Two prominent horses being pointed to this year's Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, Judy the Beauty and Midnight Lucky, will enter the seven-furlong race off long breaks. Both have shown ability to win off long breaks.
Front-running La Tia, under extreme pressure in the final sixteenth from the onrushing Byrama and Overheard, rebuffed her challengers for a neck victory in the $200,000 Athenia Stakes (gr. IIIT) on yielding turf at Belmont.
Coming off a victory in the Noble Damsel Stakes (gr. IIIT) in her U.S. debut, George Bolton and Peter Leidel's Annecdote tops a solid field of 12 older fillies and mares entered in the Athenia Stakes (gr. IIIT).
George Bolton and Peter Leidel's Annecdote, in her first start in the United States, went from last to first in a field of nine to win the $200,000 Noble Damsel Stakes (gr. IIIT) Sept. 13 at Belmont Park.
Julie's Love, who has plenty of graded stakes experience, gets a slight edge in the Sept. 13 Noble Damsel Stakes (gr. IIT) at Belmont Park. The $200,000 race for older fillies and mares is at a mile on the Widener Course.
Apropos, owned and bred by Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider, seems to have found a good spot in the $100,000 Winning Colors Stakes May 26, when she will face eight opponents in the six-furlong sprint at Churchill Downs.
Five Iron shot to a 19-1 upset in the $150,000 Fort Marcy Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Belmont Park when favored Ghurair failed to fire in his United States debut in one of two graded stakes on the turf on the Derby day card May 3.
Midnight Lucky had nearly a year since her last race, but lost none of her class in the interim. She rumbled into the stretch of the $330,600 Humana Distaff (gr. I) at Churchill and widened away to a 4 1/2 length victory.
Irish Mission and Orion Moon, both from the barn of trainer Christophe Clement, face off at Belmont Park in the $150,000 Beaugay (gr. IIIT), one of two graded turf stakes on the New York track's May 3 Kentucky Derby card.
Aron Wellman and Lee Midkiff have grown a fledgling partnership group into the program producing grade I winners such as In Lingerie, Byrama, Capo Bastone, and now Arkansas Derby (gr. I) victor Danza.
Already 3-for-3 at Keeneland, Judy the Beauty will try to nail down the first grade I victory of her career April 12 in the $300,000 Madison Stakes (gr. I) at the Lexington track.
After a less than satisfying outcome in the Cigar Mile (gr. I) in November, owner Mandy Pope says she couldn't bear to see two-time female sprint champion Groupie Doll end her career that way.
Emollient will face her elders as one of 11 entered for the $500,000 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes (gr. I) Oct. 6 at Keeneland. Others include grade I winners On Fire Baby and Byrama, and grade II winner Summer Applause.
Champion Groupie Doll, some recent grade I-winning fillies, and Eblouissante, half sister to Horse of the Year Zenyatta, are among the 3,602 horses Keeneland has cataloged for its 2013 November breeding stock sale Nov. 5-14.
Turtle Bird Stable's Cluster of Stars improved her undefeated record to six wins at the cost of Dance to Bristol in the $300,000 Gallant Bloom Handicap (gr. III) Sept. 21 at Belmont Park.
Dance to Bristol returns to Belmont Park for the $300,000 Gallant Bloom Handicap (gr. II) on Sept. 21 to prep for the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (gr. I), and a salty field of eight other 4-year-old fillies awaits her.
Gordon Lord Byron hit the front a quarter mile out and put daylight between himself and 12 rivals for a brilliant win in the Betfred Sprint Cup (Eng-I) Sept. 7 at Haydock.
After standing the 2013 breeding season in Japan, 2007 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner Street Sense will return to the United States in 2014, Darley announced Sept. 6.
A six-time grade I winner whose problems with the Polytrack at Del Mar have been well-chronicled, Game On Dude is on the verge of a breakthrough in the TVG Pacific Classic (gr. I) Aug. 25, trainer Bob Baffert believes.
Richard's Kid, looking for an unprecedented third victory in the $1 million TVG Pacific Classic (gr. I), had trainer Doug O'Neill smiling after a six-furlong jaunt in 1:13 3/5 over the Polytrack for Joe Talamo Aug. 16.
Overlooked at odds of 10-1, Lady of Fifty found redemption as she took the overland route under Corey Nakatani to capture the $300,000 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes (gr. I) Aug. 3 at Del Mar.
Aubby K, winner of the Humana Distaff Stakes (gr. I) and the Inside Information Stakes (gr. II), was retired from racing this week with a fractured sesamoid in her foreleg sustained after a workout at Saratoga July 29.
Trainer Ron Ellis is taking a patient approach with Include Me Out as the 5-year-old mare prepares to defend her title in the $300,000 Clement L. Hirch Stakes (gr. I) Aug. 3 at Del Mar.
Coming from off the pace in the $200,000 Honorable Miss Handicap (gr. II) at Saratoga Race Course, Susan Wantz's Dance to Bristol extended her win streak to six with her July 29 victory.
Dance to Bristol has her sights set on bigger game in her Saratoga Race Course debut July 29 as the 5-2 morning-line favorite in the $200,000 Honorable Miss Handicap (gr. II).
| Horse | Trainer | Breeder / Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Aubby K | Ralph E. Nicks |
|
| Burban | Eddie Kenneally |
|
| Byrama (GB) | William I. Mott |
|
| Emma's Encore | H. Allen Jerkens |
|
| Holiday Soiree | Todd A. Pletcher |
|
| Jamaican Smoke | Eddie Kenneally |
|
| Rumor | Richard E. Mandella |
|
| Same Cross | J. Larry Jones |
|
| There Is No Limit | Doug F. O'Neill |
|
| Race | Track | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Azalea S. | DED | |
| Islamorada H. | GP | |
| Downthedustyroad Breeders S. | OP | |
| Cat Cay S. | AQU | |
| Tom Fool H. (gr. III) | AQU |
