Today's Edition

Having won six times from her 11 starts during a busy 2017 campaign, Divine Miss Grey (Divine Park) goes in search of her 12th career victory in her 10th appearance of 2018 as the 122-pound highweight in Thursday's GII Falls City H. at Churchill Downs. Prohibitively favored at 3-5 while giving her eight rivals between three and eight pounds, the chestnut was far too classy for her rivals in an off-turf and sloppy renewal of the Dr. James Penny Memorial S. at Parx Sept. 8, then ran with credit when...

If there is somebody up there who has granted Ted Bassett long life, then it's not hard to see why. Because who would want the competition? As a friend remarked, after hearing the 96-year-old's husky, beautifully measured voiceover for a recent Keeneland promotional video: "What a voice! It's like listening to God." Entering his office and seeing James E. Bassett III rise behind his desk, your instincts are more temporal: you want to click your heels and snap into a salute. For as upright as he remains, in his imposing...

Since its inception in 1935, Rathbarry Stud has been synonymous with breeding high-class horses, whose talent stand the test of time, as do their top-class stallions. The family-run operation was established by Paul Cashman, grandfather of current Rathbarry residents Paul Cashman and Niamh Woods, after purchasing 159 acres of prime land in the Blackwater Valley, just outside the town of Fermoy in County Cork. Paul stood the farm's first stallion, Royal Pom, but it was his son, Liam, who introduced the farm's first Flat stallion in Kampala (GB) (Kalamoun {GB})....

Cloud Computing (Maclean's Music--Quick Temper, by A.P. Indy), who gave Klaravich Stable and William Lawrence and trainer Chad Brown their first taste of Classic success in the 2017 GI Preakness S., has been retired and will enter stud in 2019 at B. Wayne Hughes's Spendthrift Farm. Bred in Kentucky by Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings and Stretch Run V, Cloud Computing was purchased by bloodstock agent Mike Ryan for $200,000 at the 2015 Keeneland September sale, the top price for a first-crop yearling by Maclean's Music. A maiden his six-furlong...

His father always told him how his were "the first footsteps in the snow." Long days, hard work, crepe paper and cork factories: a classic immigrant tale of New York. But there was an intellectual legacy, too. The man spoke 13 languages. Thirteen! Now Peter Brant is in turn reiterating to the next generation-and he has no fewer than nine children-that wealth alone is no guarantee of fulfilment, that it must be sustained by engagement with the challenges and beauty of a world widened by privilege. "I had a father...

The first session of the three-day Arqana Autumn Sale got underway at Deauville on Monday, and at the end of trade, 163 horses-in-training across both codes had found new homes for a sparkling clearance rate of 89.1%, up 3.4% on last year's opening day. The gross dropped to €3,833,800, but it was a slimmed down first-day catalogue of 236 versus 283 in 2017. The average held steady at €23,520 (-.3%), and the median climbed 17.6% to €10,000. Topping the proceedings was Valajani (Ger) (Jukebox Jury {Ire}) (lot 160) at €265,000...

With its history now extending to 35 years, we've seen the Breeders' Cup Classic arguably develop into the supreme test for the American dirt horse, especially when it attracts the crème de la crème of more than one age group. As such, it should also be the perfect testing ground for the next generation of stallions. So has this theory become reality? Of course, the high failure rate among the general population of stallions means that no race can claim to be a highly reliable pointer to stallion success, but...

Into its second year under a new format, the Goffs November Foal Sale got off to a lukewarm start on Monday. The opening few lots suggested we could be in for a vibrant day of business but trade soon became patchy throughout the session with the clearance rate being the principal casualty. 145 or 59% of foals offered changing hands paints a picture of a highly selective buying bench and that scenario naturally contributed to a reduced aggregate of €2,685,000, down significantly on last year's figure of just over €4...

The names change, but the scam remains the same. That was the watchword out of Southern California last week in the wake of news that an updated version of an old swindle is making the rounds. Trainers are being targeted by someone claiming to represent a famously wealthy foreign businessman who wants to invest in high-level horses that the conditioner will be hired to train. In reality, the con artist (or team of con artists) is banking that the "Wow!" factor of being contacted out of the blue by a...

As the crow flies the Fitzsimons family's Oak Lodge Stud in Naas must be one of the closest stud farms to Goffs, but the 10- strong draft of foals consigned under the banner of Oak Lodge & Springfield House Stud this week have just a slightly longer journey to make to get to the sales. Linda Coffey, a daughter of Oak Lodge's Pat and Claire Fitzsimons, is the spokesperson for the Springfield House side of the partnership and she explained to the TDN how the structure came about. "Myself and...

Over the past several years, Mill Ridge has been known as primarily a high-end nursery, raising foals for a long-standing and devoted clientele. But in 2019, they will return to the business of standing stallions, having brought home the four-time Grade I stakes winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Oscar Performance (Kitten's Joy), who was raised at the farm. Mill Ridge has announced a fee of $20,000 for their new stallion, and we caught up with Headley Bell during the Keeneland November sales to see how the big bay was settling...

He briefly seemed to be in deep water, but 'TDN Rising Star' Mucho Gusto (Mucho Macho Man) found another gear when he needed it to take Del Mar's GIII Bob Hope S. by 1 1/2 lengths Saturday. Favored at 4-5 for the powerful Bob Baffert barn off a four-length score at Los Alamitos Sept. 20, the $625,000 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic acquisition (:21 1/5was bumped at the start, but soon recovered to grab the lead through an opening quarter in :22.36. They were stacked three across the track at the top of...