Spendthrift Farm

5th-GP, $84k, Msw, 3yo, 6f, 2:09 p.m. ET Missourians Robert and Lawana Low purchased SGT. PEPPER (Uncle Mo) for $1.6 million at the 2021 FTSAUG sale. Bred by Bobby Flay Thoroughbreds, he will make his debut sprinting on the dirt with Lasix in South Florida for the Todd Pletcher barn. Sgt. Pepper, the 5-2 morning-line favorite, is a half-brother to GSW Spice Is Nice (Curlin), who fetched $1.05 million from these same connections at the 2018 KEESEP sale. Sgt. Pepper's dam Dame Dorothy (Bernardini), owned and campaigned by Bobby Flay,...

The 2021 GI Santa Anita Derby winner Rock Your World (Candy Ride {Arg}) was represented by his first reported foal Jan. 9 when a filly was born at Diana Shoop's Gemstone Farm in Lexington. The bay lass is the first foal out of her winning dam, Mrs. O'Connell (American Pharoah), and was bred by Mark and Allison Menscer's Post Rock Farm. "We are thrilled with the filly," said Mark Menscer. "She looks like Rock Your World. He stamped her out. She has tremendous bone and a lot of substance. We...

GI Florida Derby winner Known Agenda (Curlin) was represented by his first foal Jan. 7. The filly was born at Glendalough Farm in Lexington and was bred by Phillips Farm LLC out of Sunandsea (Henny Hughes). "We are just overjoyed with this filly," said Phillips Farm's Joshua Phillips. "She's exceptionally well-muscled, has a nice hip and a lot of leg underneath her. Just a physically strong individual like the good Curlins. We looked at a lot of different stallions for this mare and Known Agenda stamped this filly beautifully." Known...

As we approach the opening of the 2023 breeding season, the TDN staff is once again sitting down with leading breeders to find out what stallions they have chosen for their mares, and why. Here's what Edwin Anthony of Shortleaf Stable had to say about their broodmare band for 2023. I subscribe to the same school of thought as pedigree gurus like Ken McLean, Alan Porter and Anne Peters when it comes to trying to concentrate the influence of the most effective foundation mares and families. My first job in...

When Amy Bunt and John Barton teamed up to present their first consignment as Baldwin Bloodstock at the 2021 Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale, Barton was still based in Southern California and making a living underwriting auto loans. Two years on, Barton has made the transition full-time to the Bluegrass and Baldwin Bloodstock is set to present six horses in its third January consignment. While earning a living in the industry might have been a new experience when he joined forces with Bunt two years ago, Barton was...

The first week of January doesn't have much in common with the first Saturday in May--with the exception that the inaugural TDN Top 12 has arrived to herald the coming of the seemingly far-off GI Kentucky Derby season. Get tied on and enjoy the ride. 1) ARABIAN KNIGHT (c, Uncle Mo--Borealis Night, by Astrology) 'TDN Rising Star'. O-Zedan Racing Stables, Inc.; B-Corser Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert. Sales history: $250,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP; $2,300,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $86,025. Last start: 1st Keeneland Maiden Special Weight, Nov. 5....

On the first page of the New Year, Brad Cox bolded his claim in the race for spots on the Kentucky Derby-points leaderboard when his undefeated colt Victory Formation cruised home the easiest of winners in the Smart Jones S. to pick up ten of them, while his stablemate Angel of Empire gave their shared conditioner the exacta. Christened a 'TDN Rising Star' after he stylishly devastated a deep Keeneland maiden field Oct. 21 last year by over four lengths, the good-looking son of Tapwrit showed he had heart to...

By a total margin of more than $275,000, pending any late foreign money, Spendthrift Farm's Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro) handily captured the title of 2022's leading first-year sire over an impressive list of promising freshman stallions that included 2017 juvenile champion Good Magic (Curlin), who stands at Hill 'n' Dale Farm, and Coolmore's Triple Crown winner and 2018 Horse of the Year Justify (Scat Daddy). The top three battled neck and neck down to the wire with Bolt d'Oro pulling away from Good Magic in the last few days of...

Thanks to Winter Storm Elliott and numerous cancellations of racing cards in the East late last week, the tight battle between Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro), Good Magic (Curlin) and Justify (Scat Daddy) to claim the title of 2022's leading first-crop sire went from a boil to a chill over the Christmas holiday weekend. However, with three days remaining on the calendar this year, both the temperatures and the competition are heating back up, none of the top three willing to claim victory or concede defeat just yet. Bolt d'Oro kicked...

by Margaret Ransom A quiet week for the top-three stallions battling it out to earn the crown as 2022 leading first-crop sire--Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro), Good Magic (Curlin) and Justify (Scat Daddy)--has led to a busy pre-Christmas week with Justify and Good Magic each picking up a winner and all three having multiple runners both here in the U.S. and abroad over the next two days heading into the quiet holiday weekend. Justify scored first on Wednesday with his daughter Diamondsareforever breaking her maiden at first asking at Dundalk in...

by Margaret Ransom A one-two finish from Communication Memo and Two Rocket in Friday's 6th race at Oaklawn Park and their combined earnings of $72,000 helped Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro) extend his lead over Good Magic (Curlin) and Justify (Scat Daddy) in the first-year stallion earnings race heading into the weekend. Not willing to wave the white flag just yet, Good Magic's Almurtajiz, a $290,635 ARQMAY purchase earlier this year, finished second in the G3 Ministry of National Guard Cup at Riyadh in Saudi Arabia on Friday and picked up...

4th-Gulfstream, $60,000, Msw, 12-16, 3yo/up, 5fT, :56.10, fm, 1 length. KANTHARI (c, 3, Kantharos--Ari the Adventurer, by Pioneerof the Nile), a $575,000 OBS March grad last year, was given the 6-5 nod in his afternoon debut but trailed the pace early in fourth. Allen Diggs set a determined pace up front but Kanthari rallied with a three-wide move midway around the turn to get himself into contention despite contact with Cajun Puzzler (Cajun Breeze) at the top of the lane. Showing a good turn of foot up the outside, he...