Peter Brant

A Gun Runner son (hip 177) of 'TDN Rising Star' Thoughtfully (Tapit) set off late fireworks just four hips from the end of Monday's opening session at Keeneland September when Peter Brant, signing on behalf of M.V. Magnier & White Birch Farm, outlasted all comers to sign the ticket at $3,300,000. Bred by Hill n Dale Equine Holdings, Inc & Determined Stud, the colt's dam brought $950,000 herself as a broodmare at FTKNOV in 2019. M.V. Magnier and White Birch also bought her first foal, a now 2-year-old son of...

Off his late heroics in the GI Whitney Stakes at Saratoga Race Course Aug. 2, Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) once again cracked the LONGINES World's Best Racehorse Rankings. Owned by Peter Brant, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg and Brook Smith, last year's Eclipse Champion 3-year-old rolled from the back of the pack as is his style to take the Whitney by a length. The Chad Brown trainee is now rated 120 on the 2025 list. Topping the chart at 127 is still a three-way tie between Field...

Last year's champion 3-year-old colt and 'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), winless in two attempts since capturing the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, came storming home from last of nine to book a return trip to Del Mar in Saturday's 'Win and You're In' GI Whitney S. at Saratoga. Highland Falls (Curlin), winner of last summer's GI Jockey Club Gold Cup S. at the Spa, was a length back in second. 'Rising Star' Disarm (Gun Runner), runner-up in the 2023 GI Travers S., was up for third. The 6-5...

Aidan O'Brien trainee Benvenuto Cellini (Frankel), a G1 Vincent O'Brien National Stakes entry and son of dual Grade I winner Newspaperofrecord, went into every notebook when encountering the TDN Rising Star display of Dorset (Wootton Bassett) at the Curragh last month and duly delivered a breakthrough success in Monday's Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden at Killarney. "He was very babyish at the Curragh, and again today where he jumped out and led, and Wayne [Lordan] said he was looking at the cars on the inside," said Ballydoyle's Chris Armstrong. "It...

6th-SAR, $100K, Msw, 2yo, 1mT, 4:02 p.m. ET. DR. AGNE (Into Mischief), the third foal to race out of champion turf female Lady Eli (Divine Park), is set for his first start under trainer Cherie DeVaux who TDN contributor Tim Wilkin reminded us Thursday is all too familiar with the celebrated dam while an assistant for Chad Brown. A half-sister to MGSW Bizzy Caroline (Afleet Alex), Lady Eli was a $4.2-million buy for John Sikura/Hill 'n' Dale during the 2018 Keeneland November Sale. Himself a $185,000 purchase during Keeneland September...

Francis-Henri Graffard looked set to have the one-two-three in Sunday's G1 Prix de Diane Longines heading to the closing stages, but while that didn't transpire France's pre-eminent trainer of 2025 was ultimately in the right place as Gezora (Almanzor) brought it home. Continuing the timeless love affair between American interests and French racing, the daughter of the 2006 Diane runner-up Germance proved strongest in the Chantilly Classic to complete the Saint-Alary-Diane double for Peter Brant's White Birch Farm. Sent off at 11-2 having upped her game last month at ParisLongchamp...

When last seen at Saratoga some 10 months ago, Asbury Park (GB) (c, 3, Frankel {GB}--Limonar {Ire}, by Street Cry {Ire}) took unsurprising action as the 8-5 favorite, passed several rivals in the lane but fell short in fifth and had been missing since. Returning Friday as the 7-5 favorite and bearing the silks of his breeder St Elias Stable, the fashionably bred colt was void of early speed from his middle draw and was dragged back to the latter third of the red-hot Flavien Prat through a driving rainstorm....

A seemingly wide-open renewal of Chantilly's G1 Qatar Prix du Jockey Club ultimately produced the most straightforward outcome as Ballydoyle's Camille Pissarro prevailed as the 12-5 favourite. Drawn against the rail, one of the stable's abundance of Wootton Bassett colts only had to follow the pace aided by the yard's Trinity College taking the shortest route. Ryan Moore's only complication came in the closing stages as he needed to thread the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner through a gap no more than a horse's width but he had all the...

7th-Mth, $47K, Msw, 3yo/up, 1 1/16mT, 3:56 p.m. ET. The holiday card by the Jersey Shore includes first-time starter DIRAND (Ire) (Sottsass {Fr}). Owned by Peter Brant and Tony Shafrazian, the 3-year-old is out of Unaided (GB) (Dansili {GB}), who White Birch acquired for €1,250,000 at the 2019 Arqana December Mixed Sale while in-foal to No Nay Never. This dam is also responsible for champion turf female & GI TVG Breeders' Cup Mile heroine Uni (GB) (Medaglia d'Oro). Dirand is trained by Chad Brown. From the same shedrow, Investment Mandate...

Launching his 2025 campaign in Saturday's Listed Irish Stallion Farms EBF Committed Stakes at Navan, Ballydoyle's G1 Prix Morny hero Whistlejacket (Ire) (No Nay Never) delivered the ideal start with the yard enjoying a one-two. Exuberant for Ryan Moore as his talented stablemate Ides Of March (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) went forward, Peter Brant's accomplished colour-bearer managed to get past in the final yards for a half-length success with Moyglare's filly Sparkling Sea (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) joining in to be a head further behind. "We thought both horses were just...

Last year's Champion 3-year-old male and 'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) will return to Fair Grounds to make his 4-year-old bow in the 100th running of the GII New Orleans Classic on Saturday. Tabbed as the 7-5 morning line favorite, Sierra Leone will face nine other opponents including the highly-regarded winner of the GIII Mineshaft Stakes at Fair Grounds Feb. 15, Hall of Fame (Gun Runner). As reported by TDN's Senior Contributing Editor Alan Carasso, Sierra Leone's trainer Chad Brown had made plans for the colt to make...

Earlier this week, Peter Brant shared mating plans his top American mares and a select few European mares with the TDN. But with the number of mares he's sending to European stallions, we thought it merited a part two. Here, Brant shares insights on more of top mares. FIFTY FIVE, 11, Get Stormy-Soave, by Brahms; MORANDA (FR), 17, Indian Rocket (GB)-Spain, by Bering (GB) (dam of GIISW Speak of the Devil), QUIDURA (GB), 12, Dubawi (Ire)-Quetena (Ger), by Acatenango (Ger) (the GII Ballston Spa winner and GISP); THAIS (FR), 11,...