Todd Pletcher
Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency BAFFERT UNVEILS PRICEY STREET SENSE 1st-SA, $55K, Msw, 2yo, 7f, 2:30p.m. Bob Baffert and longtime owners Pegram, Watson and Weitman have enjoyed plenty of success with a son of Street Sense, courtesy of MGISW McKinzie, and they hope lightning strikes twice with MASTERING (Street Sense). The $500,000 FTKOCT buy prepped for this debut with a half-mile bullet in :47 2/5 (1/49) here Jan. 25. The dark bay is a half to GSP Sister Moon (Dixie Union), who is the dam of GSW Nolde (Pioneerof the...
Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 2nd-GP, $50K, Msw, 3yo, 6f, 12:34 p.m. ET Ajhar (Tapit) brought $800,000 from Shadwell Stable at the 2018 Keeneland September sale--he was in fact one of three Tapit yearlings purchased by Shadwell for that amount at that auction and part of a $12,345,000 expenditure at that sale for Sheikh Hamdan's operation. The grey colt is out of 'TDN Rising Star', MGSW and GISP Jojo Warrior (Pioneerof the Nile), who herself is a half to Grade I-winning fellow 'Rising Star' A Z Warrior (Bernardini); GSW/GISP 'Rising...
GII Remsen S. winner Shotski (Blame) will take his next step down the GI Kentucky Derby trail Saturday when he returns to Aqueduct for the GIII Withers S. Earning his diploma at second asking when switched from turf to dirt at Laurel Oct. 3, the bay was fourth in the Street Sense S. at Churchill Downs Oct. 27, but wired the field next out in the track-and-trip Remsen Dec. 7. "We know he likes the track, and we know he can get the distance," trainer Jeremiah O'Dwyer told the NYRA...
"There are two things that I refuse to die from," Michael Blowen said as he strode along the fence line at Old Friends Farm in Georgetown, Kentucky. "The first is shoveling snow, because I'm from New England and I hate snow. And the second is boredom." The founder and president of Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Farm weaved among the paddocks, stopping to distribute carrots to Ide (Forty Niner), the winner of four consecutive Grade III stakes in 1995 and 1996, and then breaking into a sprint along the paddock of...
The lone horse to defeat-err, let's make that cross the wire ahead of--recently crowned champion 3-year-old colt Maximum Security (New Year's Day) is nearing a return to the races. Red Oak Stable homebred King for a Day (Uncle Mo) posted a hard-fought victory over the disqualified GI Kentucky Derby winner after that one stumbled at the start in the TVG.com Pegasus S. at Monmouth June 16. The bay disappointed in his next start, however, and was placed on the sidelines following a well-beaten fifth-place finish as the 5-2 second-choice after...
4th-Gulfstream, $43,000, Msw, 1-25, 3yo, 7f, 1:24.13, ft. MARKET ANALYSIS (c, 3, Honor Code--Interest Free {MSP, $195,682}, by Exchange Rate), favored at 6-5 in this career bow, broke alertly from post 10 and moved up to stalk from third through a :22.44 first quarter. Creeping up closer to the pacsetter as the half went in :45.53, the gray took control at the top of the lane and held off a strong late rally from Attachment Rate (Hard Spun) to win by 3/4 of a length. The winner is the first...
The stars of racing were out in full force for the 2019 Runhappy Eclipse Awards in Gulfstream Park's Sport of Kings auditorium Thursday night. The newly-minted hosting trio of TVG's Gabby Gaudet, NBC and TVG's Brittany Eurton and Gulfstream's Acacia Courtney led the evening's program, reflecting on a season that had it all--celebration, challenge and above all, tremendous change. While a total of 11 equine champions and five human divisions were crowned, it was a single individual that cast a thread through several of the victorious connections of the night....
Repole and St. Elias Stable's Vino Rosso had his share of ups and downs throughout the 2019 racing season, however, he rounded out the year, as well as his racing career, in rousing fashion with an authoritative 4 1/4-length victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita Nov. 2. After launching 2019 with a score in the one-mile Stymie S. last March, the chestnut was fourth in the seven-panel GI Carter H., but showed his obvious affinity for the added yardage with a 3/4-length win over Gift Box...
9th-GP, $51K, Alw/Opt. Clm ($35,000), 4yo/up, 6f, 4:38 p.m. ET There are select few horses who have the ability to win by 14 lengths in their career debut with a triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure, but that's what Juddmonte homebred HIDDEN SCROLL (Hard Spun) accomplished last January on the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. undercard at Gulfstream. Named a no-brainer 'TDN Rising Star' that day, the bay had the racing world buzzing about what was to come, but failed to find the mark in three subsequent tries, albeit with some...
Surrounded by his family, Larry Wayne Richardson passed away at his Lexington, Kentucky home Jan. 13. He was 75. The Maryland native is survived by his wife of 50 years, Marilyn Richardson; his sons Justin (Jessica) and Cody (Daisy); and grandchildren, Rowlin, Reed, Annslee and Tate. Services will be held Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020 at Kerr Brothers Funeral Home on Harrodsburg Road, Lexington, Kentucky. Visitation will be from 12:30-2:30 pm followed by the funeral service at 2:30 pm, officiated by Gordon Walls. Memorial contributions can be made to Bluegrass Hospice...
Spice Is Nice (Curlin) turned heads when hammering for $1.05 million at Keeneland September back in 2018, and turned many more Sunday at Gulfstream when running away to a double-digit debut graduation and 'TDN Rising Star' honors. Drilling steadily at Belmont until late November, the chestnut missed a few weeks of breezes, but got right back to task with a half-mile bullet in :48 4/5 (1/5) Dec. 20 at Palm Beach Downs before recording a sharp five-furlong move in 1:00 1/5 (3/22) there nine days later. Hammered early in the...
Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables, Inc. and William H. Lawrence finished the year as the leading owner by earnings, while jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. and trainer Chad Brown not only repeated as the top earners for jockeys and trainers, respectively, but each established single season earnings records, according to final statistics released Thursday by Equibase Company LLC. The GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf winner Bricks and Mortar (Giant's Causeway) led all Thoroughbreds in North American earnings with $6,723,650. Owned, ridden and conditioned by the leading owner, jockey and trainer, Bricks and...