Saratoga

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - A year ago, trainer Chad Brown thought he had his best chance ever when he ran 'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) in the $1.25-million GI Travers Stakes. The best he could do as the 8-5 favorite was a third-place finish. Brown accepted the verdict and vowed that he would keep trying to win the Midsummer Derby, a race he grew up with. The 46-year-old Brown grew up in the shadow of Saratoga Race Course, in nearby Mechanicville, so, of course, the Travers is the...

5. READY FOR CANDY, SAR, 8/17, 1 1/8 miles (turf) (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure-86 (f, 3, by Twirling Candy--Enoree, by More Than Ready) O-Lindy Farms. B-Mark Dodson (Ont-C). T-Philip Antonacci. J-Irad Ortiz Jr. The Antonacci family is legendary in harness racing, but has had success with thoroughbreds, too, and February $400k Fasig Tipton buy Ready for Candy made a splash at Saratoga in her 3-year-old debut. Now trained by young Phil Antonacci, she controlled the pace to the stretch then zipped away by 7 ¾ lengths. For her previous connections,...

Having previously done all of her racing in New York, Dry Powder shipped down to Parx to pick up her first stakes win in Tuesday's Cathryn Sophia Stakes. A head behind Sweet Seraphine (Quality Road) in the Wilton Stakes two back at Aqueduct, she stepped into the deep end and wound up third, albeit the length of the stretch back, in the GI Coaching Club American Oaks behind Scottish Lassie (McKinzie) at Saratoga July 19. Given a 7-1 shot here, the daughter of Gun Runner showed speed but was outrun...

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 El Cordobes at Saratoga. El Cordobes Breaks Through At The Spa Godolphin's El Cordobes (Frankel) broke through at the highest level in the August 9 GI Sword Dancer Stakes at Saratoga for Charlie Appleby (video). He is a winner of the G2 Princess of Wales's Stakes in England. Bred by Bjorn Nielsen, he was originally picked up for 2 million gns out of the...

Nothing ages us like old silk--certainly, at any rate, those of us who began on the Turf long before there was an internet. Finding footage today of the races that got us hooked will invariably restore from oblivion the colors of tycoons and aristocrats, once part of our daily lives, that have largely or even totally vanished since. Sic transit gloria mundi. (So passes the glory of the world...) Our memories, moreover, position us in place as well as time. In my own youth, for instance, black jacket and scarlet...

Jamie Linwood was cheering as the horses rounded the final turn in the GI Sword Dancer Stakes, but it wasn't for the mount he had come to America to ride. It was the other Charlie Appleby trainee, Nations Pride (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), who looked like the stronger pick at the top of the stretch, but then El Cordobes (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) weaved through one gap and slipped through another, surging past his more-accomplished stablemate to snatch a dramatic victory. "I saw Nations Pride was going well and obviously we're the...

Saffie Joseph Jr. is easy to pick out. It's got to be the hair. He talks about the long locks he has on his head and what it would take for him to cut it off. He talks about Skippylongstocking going for his third straight win in the Charles Town Classic. He compares the weather of Saratoga to Florida. And, it might surprise you what actor he picks to play himself if ever there was a movie made about his life. He sat down with the TDN's Tim Wilkin to...

Trainer Phil Serpe, who has an appeal pending with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in an attempt to overturn a two-year suspension imposed in July by a Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) arbitrator over a contested clenbuterol positive case from last summer at Saratoga Race Course, is also seeking to renew his request for a preliminary injunction in a 10-month-old lawsuit against the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and the FTC. A key issue in Serpe's federal court filing is the fact that HIWU and HISA did not...

Graded winner Magnitude (Not This Time) prepped for Saturday's GI Travers Stakes with a half-mile breeze over the Oklahoma dirt training track Sunday morning. Clocked in :50.22 (31/49) while working through a blanket of fog, the Steve Asmussen charge has been training up to the feature race this weekend after producing a 9 1/4-length masterclass last out July 5 in the Listed Iowa Derby. The son of Not This Time missed the Triple Crown series with an ankle chip, but has been moving forwardly since his return to the races...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - If In Her Glory (Constitution), a 2-year-old filly, were a boxer, she would be in the flyweight division. Not big enough for the varsity; start her out on the JV. Ok, you get the idea. In Her Glory is not a big-robust looking young horse. In Saturday's sixth race at Saratoga Race Course--a $100,000 maiden special weight for 2-year-old fillies going 5 1/2 furlongs on the Mellon Turf Course--In Her Glory looked 10 feet tall as she ran professionally down the stretch and won the race...

In the 145th running of the GI Alabama Stakes, it was Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) who took home the elite level glory at Saratoga. Entering the race, it was largely billed as a showdown between the 'big three' and it more or less went that way during the running. Nitrogen entered the historic contest fresh off a heartbreaker in the July 5 GI Belmont Oaks Invitational over the course next door where a nose denied her a first Grade I victory. Her tour de force two back June 7 in a...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Jockey Junior Alvarado, the race day partner of Sovereignty (Into Mischief), the leading 3-year-old in the country, knows how everyone feels now. That's because he saw up close just how powerful Sovereignty is. Sovereignty had his final work before next weekend's $1.25 million GI Travers Stakes Saturday morning at the Oklahoma Training Track. As usual, he was being ridden by Neil Poznansky, the assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. Alvarado, helping the barn out, climbed aboard Fort Nelson (Bernardini), who was Sovereignty's workmate for...