Aspen Grove (Ire)

The sole Grade I winner in Saturday's GI Hollywood Derby lineup, Carson's Run (Cupid) will try to shift his East Coast form to California for Del Mar's nine-furlong turf test. A first-out winner at Saratoga at two, the chestnut took the one-mile GI Summer Stakes at Woodbine later in September. Demoted to fifth in his sophomore bow in the Woodhaven Stakes at Aqueduct in April, the Christophe Clement trainee rebounded to win his next two-a confident score in Monmouth's Tale of the Cat Stakes before closing to a 3/4-length score...

5th-Saratoga, $115,000, Alw (NW2$X)/Opt. Clm ($62,500), 8-8, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 3/8mT, 2:20.25, gd, neck. ASPEN GROVE (IRE) (f, 4, Justify--Data Dependent {GSP, $136,670}, by More Than Ready), a Group 3 winner for James Stack in Ireland at two, kicked off her U.S. tenure with a narrow score in the 10-furlong GI Fasig-Tipton Belmont Oaks just over a year ago. Fifth in the GI Saratoga Derby, she was sixth in her debut for Jack Sisterson in Woodbine's E.P. Taylor Stakes last October. Given a freshener, she returned to be an improved...

With the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, a bevy of graded stakes--marked by Saturday's GI Whitney S.--plus, the annual Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale which begins Monday, Upstate New York once again makes its case as the Thoroughbred fulcrum. To get the weekend started early, we have a pair of Friday graded turf stakes scheduled which will crown winners. First, the $400,000 GIII Saratoga Oaks Invitational S. for 3-year-old fillies serves as the middle sparkler in NYRA's Fasig-Tipton Turf Tiara series. Since Aspen Grove (Ire) (Justify) has elected to take on the...

Glen Hill Farm and Mrs. John Magnier's Aspen Grove (Ire) (Justify) became the second Grade I winner in the space of a month for her Triple Crown-winning stallion, as she slalomed her way through her rivals in the three-sixteenths of a mile to spring a 15-1 upset in Saturday's GI Fasig-Tipton Belmont Oaks Invitational S. Prerequisite (Upstart), all-the-way winner of the GIII Wonder Again S. last time, held for second after once again making the running, while the slow-starting Papilio (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) closed nicely for third. Equipped with a...

   Dermot Weld is hunting for his second consecutive edition of the G1 Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas, and he saddles Tahiyra (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}), who enters on the back of a strong second in the English equivalent. Also represented by Tarawa (Ire) (Shamardal), Weld faces a strong contingent from Ballydoyle, among others, with GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies heroine Meditate (Ire) (No Nay Never), who renews her rivalry with the former, the best of her rivals.   ASPEN GROVE (IRE), Justify--Data Dependent (More Than Ready) Owner: Craig Bernick Breeder: Glen...

Craig Bernick's twice-raced maiden Aspen Grove (Ire) (Justify--Data Dependent, by More Than Ready) went postward as an unconsidered 66-1 outsider for Saturday's G3 Newtownanner Stud Irish EBF S. at the Curragh and pounced late in the one-mile former Flame Of Tara S. to secure a first win of any kind. The January-foaled bay debuted with a fifth over six furlongs at the Co. Kildare venue in May, but slipped to 12th when upped to seven at the same track in June last time. The eventual winner settled off the pace...