TDN Rising Star presented by Hagyard

Looking to record his first victory under the Twinspires in a year, Verifire (Authentic--Ruby Trust, by Smart Strike) got the job done with a tidy 3/4-length score in Louisville in Wednesday afternoon. The chestnut was named a 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' following an eye-catching 6 1/4-length victory going six panels at Colonial in March of 2025 before winning his next two starts impressively, including the seven-furlong Maxfield Stakes at Churchill Downs later in June. Taking money in the GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes in Saratoga at the...

Aidan O'Brien had not won the G2 Queen Mary Stakes until subsequent G1 1000 Guineas heroine True Love (No Nay Never) prevailed last year and the Ballydoyle maestro edged closer to a century of Royal Ascot winners when TDN Rising Star Victorious (Wootton Bassett), who is blind in one eye, produced a telling burst in the closing stages of the five-furlong contest to provide the trainer with a 99th Royal winner. "She's incredible, we knew she was very classy and we've always felt that she'd be very good," O'Brien said....

OCALA, FL - With a colt by Early Voting topping the day's results, the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale concluded its first of three sessions Tuesday with an average and median ahead of last year's record-setting figures. During Tuesday's session, 163 horses sold through the ring for a gross of $9,066,000. The average was $55,620--up 26.5% from last year's opening session--and the median of $30,000 was up 15.4% from the corresponding 2025 figure. The cumulative average from last year's two-day June sale was $51,107 and the...

Medallion Racing, Swinbank Stables, Joey Platts and Mark Stanton's Cy Fair (Not This Time) will miss an intended engagement in the June 16 G1 King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot. The King Charles is a 'Win and You're In' to the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, which will be held at Keeneland this fall. A Medallion Racing statement read on X Monday: "We have made the decision to skip Royal Ascot with Cy Fair. George [Weaver] felt like she wasn't acting her usual self the past few days. Out...

The Coolmore partners, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith, have purchased an interest in GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and GI Met Mile winner Nysos (Nyquist--Zetta Z, by Bernardini). The group will race the 5-year-old in partnership with Baoma Corporation through the Breeders' Cup, which will be held at Keeneland this November, before he retires to Ashford Stud. "Nysos represents a true milestone for Charles and me. He means far more to us than exceptional racing success," said Baoma Corporation's Susan Chu. "Through him, we have learned patience...

There might be a touch of malaise come Sunday, but the GIII Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs for 3-year-olds is the way to revive any Belmont Stakes reveler with the proper racing tonic. Add in a pair of competitive graded grass races at the Spa for good measure and Sunday's higher level slate should make things right as rain. In the Matt Winn, a trio of GI Kentucky Derby entrants will get another crack at the surface that was less than kind to them on the first Saturday in...

Saint-Cloud's Prix Chapeau Rouge maiden had gone the way of subsequent top-level performers Zulu Kingdom (Ten Sovereigns), Alcantor (New Bay) and Arapaho (Lope De Vega) in recent years and Christopher Head trainee Avec Toi (No Nay Never) added his name to an illustrious list with a TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard, performance in Tuesday's latest renewal of the seven-furlong newcomers' test. Coolmore and Westerberg's Kentucky-bred becomes the 14th Rising Star for his sire. "This is our first two-year-old winner of the year, I think he's a very good colt...

With June around the corner, the graded stakes calendar heats back up as Churchill Downs hosts its Stephen Foster Preview on Saturday. The local prep for the June 28 running of the GI Stephen Foster Stakes, the GIII Blame Stakes is one of six higher-level races on the card and could be deemed as wide-open. Wathnan Racing's Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) has the class edge though. The 2025 winner of the G1 Dubai World Cup returned to Meydan back in late March, but was unable to duplicate the feat....

Aidan O'Brien trainee Sun Goddess (Sioux Nation) shaped with a deal of promise at Naas two weeks ago and made a giant leap forward with a visually stunning TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard, performance in Sunday's Revamp Conservation And Restoration Irish EBF Fillies Maiden at the Curragh. "She had a lovely run the first day and we got her out [at Naas] in case she was an Ascot filly," the trainer explained. "She ran so well [on debut] and that is why she is back here. She could be...

The trio of 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard', Emerging Market (Candy Ride {Arg}), Ottinho (Quality Road)and Growth Equity (Nyquist) trained by five-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown and the 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard', Chief Wallabee (Constitution) for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott worked Saturday across Saratoga Race Course and Belmont Park in preparation for the GI Belmont Stakes at the Spa June 6, the NYRA press office said in a Saturday release. The pair of Ottinho and Growth Equity worked in company over the Belmont Park dirt...

Trainer Karl Burke unveiled subsequent G3 Albany, G2 Duchess Of Cambridge and G1 Prix Morny heroine Venetian Sun (Starman) in last term's British Stallion Studs EBF Fillies' Novice Stakes at Carlisle and he unleashed another Royal Ascot contender in this year's renewal. James Doyle made the long journey north to partner Wathnan Racing's 300,000gns Craven Breeze-Up graduate Wild Blossom (Mehmas) at the Cumbrian venue and she returned with a TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard, rosette after routing her three rivals by 10 lengths and more in the five-furlong contest,...

Darius Racing's bargain buy Pashang (Isfahan) justified his entry in July's G1 157th Deutsches Derby with a scintillating display in Sunday's Preis vom Gestut Auenquelle at Mulheim to become his sire's first TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard. The €24,000 BBAG September graduate was doing all his best work at the business end of a Dortmund all-weather maiden, when runner-up to subsequent G3 Dr Busch Memorial-winning stablemate Asker (Aclaim), in December and shed maiden status in emphatic style over 12 furlongs in this turf debut. "He's a very talented horse...