning and Royal Ascot Group 1-placed...

Nearly two years ago, just prior to the 2023 breeding season, Ashford Stud's Robyn Murray spoke about Munnings on camera. At the time, she said: "Theoretically the best is still yet to come and we're so excited for him... We would expect all of this to elevate him over the next couple years." As the horses conceived that season, the year Munnings stood for $100,000, are currently just weanlings, her words seem prescient given the results of last weekend, when undefeated 2-year-olds by the Ashford Stud sire swept both divisions...

The old patriarch can't have failed to notice all the activity around the Gainesway stallion barn, with four new lads settling in and another relatively recent arrival meanwhile leading a desperate race for the freshman laurels. At nearly 23, in contrast, Tapit's own book is being prudently managed and he was confined to 79 mares last spring. Yet this remains not only the neighborhood boss, but also the most venerable stallion in the land. True, the gray's status as America's most productive stallion is inexorably menaced by Into Mischief, who's...