The Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. (OBS) winter mixed sale suffered downturns of 63% in its average price and 74.4% in its median price from a year ago as it opened with a consignor preferred session Jan. 6 in Central Florida. The gross revenue dropped 43% even though the number of horses sold was up 54.1% from 2008's first day total.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
The 2009 stud fees for Ashford Stud stallions were announced Nov. 7, including the fees for their newest additions, Henrythenavigator and Majestic Warrior. There was a decline in fees for many of the stallions at Ashford, a division of Coolmore located near Versailles, Ky.
Friday, November 07, 2008
It is little wonder the Australian-bred galloper is gaining credibility all over the world. This fact was confirmed yet again by Coolmore announcing its stunning roster of stallions to stand down under in 2008.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Seth Benzel, Todd Pletcher's New York assistant, will open a public racing stable of his own starting May 1.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Scat Daddy, by Alan Porter
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Ashford Stud, a division of Coolmore located near Versailles, Ky., released its 2008 stud fees Nov. 1. The list includes Fusaichi Pegasus seeing another significant drop, Van Nistelrooy a sizeable jump, and a fee announced for new stallion Scat Daddy.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
If speed is the essence of a good racehorse, then there is little question that La Traviata is a good one. Undefeated in her three lifetime starts, the filly has demolished her hapless opponents by a combined 27 1/2 lengths and this after stumbling at the start of her last race, the Victory Ride Stakes (gr. III). One wonders what she might do with a completely clean trip. La Traviata comes by speed honestly with one major source courtesy of her sire, Johannesburg. Both Johannesburg's grandsire Storm Cat and his sire Hennessy have done quite well with mares returning Mr. Prospector.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Nine colts and geldings are entered in the 93rd running of the $150,000 Sanford Stakes (gr. II) for 2-year-olds at Saratoga July 26. The most experienced entrant is Ready's Image, the only stakes winner in the field.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Scat Daddy, a grade I winner the past two years, has been retired from racing because of a slight tendon injury
Monday, June 25, 2007
The post position draw is history, and it is time for racing's greatest minds to start planning strategy. Will there be a fast pace or a slow pace? Do you send or take back and see what others do? Will the outside horses break sharply and try to get to the inside or take back and hope to get lucky to find the holes? The wheels are turning.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Arkansas Derby (gr. II) winner Curlin was installed the moderate 7-2 morning line favorite for Saturday's $2 million, 1 1/4-mile Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) when post positions were drawn Wednesday.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
It wasn't quite like a scene from Noah's Ark, but four of trainer Todd Pletcher's Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) contenders arrived Tuesday afternoon two by two in separate vans.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Welcome to Derby Week, or week 11 of the "Starting Gate," one person's look at this year's Kentucky Derby lineup. As we approach Wednesday, entry day, this how we would handicap the top 20 contenders for the May 5 Run for the Roses. Actual entry into America's greatest race is reliant on graded stakes earnings -- this lineup is based on some speculation, past performances, and potential performance on Saturday.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Todd Pletcher's stay at Keeneland, for all intents and purposes, is over, and he went out with a bang, with three of his Derby horses - Any Given Saturday, Circular Quay, and Scat Daddy - turning in excellent works before heading over to Churchill Downs on Tuesday.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
During the crisp, clear early morning of Sunday, April 29, less than a week before the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), trainer Todd Pletcher watched the final workouts of three of his contenders, Any Given Saturday, Circular Quay, and Scat Daddy over Keeneland's Polytrack surface.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
To aid in unscientific handicapping (and for the entertainment of trivia aficionados), here are the stories behind the titles of this year's contenders for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I).
