Rhetorical

For 60 days straight over the winter at Will Walden's Palm Meadows base in Florida, MGISW Rhetorical (Not This Time) underwent a different kind of training. Instead of being turned out for the off-season like so many horses, his trainer decided that it was time to unveil a new project where skills like dressage would be emphasized. The work that the gelding put in over those months has paid off and now the New York-bred Horse of the Year owned by Gary Barber, Cheyenne Stable and Wachtel Stable will point...

Rhetorical (Not This Time) earned New York-bred Horse of the Year honors and led a strong evening for his breeders Mallory and Karen Mort Monday evening during the New York Thoroughbred Breeders' Inc.'s Annual Awards Ceremony held Monday night at the Hall of Springs at the Saratoga Spa State Park in Saratoga Springs. Bred by the Morts and campaigned by Gary Barber, Cheyenne Stable and Wachtel Stable, Rhetorical won four of five starts and earned $863,800 in 2025. His victories included the GI Coolmore Turf Mile Stakes at Keeneland Race...

Gary Barber, Cheyenne Stable and Wachtel Stable's Rhetorical (Not This Time) was trying nine furlongs for the first time in his career in Saturday's GI Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic at Churchill Downs, but the distance proved no hindrance whatsoever, as the New York-bred wrested command not long after the break over a course that had been playing kind to front-running types over the weekend and proved not for catching. The 5-year-old gelding is the second consecutive winner of the Turf Classic bred in New York, joining Spirit of St...

An additional quartet of Grade I contests and a Grade I-quality renewal of the GII Pat Day Mile highlight Saturday's Kentucky Derby undercard races at Churchill Downs. Knightsbridge Rates Top Billing In Churchill Downs S. A field of 11 comes together for yet another compelling renewal of the $1-million GI Churchill Downs Stakes, a seven-furlong contest in which Godolphin's 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard Knightsbridge (Nyquist) goes in search of a maiden top-level success while looking to extend his current winning streak to five. A half-brother to Grade I-winning...

In the GI Maker's Mark Mile at Keeneland on Friday, Zulu Kingdom (Ire) (r, 4, Ten Sovereigns {Ire}--Zindziswa, by Smart Strike) went gate to wire to hand trainer Chad Brown the 3,000th win of his career. The speedy turf star won on debut for trainer Andre Fabre at Saint-Cloud as a juvenile that June. A private purchase by Hubert Guy in France, the bay was unveiled under the care of Chad Brown and delivered a win less than three months later in the Aug. 29 running of the GIII With...

Two years ago and on the heels of a victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile, Master of the Seas (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) returned to American shores for his seasonal debut in the GI Maker's Mark Mile and ran out a ready 2 1/4-length winner. Eclipse Award-winning 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard Notable Speech (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) will jump a warm favorite in an attempt to repeat the dose Friday afternoon at Keeneland, with William Buick--the only rider the 5-year-old has known in his career--in for the steer. It...

Some 90 minutes after Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) finished a brave second in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf, Godolphin's Notable Speech (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) came running at the fence with time ticking away and was along in time to prevail in the GI FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile at Del Mar. It was a fourth win in five years for Godolphin, jockey William Buick, trainer Charlie Appleby and the legendary Dubawi and came 12 months after Notable Speech finished a valiant third in a bid to run the Mile winning...

Gary Barber, Cheyenne Stable and Wachtel Stable's Rhetorical (Not This Time) provided his all-conquering sire with his second winner of Keeneland's GI Coolmore Turf Mile in the space of three years, striking from close range to earn an all-expenses-paid trip to Del Mar for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile exactly four weeks down the road. Not This Time's Eclipse Award-winning son Up to the Mark won this event in 2023 ahead of a very good runner-up effort in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf. Only once-beaten in five career starts coming...