Scottish Lassie

It isn't always easy for a small breeder to mix it with the bigger operations, pinning their hopes on mating more inexpensive mares with less-regarded stallions who might be flying under the radar at four- and lower five-figure service fees. The Lexington-based Winchester Farm, owned and operated by Dr. Naoya and Marie Yoshida, have made their mark applying those principles, and the pair were on hand over the past weekend at Saratoga. No, they didn't necessarily have a stake or other vested interest in the final leg of the Triple...

After a 2025 campaign that saw her produce on of the most dominant victories in elite-level competition all year, Scottish Lassie (McKinzie) kicked off her 4-year-old season with a masterclass effort against allowance optional claimers at Saratoga. A Grade I winner as a juvenile, by way of a stunning nine-length score in the Frizette Stakes, Scottish Lassie, third in last year's GI Acorn, proved her love for Saratoga with a 15 1/2-length tour de force in last summer's GI CCA Oaks. She was a flat fourth last out Sept. 20...

3rd-CD, 120K, Msw, 3yo/up, 7f, 1:43 p.m. After bringing just $125,000 as a yearling at Keeneland September in 2024, PRESIDE (Tiz the Law) impressed the partnership of Spendthrift Farm, St. Elias Stable and West Point Thoroughbreds enough at the 2025 OBS April Sale to inspire a $1.5-million bid after working in :10 flat. Out of a stakes-placed half-sister to Canadian champion female sprinter River Maid (Where's the Ring), the 9-2 morning-line shot debuts for trainer Steve Asmussen and enters off a solid gate drill May 31 (four furlongs in :47...

Ocala Breeders' Sales Company has catalogued 816 horses for its 2026 March Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training, which will be held over three days March 10-12, the auction company said via a Tuesday press release. Sessions will begin at 11 a.m. ET each day. Hips 1-272 will sell Mar. 10 with Hips 273-544 going Mar. 11 and 545-816 selling Mar. 12. The under-tack show will run from Mar. 4-7 starting at 8 a.m. ET each day. Hips 1-204 are slated for Mar. 4 followed by Hips 205-408 Mar. 5, Hips...

Scottish Lassie (McKinzie), a multiple Grade I winner, has been withdrawn from the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff and will be sold Nov. 3 at Fasig-Tipton's "Night of the Stars" (Hip 226), the connections said via a press release on Thursday. According to trainer Jorge Abreu, he was "not 100% satisfied with the way Scottish Lassie was moving this morning, so out of an abundance of caution we've decided to scratch her from the race. This filly has a ton of heart, but in fairness to her, we didn't want...

Sponsored by Pedigrees360. Candidly, it always feels a little cheap to delve into a pedigree once its functionality is established, scrubbing away any genetic mud before triumphantly producing some hidden nugget to explain how it has all come together. "Post rationalization" of this kind is standard in articles like this, and the absolute opposite of the grueling enterprise that has worn out the soles of so many shoes over the past couple of weeks. As ever, Keeneland presented thousands of perfectly plausible pages to measure against the animals paraded before...

The cars scooting along on the nearby Pennsylvania Turnpike may have little from a speed standpoint on Saturday's GI Pennsylvania Derby in Northeast Philly, as the pace looks to be very much on and that could help those with stalking or closing ability in the final age-restricted Grade I of the season around two turns. But make no mistake: speed has been king--by and large--in the $1-million contest over the past dozen years or so. The Bob Baffert-trained Bayern (Offlee Wild)--next-out winner of a much-discussed GI Breeders' Cup Classic--future champion...

5th-Churchill Downs, $94,094, Msw, 9-17, 2yo, f, 6f, 1:11.09, ft, 2 1/4 lengths. SCOT'S LAW (f, 2, Tiz the Law--Bodebabe, by Bodemeister) was secured for just $50,000 at last year's Keeneland September Sale a handful of weeks before her half-sister Scottish Lassie (McKinzie, $677,560), took out the GI Frizette Stakes at Aqueduct. Taking advantage of this auction-price restricted spot, but lightly regarded at 15-1 on debut, the chestnut bounced nicely from the inside stall and galloped her rivals along at a modest tempo while being pressed along by second-time starter...

C R K Stable and Grandview Equine's Baeza (McKinzie), third to Sovereignty (Into Mischief) in the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont Stakes and a latest second to the divisional leader in the GII Jim Dandy Stakes, and Gosger (Nyquist), runner-up to Journalism (Curlin) in the GI Preakness Stakes and when last seen in the GI Haskell Invitational Stakes in mid-July, drew gates eight and nine, respectively, in a field of 10 for Saturday's $1-million GI Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing north and east of Central Philadelphia. The human connections...

4th-SAR, $100k, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, 2:20p.m. ET A homebred for St Elias Stable, Nonna Teresa (Gun Runner) will head out for conditioner Todd Pletcher on what could turn into a very quality-heavy afternoon for debuting runners at The Spa. From the female line of the great Personal Ensign through third dam MGISW My Flag (Easy Goer), the chestnut is out of MGSW Teresa Z (Smart Strike), herself a half-sister to the dams of GSW-UAE Queen Azteca (Sharp Azteca) and MGSP Colorful Mischief (Into Mischief). Her final prep for this...

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Trainer Kenny McPeek wanted 2024 Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) to work during her work on Sunday morning. And that is what she did. Maybe a little bit more The charismatic 4-year-old, ridden by Luis Rivera Jr., stepped onto the Oklahoma Training Track just after 7:30 a.m. and did her thing. Working with stablemate Midnight Concerto (Mendelssohn) and Danny Ramsey, Thorpedo Anna went five furlongs in 1:01.80 (3/11). However, the work had a wrench tossed into it when Midnight Concerto far in front of...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - When the question came out on the rail at the Oklahoma Training Track Thursday morning, trainer Miguel Clement smiled. But he was not about to give an answer to who is his favorite horse in his barn. That will stay with him. When the name of 'TDN Rising Star' Far Bridge (English Channel) was suggested, Clement smiled some more. "He is definitely up there," Clement said. As well he should. Far Bridge, owned by LSU Stables, shows up whenever Clement puts the saddle on the 5-year-old....