Today's Edition

Breeders' Cup hero Mendelssohn (Scat Daddy-Leslie's Lady, by Tricky Creek), a half-brother to four-time Eclipse champion Beholder (Henny Hughes), has been retired and will stand at Coolmore's American arm, Ashford Stud, in Kentucky next year, Coolmore announced Sunday. The $3-million 2016 KEESEP sale topper, who raced for Michael Tabor, Mrs. John Magnier and Derrick Smith, will command a fee of $35,000. Runner-up in the G1 Darley Dewhurst S. at Newmarket as a juvenile for Aidan O'Brien, the bay returned Stateside from Ireland for the first time with a victory in...

Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence's Patternrecognition (Adios Charlie) has been improving with each start since the Saratoga meet and took his game to the next level with a wire-to-wire victory in the prestigious GI Cigar Mile at Aqueduct Saturday. Away quickest of all from the outside post in this eight-horse affair, the 5-1 shot clicked off early fractions of :22.88 and :45.68 with GI Travers S. runner-up Mendelssohn (Scat Daddy) and New York-bred MSW Pat On the Back (Congrats) hot on his heels. Traveling comfortably into the far turn under...

Maximus Mischief (Into Mischief) made a mockery of his first two starts at Parx, graduating by a seemingly effortless 8 3/4 lengths in his 5 1/2-panel unveiling Sept. 29 and romping by six lengths in a seven-furlong allowance Oct. 20. The argument could be made that the $340,000 EASMAY buy was competing against weak fields, but his performances were so good that he could not be ignored and earned him the 'TDN Rising Star' tag. Maximus Mischief silenced all doubters Saturday, proving he was indeed the real deal with a...

How his first foals sell is by no means an indicator of a stallion's future success, but it does give a guide to how the stock are finding favour with the hardy fellows who patrol the sales grounds assessing, selecting and eliminating hundreds of foals each year. The last fortnight has given buyers a chance to do just that, and here are some of the early verdicts from those who have been doing the hard yards in search of the perfect pinhook or future racehorse (or hopefully both)... Tina Rau,...

NEWMARKET, UK—Following a frenetic final few hours of trade on Friday, the Tattersalls December Foal Sale returned to more of a working man's level for the closing session, with low clearance rate remaining a concerning factor in the lower tier of the market. A brief foray back into six-figure territory came via two weanlings catalogued only a handful of lots apart and by a stallion whose sales profile is consistently high, Whitsbury Manor Stud's Showcasing (GB). The first was an attractively marked filly (lot 1161) who drew plenty of admirers...

NEWMARKET, UK—Only three foals have previously surpassed the million-guinea mark in the ring at Tattersalls and it took a Galileo (Ire) sister to a multiple Group 1 winner to push the bar that high on Friday. The price of 1.7 million gns bid by Tony Nerses for the sibling to Blue Diamond Stud's star performer Decorated Knight (GB) may seem eye-watering but buyer Imad Al Sagar will only have to find half that amount as he is also the filly's co-breeder, with Saleh Al Homaizi, whom be bought out to...

Six stakes races have been downgraded from Grade I to Grade II status for 2019, while another three will go in the opposite direction after the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association's American Graded Stakes Committee's review of races for next season. A total of 450 races will be graded in 2019 (five fewer than 2018), and 187 will carry listed status. Seven graded races were upgraded and nine new Grade III races and one Grade II race were named. A total of 23 races have been upgraded to Listed status....

The colours of Khalid Abdullah's Juddmonte Farm were carried to victory by Flintshire (GB) (Dansili {GB}) in the G1 Hong Kong Vase in 2014, and four years later Mirage Dancer (GB) (Frankel {GB}) will attempt to cap off a big year for that owner/breeder in the same race next Sunday. In addition to the exploits of the dual Arc winner and GI Breeders' Cup Turf winner Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), team Juddmonte visited the winner's circle at the Breeders' Cup with the GI Mile winner Expert Eye (GB) (Acclamation {GB}),...

OZONE PARK, N.Y.--With a Hall of Fame plaque, two Eclipse awards, 15 Breeders' Cup victories and four Triple Crown race wins to his credit, John Velazquez is one of the most accomplished riders in the sport. The 47-year-old rider is on the verge of his latest milestone as he is just one win away from 6,000 North American victories, a feat previously accomplished by just 15 riders. The TDN's Christie DeBernardis and Joe Bianca caught up with Velazquez as the New York racing community anxiously awaits win 6,000. The Puerto...

Aidan O'Brien deftly maneuvered his silver Land Rover inside a covered round pen at Ballydoyle where a group of yearling fillies was being ridden single file against the perimeter wall. He drove surprisingly close to them, circling inside of them, observing and exchanging words with the riders, motioning with his right hand as he steered the vehicle with his left. "Alright Christopher, good man, good man; okay Eddie, good man, good man; alright James, good man, good man," he said, on and on to each rider. The yearlings had arrived...

Newmarket, UK--Lest we forget, these animals are born to run. Because they certainly aren't all bred to do so. There is nowhere like a foal sale to remind you how many Thoroughbreds are sooner brought into the world to walk round in a circle for two minutes, and then good luck to them once the hammer falls. True, for a majority of shoppers at Tattersalls this week, the idea is that they will still prove capable of doing the same next autumn. In the case of the filly who made...

In a brief career that's been defined both by meteoric talent and an inability to stay in training, 'TDN Rising Star' Copper Town (Speightstown) will finally get a chance to show the entire racing world what he can do while going postward as the likely favorite in Saturday's GI Cigar Mile H. at Aqueduct, the last top-level event of the calendar year in New York. Debuting with a runner-up effort last February at Gulfstream, the bay stamped himself as a major talent with a 3 3/4-length graduation over future Grade...