American Pharoah

Two for three in one-turn tests on the main track, MyRacehorse and Spendthrift Farm's Forbidden Kingdom (American Pharoah) tries a distance of ground as the narrow 8-5 morning-line favorite for Saturday's GII San Felipe S. at Santa Anita. A $300,000 graduate of the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearling Showcase, the chestnut wired a field of Del Mar maidens on debut going 5 1/2 furlongs Aug. 21, but failed to transfer that form to the grass when third--albeit with some trouble--in the Oct. 1 Speakeasy S. at this venue. A pacesetting second...

A pair of highly touted sophomores returned to make their 4-year-old debuts with mixed results Sunday. First Captain (Curlin), sent off the 4-5 favorite in a seven-furlong allowance at Gulfstream Sunday, looked to have left himself too much to do before making a furious late rally to win by a head in his first start since finishing third in the Curlin S. last summer. The 'TDN Rising Star' and $1.5-million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling won last year's GIII Dwyer S. for West Point Thoroughbreds, Siena Farm, Bobby Flay and Woodford Racing...

Café Pharoah (American Pharoah) returned to the winner's circle for the first time since landing the 2021 G1 February S. in the 2022 version, and became the second horse to win two editions after Copany Rickey (Jpn) (Gold Allure {Jpn}) in 2014/15. A "Win And You're In" for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic in November, the 1600-metre race saw the Noryuki Hori-trained runner draw off by 2 ½ lengths from T M South Dan (Jpn) (South Vigorous), with the popular white filly Sodashi (Jpn) (Kurofune) ran third, another half-length back....

With the 2022 breeding season right around the corner, we will feature a series of breeders' mating plans over the coming weeks. Today we have Robert Slack of Stoneriggs Farm near Paris, Kentucky. BAJAN GIRL (m, 5, Speightstown--Dazzling {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}), to be bred to Curlin We purchased this mare out of a 2-year-old sale in Ocala, and raced her. She was multiple graded stakes placed before we retired her to Stoneriggs. She is by Speightstown, one of my very favorite sires, and out of Dazzling, who herself was...

Foaling season is already underway at Springhouse Farm, where breeder Gabriel "Spider" Duignan says they are expecting to see around 50 new foals on the ground this year. On Saturday, Duignan enjoyed a brief respite from his work on the farm to celebrate a successful day on the racetrack. Forbidden Kingdom, a son of American Pharoah bred by Springhouse Farm, stamped himself as one to watch on the Triple Crown trail after he upset a trio of Bob Baffert runners in the GII San Vicente S. at Santa Anita. Trained...

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this Saturday running at Chukyo. Also of note in Japan over the weekend is a debuting Deep Impact (Jpn) colt out of GI Kentucky Oaks winner Princess of Sylmar, while the weekend's action at group level features the progressive Potager (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn})...

The Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale began Tuesday on Australia's east coast in Queensland, and through the first two days of the sale, four horses have breached the seven-figure threshold, including a colt by the pensioned Not A Single Doubt (Aus) that fetched A$1.7 million (about US$1.23 million) from Ciaron Maher Bloodstock. In Tuesday's TDN, we previewed a few of the Gold Coast offerings hailing from female families sourced in the U.S. and here we list a handful of others that were set to go under the hammer during the...

On the same day that the federal judge overseeing Ahmed Zayat's two intertwined bankruptcy cases ordered the 13th consecutive extension of time for the trustee poring over Zayat's racing stable finances to file a complaint objecting to the dischargeability of any debt, the company that services the mortgage on Zayat's $3.5-million New Jersey home on Friday filed a separate motion asking the court to remove the automatic stay on that property. Such a request, if granted at a Feb. 1 hearing, could pave the way for the financial institution to...

1st-GP, $60k, Msw, 3yo, f, 7 1/2fT, 12:30 p.m. ET As two of the most expensive auction purchases on the entire card, newly turned 3-year-old fillies SIEMPRE ELEGANTE (American Pharoah) and AMERICAN HEROINE (War Front) will be turning heads for more reasons than one. The former clicked through her paces at the 2021 OBS March sale (:21 1/5) well, impressing owner Sean Flanagan enough to put down a healthy $550,000 for her; one of a six-way tie for fourth most expensive of the sale. While the first dam is devoid...

Robert and Lawana Low's Sweet Melania (American Pharoah), without a victory in 18 months, broke through to record her first win of the 2021 season in Saturday's GIII Suwannee River S. at Gulfstream. She jumped well from her outside draw in post 10 to chase from second as favored Shifty She (Gone Astray) sped off on a clear advantage. Sweet Melania, off at 6-1, set her sights on the pacesetter beneath John Velazquez at the top of the stretch, hit the front shortly thereafter and had a half-length over that...

1st-Del Mar, $102,000, Alw (NW1$X)/Opt. Clm ($40,000), 11-5, 3yo/up, 6f, 1:08.44, ft, 2 1/4 lengths. TRIPLE TAP (c, 3, Tapit--Littleprincessemma {Broodmare Of The Year}, by Yankee Gentleman), an impressive TDN Rising Star-earning winner of his debut at Santa Anita in Mar. 13, marked his return to the races in style Friday afternoon, coming from well off the pace to win in the first race at Del Mar. Settled near the back of the field early as the pacesetters exchanged blows up front through :21.64 and :43.73, the 9-5 favorite swung...

1st-DMR, $100K, Opt. Cl. ($40k), 3yo/up, 6f, 2:55 p.m. ET Summer Wind Equine's TRIPLE TAP (Tapit) marks his return to the races for the first time since his impressive 4 1/4-length TDN Rising Star-earning win at Santa Anita Mar. 13. The chestnut is a half-brother to Triple Crown hero and Horse of the Year American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile). His prolific dam, Litteprincessemma (Yankee Gentleman), was purchased by Jane Lyon's Summer Wind for $2.1 million carrying a full sibling to Pharoah--the subsequently Group 3-placed St Patricks Day--at Fasig-Tipton November in...