Santa Anita

'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard Golden Tempo (Curlin) was not the only marquee name on the worktab over the last 48 hours, as horses prepping for next week's Belmont Stakes Racing Festival--as well as some household names not heading to upstate New York--turned in breezes at racetracks from coast-to-coast, from Saratoga, Laurel and Fair Hill to Santa Anita. To follow are works in alphabetical order at the various venues with parenthetical mention of intended targets or races to which the horses have been nominated. Saratoga (Oklahoma unless othewise indicated)...

If redemption was the name of the game in Saturday's GII Santa Margarita Stakes at Santa Anita, the first horse to come to mind likely would have been $2.5-million Fasig-Tipton November purchase Seismic Beauty (Uncle Mo) as the one with something to prove, but it was California-bred Om N Joy (f, 4, Om-Margie's Minute, by Hard Spun) who emerged as the star of the show and who got her own form of absolution. Om N Joy, who races for her breeders Jerry and Connie Baker along with partners Michael Golovko...

6th-SA, 65K, Msw, 3-5yo, f, 6f, 6:30 p.m. 2024 OBS April Sales topper MOONA LISA (Tiz the Law) makes her belated debut Sunday over two years after bringing $1.9 million from Michael Lund Peterson and trainer Bob Baffert. The now 4-year-old, one of two Baffert starters in the field, gets Juan Hernandez aboard and enters off a steady work tab including a two-back bullet from the gate May 17 (five furlongs in :59 1/5 {1/51}). TJCIS PPS

Cindy Niemetz, the longtime West Coast representative for the International Racing Bureau, passed away earlier in the month after a long battle with cancer, according to a press release Friday afternoon. The veteran horsewoman was an omni-present figure at the Breeders' Cup for more than three decades, running the quarantine barn for international shippers. Self-described as a "Mother Hen," she worked as a conduit between the international entrants, the Breeders' Cup, the host track and the U.S. Department of Agriculture rules and regulations. "Some people do a job; others become...

8th-CD, $127k, AOC ($125k), 3yo, 6f, 4:22 p.m. A pair of big-figure 'TDN Rising Stars' presented by Hagyard from the back end of the meet at Oaklawn Park square off here with an eye on bigger and better down the road. Novogratz Racing Stables' MUNNINGS CHALLENGE (Munnings) showed sharp early speed on Mar. 1 debut before settling for second, but took them all the way last time Apr. 11, defeating Doublecents (Goldencents) by five resounding lengths, good for a 94 Beyer Speed Figure. He is a son of Novogratz's outstanding...

This week's rankings are topped by another filly coming out of 'TDN Rising Star' Mashallah's (Maxfield) scintillating debut victory at Keeneland. 5. NATIONAL CHARTER, CD, 5/23-6th, 1 mile (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure-86 (c, 3, by Constitution--Totally Tucker, by Elusive Quality) O-BBN Racing. B-Woodford Thoroughbreds (Ky). T-Rusty Arnold. J-Luis Saez. Especially in hindsight, it was a positive that National Charter was a 5/2 favorite at Keeneland in his debut. The $200,000 yearling was only so-so in defeat that day, but apparently needed a race to get his bearings--he ran 10 lengths...

Mission accomplished. Three months ago, after Thought Process (f, 4, Collected--Creative Thinking, by Creative Cause) kickstarted her 4-year-old campaign with a win in the Feb. 28 GII Buena Vista Stakes at Santa Anita, Billy Koch of Little Red Feather Racing said, "Ultimately, our goal has always been the Gamely." On Monday, that vision became reality with jockey Hector Berrios pumping his arm in celebration as Thought Process crossed the wire much the best in the 1 1/8-mile GI Gamely Stakes on Santa Anita's Memorial Day program. It marked the chestnut's...

Jockey Juan Hernandez reached a notable milestone on Sunday when earning career win No. 3,000 at Santa Anita Park. Hernandez accomplished the feat in Sunday's ninth and final race when guiding Syntax ($8.80) to victory in a starter allowance going one mile on turf. Hernandez and the Librado Barocio-trained filly won by a half-length. "I was thinking about if before the race, that it would be nice to do it here," Hernandez said. "Then I just rode my race. After the wire when I heard Frank Mirahmadi say that is...

Years before they skyrocketed to sports stardom with the purchase of the Los Angeles Lakers in 1979, the Buss family, consisting at the time of Jerry, then-wife JoAnn, and children Johnny, Jim, Jeanie and Janie, were just another family spending the hot summer months where the turf meets the surf. "My parents had a summer house at Del Mar," Janie Buss remembered of her childhood in California. "So every summer, we would go there. My parents were [gamblers]. We would go to Torrey Pines Beach in the morning, then go...

A pair of Grade I turf tests in addition to the GII Hollywood Gold Cup highlight Santa Anita's Memorial Day card. Kicking off Monday's graded action, the Gold Cup will feature a quintet of hard-knocking handicappers, including Grade I winners Subsanador (Arg) (Fortify), victorious over ultimate champion National Treasure (Quality Road) in the 2024 renewal of the GI California Crown and last season's GI Big 'Cap winner British Isles (Justify). Now seven, the Argentine multiple Grade I winner returned off a 2 1/2-year hiatus to finish fourth in both starts...

Picked up as an OBS March grad just two months ago for $150,000, He Is No Lie (Early Voting) lit up a maiden special weight race at Santa Anita Friday, wiring the field by a widening margin under wraps to become his juvenile sire's (by Gun Runner) second winner and first 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard'. His wide draw proved of little consequence as this 2-5 favorite, facing six Californa-bred rivals, was pressed on to clear the inside traffic. Responding in kind to that ask, He Is No Lie...

   In this series, the TDN takes a look at notable successes of European-based sires in North America. This week's column is highlighted by the victory of Victorious Dream at Santa Anita. Ghaiyyath Filly Crowned In Arcadia The three-year-old filly Victorious Dream ran out a 1 1/2-length winner at Santa Anita for Michael McCarthy on May 10 (video). Bred by Paul Croke and raced by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Sabby Racing and Michael House, the daughter of Ghaiyyath and the Oasis Dream mare Perfect Dream carries some black type, after placing...