Todd Pletcher
4th-GP, $94k, Msw, 3yo, 6f, 1:49p.m. ET Florida will play host to two noteworthy maidens on the Gulfstream Park card Saturday, the first being this six panel maiden sprint, that drew the noteworthy connections with well-bred horses. Lining up against this field of 11 is $1.1-million KEESEP purchase VANDERBILT (Into Mischief). Out of GI Longines Test and Humana Distaff Stakes victress American Gal (Concord Point), the colt was purchased by Grandview Equine to race in partnership with LNJ Foxwoods, Whisper Hill Farm, and Gainesway Stable. The second dam was herself...
9th-GP, $94K, Msw, 4yo/up, f, 7f (AWT), 4:34 p.m. ET The impeccably-bred RUMOURS HAVE IT (Tapit) gets another shot to get off the mark following a 3/4-length defeat in her Nov. 22 debut at the Halladale oval. In front in the stretch that day, the daughter of dual champion Songbird (Medaglia d'Oro) was caught late by West Loop (Munnings) and had to play the bridesmaid. Trained by Todd Pletcher, the Whisper Hill Farm homebred is the third foal out of Songbird, who realized $9.5 million at Fasig-Tipton November after her...
Paul F. Oreffice, who spoke fewer than 50 words of English when he arrived in America in the mid-1940s and went on to become a partner in multiple Classic-winning Thoroughbred horses in addition to a successful career in the business world, passed away peacefully in his sleep on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, at his home in Paradise Valley, Arizona. He was 97 years old. Born in Venice, Italy, on Nov. 29, 1927, Oreffice moved with his family to Quito, Ecuador, and came to the U.S. in 1945, attending Purdue University...
Jockey Dylan Davis earned 209 wins across six race meets in 2024 to pace all riders and secure top honors as the leading rider at the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA). This is Davis's second year-end NYRA title, adding to a 2022 campaign which saw him win 186 races. This year, Davis, who is represented by agent Mike Migliore, scored a pair of meet titles at the Aqueduct winter [54] and Belmont at the Big A fall [44] meets. "It means a lot," said Davis. "Me and Mike put...
6th-GP, $65K, Msw, 2yo, f, 7f, 2:47 p.m. ET. Poised for her unveiling under the care of trainer Todd Pletcher, GHANAAYEM (Uncle Mo) is a $750,000 Shadwell purchase during Keeneland September. Bred by Don Alberto on the same Uncle Mo-Bernardini cross as current sires Mo Town and Modernist, the filly is out of GI Chandelier Stakes heroine Angela Renee. This dam is also responsible for GSP Gilded Age (Medaglia d'Oro) and Thielen (Curlin), a $1.75 million buy from the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale. Angela Renee is a full-sister to MGISW...
5th-GP, 65K, Msw, 2yo, 7f, 2:19 p.m. The partnership of WinStar Farm, China Horse Club and Siena Farm went to $1,000,000 to purchase TAPPAN STREET (Into Mischief) out of the Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga Select Sale last year. The colt is out of GII Gazelle Stakes third Virginia Key, a a half-sister to GSW/MGISP Pyrenees (Into Mischief) and GISW Grace Adler (Curlin), who has already produced SP Distorted d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro). Notably not the most expensive yearling in his family (his year-younger Curlin half-brother brought $1.4m at KEESEP this year),...
Dr. Patrick F. Sheehy, a retired oncologist and hematologist who owned racehorses and is best known for campaigning the overachieving sprinter Kinsale King, a gelding who flourished into an unlikely Group 1 winner in Dubai in 2010 after starting his career as a California-based maiden-claimer, has died. The trainer Carl O'Callaghan, who transformed the sore-footed Kinsale King into an international stakes winner, on Monday confirmed the passing of his boss and mentor to TDN. He said Sheehy, who was in his early 80s, had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease and...
Traffic trouble proved to be no problem for Major Dude (Bolt d'Oro), who muscled his way to the lead and went on to becoming racing's newest millionaire in the GII Ft. Lauderdale Stakes at Gulfstream Park. Despite winning twice this season in the lead up to this race, Major Dude had been rounding into his best form to date. When he won last out Oct. 10 at Keeneland against allowance company, his two-length victory was given a 96 Beyer and his effort July 20 at Saratoga against optional claimers garnered...
3rd-GP, $60k, Msw, 3yo/up, 6 1/2f, 1:18p.m. ET Fashionably late to the party, but making it to the races for the partnership of WinStar Farm, Siena Farm, and Rockridge Racing, TUCSON (Constitution) seeks to validate their patience against a field of experienced maidens over the main track. Hammered down for $1.3-million at KEESEP in 2022 but later having to be resold by Keeneland the following spring, the chestnut has been working steadily for Todd Pletcher out at Palm Beach Downs. A half-brother to Grade I-winning and Royal Ascot Group 1-placed...
If a Saturday of racing under palm trees and warm, sunny skies sounds just like something on your holiday wish list, look no further than Gulfstream Park's Pegasus Preview Day with three graded stakes on offer ahead of January's main event, the Pegasus World Cup Invitational held Jan. 25. On the dirt, a trio of 3-year-olds will face older horses in the 1 1/16-mile GIII Harlan's Holiday Stakes. Spendthrift Farm's Tuscan Sky (Vino Rosso), who won three of his first five starts including a 6 3/4-length romp in the Pegasus...
by J.N. Campbell and Alan Carasso Champion 2-year-old colt and leading sire Uncle Mo (Indian Charlie--Playa Maya, by Arch) was euthanized at Ashford Stud on Thursday morning after suffering a left foreleg injury, according to a tweet by Mike Repole on X and post on the Coolmore America website. Surgery was performed on Wednesday. He was 16-years-old. "I am devastated and saddened to share with you that Uncle Mo was euthanized earlier today following a left foreleg injury," said Repole. "He had surgery yesterday. Unfortunately, this morning the recovery process...
Owner Mike Repole believes he might have the best 4-year-old in the country in his barn at the start of the new year, and that horse isn't necessarily Fierceness (City of Light). Mindframe (Constitution) has been out of sight, out of mind since finishing second in the July 20 GI Haskell S. at Monmouth. In his prior start, he was second in the GI Belmont S. While he didn't win either race, he overcame the fact that he had only two lifetime starts before the Belmont and was an inexperienced,...