thoroughbreds

His father had long since ceased training, but they still always stood at the same point by the Santa Anita paddock. "There was a spot there, where the horses come out from the saddling enclosure and make a right," Evan Ferraro recalls. "From there you could look at them straight on, so you could see their conformation, their joints, and my dad would point stuff out to me." And there was one filly by In Excess (Ire) that just blew the veteran horseman away: a Harris Farms homebred, saddled by...

1st-DMR, $61K, Msw, 3yo/up, f, 6f, 3:30 p.m. ET. Bred by Bart Evans in partnership with Jeff and Chiquita Reddoch's Stonehaven Steadings, LLORONA (Mendelssohn) makes her first start for trainer Richard Mandella. The $750,000 KEESEP graduate is campaigned by Bart and Robert Evans. The MGSW & GISP Wasted Tears (Najran) is also responsible for champion 2-year-old colt Corniche (Quality Road). TJCIS PPS 5th-AQU, $85K, Msw, 2yo, f, 7f, 2:14 p.m. ET. Courtlandt Farms purchased Whocouldaskformo (Uncle Mo) for $450,000 at last year's Keeneland September Sale. She debuts for Shug McGaughey...

1st-Del Mar, $61,500, Msw, 11-26, 2yo, f, 6 1/2f, 1:16.13, ft, 3 3/4 lengths. KOPION (f, 2, Omaha Beach--Galloping Ami {Outstanding Broodmare-Can}, by Victory Gallop) did not disappoint her backers who made her the 1-5 favorite for this debut. The $270,000 Keeneland September buy trailed towards the rear of the field as a pair showed the way up the backstretch. Given her cue around the far turn, the Richard Mandella trainee ranged up and let the throttle out to graduate by 3 3/4 lengths over She's a Tempest (Connect). The...

Live coverage of the Cigar Mile Day card at NYRA's Aqueduct Racetrack, featuring four stakes worth $1.2 million in combined purse money, will air Saturday, Dec. 2 from 11:30 a.m.--5 p.m. ET on FOX Sports's FS2, as part of a special America's Day at the Races broadcast featuring two stakes from Caymanas Park in Jamaica. The Big A program is headlined by the GII Cigar Mile H. and is supported by the GIII Go for Wand S. Also featured are a pair of Grade II races, including qualifiers offering 10-5-3-2-1...

Having come out on the losing side of a couple of tight photos in graded-stakes company earlier this season, BBN Racing's Trademark (Upstart) was finally on the winning end of things Friday after dropping his nose down on the line just ahead of 'TDN Rising Star' First Mission (Street Sense) in the GII Clark S. at Churchill Downs. The consistent Il Miracolo (Gun Runner) was a distant third. The 13-1 chance, drawn five in a field reduced to nine by the scratching of Happy American (Runhappy), Trademark broke cleanly and...

6th-CD, $120K, Msw, 2yo, f, 1mT, 3:21 p.m. ET. Bred by the Don Alberto Corporation, WASASHORE (Medaglia d'Oro) debuts for Michael and Katherine Ball, who paid $825,000 for her at last year's Keeneland September Sale. Trained by Tom Amoss, the bay filly is out of GSW Sacristy (Pulpit), a $700,000 purchase at '13 Keeneland November by Don Alberto while in-foal to Medaglia d'Oro. A half-sister to Japanese G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen S. heroine Mozu Superflare (Speightstown), the mare also produced GI Santa Anita Oaks runner-up Flor de La Mar (Tiznow). TJCIS...

Rigney Racing's Xigera (Nyquist), the 6 1/2-length GIII Falls City S. winner on Thanksgiving Day, will enjoy a planned break this winter before targeting next year's GI La Troienne S. on Kentucky Derby weekend, according to trainer Phillip Bauer. The Kentucky-based conditioner won last year's Falls City with now-retired Played Hard (Into Mischief) who returned five months later to win the La Troienne by a neck over GI Longines Kentucky Oaks winner Secret Oath (Arrogate). "We're going to take her to the sidelines for the winter and hopefully take the...

In the Aqueduct Sunday opener, Leslie's Rose (Into Mischief) took to the track in what amounted to a professional debut as she won impressively against a field of five others. The sharp start to her career garnered her 'TDN Rising Star' honors for the effort. Overlooked a touch at the windows as the 9-2 third choice, the Keeneland September grad exited the gate swiftly to set the pace up the backstretch. Despite a brief challenge around the far turn by chasers Value Area (More Than Ready) and heavy favorite Shoplifting...

1st-AQU, $85K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6 1/2f, 12:20 p.m. ET. Whisper Hill Farm purchased LESLIE'S ROSE (Into Mischief) for $1.15 million at last year's Keeneland September Sale. Bred by John D. Gunther & Eurowest Bloodstock Services, the Todd Pletcher trainee's younger half-sister and stablemate Bo Derek (Speightstown) sadly passed away after making her second start back in January for Siena and WinStar Farms at Gulfstream Park. Second dam MGSP Wildwood Flower (Langfuhr) produced GI Florida Derby champ Materiality (Afleet Alex) and GI Kentucky Oaks runner-up My Miss Sophia (Unbridled's Song),...

4th-Churchill Downs, $121,125, Msw, 11-12, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 1:03.27, ft, 7 3/4 lengths. MYSTIK DAN (c, 2, Goldencents--Ma'am, by Colonel John) broke quickly in his debut Oct. 22 at Keeneland, but lost the lead down the lane to finish second. Tabbed as the 4-5 choice here, the bay colt tracked the pacesetter from second up the backstretch. Making his move to the outside around the far turn, the Ken McPeek trainee built up a head of steam and really poured it on to win by 7 3/4 lengths over Eusebius...

2nd-DMR, $61K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 4:00 p.m. A couple of pricey colts will lineup for their Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert on Saturday at Del Mar. IMAGINATION (Into Mischief) was purchased for $1,050,000 as a yearling at Keeneland September by SF Bloodstock/Starlight Racing/Madaket before adding investors Stonestreet Stables, Dianne Bashor, Robert Masterson, Waves Edge Capital, Catherine Donovon and Tom Ryan. The bay colt out of GSW Magical Feeling (Empire Maker) counts Oaklawn Mile S. hero Exulting (Tapit) as a half-brother and GIII Monmouth Oaks heroine Occult as a full-sister....

Sailing into the weekend fresh off the Breeders' Cup might sound like a bit of a letdown, but there is some graded racing scheduled that will cure any hangover of the purple and white variety. Across a triad of tracks, including Aqueduct, Woodbine and Churchill Downs, we find both Grade II and Grade III races over the turf and the Tapeta which should come as a welcome dose. First on Saturday, the Big A cards the GIII Pebbles S., which is a one mile battle on the Inner Turf. If...