St Elias Stable

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - As the 2-year-old colt Soldier N Diplomat (Army Mule) was charging down the stretch at Saratoga Race Course Saturday afternoon, his owner, Vinnie Viola, up in his clubhouse box, was eyeballing him and the finish line at the same time. "I was holding my breath the whole way down," Viola said. Soldier N Diplomat had to hold off a late charge by Accost (MacLean's Music) to win the second race, a $100,000 maiden special event weight for 2-year-olds. At the end of the six furlongs, Soldier...

2nd-Saratoga, $100,000, Msw, 7-26, 2yo, 6f, 1:11.87, ft, neck. SOLDIER N DIPLOMAT (c, 2, Army Mule--Diplomatic Miss, by Violence) had his fair share of admirers at this year's OBS March Sale, ultimately hammering to St. Elias for $950,000 after gliding over the synthetic track in :10 flat (see below) during his under-tack preview. Having logged five breezes at Keeneland at the back end of the spring, he trained forwardly once transferred to the Spa in late June and was duly dispatched as the 9-10 chalk in a field of eight...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Arguably the best older horse in training, Mindframe (Constitution), went back to work Friday morning. The 4-year-old colt had his first work since winning the loaded GI Stephen Foster Stakes last month for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. Mindframe worked an easy four furlongs in :52.46 (76/78) on the main track with regular exercise rider Carlos Quevedo on board. "He does whatever you ask him to do," Pletcher said outside his barn at the Oklahoma Training Track. "He is cool that way. He goes easy...

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Early Sunday morning, trainer Tom Morley walked down his shedrow at his barn on the Saratoga backstretch. He stopped in front of a stall occupied by a curious looking dark bay colt named Donegal Momentum (Uncle Mo). Morley snuggled close to the 4-year-old, hugged him, kissed his neck. He has affection for all his horses, but, after what Donegal Momentum went through on Saturday, he deserved an extra dose of tender love and care. During Saturday's one-mile GIII Kelso Stakes on the Inner Turf course, Donegal Momentum...

When last seen at Saratoga some 10 months ago, Asbury Park (GB) (c, 3, Frankel {GB}--Limonar {Ire}, by Street Cry {Ire}) took unsurprising action as the 8-5 favorite, passed several rivals in the lane but fell short in fifth and had been missing since. Returning Friday as the 7-5 favorite and bearing the silks of his breeder St Elias Stable, the fashionably bred colt was void of early speed from his middle draw and was dragged back to the latter third of the red-hot Flavien Prat through a driving rainstorm....

St. Elias Stable's 'TDN Rising Star' Captain Cook (Practical Joke) breezed a half-mile in :49 (14/79) Wednesday over the Belmont Park dirt training track as he prepares for the GII Wood Memorial S. at Aqueduct Apr. 5. Trained by Rick Dutrow, Jr., the bay was completing his sixth workout since capturing the nine-furlong Listed Withers Feb. 1. "It was mostly maintenance," said Blake Dutrow, Dutrow Jr.'s nephew and Belmont-based assistant. "He's ready so we are just trying to keep him happy and stay out of his way, because we feel...

Unraced since finishing second in last year's GI Breeders' Cup Classic, 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light) is nearing his 4-year-old debut, which will most likely come in the May 4 GIII Westchester S. at Aqueduct. His comeback was put on temporary hold because he was turned out for 60 days after undergoing an elective surgical procedure on a hind ankle. He had his first published workout this year when breezing three furlongs in :36.23 Mar. 13 at Palm Beach Downs. "He's come back very well," trainer Todd Pletcher...

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis OCALA, FL - The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training opened Tuesday with a colt from the first crop of Grade I winner Maxfield (hip 119) leading the way when selling for $1 million to Japanese trainer Mitsu Nakauchida. The colt was consigned by Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables. At the end of the session, 117 juveniles had sold for $15,902,000 for an average of $135,915 and a median of $85,000. At the conclusion of last year's opening session, 152 head...

'TDN Rising Star' Captain Cook (Practical Joke), a 9 1/4-length maiden winner going seven furlongs in the Aqueduct slop Dec. 28, delivered as the 7-5 favorite stretching to 1 1/8 miles in Saturday's downgraded Withers Stakes at the Big A, good for 20 points on the road to the GI Kentucky Derby. Longshot Surfside Moon (Malibu Moon) was second. Omaha Omaha (Audible) was third. The 7-5 favorite sat a tracking trip in an outside third, revved up three deep on the far turn and took care of business from there...

Captain Cook (c, 2, Practical Joke--Pow Wow Wow, by Indian Charlie), an eventful sixth on debut for owner/breeder Marylou Whitney Stables and trainer Norm Casse at Churchill Downs Oct. 27, brought $410,000 from bloodstock agent Steve Young on behalf of St Elias Stable at the Keeneland November Horses of Racing Age Sale (second-most expensive lot of the sale) and ran to the money as the 1-2 favorite for his new connections with a 'TDN Rising Star' performance in the slop at the Big A Saturday. Captain Cook chased the early...

Graded-stakes winning stablemates Locked (Gun Runner) and Crupi (Curlin) have been confirmed to make their 2025 debuts in the Jan. 25 GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream, according to trainer Todd Pletcher Sunday. Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm's Locked raced four times as a 2-year-old, including a win the GI Breeders' Futurity and a third to champion stablemate Fierceness in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile but was knocked off the Triple Crown trail earlier this year with a knee injury. The TDN Rising Star made his return with...

There's virtually no chance that Vinnie Viola would have bought a horse like Rated by Merit (Battalion Runner) at the sales. That's where he goes every year to spend big bucks in search of a star. At this year's Keeneland September sale alone, Viola bought 18 horses for $9.1 million. Rated by Merit is undefeated at 3-for-3 after winning Saturday's Affirmed S., the second leg in Gulfstream's series for 2-year-olds by Florida-based sires. An overachiever, he is by a stallion who stands for $2,500 and out a mare who was...