Friday, April 27, 2007
Doug O'Neill ruled the Derby roost Friday morning, sending out seven workers at Keeneland, including his three starters for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I). When it was over, O'Neill and exercise rider Tony Romero were all smiles.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher will saddle five contenders to this year's Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) on May 5. Here, he reviews his horses' running styles and talks strategy before the big race.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
With speed the primary ingredient in the Thoroughbred, and true stamina being pushed deeper and deeper into a horse's pedigree, we have to try to find staying power wherever we can. Although old-fashioned stamina on the sire's side no longer is necessary to win the Derby, it still has been a main factor on the dam's side.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Greetings from...Keeneland? That's right, Keeneland, home of the Kentucky Derby horses. Well, at least for many of them, and at least for a while. Although several trainers will begin shipping their horses to Churchill Downs this week, Todd Pletcher and Doug O'Neill will complete their works at Keeneland, with Pletcher staying put until next Tuesday.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Trainer Todd Pletcher continued the classic preparations for three of his five probable Kentucky Derby starters when Scat Daddy, Any Given Saturday, and Circular Quay worked over the Polytrack surface at Lexington's Keeneland Racecourse Sunday, April 22.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Sheikh Mohammed's broodmare band has taken a powerful turn. Late last year in the name of Darley, Sheikh Mohammed privately purchased the dams of top Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) hopefuls Street Sense and Scat Daddy.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Unbeaten Curlin, a dazzling winner of the $1 million Arkansas Derby (gr. II) on Saturday, emerged as a strong favorite over such accomplished rivals as 2006 2-year-old champion Street Sense and Wood Memorial (gr. I) winner Nobiz Like Shobiz when betting drew to a close in the third and final pool of Churchill Downs' 2007 Kentucky Derby Future Wager.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Unbeaten Curlin, the morning line favorite for Saturday's $1 million Arkansas Derby (gr. II) at Oaklawn Park, is a slight favorite over juvenile champion Street Sense and Florida Derby (gr. I) winner Scat Daddy as betting on the third and final pool of Churchill Downs' 2007 Kentucky Derby Future Wager reached its midway point.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Trainer Todd Pletcher was the featured speaker at the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers' Club meeting April 11 where he discussed his early career, Polytrack, and the Triple Crown.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Juvenile champion Street Sense and grade I winner Nobiz Like Shobiz loom as the strong morning-line favorites heading into third and final Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Favored Scat Daddy put away his rival Stormello soon after they reached the stretch and finished strongly to hold off the grinding Notional, capturing the $1 million Florida Derby (gr. I) at Gulfstream Park in an impressive effort Saturday.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Well, we've got our first big horse heading to Churchill Downs following Scat Daddy's victory in the Florida Derby (gr. I), and judging from the other cards trainer Todd Pletcher is holding, he's going to have a full house come May 5. But who knows if runner-up Notional will be the first of four aces held by Doug O'Neill.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Post positions have been drawn for the next Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) stepping stone race, the March 31 Florida Derby (gr. I) at Gulfstream Park. Grade I winner Scat Daddy currently heads the field at morning line odds of 5-2.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
There is no escaping the fact that Hard Spun proved he is a brilliant, classy horse with his bounce back performance in the Lane's End Stakes (gr. II), but there is a question that pops up, that will be echoed after the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (gr. I): how legitimate was this race, or any race for that matter, run over a synthetic surface?
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Street Sense and Any Given Saturday, the respective 1-2 finishers in the Tampa Bay Derby (gr. III), made the largest moves in the National Thoroughbred Racing Association's weekly 3-Year-Old Thoroughbred Poll.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
The second of three pools of Churchill Downs' 2007 Kentucky Derby Future Wager ended on Sunday with 'all others' a narrow favorite in a scramble with reigning 2-year-old champion Street Sense, Remsen (gr. II) and Holy Bull (gr. III) winner Nobiz Like Shobiz, and Louisiana Derby (gr. II) winner Circular Quay.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
James Tafel's reigning 2-year-old champion Street Sense, winner of the Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I), and Elizabeth Valando's Nobiz Like Shobiz, winner of the Remsen (gr. II) and the Holy Bull (gr. III), continued to share the role of favorite as pool 2 of Churchill Downs' Kentucky Derby Future Wager reached its midway point.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Champion Street Sense and Nobiz Like Shobiz each closed at odds of 9-2 during the first of four days of betting in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 2. The mutuel field, the betting interest that includes all 3-year-olds other than the 23 individual horses in Pool 2 and the 4-1 morning line favorite for the pool, stood as the 10-1 third choice at the end of the first day of betting.
