Saratoga
Some of the most highly anticipated races during the summer racing season are the 'baby' races during the boutique meetings at both Saratoga and Del Mar. Summer Breezes highlights debuting 2-year-olds at those meetings that have been sourced at the breeze-up sales earlier in the year, with links to their under-tack previews. To follow are the entries for Saturday at Saratoga and Del Mar: Saturday, September 2, 2023 Saratoga 1, 2yo, 5 1/2fT, 12:40 p.m. ET Horse (Sire), Sale, Price ($), Breeze Echo Baybe (Ire) (Cable Bay {Ire}), FTMMAY, 115,000,...
He might need to give that gopher a head start. 'TDN Rising Star' Carl Spackler (Ire) (Lope de Vega [Ire}) continued his dominance over the New York turf and picked up his second straight graded stakes win Friday at the Spa, taking the GIII Saranac S. under Tyler Gaffalione for e Five Racing. Victorious just three weeks back with a come-from-behind effort in the GII National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame S. Aug. 11, the Chad Brown trainee was bet like the class of the field, going off at...
Horse racing is at an existential moment. Just weeks after a series of breakdowns at Churchill Downs cast a shadow over the Kentucky Derby, a wave of horrifying horse deaths at Saratoga Race Course has once again brought questions about safety to the forefront of public consciousness. This is a tragedy, as every horse that breaks down also breaks our hearts. However, I believe our sport has reached a tipping point, and I predict there will be a Silver Lining emerging from all these tragedies. In the past week, I...
Does dirt form transfer over to synthetic tracks and vice versa? And do the progeny of traditional Kentucky-based dirt stallions run, for the most part, just as well on synthetic as they do on dirt? These are some of the many questions being asked after a rash of breakdowns over the last few months has led some to call for synthetic tracks, which, statistics show, are safer than dirt and turf courses, to replace dirt tracks. While one horse and one race is not much of a sample size, the...
A trio of highly regarded sophomores will take on their elders in a fantastic renewal of Saturday's GI FanDuel Pacific Classic S. at Del Mar, a 'Win and You're In' for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. The 5-2 morning-line favorite Geaux Rocket Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}) leads the way for the 3-year-olds after defeating GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) by 1 3/4 lengths in Monmouth Park's GI TVG.com Haskell S. July 22. He will look to follow in the hoofprints of his leading sire Candy Ride, who won...
Bypassing Wednesday's P. G. Johnson S. against her own sex--a race ultimately washed on to the main track--29-10 second favorite Gala Brand (Violence) bided her time at the back of a the field in a paceless renewal of Saratoga's GIII With Anticipation S., but went through her gears over the last furlong and a half and outfinished favored Carson's Run (Cupid). Drawn the fence in a field reduced to seven by the scratching of British Sea (English Channel), the flashy chestnut was content to try to save her best for...
2nd-Kentucky Downs, $256,000, Alw, 8-31, (R), 2yo, f, 6 1/2fT, 1:17.31, fm, 3 1/4 lengths. HIDDEN CLASS (f, 2, Catalina Cruiser--Noblame {MSW, $167,023}, by Blame) kicked off her career with a closing second to Gala Brand (Violence) in a 5 1/2-furlong maiden over the Saratoga turf Aug. 3 and did her part here to flatter the form of that rival, who was to take on the boys as a 7-2 shot in the GIII With Anticipation S. later Thursday in upstate New York. Favored at a little better than 3-2...
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--It turned out that breeder John Mulholland's trip from Lexington to Saratoga Race Course this week didn't turn out the way he had hoped, but it was not a waste of time. Life Talk (Gun Runner), a filly he co-bred, took care of that Thursday, rolling to a 6 1/2-length victory in the second race. Sent off at 2-5 in the field of six 2-year-old maiden fillies going one mile on the dirt, Life Talk made a wide move coming off the turn, zipped past the competition and...
Some of the most highly anticipated races during the summer racing season are the 'baby' races during the boutique meetings at Saratoga and Del Mar. Summer Breezes highlights debuting 2-year-olds at those meetings that have been sourced at the breeze-up sales earlier in the year, with links to their under-tack previews. To follow are the entries for Friday at Saratoga and Del Mar: Friday, September 1, 2023 Saratoga 1, 2yo, 5 1/2fT, 1:10 p.m. ET Horse (Sire), Sale, Price ($), Breeze Patriot Hills (Speightstown), FTMMAY, 100,000, :10.3 Consignor: Brick City...
Raceday fatalities create powerful news stories anywhere. Social Media has ensured that our world of racing is now a global community, with news and videos dispatched within minutes to knowledgeable audiences in countries far beyond the American shores. However, shock will have reverberated throughout horse communities of many nations at the recent tragedies that have occurred on the racetracks at Saratoga and Churchill Downs. We all wait with bated breath to hear the steps that the major U.S. racecourses will take to remedy a very challenging moment for our sport,...
Magic Cross (Good Magic) aired by 7 1/4 lengths in a modestly graded Belmont maiden July 8 and progressed from there into the GIII Adirondack S., where she finished 10 lengths in back of Brightwork (Outwork) in fourth. Stretching out in distance for this scheduled turf debut, the bay was quickest into stride and made the running while pressed along to her outside by Takemetothebeach (Take Charge Indy). Those two went at it headlong into the stretch, but Magic Cross did the better work in the final furlong and won...
Justice Julia (Medaglia d'Oro--Dreaming of Julia) would have been the sexier half of a commonly owned entry that was sent off as the 7-10 favorite in what became the first race of the final week of racing at Saratoga, but the half-sister to champion Malathaat (Curlin) was never truly involved, and entrymate Emery (f, 2, More Than Ready--Athena, by Street Sense) proved more than equal to the task, skipping clear in the final 150 yards to debut impressively. Away in midpack in a scratched-down field of five, Emery tracked from...