Spendthrift Farm

A lack of competitors doesn't always translate to a lack of competition and the GII Shuvee S. at Saratoga is a case in point, with an abbreviated field of four featuring a pair of titans. Fellow Curlin daughters Clairiere and Malathaat will bring their rivalry to round six in the 1 1/8-mile contest at the Spa; the latter coming out on the better end on four prior occasions. Malathaat will be breaking from the gate sporting blinkers for the first time in her career, likely intended to combat her tendency...

By Christie DeBernardis & Jessica Martini    LEXINGTON, KY--Yearling sale season started with a bang Tuesday at Fasig-Tipton's July Selected Yearling Sale. The auction house saved the best for last with the final horse through the ring, a son of Curlin (Hip 302), topping the day on a $600,000 bid from the Green family's DJ Stable. Last year's leading freshman sire Gun Runner accounted for the day's second-highest seller, a $430,000 colt (Hip 153) sold to de Meric Sales. Both colts came from the Gainesway consignment, which was responsible for...

The 2022 class of first-crop yearling sires features a diverse batch of Kentucky-based young stallions, including a pair of Breeders' Cup champions, two sons of reigning top sire Into Mischief, five graded stakes winners at two and five Grade I winners on turf. Throughout the course of the yearling sales season, we will feature a series of freshman sires as their first crop points toward the sales ring. Check out the first few editions of our series here. Buyers will have plenty of opportunity to get a good look at...

The 2022 class of first-crop yearling sires features a diverse batch of Kentucky-based young stallions including a pair of Breeders' Cup champions, two sons of reigning top sire Into Mischief, five graded stakes winners at two and five Grade I winners on turf. Throughout the course of the yearling sales season, we will feature a series of freshman sires as their first crop points toward the sales ring. Mitole (Eskendereya - Indian Miss, by Indian Charlie) is a barn favorite for Spendthrift Farm's Stallion Sales Manager Mark Toothaker for several...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 5th-CD, $120K, Msw, 2yo, 5f, post time: 6:56 p.m. ET ARMAN (Bolt d'Oro) has drawn widest in what appears a very salty field of 12 as he looks to become a seventh first-crop winner for his Spendthrift-based stallion. Bought back on a bid of $52K at the 2021 OBS October sale, the Jan. 25 foal one of just four horses to breeze a furlong in :9 4/5 at this year's OBS March sale and was hammered down to Kaleem Shah for $600K, one of seven...

2nd-Churchill Downs, $121,905, Msw, 6-19, 2yo, f, 4 1/2f, :52.45, ft, 1 length. BOLTS N RAINBOWS (f, 2, Bolt d'Oro--On Rainbow Bridge {MSW, $333,202}, by Bold Executive) became the sixth winner for her hot-starting freshman sire (by Medaglia d'Oro) Sunday, but first to carry the same green Ruis Racing silks as the 2017 GI Del Mar Futurity and GI FrontRunner S. winner himself. Backed down to 3-1 off an ambitious 10-1 morning-line quote, the homebred broke well, but was out-footed by a few early and sat midpack. She still hadn't...

6th-Monmouth, $56,925, Msw, 6-18, 2yo, 5f, :59.60, ft, 3 3/4 lengths. MAJOR DUDE (c, 2, Bolt d'Oro--Mary Rita {SP}, by Distorted Humor) shipped down to the Jersey Shore following a series of drills at Todd Pletcher's Saratoga base, including a five-furlong bullet in 1:01 1/5 (1/5) over the Oklahoma training track June 3. He wasn't off to the sharpest of beginnings on debut and was scrubbed on early by John Velazquez. The 3-5 favorite chased from an inside fourth and was stuck in some traffic entering the far turn. Johnny...

Never mind the champion stallion who emulated his own rags-to-riches rise: every yard of paddock rail, every coat of paint, every blade of grass at Spendthrift Farm commemorates the man whose arrival here transformed the commercial breeding landscape. But it's not just the fact that it will formally preserve his name that makes an especially apt memorial of a new visitor center, opening later this year. For its very existence attests to the unique, restlessly challenging style of the late B. Wayne Hughes, and the determination of those charged with...

4th-Churchill Downs, $105,843, Msw, 6-3, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 1:04.73, ft, 2 1/4 lengths. WONDER WHEEL (f, 2, Into Mischief--Wonder Gal {MSW & MGISP, $904,800}, by Tiz Wonderful) was sent off the narrow 2-1 second choice in this unveiling but put in a gutsy, professional performance to graduate. Not the fastest off the break, Wonder Wheel tracked from fifth and quickly made up ground coming through the turn, her march carrying her four wide into the stretch. Second at the head of the lane, the $275,000 KEESEP grad confronted a...

The under-tack show for next week's Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June 2-Year-Olds Sale entered its second half Thursday with 12 juveniles sharing the fastest furlong time of :10 flat, while three horses shared the day's fastest quarter-mile time of :21 2/5. Ocala Stud sent out a homebred filly by Uncaptured to work the quarter-mile in :21 2/5 during the first set Thursday. The bay is out of Brown Glaze (War Front) and is a full-sister to graded placed Bet On Mookie. A colt by Blame (hip 687) consigned by Britton...

1st-Churchill Downs, $117,143, Msw, 5-27, 2yo, 5f, :58.78, ft, 1 3/4 lengths. OWEN'S LEAP (c, 2, Bolt d'Oro--Defy Gravity {SW, $171,240}, by Bandini) became his freshman sire (by Medaglia d'Oro)'s third winner with a powerful performance here on unveiling. Sent off at 5-2 for the contest, the Tom Amoss trainee stalked the early pace of :22.86 and :46.35 from third, challenged outside through the far turn, and came five wide into the lane to take over in the upper stretch. Kept under strong handling, the $175,000 KEESEP alumnus came home...

The Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association will be hosting a Breeding Clinic on June 3-4 in Lexington, Kentucky. Attendees will learn about a variety of topics pertaining to the breeding side of the Thoroughbred industry while visiting five central Kentucky farms and hearing from experts in the field. The clinic will include tours of Godolphin's Stonerside Farm, Spendthrift Farm, WinStar Farm, Mt. Brilliant Farm, Hagyard Equine Medical Institute, and Summerwind Farm. Topics and speakers at the Breeding Clinic include: Breeding For the Athletic Thoroughbred and Conformation in Foals, presented by...