Old Fashioned sustained a non-displaced slab fracture of his right knee during his second-place effort in the $1 million Arkansas Derby (gr. II) at Oaklawn Park April 11 and will miss the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I).
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Three-year-old Kodiak Kowboy, a Canadian champion and a grade II winner this year and last, will not enter stud in 2009 and instead will remain in training.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
The first winners for graded stakes winners Lion Heart and Alke came the last part of April.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Owner Rick Porter has always known Eight Belles is a solid contender -- but he's thinking about putting the 3-year-old filly's class and stamina to the ultimate test May 3. Porter said April 13, if all goes well, the daughter of Unbridled's Song will be entered in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I).
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Magna Entertainment's debt-reduction sale of what it deems excess assets is under way with at least four properties already listed with real estate agents.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Magna Entertainment blamed the weak performance of its slots operation at Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino as a key to another in a series of poor financial quarters, as the company announced a $49.8 million net loss ending Sept. 30.
Friday, November 02, 2007
Ask Rick Porter and Vinery Farm manager Tom Ludt to comment on the sales histories of the 2-year-old Posse colt Kodiak Kowboy and his dam, Kokadrie, and the two men spin a circular tale.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Until recently, Bear Now seems ideally suited for racing and Canada and only a marginally successful runner in the United States. Well, the Fitz Dixon Cotillion Handicap (gr. II) changed everything. At Philadelphia Park in the Cotillion, Bear Now took command from the start, turned back a challenge from Octave " arguably the leading active member of the division in the absence of her stable companion Rags to Riches " and drew away again for a two lengths tally. As it turns out, this filly's family is full of surprises.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Making final preparations for the Oct. 27 Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) at Monmouth Park, Jim Tafel's Street Sense and Rick Porter's Hard Spun will have a much-anticipated rematch in the Sept. 29 Kentucky Cup Classic (gr. II) over Turfway Park's Polytrack.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Apart from the talent displayed in recent graded stakes, Street Sense and La Traviata have something else in common as they are both from the first crop of what appears to be a very promising group of second-season sires. Leading the ranks by earnings are Street Sense and Johannesburg, but the top 10 in this sire class are producing runners rich in class.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Rick Porter, whose Hard Spun won the Aug. 25 King's Bishop Stakes (gr. I), is launching a new partnership venture named Turf Club USA. Porter, who races as Fox Hill Farm, has also campaigned grade I winners Jostle and Round Pond.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Orientate offspring Lady Joanne has developed into one of the best fillies of her crop. Successful in the Dogwood Stakes (gr. III) in the spring, she narrowly lost out to Octave in the Mother Goose Stakes (gr. I), and then, after a prep in the restricted Banshee Breeze Stakes, returned to take a game victory over a tough field in the 10-furlong Alabama Stakes (gr. I).
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Hennessy had on Aug. 9 died of apparent heart failure at Haras La Mission in Argentina while preparing for the Southern Hemisphere season. The 14-year-old son of Storm Cat out of Island Kitty, by Hawaii, has so far sired 57 stakes winners from 1,057 foals of racing age, for earnings of nearly $54 million. While it is somewhat early to appraise his impact on the breed, one can at least recognize Hennessy as having what we might term an important "sociological" legacy. Hennessy was, in short, the first son of Storm Cat to show he had real potential as a sire of top-class horses.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
There is a school of thought that hold that the type of horse to look for as a potential broodmare sire is a good-sized, scopey kind of horse, one whose conformation suggests that he will get mares with plenty of room to carry their foals.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Prospective Joy, dam of grade I winner Hookedonthefeelin, died in March of foaling complications.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
One of the first horses Bob Carver bought a small part of is Belmont (gr. I) hopeful Hard Spun. The auto dealer from Arkansas is enjoying the Triple Crown ride as much as he does his Razorback football.
Friday, June 08, 2007
Richard Porter's Hard Spun scorched the Churchill Downs main track Monday morning, blazing five furlongs in :57 3/5 under regular rider Mario Pino. Hard Spun worked in company, for a while at least, with graded stakes winner Wildcat Bettie B.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Richard Porter has decided to send his millionaire mare Round Pond to Storm Cat.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Tragedy struck the $2 million Emirates Airline Breeders' Cup Distaff (gr. I) Saturday at Churchill Downs when the co-favored Pine Island was fatally injured and Fleet Indian suffered a serious injury in a race won easily by Round Pond.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Rockport Harbor, a multiple graded stakes winner, has been purchased by Sheikh Mohammed's Darley operation and will enter stud at Darley at Jonabell near Lexington.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Cash is King Stable managing partner Chuck Zacney, co-owner of Afleet Alex, announced Tuesday he has accepted Dan Borislow's $50,000 challenge matching Borislow's Wild Desert against Afleet Alex and Rockport Harbor in a horse-against-horse showdown in the April 16 Arkansas Derby (gr. II).
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Fox Hill Farm's undefeated Rockport Harbor served notice that he is fully recovered from the foot bruise suffered last week by working seven furlongs at Oaklawn Park Friday in 1:27 2/5 over a fast track as he progresses toward his 3-year-old debut in the March 19 Rebel Stakes (gr. III).
Friday, February 25, 2005
In his first workout since being injured while winning the Remsen Stakes (gr. II) last year, Rick Porter's Rockport Harbor breezed an easy five furlongs in 1:02 at Oaklawn Park Wednesday.
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Fox Hill Farms' Rockport Harbor, undefeated winner of the Remsen (gr. II) and Nashua Stakes (gr. III), is recovering nicely from a severe gash to his back foot and is scheduled to leave Philadelphia Park for Oaklawn Wednesday.
Monday, January 03, 2005
Fox Hill Farms' Rockport Harbor, who scored a gutsy victory over Galloping Grocer in the Nov. 27 Remsen Stakes (gr. II), came out of the 1 1/8-mile race with a severe gash on his right hind leg that was described by trainer John Servis as "pretty nasty."
Monday, November 29, 2004
It appears as if Smarty Jones has passed the baton to another young phenom residing in trainer John Servis' barn. His name is Rockport Harbor, and this grand-looking colt can flat-out run, as evidenced by his effortless 7 1/2-length victory in an allowance race at Philadelphia Park Oct. 12, his second brilliant score in as many starts.
Wednesday, October 13, 2004