Two Phil's

Jockey Jareth Loveberry claimed career win 2,000 in Friday's eighth and final race at Fair Grounds after a frontrunning score for trainer Justin Jeansonne. Two wins shy entering the day's action, Loveberry claimed the opener with the odds-on favorite Prince Day (Race Day) and bookended the card aboard Island Cabana (Custom for Carlos) to pass the threshold of the milestone. His career has taken him all over the country, with Loveberry best known for winning multiple titles at Arlington Park and finishing second in the Kentucky Derby aboard Two Phil's...

3rd-CD, 120K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, 1:43 p.m. The juveniles kick things off at Churchill Downs Friday with a well-bred pair drawn side by side. Widest of the two is MO LAKE TIME (Uncle Mo), the first foal out of the American Pharoah mare Lake Garda who sold for $600,000 to H & R Bloodstock carrying Mo Lake Time in utero at KEENOV in 2022. While unraced herself, Lake Garda is a half-sister to MGISW Hoppertunity (Any Given Saturday) and MGISW Executiveprivilege (First Samurai). Bred by Boardshorts Breeding and Racing,...

MGSW and GI Kentucky Derby runner up Two Phil's (Hard Spun) was represented by his first foal Friday. The filly, bred by Meredith Krupp and Phillip Sagan Racing LLC, is out of the mare Makin' Sense (Street Sense). "She has great bone and really good size," said co-breeder Meredith Krupp who owns Pine Branch Farm where the filly was born. "Very happy with her and thrilled for the Sagan family." Two Phil's retired to stud with five wins from 10 career starts, having amassed earnings of $1,583,450. Bred in Kentucky...

If this seems a strangely specific category, that's because it is. There are two dozen sires standing in Kentucky at $10,000, a fee that attempts to preserve their dignity against a candid slide into the bargain basement. Though you're only a cent away from offering your stallion at four figures, you want him to look accessible without being low-rent. Only a couple are newcomers, all of which were dealt with separately in opening this series. Otherwise this is chiefly the bracket of youngish stallions whose rookie vogue is spent, anxious...

With a long-term eye on a title defense in this fall's GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar, Patricia's Hope LLC's Nobals (Noble Mission {GB}) has begun gearing up for his 2024 campaign. The gelded 5-year-old has posted four breezes at trainer Larry Rivelli's Hawthorne base this spring, most recently stopping the timer for four furlongs in :52.60 (50/51) May 19. "He's doing good, real good," Rivelli said. "I gave him time just for no reason. I haven't really picked out anything yet (for his return); within his next...

To some trainers, the GI Preakness S. has become an afterthought. They worry about making the GI Kentucky Derby, so much to the point that the Preakness is not on their radar. The exception is Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. Yes, he'd like to win the Derby more so than any other race, but the Preakness isn't far behind. He's won it eight times and will be back in Baltimore this week with Muth (Good Magic), the 8-5 morning line favorite, and Imagination (Into Mischief), who is 6-1 on the...

The TDN's popular annual series 'Mating Plans, presented by Spendthrift,' continues today in a conversation with Machmer Hall's Carrie Brogden. Becca's Rocket, 6, (Orb-Idoitmyway, by Unbridled's Song). To be bred to Elite Power. Becca's Rocket is currently in foal to Jackie's Warrior. We bred this Orb filly and after the untimely death of her Unbridled's Song dam in a paddock accident, I vowed to buy this beautiful stakes mare back after her racing career. When she was born, I had such high hopes for her because she was just a...

WinStar Farm will host an Open House for breeders from Sunday, Jan. 7 through Thursday, Jan. 11, between 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET. each day, the farm said in a release Friday. The open houses will be held at the farm's stallion complex on Paynes Mill Road in Versailles, Kentucky. Visitors are welcome without an appointment to view the WinStar roster for the 2024 season, led by Constitution ($110,000 S&N) and Life Is Good ($85,000 S&N). Breeders will also be able to see WinStar's newest additions for 2024: Country...

And so another cycle opens, bringing all the usual dilemmas. To assist their resolution--albeit the exercise seldom fails to entail a degree of provocation, sometimes even offense--today we commence our annual quest for value among Kentucky stallions. This time round, value feels likely to prove quite elusive. With the middle market increasingly porous, stud fees overall are at a challenging level. If they were driven up by a long bull run in international bloodstock, that appears to be tapering away and there's evidently going to be quite a lag before...

After hearing from Chris McGrath in his 2024 Value Sires Part I, we thought we'd ask several breeders who they thought offered particularly good value this year. Here's what they said: Jody Huckabay The horses I have chosen are expensive, but I think they are good value. GOLD: Elite Power (Curlin--Broadway's Alibi, by Vindication), Juddmonte Farms, $50,000. The first horse I like for his body of work, race record, and pedigree is Elite Power. To me, he's on top of the list, with everything being considered. I look at it...

As 2023 draws to a close, the TDN is asking industry members to name their favorite moment of the year. Send yours to suefinley@thetdn.com "My favorite racing moment of 2023 was watching my husband, Jareth Loveberry and Two Phil's run in the Kentucky Derby. I'm a racetrack photographer for Coady Photography and worked Derby week, including the race, and I was stationed just past the finish. Jareth took a moment to point at me when they crossed the wire second." --Staci Loveberry, photographer

Elliott Walden has nothing but confidence in WinStar Farm's two new stallion recruits for 2024 and he has the numbers to show it. The speedy Two Phil's (Hard Spun) posted some eye-catching figures this year as a 3-year-old, including 105 Beyer Speed Figures in both the GIII Ohio Derby and his runner-up performance in the GI Kentucky Derby. Meanwhile his new studmate Country Grammer (Tonalist), winner of the G1 Dubai World Cup, retired as the third highest-earning North American-bred horse of all time--behind great company in Arrogate and Gun Runner--...