Scylla

With the Breeders' Cup a little over four months away, the 'Win and You're In' tickets to the signature event, the GI Longines Classic, are definitely numbered. The road to Del Mar currently goes through Churchill Downs on Saturday as Classic hopefuls enter the starting gate for the GI Stephen Foster Stakes. Looking to punch his ticket to the seaside oval is Godolphin homebred First Mission (Street Sense). The 'TDN Rising Star' certainly burned brightest when he took home the GIII Essex Handicap by five lengths at Oaklawn Park in...

It is the typically interesting opinion of John Sikura that "a stallion's genetic switch is either on or off." The quality and quantity of his books may affect his profile, but his potency (or otherwise) will be operative the day he covers his first mare. Sure enough, six Grade I winners to date for Not This Time all belong to his first two books, conceived at just $15,000. Whatever he might yet achieve with his upgraded mares, paying $135,000 last year and now $150,000, he did not need their help...

While Ashford young gun Justify was busy making waves over the pond this weekend, it was Gainesway's time-tested sire royalty who quietly added to his legacy on American shores. No matter how you slice it, one stallion in North America--and only one--leads all active lifetime sires by every major category, be it earnings, black-type winners, graded winners, Grade I winners, and even lifetime starters and winners. Unmatched among living active sires, Tapit hasn't had bigger crops than the other stallions on the list (he ranks third among the top 10...

For the second year running, the G1 Epsom Derby winner was bred from one of Coolmore's countless Galileo (Ire) mares outcrossed to an American sire line. But whereas Sunday Silence's son Deep Impact (Jpn) gave Auguste Rodin (Ire) further turf genes from his mother's European family, City Of Troy's sire is a conduit for virtually unadulterated dirt blood. Justify's first four dams are, respectively, by grandsons of Deputy Minister, Seattle Slew, Northern Dancer and Bold Ruler. The third of those names, of course, transformed the European breed, albeit alongside other...

Juddmonte homebred SCYLLA (f, 4, Tapit--Close Hatches, by First Defence) gave notice she'll be one to watch in the older mare division this year with a facile score in Churchill's GIII Shawnee S. Saturday. It marked the first stakes victory for the 'TDN Rising Star' following a seven-length blowout and 93 Beyer figure in a one-mile optional allowance over the surface on GI Kentucky Derby day. Last year's GII Mother Goose S. and GIII Falls City S. winner Xigera (Nyquist), fifth behind Juddmonte's champion Idiomatic (Curlin) in the May 3...

Given a cozy inside trip from gate one by Flavien Prat, Alpha Delta Stables' Raging Sea (Curlin) went on the offensive in the stretch and powered clear to make a victorious seasonal return in Friday's GIII Baird Doubledogdare S. at Keeneland. Sent off as the 5-2 second choice while making her first start since annexing last year's GIII Comely S. in November at Aqueduct, the homebred fell into the box seat in the early going as Loved (Medaglia d'Oro) cut out even fractions while tracked along by Hidden Connection (Connect)...

9th-GP, $92K, OC62k, 4yo/up, f, 1m, 5:07 p.m. ET. Juddmonte colorbearer SCYLLA (Tapit) makes her return to the races as the older filly looks to jumpstart her new campaign. The Bill Mott trainee certainly made her mark when she attained 'TDN Rising Star' honors as a debut winner at Keeneland last April, and then followed that up with an 8 1/4-length win against optional claimers at Churchill Downs in early June. Out of champion older mare Close Hatches (First Defence), the homebred is a full-sister to MGSW/MGISP and current sire...

1st-BAQ, $90K, 2yo, Msw, 6 1/2f, 1:05 p.m. ET Spendthrift's irrepressible Into Mischief has had a whopper of a week at the Keeneland September Sale and a pair of immaculately bred juveniles are down to debut in the Saturday opener from Aqueduct. Juddmonte's BOUNTEOUS hails from a very active female famile, as his dam Hall (Tapit) is a half-sister to the operation's Eclipse Award winner Close Hatches (First Defense), the dam of MGSW/MGISP sire Tacitus (Tapit) and unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Scylla (Tapit); and to SW/MGISP Lockdown (First Defense), whose...

8th-Churchill Downs, $129,430, Alw (NW1X), Opt. Clm ($100,000), 6-2, 3yo, f, 1m, 1:35.27, ft, 8 1/4 lengths. SCYLLA (f, 3, Tapit--Close Hatches {Ch. Older Mare, MGISW, $2,707,300}, by First Defence) was pounded into 1-3 favoritism to build on a 'TDN Rising Star'-worthy display over six furlongs at Keeneland Apr. 15 and ran away from her dramatically overmatched rivals in the final stages of a one-mile Churchill allowance Friday to score with condescending ease to take a major step in the direction of stakes company. The bay filly settled between horses...

8th-CD, $127K, OC 100k/N1X, 3yo, f, 1m, 4:22 p.m.    'TDN Rising Star' SCYLLA (Tapit), a daughter of champion older mare and MGISW Close Hatches (First Defence), takes on winners for the first time following an eye-catching, come-from-behind debut victory for Bill Mott going six furlongs at Keeneland Apr. 15. The Juddmonte homebred, favored at 9-5 on the morning line while stretching to a one-turn mile here, is a full-sister to the multiple Classic-placed Tacitus, MGSW & MGISP, $2,267,350. TJCIS PPS

The latest royally-bred filly to hit the track for owner/breeder Juddmonte Farm, Scylla (Tapit) lived up to her illustrious connections with a 2 1/2-length score on debut at Keeneland Saturday. Despite being the full-sister to current Taylor Made stallion Tacitus, MGSW & MGISP, $3,767,350, Scylla earned only 5-2 billing--going off as the second choice in the wagering behind the more experienced Zeitlos (Curlin). A step slow from the blocks, the bay found herself in eighth with only a handful of rivals beaten as Miss Arlington (Mark Valeski) paced the field...

6th-KEE, $100K, Msw, 3yo, f, 6f, 3:40 p.m. The latest daughter out of champion older mare and MGISW Close Hatches (First Defense), SCYLLA (Tapit) debuts in the silks of Juddmonte Farm for trainer Bill Mott. Already responsible for Scylla's full-brother in MGSW & MGISP Tacitus, Close Hatches is herself a full-sister to MGISP Lockdown, the dam of Latonia S. winner Idiomatic (Curlin). This is also the female line of G1 Tattersalls Irish Two Thousand Guineas hero Siskin (First Defence). Breaking just to Scylla's outside is Brenda (Curlin)--the half-sister to GSW...