Brightwork

"Her dad should have shot me," says Tim Hamlin wryly. Needless to say, he had met Nancy at a horseshow. She had just started out on her veterinary studies. "And she quit school to come to a little town in northwest Iowa to help me," Hamlin recalls. "This was '84, we were kids, had no money. We lived in a single wide trailer house for seven years. Nancy would get up at 4 a.m. to make donuts, so we could buy horsefeed." Eventually they found a filly that emboldened a...

WSS Racing's undefeated Brightwork (Outwork) completed her major preparations for next Friday's GI Darley Alcibiades by working a half-mile in :48.60 over a fast track Friday morning. With Ricardo Santana Jr. aboard, Brightwork produced fractions of :24.60, :48.60 and galloped out 5 furlongs in 1:01.40. Last Friday here, Brightwork produced a best-of-20 half-mile in :47. "That was very perfect, and I am grateful that Ricardo made the drive over from Louisville both times to work her," trainer John Ortiz said. "Last week was a good drill for speed, and this...

The juvenile fillies division is crystalizing into one of the most intriguing subplots of the Breeders' Cup as we approach the six-week mark to the championships. The skyrocketing 'TDN Rising Star' Tamara (Bolt d'Oro), unveiled barely a month ago, has emerged from the West Coast as the obvious topper of her division. But the brilliant, 2-for-2  daughter of four-time champion Beholder is likely to have a fight on her hands as the upcoming stakes engagements extend around two turns, thanks to a talented trio of fillies who have ascended in...

It was always billed as a potential match race in Saratoga's closing weekend feature for the 2-year-old fillies. And so it came down to GIII Adirondack winner Brightwork (Outwork) and 'TDN Rising Star' Ways and Means (Practical Joke) in a stretch duel. In the end, experience won out and Brightwork kept her perfect record intact with a gusty effort to win Sunday's GI Spinaway S. A flashy maiden winner at Keeneland over G2 Queen Mary S. winner Crimson Advocate (Nyquist), Brightwork earned her next win in stakes company with a...

'TDN Rising Star' Ways and Means (Practical Joke), one of the more impressive maiden winners this summer at Saratoga, will square off with unbeaten GIII Adirondack S. heroine Brightwork (Outwork) in a deep renewal of Sunday's GI Spinaway S. at the Spa. Ways and Means, a homebred for Klaravich Stables, earned a field-best 90 Beyer Speed Figure for her geared-down 12 3/4-length debut victory going six furlongs Aug. 6. She'll take on an additional furlong in the Spinaway. "She's had two easy works since, and she looks fine," trainer Chad...

John Ortiz draws the analogy of playing cards to what it feels like going into a stakes race at Saratoga. Everyone keeps their hand close and you never can tell who might be bluffing. But the trainer of Brightwork (Outwork) may have let his poker face slip when he spoke with Irad Ortiz Jr. in the paddock ahead of the GIII Adirondack S. on Sunday. "I walked in there confident and with a smile," Ortiz shared. "Irad had worked her and I said, 'You know what you've got and I...

Brightwork made short work of her rivals Sunday to remain undefeated in Saratoga's GIII Adirondack S. Sent off at 5-1 while stepping up to graded company for the first time, the filly broke running and thrust herself into the mix as 5-2 lukewarm favorite Here U Come Again and Streaming Now led through an opening quarter in a snappy :22.1. Swung out several paths turning for home, Brightwork swept to the front midstretch under strong encouragement by Irad Ortiz Jr. and drew clear to triumph by five emphatic lengths over...