2-year-olds

Following a board meeting on Monday, Oct. 12, a stimulus package with the goal of boosting the number of juveniles in training was approved by France Galop. This stimulus package is aimed primarily at reversing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on French racing and to support owners and breeders who wish to invest in France in the future. The main decisions decided upon by the France Galop board are as follows: Increase the owners' premiums for French-bred 2-year-olds from 60% to 70% in 2021, and for French-bred 3-year-olds in...

Delayed a week after switching dates with the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Yearling Sale, the Ocala Breeders Sales Company's October Sale begins its two-day run Tuesday. The sale kicks off at noon Tuesday with a mix of 59 2-year-olds and horses of racing age, followed by 169 selected yearlings. Wednesday's session begins at 10:30 a.m. with an open session of 420 yearlings. Supplements will immediately follow the regular catalogue each day. The 2-year-olds and horses of racing age are a new addition to the OBS October Sale, which previously only offered yearlings....

Phoenix Thoroughbreds has expanded its roster of U.S.-based trainers over the last few weeks to include Ken McPeek and Brendan Walsh. McPeek has already saddled a winner for the Dubai-based operation, sending out Crazy Beautiful (Liam's Map) to an impressive and popular debut victory in a one-mile turf maiden at Ellis Park July 5. The gray filly was acquired for $250,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton October Sale. The conditioner will also call the shots on a Speightster colt that just came into the barn last week and he also trained...

The Maryland Jockey Club, The Stronach Group and the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association have reached an agreement for a Lasix-free pilot program through 2023 that will facilitate Lasix-free races for 2-year-old horses, Lasix-free graded stakes, a minimum number of racing days per week during any Maryland Jockey Club meet and a substantial increase in committed funding for the Beyond The Wire aftercare program. The program, which was the result of weeks of good-faith discussions among all parties, was reviewed and approved subject to the adoption of emergency regulations, which will...

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. After kicking off his career with a promising runner-up effort at Santa Anita last month, the highly regarded 2-year-old Ambivalent (Constitution) will look to go one better at the upcoming Del Mar meeting. "Being a son of Constitution, which is just a huge feather in your cap, he's a horse that we've been excited about from day one," two-time GI Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Doug O'Neill said. Purchased for...

The under tack show for the rescheduled OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training begins Sunday and runs through Saturday, June 6. Hip No.'s 1-176 plus supplements 1233-1244 will breeze on Sunday. Hip No.'s 177-352 and supplements 1245-1256 go to the track Monday; Hip No's 353-528 plus supplements 1257-1267 breeze Tuesday; Hip No's 529-704 and supplements 1268-1278 work Wednesday, Hip No.'s 705-880 plus supplements 1279-1289 breeze Thursday, Hip No's 881-1056 and supplements 1290-1300 work on Friday and Hip No's 1057-1231 plus supplements 1301-1315 will go to the track Saturday. Each...

1st-Churchill Downs, $75,449, Msw, 5-22, 2yo, 4 1/2f, :51.76, ft. COWAN (c, 2, Kantharos--Tempers Flair {SP}, by Smart Strike), a $185,000 KEESEP yearling buy, RNA'd for $385,000 after breezing an eighth in :10 at OBSMAR earlier this spring. The chestnut fired a four-furlong bullet in :46 2/5 (1/90) at Keeneland May 2 and wasn't much of a secret at 3-5 here. Drawn on the fence, Cowan was hustled to the front beneath Ricardo Santana, Jr., but was hounded to his outside by the slow-starting Sheriff Bianco (Speightster), who made a...

The Equine Sales Company has moved their 2020 Consignor Select Yearling Sale, which will include 2-year-olds in training, from Sept. 3 to Aug. 20. This decision was made after Fasig-Tipton moved their Selected Yearling Sale and New York-Bred Sale, typically held in Saratoga in August, back to September 9 and 10. The new deadline for entries is June 5.

A colt by The Factor (hip 129) and a son of Dialed In (hip 141) breezed the quickest eighth and quarter, respectively, during Thursday's first of three breeze shows for next Tuesday and Wednesday's Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. Consigned by GOP Racing Stable Corp., hip 129 covered a furlong in :9 4/5 despite starting his breeze well out into the track and finishing it close to the fence. A $22,000 KEENOV weanling RNA and $17,000 OBSOCT yearling, the Maryland-bred is out of SW and GSP...

With the OBS March Sale slated to kick off the 2-year-old auction season Mar. 17 & 18, TDN's Senior Editor Steve Sherack caught up with prominent bloodstock agent Mike Ryan for a Q&A session. Structor (Palace Malice)--an $850,000 OBS March (:21 1/5) purchase by Ryan from the Pick View LLC, Agent II, consignment at this sale last year--capped a perfect three-for-three season for owners Jeff Drown and Don Rachel and trainer Chad Brown with a dramatic win in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita. Fellow OBS March...

Keeneland and Churchill Downs will ban the race-day use of Lasix in all 2-year-old races under the International Medication Protocol authority granted in 810 KAR 8:050 of the Kentucky Administrative Regulations beginning with Keeneland's 2020 Spring Meet and following at Churchill Downs Racetrack's 2020 Spring Meet, according to a joint press release Thursday. Kentucky's Thoroughbred race tracks supported sweeping medication reforms, including the Lasix ban, adopted by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) in late 2019. The tracks also jointly announced major changes in racing and training policies to strengthen...

A total of 77 lots have been catalogued for the Osarus Breeze Up Sale at La Teste Racecourse. Held at 12:30p.m. on Apr. 9, the sale features 68 2-year-olds eligible for the French owners' premiums. Breezes will take place on Apr. 8 beginning at 2:30 p.m. local time and can be viewed live at www.france-sire.com, with individual breezes available afterward at www.osarus.com. Some lots of note include: Haras de Saint-Arnoult's colt (lot 17) by Wootton Bassett (GB) out of a half-sister to GSW Darbuzan (Fr) (Zamindar); a Galiway (GB) colt...