Saratoga

Pin Oak Stud's World Beater (c, 3, Oscar Performance--Dabinett, by Blame), second last out behind Test Score (Lookin At Lucky) in the July 4 GI Belmont Derby, turned the tables on that rival to give his young trainer Riley Mott the first graded stakes win of his career in Saratoga's GI Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes Saturday. The son of and former assistant to Hall of Famer Bill Mott, Riley Mott is no stranger to racing's biggest stage. It will perhaps be more of a surprise to learn this is the...

Looking to earn a trip to the Breeders' Cup just like his sire did, 'TDN Rising Star' Deterministic (Liam's Map--Giulio's Jewel, by Speightstown) found his footing down the lane and won the GI FanDuel Fourstardave Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday afternoon. A mark of consistency for the Clement barn while patriarch Christophe was alive, the dark bay has continued to deliver for young Miguel. To cap his 3-year-old season, Deterministic nabbed the GIII Hill Prince Stakes at the Big A in early November. Taking to the main track at Keeneland...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- You knew this wouldn't last much longer. Chad Brown's Saratoga barn has too much young talent inside of it. Eventually, the trainer was going to find his way to the winner's circle with one of his juvenile runners. That day was Saturday when Brown's Capital Partner (GB) (Kingman {GB}) unleashed a furious closing kick to win the second race at the Spa, a $100,000 maiden special weight for 2-yeasr-olds. With jockey Flavien Prat doing the steering, Capital Partner flew down the stretch in the 1 1/16-mile...

A debut winner for John Sadler out at Santa Anita in gate-to-wire fashion June 1, Hey Nay Nay shipped in from California to Monmouth Park and outclassed this field from the first jump to take the Tyro Stakes. A rocket from the gate, the 1-5 favorite was in charge of the tempo from the start and played catch me if you can with this field who was run off their feet. Sir Newtons Laws (Accelerate) stuck around early but quickly faded as Hey Nay Nay turned for home and began...

There is nothing fast or precocious about developing a good wine, and certainly not for the Italian wine producer Ornellaia, one of the leading creators of Super Tuscan wine in the famous Bolgheri region. But when Kia Joorabchian of Amo Racing teamed up with the Memo partnership to buy the sale-topper at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale this May for $1.1 million, he was not looking to let her age quietly before popping the cork. Off slowly in Saturday's sixth race at Saratoga, Ornellaia (Girvin) the filly came with a late...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Many of the smiles and chuckles following Ted Noffey's victory in the first race at Saratoga Race Course Saturday had very little to do with his solid 1 1/2-length victory. They were about his name, which was the result of a very simple but humorous mistake, as his, err, namesake Ned Toffey explained. Toffey, for 21 years the general manager of Spendthrift Farm, which owns Ted Noffey, was chosen as Kentucky's Farm Manager of the Year in 2024, an honor that started the story. "One of...

7th-SAR, $110K, ALW, 3yo/up, 6f, 4:36 p.m. ET. MIDLAND MONEY (Shancelot) was pinned with a 'TDN Rising Star' after the colt won by six lengths to start his career as a juvenile at Santa Anita June 14. Not seen since, the Bob Baffert trainee who shipped from Del Mar is one of seven foals for his dam and her second winner. TJCIS PPS 4th-ELP, $100K, Msw, 2yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 2:16 p.m. ET. Godolphin homebred Infinite Sky (Not This Time) makes the races for trainer Brad Cox. The dark bay...

'TDN Rising Star' Ewing (c, 2, Knicks Go--Sassy Ali Joy, by Indian Charlie), a daylight debut winner at the Spa July 5, rushed up to the front from his rail draw after a slow start and never looked back in Saturday's GII Saratoga Special S. The 8-5 second-choice sped through an opening quarter in :22.26 and was challenged by the unbeaten favorite and fellow 'Rising Star' Obliteration (Violence) on the far turn. Ewing had another gear, however, and floated out his rival at the top of the stretch. He opened...

Mystik Dan (Goldencents), the 2024 GI Kentucky Derby winner, breezed on the grass for the first time in his career Friday morning, going an easy five furlongs in 1:02 flat over the Oklahoma course with Luis Rivera, Jr. in the saddle. "Really pleased," trainer Ken McPeek said at his Saratoga barn. "I always wanted to try him on the turf, and he looked like he loved it. We're contemplating some options and this is a horse that's done everything we've ever asked him to do. I think he'll relish it;...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY--Late in the Hall of Fame induction ceremony Friday, master of ceremonies Tom Durkin moved close to the microphone and declared it time for the "Smarty Party" to begin. The crowd that filled the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion for racing's annual feel-good day roared its approval. Within a few minutes, Smarty Jones (Elusive Quality), winner of the 2004 GI Kentucky Derby and the GI Preakness Stakes officially joined the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame. The Pennsylvania-bred had been eligible for the Hall of Fame since 2010, but...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - There was no head scratching at the end of Friday's fourth race at Saratoga. At least not from the winners. The $100,000 maiden special weight for 2-year-old fillies went to the aptly named Scratch It (Tapit), who was virtually ignored at the windows. She was allowed to go off at 12-1 odds in the 1 1/8-mile race on the Inner Turf. She was the second longest price on the board in the field of eight. At the end, Scratch It had gone gate-to-wire and won by...

Before Sovereignty (Into Mischief) and Journalism (Curlin), there was Fierceness (City of Light) and Sierra Leone (Gun Runner). While we patiently wait for round three between the top two 3-year-olds in the country, last year's two standout sophomores and 'TDN Rising Stars' Fierceness and Sierra Leone will meet for the fifth time and first this year in Saturday's GI Whitney S. at Saratoga, a 'Win and You're In' for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. Fierceness defeated Sierra Leone in both the GII Jim Dandy S. and GI Travers S. at...