Segesta

Classic Q (f, 4, Classic Empire--Lovely Em, by Scat Daddy) is proving classy "to a T." Last seen securing her first graded win on Kentucky Derby Day in the GII Longines Churchill Distaff Turf Mile Stakes, the Gary Barber, Blue Crevalle Racing, and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners colorbearer doubled up on Belmont Stakes Day, capturing the $500,000 GI Just a Game Stakes at Saratoga in front-running fashion. In addition to kicking off the graded action on a stellar day of racing for the much-heralded Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, the Just a...

Saturday's Belmont Stakes is the last of nine top-level events on the weekend and the final of the six highly anticipated Grade I contests scheduled for a bumper card at Saratoga, short, medium and long on both the turf and the main track. A top-quality field of seven is set to face the starter in the GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap, for which 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Nysos (Nyquist) is the 9-5 morning-line favorite and 126-pound topweight in the 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders'...

After a lengthy delay following the gate scratch of Bernieandtherose (Accelerate), 2-5 choice Directive (Gun Runner) took it all in stride, going on to earn her second consecutive victory at Saratoga on Thursday. A debut second sprinting at the Big A on Apr. 3, the Juddmonte homebred relished the wet going while extending to a mile at that venue on Apr. 30. Joined by a red-hot Flavien Prat, who already won the first two races on Thursday's card, the Chad Brown trainee allowed U Lite Up My Life (City of...

No fewer than 116 horses recorded workouts over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga Saturday morning, including the heaviest hitters from the barn of trainer Bill Mott. Reigning Horse of the Year Sovereignty (Into Mischief) returned to the tab for the first time since his runner-up effort to White Abarrio (Race Day) when making his seasonal debut in the GII Oaklawn Handicap on Apr. 18. The Godolphin homebred was partnered in his work by his regular exercise rider Jimmy Quispe and went an easy half-mile in :50.05 (67/88). "He went...

Directive (Gun Runner), now with the experience of a start under her belt, made the most of her second start against an over-matched field of experienced maidens. Second going 6 1/2 furlongs on the local track Apr. 3, Thursday's 1-5 favorite had to contend with a muddy track but took advantage of her early speed to keep her face clean while largely left alone through fractions of :23.08 and :46.20. 18-1 longshot Moonlit (Daredevil), the other second-time starter in the field, did well to keep pace into the stretch but...

Predictably, last week's Grade I stakes for fillies and mares generated the week's highest Beyer Speed Figures. 6 - KAPOOR, KEE, 4/8/26, Allowance, about 7 furlongs (Video) Beyer Speed Figure - 94 (f, 4, by Uncle Mo--Kareena, by Medaglia d'Oro) O/B-Godolphin. T-Bill Mott. J-Junior Alvarado. Mott is exercising his trademark patience with the Godolphin filly, shepherding her through her conditions (maiden, allowance, allowance, allowance) and a resulting four-race win streak by a combined margin of 20 3/4 lengths. But now we'll almost certainly see Kapoor show up next in stakes...

Always in the bridal party, but never the bride, it was finally her time in the Sunday feature at Keeneland. Having been the runner-up against elite company last year, In Our Time (Not This Time) put it all together in the lane and kicked home smartly to secure her career-first graded black-type in the GII Giant's Causeway Stakes. Traditionally found at the head of affairs, the Not This Time mare hit the board seven times from eight starts last year with her seasonal highlight reel including a runner-up effort two...

Good prognoses and day-after thoughts abound Sunday morning as connections reported in on their stars after a Saturday of exciting racing that included a dead-heat victory in the GI Jenny Wiley Stakes as well as a stylish win in the GIII Stonestreet Lexington Stakes. Concerning the aforementioned two victresses of the Jenny Wiley, a rare feat at any level, the Brendan Walsh camp reported that Expensive Queen (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) emerged from the effort in good form as did the Chad Brown barn for Segesta (Ghostzapper). "She's good...

In a photo finish that took the stewards several minutes to decipher, the GI Jenny Wiley at Keeneland Saturday finished in a thrilling dead-heat between Expensive Queen (Ire) (Lope de Vega (Ire) and Segesta (Ghostzapper). The race dynamic changed hours before the race Saturday as a pair of early-morning favorite, Lush Lips (GB) (Ten Sovereigns {Ire}) and Destino d'Oro (Bolt d'Oro), both scratched. That opened the door for Juddmonte homebred Segesta to inherit the favorite's role in her first start since winning the GI Matriarch Stakes at Del Mar Nov....

The remarkable tribute paid to their mutual granddam by the first two in the Breeders' Cup Classic felt especially apt given that Fawn Leap Farm had lost Darling My Darling (Deputy Minister), at a venerable 28, since the same horses finished first and third the previous year. Debby and John Oxley know that these things take time. In 2014 they had sold one of her daughters, by Congrats, for $8,000 as a yearling. At that stage, Darling My Darling was proving a dud in her second career: her first foal...

The FanDuel Racing Turf Festival concludes Sunday afternoon with a trio of graded events at Del Mar, topped by an intriguing renewal of the GI Matriarch Stakes over a mile. Ag Bullet (Twirling Candy) made the majority of the running in this event 12 months ago, yielding grudgingly to finish a length behind Sacred Wish (Not This Time) in third. That effort came on the back of a near-miss third in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, and the grey is arguably in the same sort of form, having run...

Turf distaffers trained by Chad Brown had taken the seven most recent renewals of the GI First Lady Stakes at Keeneland, and the New York native looked to have a fair chance to extend that streak in the Bluegrass on Saturday afternoon. But it was Colebrook Farm's Simply in Front (Summer Front) split rivals inside the final eighth of a mile and found the line first to cause a 13-1 upset in a bunched finish and snap the Brown domination, however temporarily. The mount of Ben Curtis, the $115,000 Keeneland...