Santa Anita

Cheveley Park Stud homebred INSPIRAL (GB) (Frankel {GB}--Starscope {GB}, by Selkirk) became the first Breeders' Cup winner for her Juddmonte sire with a narrow victory over dual Group 1 winner Warm Heart (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the $2-million GI Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf on Saturday. It was the second win in the race for Cheveley Park's Thompson family, who also took the 2016 edition with Queen's Trust (GB) (Dansili {GB}). One of the back-markers crossing the dirt in the 1 1/4-mile contest, the 5-2 favorite found...

ARCADIA, CA - The lightly raced Bass family homebred Seal Team (GB) (War Front) sliced his way through traffic at the top of the stretch and made his graded stakes debut a winning one in Saturday's GII Twilight Derby at Santa Anita. The 7-1 shot broke sharply and was a bit headstrong while racing in tight quarters heading into the clubhouse turn. He began to settle beneath Umberto Rispoli from there and raced on the inside in eighth through fractions of :23.56 and :47.18. Traveling well with a wall of...

Courtesy of years in the sport of horse racing, Team Coolmore is as well versed as anyone with many of racing's highs and lows. Hitting one of those lulls when GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf morning-line favorite River Tiber (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) was a vet scratch earlier Friday, the team--in concert with Al Shaqab Racing--ended Day 1 of the World Championships with a rousing coup, taking the final Breeders' Cup race of the day with Unquestionable (Fr), a colt by Coolmore stallion Wootton Bassett {GB}). Coolmore completed the Exacta...

ARCADIA, CA - The comparisons to the brilliant Uncle Mo began for 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light) following a spectacular, double-digit debut win a day before the GI Travers S. at Saratoga-Uncle Mo's, of course, took place on the undercard--but came to an abrupt halt following a dismal seventh at .55 cents on the dollar in a sloppy renewal of the GI Champagne S. They can safely return now. Just like Uncle Mo did for Repole Stable and Todd Pletcher at third asking beneath John Velazquez at the...

Having sired five Northern Hemisphere Grade I/Group 1 winners since June, Coolmore America's outstanding second-crop stallion Justify registered a 'Future Stars Friday' double when Wise Racing LLC's Hard to Justify stuck on grimly to deny game Irish raider Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio) in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. The $190,000 Keeneland September yearling made it a half-dozen elite-level scorers for the 2018 Triple Crown winner, whose daughter Just F Y I locked up an Eclipse Award with her hard-fought success in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies not 45...

RP Racing's Big Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) came into Friday's GI Breeders' Juvenile Turf Sprint carrying great expectation. The 2-year-old's trainer, Mick Appleby, was making his Breeders' Cup debut, as was jockey Tom Marquand. Far from newcomers in their respective bases in the UK, the duo had to travel a long way for this year's World Championships at Santa Anita, but the voyage proved worth their while as the Irish-bred proved best in a blistering renewal of the five-furlong turf test. "I'm still gobsmacked," said a visibly moved Appleby...

G2 Coventry S. winner River Tiber (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) has been scratched from the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf after withdrawals were posted by Santa Anita on Friday morning California time. The Coolmore partners' runner won his first three starts and had been the 3-1 morning line favourite for Friday's contest. He also finished third to Vandeek (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}) in both the G1 Prix Morny and G1 Middle Park S. and looked primed for a big effort. River Tiber was due to be ridden by Ryan Moore....

ARCADIA, CA - Forty looks good on you, Breeders' Cup. With defending winners Caravel (Mizzen Mast) (Turf Sprint), Cody's Wish (Curlin) (Dirt Mile), Elite Power (Curlin) (Sprint) and Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper) (F/M Sprint) all back to defend their titles, the two-day Championships--consisting of 14 races with purses and awards totaling more than $31 million--gets underway for a record 11th time at Santa Anita Friday. Sunny skies and temperatures in the 80s--welcome back to Southern California!--will be on the menu as the weekend kicks off with a 10-race, 'Future Stars Friday'...

ARCADIA, CA - The imposing Bill Mott-trained duo of Just F Y I (Justify) (Juvenile Fillies) and champion Elite Power (Curlin) (Sprint) immediately caught the eye as the curtain was lifted at Santa Anita with a spectacular sunrise beneath the San Gabriel mountains on Breeders' Cup eve. Japanese superstar Songline (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}), the 5-2 morning-line favorite for the Mile, began her marathon training session, while the horse to catch in the Dirt equivalent 'Rising Star' Zozos (Munnings) left the pony raring to go. John Gosden, represented by potential race...

ARCADIA, USA -- In case you're wondering, Aidan O'Brien had scrambled eggs for breakfast. That was just after he had watched his squad of ten take a stronger turn around Santa Anita's dirt track and before he had a chance to consider a second course at the lavish buffet by politely stepping outside to answer questions from a few annoying hacks, this one included. Ryan Moore has been aboard Friday's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint contender Cherry Blossom (Ire) (No Nay Never) these last two mornings. "Is that a...

ARCADIA, CA - With a trio of longshot chances entered in this weekend's Breeders' Cup, trainer John Sadler found a quiet spot on the apron to watch his 9:00 a.m. set train at Santa Anita on Wednesday morning. It was a very different scene ahead of last year's Championships as the 67-year-old put the finishing touches on the once-in-a-lifetime Flightline (Tapit), who concluded his brilliant career unbeaten from six starts with a performance for the ages in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland. How's life after Flightline treating you...

ARCADIA, CA - As Javier Castellano gets ready to ride three mounts on Breeders' Cup Saturday, the recently turned 46-year-old is amidst one of the best years of his career. And it almost never happened. A pair of Breeders' Cup wins at the 2019 Championships put an exclamation point on the Hall of Famer's eighth straight season with more than $20 million in earnings. But, the year 2020, like it was for so many, was more about overcoming adversity for the native of Venezuela. Castellano was the first jockey to...