Salamis

There might be a touch of malaise come Sunday, but the GIII Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs for 3-year-olds is the way to revive any Belmont Stakes reveler with the proper racing tonic. Add in a pair of competitive graded grass races at the Spa for good measure and Sunday's higher level slate should make things right as rain. In the Matt Winn, a trio of GI Kentucky Derby entrants will get another crack at the surface that was less than kind to them on the first Saturday in...

After a lengthy delay following the gate scratch of Bernieandtherose (Accelerate), 2-5 choice Directive (Gun Runner) took it all in stride, going on to earn her second consecutive victory at Saratoga on Thursday. A debut second sprinting at the Big A on Apr. 3, the Juddmonte homebred relished the wet going while extending to a mile at that venue on Apr. 30. Joined by a red-hot Flavien Prat, who already won the first two races on Thursday's card, the Chad Brown trainee allowed U Lite Up My Life (City of...

The trio of 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard', Emerging Market (Candy Ride {Arg}), Ottinho (Quality Road)and Growth Equity (Nyquist) trained by five-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown and the 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard', Chief Wallabee (Constitution) for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott worked Saturday across Saratoga Race Course and Belmont Park in preparation for the GI Belmont Stakes at the Spa June 6, the NYRA press office said in a Saturday release. The pair of Ottinho and Growth Equity worked in company over the Belmont Park dirt...

Directive (Gun Runner), now with the experience of a start under her belt, made the most of her second start against an over-matched field of experienced maidens. Second going 6 1/2 furlongs on the local track Apr. 3, Thursday's 1-5 favorite had to contend with a muddy track but took advantage of her early speed to keep her face clean while largely left alone through fractions of :23.08 and :46.20. 18-1 longshot Moonlit (Daredevil), the other second-time starter in the field, did well to keep pace into the stretch but...

The remarkable tribute paid to their mutual granddam by the first two in the Breeders' Cup Classic felt especially apt given that Fawn Leap Farm had lost Darling My Darling (Deputy Minister), at a venerable 28, since the same horses finished first and third the previous year. Debby and John Oxley know that these things take time. In 2014 they had sold one of her daughters, by Congrats, for $8,000 as a yearling. At that stage, Darling My Darling was proving a dud in her second career: her first foal...

Continuing the powerful run during Del Mar's closing weekend of racing, trainer Chad Brown and Juddmonte once again held the winning card in the day's feature, taking Sunday's GI Matriarch Stakes with Segesta (Ghostzapper), a half-sister to Saturday's GI Hollywood Derby winner, Salamis (Speightstown). In Our Time (Not This Time) and Ag Bullet (Twirling Candy) went to the front early as 8-5 choice Segesta was allowed to settle in fourth through :23.65 and :48.06 initial splits. With the 25-1 still cruising along up front through a half in :48.06, the...

Delta Downs decided to give horseplayers an unprecedented break last week. For their daytime cards on Tuesday and Wednesday, the track lowered the takeout in all pools to just 10%. While other tracks have experimented with lowering the takeout in some pools, never before had anyone decided to slash the take in all pools. By doing so, it looked like Delta would provide the industry with some much needed data. What effect would such a low takeout have on handle and how would the ADWs and the CAW players react?...

Juddmonte homebred Salamis (Speightstown) largely avoided traffic issues in what ended up a sit-sprint renewal of the GI Hollywood Derby, and, with clear sailing through the final furlong, was along in the final strides to give his late sire his second new graded winner on the program. The half-brother to Sunday's GI Matriarch Stakes hopeful Segesta (Ghostzapper) was taken back to the latter third of the field by Umberto Rispoli, with odds-on Test Score (Oscar Performance) riding the rails to his inside and Salamis had cover on the back of...

It has been an atypically slow Keeneland fall meeting for the powerful barn of Chad Brown, who had been represented by a single winner from his first 17 starters in a maiden claimer on Oct. 23. But a win from Juddmonte's Salamis (Speightstown) in Saturday's $600,000 GIII Bryan Station Stakes would go a long ways in turning Brown's frown upside down--at least to a certain degree. A son of Juddmonte's GI Just A Game Stakes heroine Antonoe (First Defence) and therefore the half-brother to GSW & MGISP Segesta (Ghostzapper), Salamis...

3rd-WO , 111K, Msw, 3yo/up, f, 7f (syn), 2:19 p.m. The fourth-highest price out of the 2022 Arqana August Yearling Sale, EARHART (FR) (Siyouni {Fr}) was a 1,400,000€ purchase for co-breeder LNJ Foxwoods who bought out their partnership with Ecurie Des Monceaux to take sole ownership of the filly. She is the first foal out of a stakes-winning first dam (also a Solis/Litt purchase herself in 2017) who is a half to MSW/MGSP Gidu (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and GSW Marbre Rose (Ire) (Smart Strike). This is the family of several...