Thousand Words

by George Adams Wasabi Ventures Stables & Stallions continues to upgrade the quality of their breeding stock and the commerciality of the foals that they're producing on their Serendipity Springs Farm. There is a very interesting group of stallions retiring for 2026, and Wasabi has shares in several which we'll be supporting. TICKLE THE IVORIES, 5, Justify-Gagnoa (Ire), by Sadler's Wells. Will be bred to Mindframe. The highest profile of the new stallions with whom Wasabi is involved is the multiple GI winner Mindframe, who retired to Claiborne. He's a...

Tough at the top? Try the view from the base of the pyramid, where we begin our quest for value among sires already at stud in Kentucky. We have dealt with the rookies separately, as a case apart. But while many of those standing at four figures are also younger horses, essentially unproven, their commercial luster has already faded. As we keep noting, the claim that new sires represent your only chance of catching the next Into Mischief falls apart when the same horses are abandoned precisely as they are...

1st-AQU, $85K, Msw, 2yo, f, 7f, 12:10 p.m. ET. POMERANCE (Curlin) brought $700,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling sale. Bred & owned by partners Jeff Drown and Don Rachel, the filly is out of MGSW Pomeroys Pistol (Pomeroy), who produced current sire Thousand Words (by Pioneerof the Nile) and Sweet Pistol (Smart Strike)--the dam of 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' & GISW Faiza (Girvin). The first-timer was sent to trainer Chad Brown. TJCIS PPS 10th-CD, $120K, Msw, 2yo, 1m, 5:24 p.m. ET. An $800,000 buy during the Fasig-Tipton...

Sponsored by Pedigrees360. Candidly, it always feels a little cheap to delve into a pedigree once its functionality is established, scrubbing away any genetic mud before triumphantly producing some hidden nugget to explain how it has all come together. "Post rationalization" of this kind is standard in articles like this, and the absolute opposite of the grueling enterprise that has worn out the soles of so many shoes over the past couple of weeks. As ever, Keeneland presented thousands of perfectly plausible pages to measure against the animals paraded before...

Saturday's racing action at Saratoga and across the country saw not only an eye-catching number of new 'TDN Rising Stars' (the final tally stopping on five), but also current members of the club securing sensational victories against salty competition. With the runners emerging from their efforts with positive prognoses, their connections are now looking ahead. Of the established 'Rising Stars', GII Saratoga Special victor Ewing (Knicks Go) returned from that win in fine form and will now be tasked with stretching his abilities out. The Mark Casse trainee was one...

Second-time starter Delightful Claire (Thousand Words), third in her Churchill Downs debut as the favorite in early June, returned in emphatic fashion Saturday to become the first 'TDN Rising Star' for her young sire at Saratoga. Beaten just a length in that six-furlong affair behind Princess Proud (Into Mischief) who was a next-out winner facing allowance runners at Ellis by 3 1/4 lengths in July, the 3-1 favorite added an additional furlong to go the one-turn seven-eighths Saturday. One of the first from the blocks, Delightful Claire found herself sandwiched...

Champion MGISW Citizen Bull (Into Mischief) and SW & MGISP Vodka With a Twist (Thousand Words) were on the work list Saturday at Santa Anita Park with a six-furlong move from each as other notable names made an appearance in the morning hours. The Bob Baffert-trained Citizen Bull posted the co-bullet move of three, clocking the six panels in 1:12.20 in his second work since finishing in the back half of the GI Kentucky Derby field. The filly, trained by Philip D'Amato, went from the blocks for her move, and...

If you're among the many currently absorbed by his autobiography, you'll be indebted to Arthur Hancock for sharing a series of Charlie Whittingham maxims. And one is of particular value to anyone routinely assessing pedigrees: "Never say anything bad about a horse until he's been dead at least 10 years." Plenty will have been sorely tempted to disregard that stricture in the case of Authentic, after the 2020 Horse of the Year fell so far short of his billing with his first juveniles last year. Retired at $75,000, much the...

5th-GP, $94k, Msw, 3yo, 7f, 1:26p.m. ET Though not the most expensive in the field, TOTAL SENSATION (Speightstown) comes into this race with perhaps the best-known family as the son of Eblouissante (Bernardini), the half-sister to Hall of Famer Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire}). A $300,000 yearling from KEESEP in 2023, and racing for the partnership of Qatar Racing, CHC, Inc., and Trilogy USA, the colt is a half-brother to GSW Confidence Game (Candy Ride {Arg}) and GSP The Process (More Than Ready) from the family of the aforementioned Horse of...

GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies runner-up MGISP Vodka With a Twist (Thousand Words) is reportedly on track to make her 2025 debut in the GII Fasig-Tipton Santa Anita Oaks after a good drill Monday morning at Santa Anita. Most recently clocked in a five furlong move in :59.80 (4/71), the multiple Grade I-placed filly has been on the sidelines since running third behind GISW Tenma (Nyquist) and SW & GSP Look Forward (Bolt d'Oro) in the GII Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos Dec. 7. "I was very happy with the...

The Queens M G (Thousand Words), winner of last summer's GIII Adirondack S. and Schuylerville S. at Saratoga, rode the rail to a decisive victory in Saturday's GII Fasig-Tipton Davona Dale S. at Gulfstream Park, good for 37.5 points on the road to the GI Kentucky Oaks. Drawn on the fence and off as the 9-5 second-choice, she traveled nicely on the inside through an opening quarter in :24.24, slipped through along the inside beneath Irad Ortiz, Jr. at the top of the stretch and took off nicely from there...

24 horses, featuring 2-year-olds and horses of racing age, have been catalogued for the OBSOnline January auction which will take place Jan. 23-30. The catalogue is currently available for viewing on the OBSOnline website. Bidding will begin Jan. 23 at noon ET and will close at noon ET Jan. 30. The OBSOnline January sale will be held in conjunction with the live January Winter Mixed Sale taking place Jan. 28. A total of 20 sale entrants participated in the optional under tack show held at OBS on Jan. 17. Consignors...