Friday, March 09, 2007
The "all others" bet remains the morning line favorite for the second of three pools of Churchill Downs' 2007 Kentucky Derby Future Wager ("KDFW"), which launches its four-day run March 8.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
The strangest thing happened while in Florida this past week. I came upon a crystal ball that amazingly revealed the winners of all the major Derby preps this year, although some images were clearer than others. To obtain this privileged information, just continue reading.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Scat Daddy, somewhat overlooked in trainer Todd Pletcher's rich stable for this year's Triple Crown trail, stormed from far back to tag the tough-luck loser Stormello by a nose in the final stride of Saturday's $350,000 Fountain of Youth (gr. II) for 3-year-olds at Gulfstream Park.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
It will be a rematch of sorts in the Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. II) when the top three finishers of the Holy Bull Stakes (gr. III)-- Nobiz Like Shobiz, Drums of Thunder, and Scat Daddy-- return to the starting gate March 3 for the $350,000 race going 1 1/8 mile at Gulfstream Park.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
James Tafel's Street Sense, winner of the Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I) and champion 2-year-old colt, and Elizabeth Valando's Nobiz Like Shobiz, who captured the Holy Bull Stakes (gr. III) in his season debut, lead a list of 179 3-year-olds nominated to Keeneland's $750,000 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (gr. I).
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
The $500,000 Lane's End Stakes (gr. II), a key Triple Crown prep at Turfway Park on March 24, has drawn 166 nominations.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Elizabeth Valando's Nobiz Like Shobiz showed his readiness for the March 3 Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. II) by working six furlongs in 1:11 1/5 at Gulfstream Park Friday.
Friday, February 23, 2007
With 2006 Eclipse Award and Breeders' Cup winners Street Sense and Dreaming of Anna headlining the list, a record 450 horses have been nominated early to Thoroughbred racing's 2007 Triple Crown.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Elizabeth J. Valando's homebred Nobiz Like Shobiz, highly regarded among this year's Triple Crown hopefuls, got his campaign off to a strong start with a smart win as the odds-on choice in Saturday's $150,000 Holy Bull (gr. III) for 3-year-olds at Gulstream Park.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Elizabeth Valando's homebred 3-year-old Nobiz Like Shobiz, high among early favorites for the Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands (gr. 1), makes his season debut as the 8-to-5 morning line favorite in the $150,000 Holy Bull Stakes (gr. III) at Gulfstream Park.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Many times when looking back on the career of a Kentucky Derby winner, you can find one defining race or defining moment within a race that stamps the horse as a legitimate classic contender. This is the first of several attempts this winter to find such moments.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Street Sense, 10-length winner of the Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I), received the high weight assignment of 127 pounds on the 2006 Experimental Free Handicap, released today by The Jockey Club.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
It comes as no surprise that trainer Todd Pletcher, a multiple record setter in 2006, will collect a third well-deserved Eclipse Award for his efforts.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Hold on to your hats. The Todd Pletcher and Doug O'Neill express trains are about to start rolling toward Louisville and should reach breakneck speed by early to mid-February. With Pletcher expanding to California this winter, and both trainers expected to make stops in New Orleans, we can expect some early collisions on the Derby trail.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Street Sense tops Steve Haskin's first list of leading contenders for this year's May 5 Kentucky Derby.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Ten graded or group stakes winners are among 107 "early bird" nominations for the 94th running of the $600,000 Louisiana Derby (gr. II) March 10 at Fair Grounds Race Course.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
