Saratoga

It took every inch of the stretch for Just F Y I (Justify) to get past the well-regarded Shop Lifting (Into Mischief) in Saturday's sixth race at Saratoga, but a jump before the wire she poked her head in front, earning a victory that had her connections bullish on her future. The six-furlong maiden special weight race with a purse of $136,000 went in 1:11.06 and Just F Y I, who is trained by Bill Mott, paid $9.50. The winning margin was a head. "As her training progressed Bill became...

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. Against the flow of the race from the outset, Locked (c, 2, Gun Runner--Luna Rosa, by Malibu Moon) rallied smartly from last after some trouble at the start to finish a very encouraging third sprinting on debut at Saratoga Aug. 5. Chilly on the board at 12-1 for trainer Todd Pletcher, the Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm colorbearer was forced to take up sharply shortly after...

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 and at Ellis Park, which attract its fair share of high-priced offspring from a variety of top national outfits. 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 Sunday at Saratoga and Ellis Park: Sunday, August 27, 2023 Saratoga 1, 2yo,...

With the 76th renewal of Friday's GI Personal Ensign S. at Saratoga billed as a clash between division heavyweights Nest (Curlin) and Clairiere (Curlin), it was the other daughter in the field by Hill 'n' Dale's super sire Curlin who would prevail in a pillar-to-post mild upset. IDIOMATIC (f, 4, Curlin--Lockdown, by First Defence), a Juddmonte homebred trained by Brad Cox and ridden by Florent Geroux, threw her name into the figurative hat, winning her third consecutive graded race and first Grade I. Last year's GI Kentucky Oaks winner Secret...

Mike Repole knows a thing or two about impressive Saratoga maiden winners. On the 28th of August, 2010, Repole and Todd Pletcher unleashed a son of Indian Charlie and Playa Maya (Arch) named Uncle Mo, who made a quote of 9-10 seem like a Travers Day gift when rolling home by better than 14 lengths in 1:09.21 to become a 'TDN Rising Star.' Fast forward some 4,742 days and second-generation Repole homebred Fierceness (c, 2, City of Light) put on a show of his own--one day  the marquee race of...

Neither wind nor water could stop her, and Roses for Debra (Liam's Map) streaked home at a rain-drenched Saratoga to take the Smart N Fancy S., securing her fourth win in a row in the process. Only once off the board in her career, the grey was last seen putting up a career-high Beyer of 99 en route to winning the GIII Caress S. over this course last month and had two victories over the lawn at Belmont and Pimlico since changing from the barn of Michelle Brafford to Christophe...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--On the subject of the resilience of 9-year-old Channel Maker (English Channel) approaching his sixth-consecutive start in the GI Sword Dancer S. Saturday, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott made his point in a few words. "I can't say enough," he said. Mott was smiling, but he wasn't joking. "What can you say?" Mott said. "He sort of seems like an oddity in this day and age that he's able to stay around and still be in somewhat close to top form." Channel Maker has stood the tests...

NYRA's post parade program coordinator scoffed when she typed out the morning-line odds on Channel Maker (English Channel). 20-1 for the 9-year-old gelding going into the GII Bowling Green S. The Bill Mott trainee hadn't won a race in over a year and he'd finished a distant tenth in his last start in the GII Belmont Gold Cup S. But the racing pundits and handicappers didn't know what she knew: that the hard-knocking old man looked just as good, maybe even better, coming into the Bowling Green than he had...

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 and at Ellis Park, which attract its fair share of high-priced offspring from a variety of top national outfits. 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, Ellis Park and Del Mar: Saturday, August 26, 2023 Ellis...

It's a bit of Christmas in August Saturday at venerable Saratoga Race Course, which plays host to no fewer than five Grade I events for horses of all ages--on dirt and on turf--topped by the main event on the summer calendar, the $1.25-million GI Travers S. While the fields are short on numbers, they are long on quality, as three of the races have attracted reigning Eclipse Award winners, none of whom are anything close to a cinch in their respective heats. Champion and 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence) has...

A compelling Grade I race with year-end title implications and it's not even a Saturday? Such is the magic of Saratoga. Friday's $500,000 GI Personal Ensign S. at nine furlongs has attracted older mare division leaders Nest (Curlin) and Clairiere (Curlin). Both are multiple Grade I winners with stellar records; the two will meet for the third time. Nest, last year's Eclipse champion 3-year-old filly, is the 4-5 choice after besting Clairiere in a bang-up GII Shuvee S. July 23 over track and trip. It was her first start of...

In this continuing series, we examine the past winners of significant filly/mare races by the lasting influence they've had on the breed. Up today is Saratoga's GI Personal Ensign S., renamed in 1998 to honor the undefeated Hall of Fame Phipps mare. Originally known as the Firenze H. and then the John A. Morris H., the Personal Ensign dates to 1948. While members of the Phipps family have won six editions of the race which now holds one of the greatest names associated with the stable, Personal Ensign never actually...