Oscar Performance

The last Amerman Racing homebred by Oscar Performance to carry the colors home in the GIII Zuma Beach Stakes was Endlessly, who captured the race as the 80 cents on the dollar favorite in 2023. Stark Contrast, a horse with a pair of races under his belt, duplicated the feat at Santa Anita Sunday. Like Endlessly, Stark Contrast is also from the Michael McCarthy shedrow. The colt tried turf for his conditioner at second asking over the seaside oval grass course and he won by a length Sept. 6. Set...

Carrie Brogden of highly successful Machmer Hall fame is a self-described horse addict and she is not shy when it comes to admitting it. Still, the straight shooter with the commercial breeding business outside of Paris, Kentucky, has to make some decisions every fall when it comes to reducing the farm's stock. It is just the way it goes as October rolls around. "I am the ultimate horse sale junkie, just ask my husband Craig, who would be thrilled if we had 30 elite mares on a 250-acre farm," said...

4th-BAQ, $85K, Msw, 2yo, 6fT, 2:37 p.m. ET. A $500,000 grad from the Fasig-Tipton October Yearling sale, FOURTH DIMENSION (Not This Time) makes his first start for Wathnan and trainer Bill Mott. Initially going for $200,000 during Keeneland January, the dark bay is out of Aureum (Medaglia d'Oro), who was a 220,000gns purchase at the 2021 Tattersalls July sale by Blandford Bloodstock. Aureum--who also produced current filly 3-year-old in-training Loveontheleftbank (Invincible Spirit {Ire})--is herself a half-sister to MGISP Nemoralia (More Than Ready), the dam of GII Lake Placid Stakes heroine...

Delayed several minutes because of the storms sweeping through the area Saturday afternoon, recent GI Saratoga Derby Invitational winner World Beater made it two straight with a victory in the GIII Old Dominion Derby at Colonial Downs. Sent off the hot 2-5 choice for a distance he clearly relishes, the Pin Oak-bred colt entered this contest off a pair of Grade Is at the Spa--a second-place finish in the nine-furlong Belmont Derby on July 4 and a narrow score in the Saratoga Derby over 1 mile and three-sixteenths Aug. 2....

4th-Saratoga, $100,000, Msw, 8-10, 2yo, 1 1/16mT, 1:45.48, fm, 1 3/4 lengths. FINAL SCORE (c, 2, Not This Time--Precious Dixie, by Bernardini) came on from the back on debut and ran second July 13 at this venue in a baby dash that was ultimately taken off the turf. Back on the grass and stretched out here, the 9-5 favorite was quick to the front and controlled the tempo through :24.61, :50.88, and 1:16.61 splits. Under pressure as the field closed ranks for the homeward drive, Final Score was called on...

Anyone kindly persevering with this column as it gropes through the pedigree maze will by now be familiar, perhaps wearily so, with my proclivity for broodmare sires. From all that tremendous sport at Saratoga last Saturday, then, you won't be surprised that I'm going to focus on the fact that two of four Grade I winners--Kilwin (Twirling Candy) and World Beater (Oscar Performance)--were out of Blame mares. Though approaching the evening of his career at 19, the Claiborne stallion remains highly precocious in this slow-burning sphere. His daughters have not...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- There have been some days for trainer Chad Brown. Some real big days. Remember Arlington Million day in 2019? He won all four graded stakes races, including all three GI races. He has won a bushel full of Breeders' Cup races in his career; more than once he has had multiple winners. Brown has a pair of GI Preakness Stakes on his resume. What happened Saturday might just trump them all. At his hometown track, Brown blitzed his competition, winning four races, capped off by the...

Pin Oak Stud's World Beater (c, 3, Oscar Performance--Dabinett, by Blame), second last out behind Test Score (Lookin At Lucky) in the July 4 GI Belmont Derby, turned the tables on that rival to give his young trainer Riley Mott the first graded stakes win of his career in Saratoga's GI Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes Saturday. The son of and former assistant to Hall of Famer Bill Mott, Riley Mott is no stranger to racing's biggest stage. It will perhaps be more of a surprise to learn this is the...

In a surprising turn of events where none of the betting favorites finished better than seventh, Public Assembly (More Than Ready) gathered the rest and led home a pair of double-digit choices to score her first black-type in the GIII Royal Heroine Stakes at Santa Anita. Coming into the race off a victory last out Mar. 30 against local optional claimers in her first jump for her new connections, the chestnut was bet down to 8-1 odds as 'TDN Rising Star' Raw Ability (Ire) (Belardo {Ire}) commanded the lion's share...

On a quiet afternoon at Meadowbrook Farm in Shelbyville, Ky., mares and foals graze and stroll about while pregnant broodmares-in-waiting bask in the warmth of the sun's rays. And adjacent to all of them, in a small round pen set up alongside one of the main pastures, Surfside Stables' Kona Kai (Palace Malice) and her twin fillies enjoy a supervised turnout session. Though they were born within minutes of each other, the twin fillies—daughters of Oscar Performance—look remarkably different, seemingly representing both halves of their genetic makeup. Nicknamed 'Mary-Kate,' the...

8-year-old mare Kona Kai (Palace Malice) delivered surprise twin fillies by Oscar Performance Monday for Surfside Stables. "They're doing well and getting stronger every day," said breeder Debbie Appel. Kona Kai and her fillies are currently at Rood & Riddle in Kentucky where they will stay under observation for the near future. The mare was purchased as a yearling at Keeneland September by Surfside for $70,000 in 2018 and broke her maiden at Horseshoe Indianapolis in 2020, retiring after 11 starts with earnings of over $68,000. Kona Kai, a half-sister...

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...