Tom Morley

A trio of turf graded stakes kicks off the Thoroughbred season at Saratoga on Thursday, headed by the GIII Pennine Ridge Stakes which features sophomores going 1 1/16 miles on the turf. Installed the 9-5 morning-line choice, Mo Speed Racing's West End Kid (Twirling Candy) will attempt to secure his third consecutive victory after posting a pair scores over this distance in a 3 1/2-length win Keeneland maiden on Apr. 11 followed by another confident tally in a Churchill optional claimer on May 8. Trained by Will Walden, the colt...

Trainers Cherie DeVaux, Tom Morley, and Graham Motion have joined the Belmont Pledge, committing a portion of their Belmont Festival earnings to benefit the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation and the hundreds of retired Thoroughbreds in its care, according to a TRF release on Tuesday. The trainers join trainers Michael McCarthy, George Weaver, Whit Beckman, and Amelia Green. "Thoroughbred aftercare is a cause that is incredibly important to me. These horses have blessed my life in countless ways, and we have a responsibility to ensure they are cared for long after their...

2nd-Keeneland, $69,210, Msw, 4-24, 2yo, f, 5 1/2fT, 1:03.38, fm, 6 1/2 lengths. MORE CHAMPAGNE (f, 2, Golden Pal--Wildcat Gaze, by Wildcat Heir) debuted as a 6-1 shot here after a pair of scratches reduced the field to five. Running into fractions of :21.26 for the first quarter and :45.06 for the first half, the filly gained ground on favorite Shining Moment (Golden Pal) and Extravaganzoo (Golden Pal). The 2-year-old began to target Shining Moment inside the final furlong, raced a touch green as she passed the leader and poured...

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) wrapped up Aqueduct's fall meet Wednesday with Flavien Prat taking the leading rider title and Linda Rice taking the leading trainer honors. Prat's 46 wins included nine stakes victories and five graded victories. His record for the fall stands at 136-46-21-15, earnings of $3,247,016, and a win percentage of 33.82%. Manny Franco was second with 33 wins, while Kendrick Carmouche was third with 25 victories. Rice notched her fourth consecutive Aqueduct fall meet training title with 31 wins and an overall record of...

Interstatelovesong (Bolt d'Oro) was a game runner-up on debut to New York-bred Britain (Quality Road) over the local course Nov. 20. Bet down to 48 cents on the dollar here, the favorite fired from the rail gate and soon established a modest lead up the backstretch. The filly though was in firm control around the far turn and the homebred scampered down the lane to graduate by five lengths over Pulling Threads (Practical Joke). The winner's dam is responsible for a yearling colt by Game Winner. A 2024 Keeneland November...

For the Ladies (f, 2, Upstart--Lovely Marissa, by Proud Citizen) served as the favorite on debut during the Belmont At The Big A meet Oct. 5 and missed by a nose. The 6-5 choice here fired out of the rail gate and immediately set the tone up the backstretch. Making every pole a winning one through the far turn, the filly poured on the speed entering the lane and ran up the score to graduate by 7 1/4 lengths over It's Carol's Way (McKinzie). A half-sister to SW Nasty, (Street...

Attfield (Vekoma) played the role of the Fantastic Mr. Fox to perfection as he shot through a hole to swipe the Central Park Stakes at the Big A on Friday afternoon. The Tom Morley trainee, named for the stable's John Attfield, donned cap and gown on debut after sprinting on the grass at the Spa Aug. 29 when he rallied to best eventual stakes winner Schwarzenegger (Not This Time). Attfield tried the Aqueduct turf course in the GIII Futurity Stakes Oct. 3 and improved to make the podium. As a...

A sixteenth of a mile into Friday's seventh race at Saratoga, the race looked to be over. The hot first-time starter Schwarzenegger (Not This Time) broke like a rocket and immediately extended his lead down the backstretch. He opened up by six and was still well in front at the eighth-pole. But the first-time starter Attfield (Vekoma) was closing fast on the rail and ran down Schwarzenegger by a neck under Dylan Davis. It was not what the bettors expected as Attfield went off at 23-1 and Schwarzenegger was pounded...

7th-Saratoga, $100,000, Msw, 8-29, 2yo, 5 1/2fT, 1:03.31, fm, neck. ATTFIELD (c, 2, Vekoma--Graceful Witch, by Street Boss), the third longest shot on the board at 23-1, sprung the upset Friday in his career debut. Patiently handled early as 3-5 favorite Schwarzenegger (Not This Time) said "hasta la vista baby" to the field and opened up a sizeable advantage, Attfield split the group in fourth while making steady progress along the inside. With a quarter mile to run and the favorite still well clear but drifting out into the center...

After respectable showings in the Louisiana, Kentucky, and Ohio Derbys, Chunk of Gold (Preservationist) finally has one to his tally with a sterling effort in the GIII West Virginia Derby. The grey has been eyeballing some of the best of his generation in his last four starts. He shipped to Louisiana in mid-February to contest their Triple Crown preps, and ran second in both the GII Risen Star Stakes and the GII Louisiana Derby, Feb. 15 and Mar. 22, respectively. Having garnered enough points for the big dance, he went...

Jockey Angel Cordero won 7,057 races during his Hall of Fame career. He is the undisputed "King of Saratoga" after winning the riding title at the Spa 14 times. Kentucky Derby? Preakness? Belmont? Been there, done that. He has rubbed elbows with a president, clowned around with Muhammad Ali and hung out with Bob Marley. An interesting life, for sure, Angel Cordero Jr. has lived. He shared some of it with the TDN. Here is the Saratoga Q&A. TDN: Do you miss riding? Angel Cordero Jr: I used to miss...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - There was never really any thought about running Iron Orchard (Authentic) in Sunday's GIII, $175,000 Adirondack Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. Trainer Danny Gargan said Saturday that Iron Orchard, the 5-2 second choice on the Adirondack morning line, will stay in the barn on Sunday. "I didn't really train her for this race," Gargan said Saturday morning outside his barn on the Saratoga backstretch. "I wasn't going to enter at all and (owners) said let's enter and look at it and then decided to wait." Iron...