Speightstown

Disco Time Remains Perfect, Claims St. Louis Derby at Fairmount

Disco Time (Not This Time) remained perfect via a tour de force performance in the St. Louis Derby at Fairmount. Last seen Jan. 18 when winning the GII Lecomte Stakes at the Fair Grounds, his prior two victories came at Churchill Downs when he broke his maiden last November and then beat optional claiming company 29 days later Nov. 30 from the front end. The even-money favorite here, Disco Time left the blocks on top and never gave the field a chance. Never in any danger after an opening quarter...

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Five Fastest Maidens, Presented By Taylor Made: Sept. 8-14

5. NU WHAT'S NEW, CD, 9/13, 6 furlongs (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure- 84 (2nd) (c, 3, by Munnings--Heavenly Scat, by Scat Daddy) O-Doubledown Stables. B-BlackRidge Stables (Ky). T-James Divito. J-Walter Rodriguez. On paper and in mutuels, this former Taylor Made-sold weanling was in a different hemisphere than Subito (below) and some others Saturday, and it looked that way at the quarter pole when he was still 7 lengths behind and seemingly going nowhere. Then something ignited, and he stormed up the inside to barely miss catching Subito while blowing past...

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Speightstown Colt Tops CTHS Canadian Premier Yearling Sale

Offered midway during the single-session CTHS Canadian Premier Yearling Sale at Woodbine Race Track on Aug. 27, a colt by the late and influential Speightstown was hammered down for C$400,000 to easily rate as the dearest lot on offer during the auction. Hip 109, bred in Ontario by Mario Forgione, was consigned to the sale by Huntington Stud Farm as agent and is the third foal out of the 10-year-old Travieza (Into Mischief), upset winner of the 2018 Unzip Me Stakes and sold for $80,000 in foal to Munnings at...

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Ward Looks for Prix Morny Number Four With Outfielder

There aren't many American trainers who win a two-year-old grass maiden at Churchill Downs and immediately think that the obvious next stop is the Group 1 Prix Morny at Deauville at the end of August. But Wesley Ward isn't like most American trainers. For one thing, he's tried it four times. Won three. Finished second the other time. He'll take his fifth tilt at the Morny on August 24 when he sends Outfielder (Speightstown) over to Deauville for just his second lifetime start. Ward is known for thinking outside the...

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Phileas Fogg holds off Antiquarian in Suburban at Saratoga
Phileas Fogg Wires Suburban, Holds Off Antiquarian

Jupiter Stable's Phileas Fogg (g, 5, Astern {Aus}--Merino, by More Than Ready), runner-up in the GIII Pimlico Special S. May 16, was sent to the front from his rail draw, enjoyed a clear advantage throughout and just held off Antiquarian (Preservationist) by a head to pull off a 6-1 upset in Saturday's GII Suburban S. at Saratoga. Favored 'TDN Rising Star' Locked (Gun Runner) was a well-beaten third. Sent straight to the front by Kendrick Carmouche, Phileas Fogg showed the way through fractions of :23.72 and :47.83, led by three...

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First Foal From Jolie Olimpica Down To Debut Saturday at Hanshin

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are a trio of debuting 2-year-olds of interest for this Saturday running at Hanshin and Tokyo Racecourses: Saturday, June 14, 2025 5th-HSN, ¥14,250,000 ($99k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1200mT SATONO VOYAGE (JPN) (c, 2, Into Mischief--Jolie Olimpica {Brz}, by Drosselmeyer) is the first foal for her dam, the 2019 Horse of the...

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Breeding Digest: Gold Rush Continues With Medals For Mares

Too much of a good thing? Not when it comes to maintaining the gold standard. For if we have only recently celebrated the way Medaglia d'Oro is confounding the self-fulfilling prejudice against aging stallions by continuing to produce runners like Good Cheer and East Avenue, then he now demands a sequel addressing his equal prowess in the kind of role more conventionally reserved for a stallion of 26--namely, as broodmare sire. Last weekend, daughters of Medaglia d'Oro gave us GI Gamely Stakes winner Be Your Best (Muhaarar {GB}); GII Santa...

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Speightstown's Outfielder Rockets To 'Rising Stardom' at Churchill

Trainer Wesley Ward swung for the fences when bidding to $850,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale last year to acquire Outfielder (Speightstown) and was rewarded for his efforts Friday when the colt delivered a grand slam at Churchill to become the newest 'TDN Rising Star'. No secret at the window off of two straight bullet works and thus heavily bet at 1-5, the outside draw endured a rush of early speed to his inside in the opening yards of this five-furlong contest but quickly cleared the crowd and...

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'Rising Star' Shred the Gnar Joins the Hopefuls as Acorn Preparations Continue

GISW Scottish Lassie (McKinzie) continued her preparations for the GI DK Horse Acorn Stakes over the Oklahoma training track while 'TDN Rising Star' Shred the Gnar (Into Mischief) joined the discussion by officially being pointed for the contest set for June 6 during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga. The former, trained by Jorge Abreu, breezed five panels alone Sunday morning in 1:04 flat shortly after the 8:15 a.m. renovation break. She was the only work at the distance on the day. "It was good, and more than enough,"...

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May 18 Insights: Fillies from Family of Echo Zulu, Battle of Midway Unveiled in California

10th-SA, $61k, Msw, 3-5yo, 6 1/2fT, 8:38p.m. ET Side by side in the gate for their debut, HARMONIQUE (Nyquist) and Neema (Curlin) will be unveiled for their respective connections in this night cap at Santa Anita Park. The former is a homebred for Thor-Bred Stables, and is a daughter of GI Oak Leaf Stakes victress Rigoletta (Concerto)--thus a half-sister to the late GI Breeder's Cup Dirt Mile winner Battle of Midway (Smart Strike). She also claims MSW & MGSP Moretti (Medaglia d'Oro) as a half-sibling as well as the dam...

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$1.5-million Tiz the Law Colt Puts Exclamation Point on Record-Setting OBS Spring Sale

by Jessica Martini & Stefanie Grimm OCALA, FL - The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training had one more seven-figure juvenile up its sleeve with a colt by Tiz the Law bringing a sale-topping $1.5 million during the final session of the four-day auction which concluded with it third straight record average Friday. "We are very appreciative and glad and happy--all of the adjectives you can apply to the week," OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski said at the close of business Friday. "It was a...

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Keeneland's Blue Grass, Madison Stakes Play Starring Roles on a Traditionally Quiet Tuesday

It's exceedingly rare to see a Kentucky Derby point race run on a Tuesday, but thanks to a week of catastrophic weather in the Commonwealth, that's what is happening at Keeneland as a field of seven line up to contest the last of the major Derby preps--the GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes. On the rail, and fortuitously drawn to the inside of a closer, is 'TDN Rising Star' River Thames (Maclean's Music). With the small field, the speedster will likely encounter considerably less traffic trouble than that post position would...

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