Today's Edition

A well-established fixture in the lead up to the Triple Crown, trainer Todd Pletcher is attempting to secure a record 16th training title during Gulfstream Park's 2018-2019 championship meeting, while diligently working to unearth another jewel who can join his roster of five prior Classic victories. As recently as 2017, the seven-time Eclipse Award winning trainer employed his South Florida base of Palm Beach Downs as a launching pad for a pair of Classic wins: Always Dreaming (Bodemeister; GI Kentucky Derby) and Tapwrit (Tapit; GI Belmont S.). The TDN caught...

DEAUVILLE, France-With the major Flat mares having taken their turn in the ring as the Arqana December Sale opened on Saturday, the curtain will be brought down in Deauville today with some classy National Hunt stock. The traditional jumping theme to the final day of trade has been given an extra boost this year by the inclusion of a dispersal of 22 broodmares and horses in training owned by the successful partnership of Simon Munir and Isaac Souede. Among the major National Hunt owners in Europe, Munir was notable in...

In 2018, a new milestone was reached by a broodmare sire in Europe. Pivotal (GB) became the first-ever to be represented by as many as eight individual European Group 1 winners in a single year. And on only four previous occasions has a broodmare sire managed to top the annual list with five or more Group 1 winners. Danehill was the best in 2011, 2012 and 2014, siring the dams of seven, six and five Group 1 winners. Meanwhile, Sadler's Wells sired the dams of five Group 1 winners when...

As his odds of 1-5 make perfectly clear, there was nothing improbable about Improbable (City Zip)'s victory in the GI Los Alamitos CashCall Futurity. Nor was there anything improbable about a colt of his pedigree establishing a record of three wins from three starts as a 2-year-old. His sire, the ultra-tough City Zip, won five of his 11 juvenile starts, including the GI Hopeful S., and this son of the fast Carson City has also been represented by the Breeders' Cup 2-year-old winners Bulletin (2018 Juvenile Turf Sprint) and Catch...

When Improbable (City Zip) trounced his opponents in Saturday's GI Los Alamitos Cash Call Futurity he received much deserved rave reviews. He endured a brief scare from stablemate Mucho Gusto (Mucho Macho Man) before switching into another gear and drawing off by five. He is undefeated, a two-time stakes winner and now a Grade I winner. This is a very good horse. And he may not be Bob Baffert's best 2-year-old. He might not be his fifth best 2-year-old. There's nothing new about Baffert having a lot of quality juveniles...

DEAUVILLE, France-Following a record-breaking opening day on Saturday, the tempo of the trade dropped down a few notches for the second session of Arqana's December Breeding Stock Sale on Sunday. Nonetheless, the clearance rate remained solid for lower-level trade as of late at 74%. The total accrued for 198 sold was €5,260,500. The average and median both dipped slightly: 5.8% at €26,568 and 6.5% at €21,500, respectively. The draft of the Wertheimer brothers-who cull exclusively at Arqana each year-is perennially sought after, with prices reaching up to €450,000 on Saturday...

Owner Chuck Zacney had quite the run in 2005 when Afleet Alex (Northern Afleet) won the GI Preakness S. and GI Belmont S. and was named champion 3-year-old male. He's had a good horse here and there over the next many years, but nothing like the duo he's ready to launch in the major races for 3-year-old fillies and colts next year. He's the co-owner of both GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Jaywalk (Cross Traffic) and undefeated GII Remsen S. winner Maximus Mischief (Into Mischief) and, yes, he's dreaming...

HONG KONG -- When last they met, the Archipenko full-siblings Glorious Forever (GB) and Time Warp (GB) dueled each other into submission, finishing well down the field in the G2 Jockey Club Cup over the Sha Tin 2000 metres Nov. 18. Prior to Thursday's barrier draw for the G1 Longines Hong Kong Cup, trainer Frankie Lor more or less guaranteed that there would be no such worries this time around, as he suggested that Glorious Forever would be ridden from off the pace, which was almost definitively going to be...

As a half-sister to Triple Crown winner American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile), Chasing Yesterday (Tapit) has been in the limelight since she first stepped hoof in the Bob Baffert barn. Displaying her talent from the start with a 'TDN Rising Star'-worthy debut win and a pair of listed stakes tallies, the Summer Wind Equine homebred moved out of her esteemed sibling's shadow and proved to be a top class racehorse in her own right Saturday when passing her two-turn test with a gritty victory in the GI Starlet S. at...

'TDN Rising Star' Improbable (City Zip) took his record to a perfect three-for-three with an impressive victory over stablemate and fellow 'Rising Star' Mucho Gusto (Mucho Macho Man) in the GI Los Alamitos CashCall Futurity. It the 11th victory in this event for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, who has captured the last five straight renewals of this race since it was moved from Hollywood Park to Los Alamitos. Hammered down to 1-5 favoritism in this two-turn bow, Improbable exited his rail draw in good order and was patiently handled...

When Prince of Arran (GB) (Shirocco {Ger}) takes his place in the starting gate where the chute links up with the track proper for Sunday's G1 Longines Hong Kong Vase (2400m), he will be making his 30th career appearance and will be having his 11th run of the season over a seventh different racetrack (six turf, one all-weather). In Hong Kong, he is visiting his fifth racing jurisdiction on four different continents. But the 5-year-old is displaying few signs of wear and tear despite what's been asked of him in...

Lily's Candle (Fr) (Style Vendome {Fr}) has been a frequent visitor to Arqana sales rings, with her value improving substantially each time. On Saturday, the 2-year-old filly's pricetag grew to €1.1-million during the opening session of the Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale in Deauville. Emmanuel De Seroux signed the ticket on behalf of Katsumi Yoshida. For the sale's premier day, the session saw 151 sold from 194 offered (clearance rate 78%) for a total of €22,743,000. The average of €150,616 was up 22% on last year, while the median dipped...