West Point Thoroughbreds

With a newly-minted Grade I winner in his barn and another set to hit the track this weekend, trainer Tom Amoss joined the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland Wednesday morning for an illuminating discussion that covered a wide variety of topics, big and small. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Amoss explained the success of barn stars No Parole (Violence) and Serengeti Empress (Alternation), talked about what he's learned from branching out into broadcasting and offered his take on why racing has...

As the sale season finally restarts, Taylor Made vice president Mark Taylor joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland this week to discuss where he sees the market going from here, the early success of Taylor Made stallion Not This Time (Giant's Causeway) and a host of other hot-button industry issues. [audio mp3="https://wp.tdn.pmadv.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/TDN-20200617-v1-Writers-Room-41-Audio-2-1.mp3"][/audio] Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week on the heels of OBS Spring, Taylor said, "I don't see any scenario where the market's not going to be off from 2019. I...

JOE MIGLIORE, West Point Thoroughbreds I think the one answer you are going to hear from everyone will be to focus on lowering takeout. While I agree that is a must for the longevity of the game going forward, I'd like to highlight another area that I've always felt was a major roadblock to attracting new players and retaining existing ones. The easiest thing tracks can do is to provide new and existing players with free access to accurate, clear, and concise data and information. Past performances, replays, workouts, trainer...

The TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland has transitioned to video over the past two weeks as the hosts record the show from home, and this week they welcomed their first video guest, none other than four-time defending Eclipse Award-winning trainer and future Hall of Famer Chad Brown. In a wide-ranging interview that touched on how the pandemic has affected his horses and family, what he looks for at sales, his feelings on clenbuterol, his thoughts on how to help smaller trainers get a foothold and his memories of...

Trainer Christophe Clement earned his 2000th career victory Friday afternoon with a son of Declaration of War in Gufo, and picked up right where he left off Saturday, with last year's GI Summer S. hero Decorated Invader making a successful sophomore debut to give Clement his second win on the card through four races. A fast-finishing second on debut at the Spa last July, Decorated Invader broke through by daylight a month later before his visually impressive tally in Woodbine's Summer. He settled for fourth in the Nov. 1 GI...

Dennis Albaugh didn't want to spend $1 million to acquire Thousands Words (Pioneerof the Nile) at the 2018 Keeneland September sale. Albaugh is among the wealthiest people in the sport, but even he has a comfort zone, and says he normally doesn't go beyond $400,000. But, if you want something special, you have to pay for it. And Albaugh and his team of advisors thought Thousand Words was the kind of can't-miss prospect every owner yearns to have. "Normally, we try to find horses in the $200,000 to $400,000 range,"...

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - The anticipation continued to build ahead of the $29-million Saudi Cup card, with a large crowd of locals and visitors on hand Thursday to watch contenders gallop over the mammoth King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh two days before the country's biggest-ever day of horse racing. Among the Americans on hand trackside on a chilly morning which quickly turned warmer as the sun rose was West Point Thoroughbreds' Terry Finley and bloodstock agent Bruno DeBerdt. "I've been to Dubai a couple of times, but I was really...

'TDN Rising Star' Hard Not to Love was last seen blowing away her competition at 11-1 odds in the GI La Brea S. over this same track and trip Dec. 28, but she likely won't be going off at double digits for awhile, especially after her latest performance. Reined back to last by Mike Smith in a compact field of five, the bay sat perched out wide and within striking distance as the rest of her foes scrambled for position through a :23.04 opening quarter. The favorite began her sweeping...

Tired of all the bad news? So were we. So, in our new series, we focus on the positive, asking people from non-horse racing families two questions: how they get hooked, and how they'll hook someone else on horse racing this year. TERRY FINLEY    What was the experience that made you fall in love with horse racing? Like a lot of other people who aren't born into the business, my exposure to racing happened when I went to the races with my father, who was a school teacher. When...

6th-GP, $50K, Msw, 3yo, 8fT, 2:02 p.m. ET Courtlandt Farm's OR'EFFICE (Medaglia d'Oro), a $725,000 KEESEP yearling, took some money in his career bow going a mile on the dirt at Aqueduct Dec. 7 and finished fourth. Out of multiple graded-stakes winner Grace Hall (Empire Maker), the Mark Hennig trainee will receive the services of Javier Castellano for his turf debut. TJCIS PPs 4th-FG, $50K, Alw/Opt.Clm., 3yo, 8.5f, 2:27 p.m. ET West Point Thoroughbreds, Chester and Mary Broman and Woodford Racing's CHESTERTOWN (Tapit), the $2-million topper from last year's OBS...

Taylor Made Farm will offer the largest consignment at next week's Keeneland January Sale and today, Mark Taylor is our Green Group Guest of the Week on the Writers Room horse racing podcast. The possible closing of Arlington Park, economic indicators for racing and Eclipse Award finalists are among the topics we discuss.

4th-Del Mar, $62,053, Msw, 8-11, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 1:04.31, ft. INSPIRESSA (f, 2, The Big Beast--Lucky Trip, by Trippi) wasthe priciest filly and co-fourth topper at OBS March at $850,000. She proved to be the fastest of a promising looking bunch to score first up at Del Mar and become the fourth winner for her sire (Yes It's True). The :20 4/5 breezer quickly emerged between foes to vie for command through an opening quarter in :22.06, before shaking clear and almost appearing to run off through a :45.87...