Rachel Alexandra

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running at Kyoto Racecourses: Saturday, May 30, 2026 1st-KYO, ¥11,280,000 ($71k), Maiden, 3yo, 1400m COLORER (f, 3, Quality Road--Rachel's Valentina, by Bernardini), whose 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard dam won the 2015 GI Spinaway Stakes and was runner-up in the GI...

Chip Honcho (Connect) had his final major tune-up for the May 16 GI Preakness Stakes when he worked four furlongs in :50.20 (39/47) at Churchill Downs Sunday. Exercise rider Luiyi Ortiz was aboard for the work, which was one of trainer Steve Asmussen's typical easy half-mile moves the week of a race. Chip Honcho's big work came May 2, when he worked five furlongs in 1:00.00 (1/14). "I think we're in a very good place with him right now," said Asmussen, who won the Preakness in 2007 with Curlin and...

Chip Honcho (Connect), winner of the Gun Runner Stakes and a close second in the GII Fasig-Tipton Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds will bypass the GI Kentucky Derby in favor of the May 16 running of the GI Preakness Stakes, Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen said Saturday morning at Churchill Downs. With the defection of Chip Honcho, GSW Litmus Test (Nyquist) will now drawn in for the big race. The colt's Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert was asked early on Saturday morning what "Plan B" was if...

It was a big weekend for trainer Brendan Walsh, whose Bella Ballerina (Street Sense) was a game winner of the GII Rachel Alexandra Stakes. A half-sister to Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief), the 2023 GI Kentucky Oaks winner, who was also trained by Walsh, the trainer is hoping to pull off what would be a unique daily double--winning the Oaks twice within four years with half-siblings. To discuss the Rachel Alexandra win, his take on Bella Ballerina and what he has planned on the way to the Oaks, Walsh joined this...

Godolphin knows a thing or two about prepping a filly for the Kentucky Oaks through the Fair Grounds meet. Just last year, the then-undefeated Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro) rolled through the Rachel Alexandra and the Fair Grounds Oaks en route to the lilies on the first Friday in May. And in 2023, 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief) took the same route, capturing the Rachel Alexandra as well and settling for second in the Fair Grounds Oaks on her way to victory in Kentucky. Flash forward...

There's a special feel about this place: very different from some of the bigger farms around Lexington, with their miles of fencing leading to wide horizons. Here trees fill the undulations like green mist, and then there's this gem of a house, faithfully reproduced from a much older one in New Hampshire that Dede McGehee came across in a book one day. Hummingbirds flit into the flower baskets on the veranda. Overall, Heaven Trees Farm feels very apt to its name. "Except when I looked into it, it turned out...

7th-GP, $70k, Msw, 2yo, 1 1/16mT, 3:18 p.m. ET Epic d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro), a full-brother to the once-in-a-lifetime Rachel Alexandra, makes his first career start for Todd Pletcher going two turns over the Gulfstream lawn. He brought $1.35 million from the fledgling Las Vegas-based Epic Horses at last year's Keeneland September Yearling sale. The bay was bred in Kentucky by Dede McGehee. "He is a really good mover," the operation's advisor and CEO of Town & Country Farms Shannon Potter said at KEESEP while declining to reveal the names of...

Blue Grass Farms Charities (BGFC) sixth annual Relics and Rarities from the Bluegrass Region online auction will begin at noon ET Oct. 23 and run until 7:00 p.m. ET Oct. 26 with a preview starting Oct. 16 which will showcase halters worn by top Thoroughbreds, Kentucky Bourbon and other unique items, the organization said in a press release on Thursday. "We are excited about the items for this year's auction, but most especially sterling silver bracelets made with horsehair from seven amazing Thoroughbreds," said BGFC Executive Director Julie Kwasniewski. "Bracelets...

To adapt Shakespeare on Cleopatra: "age cannot wither him, nor custom stale his infinite variety." To be enjoying an Indian summer like this, however, Medaglia d'Oro has had to stem what often proves an inexorable tide once a stallion enters the evening of his career. For the ageism so common among breeders can be self-fulfilling. Any stallion still operating at 26 must have shown an unequivocal prowess over the years. That being so, however, he will typically have produced fashionable sons to erode his own market share. And once enough...

Six starts. Six wins. Godolphin homebred Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro) stamped herself as a force to be reckoned with in Louisville on the first Friday in May with yet another impressive win, this time in Saturday's GII Fair Grounds Oaks. Already a winner over the track and distance in February's GII Rachel Alexandra Stakes, the 2-5 favorite picked up her fourth straight win over the 1 1/16-mile distance. Breaking with the speed from the outside, Good Cher assumed a good stalking just off the pace as Ahavah (City of Light)...

6th-Tampa Bay Downs, $32,000, Msw, 3-1, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:44.16, ft, 3 1/4 lengths. VALENTINIAN (c, 3, Into Mischief--Rachel's Valentina {GISW, $738,800}, by Bernardini) came into this race as not only the most expensive, but arguably one of the best bred, and he ran to the billing as he broke his maiden at first-asking. Rating comfortably from off the pace, he stepped up to push the issue passing the five-sixteenths marker and was in control by the quarter pole. Kicking away when asked for more in the lane, he sailed...

'TDN Rising Star' and GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity winner East Avenue (Medaglia d'Oro) has a chance to set things right as the Derby circus rolls into New Orleans Saturday in the GII Fasig-Tipton Risen Star Stakes, the first race on the 2025 Road to the Kentucky Derby to award 50 points to the winner. "We had a plan after the Breeders' Cup to give him six works into the Risen Star," trainer Brendan Walsh said of his Godolphin homebred. "His breeze (on Jan. 17) was really good. I had him...