Cezanne

8th-AQU, $85k, Msw, 2yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 3:15p.m. ET Jumping from the middle of the field and carrying an expensive $650,000 KEESEP tag in addition to Irad Ortiz Jr. is CHP Racing's SPENDALOT (More Than Ready). The full-sister to MGSW & GISP Consumer Spending comes into this race with a consistent work tab for conditioner Chad Brown. Beneath her second dam Shaconage (El Prado {Ire}) is the dam of several Chilean Group and stakes runners including GSW & G1SP Jacare (Chi) (Lookin At Lucky) as well as GSP La Jardinera...

Never off the board in his four prior career starts, Tyson (Tapit) avenged his sole defeat--a third behind Treason (Constitution) in the GII Eclipse S. June 4--with a win last time out over that rival in the GIII Dominion Day S. July 1. Heavily bet down to 2-5 going for his second straight graded-stakes win, the 4-year-old wasted no time going right for the lead and assumed command a path off the rail ahead of Carrothers (Mshawish). Always under a wrap by jockey Rafael Hernandez, Tyson was briefly headed as...

Counterforce (Smart Strike), currently Canada's leading second-crop sire and 2022 champion freshman sire, will relocate from Road's End Farm in British Columbia to Stride Away Thoroughbreds in the Okanagan region for the 2024 season. The stakes winner is a half-brother to GII winner Cezanne (Curlin) and out of a half-sister to the dam of Saturday's GI Belmont S. winner Arcangelo (Arrogate). "He's a lovely horse, with a magnificent pedigree," said Stride Away co-owner Cathy Reggelsen. "He came out firing as a freshman last year and that's certainly continued this season...

In this business, simply "doing the math" would stop us right in our tracks. Luckily, we have algebra on our side. A daunting equation can always be rescued by that helpfully vague variable, 'x', the unquantifiable ardor of wealthy people: their competitive instinct, their sportsmanship, or simply their outsized egos. At the top of the market, after all, the dollars they spend are not the same as the dollars used by the rest of us to buy coffee or gas. It's not like "real" money at all. But that doesn't...

In this business, simply "doing the math" would stop us right in our tracks. Luckily, we have algebra on our side. A daunting equation can always be rescued by that helpfully vague variable, 'x', the unquantifiable ardor of wealthy people: their competitive instinct, their sportsmanship, or simply their outsized egos. At the top of the market, after all, the dollars they spend are not the same as the dollars used by the rest of us to buy coffee or gas. It's not like "real" money at all. But that doesn't...

Cezanne (Curlin), a $3.65 million Fasig-Tipton Florida two-year-old who won the GII San Carlos S. and the GIII Oaklawn Mile S., was euthanized at Hagyard Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky after developing a fungal infection, according to trainer Todd Pletcher. "Cezanne developed a fungal infection in June and was sent to a clinic for treatment as soon as the infection was discovered," said Pletcher. "He recovered well initially, but sadly, the infection returned. He was admitted to Hagyard Medical, where he underwent another intensive course of treatment. Unfortunately, the infection...

A lightly raced, once-pricey juvenile trained by Bob Baffert won the GIII Palos Verdes S., but it wasn't chalk, the $3.65-million Fasig-Tipton 2-year-old Cezanne (Curlin). Instead it was the year-younger, $300,000 OBS April 2-year-old Essential Wager (Honor Code), who was making his stakes debut after riding a two-race win streak. Essential Wager left the gate smartly and came up on the inside to emerge from the early fray with the lead, marking the first quarter in :22.21 with Team Merchants (Nyquist) pressing from the outside. The two held position with...

While it remains too early to acclaim a masterpiece in the making, even these first, bold brushstrokes have plainly been mixed from an unusually vivid genetic palette. And if Cezanne (Curlin) can complete the canvas the way he has started, with a confident new flourish in the GIII Kona Gold S. last weekend, then he could become an exhibit for one of the principal galleries of the modern breed. Happily it has the most discerning of curators in John Sikura, who has been devotedly cultivating this family--Cezanne's third dam is...

Cezanne (Curlin), who topped the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale in 2019 at $3.65 million, stamped himself as one to watch for this year with a dominant victory in Santa Anita's GIII Kona Gold S. Sunday evening. A debut winner going this same 6 1/2 furlongs last June, the Coolmore partners and St. Elias Stable representative doubled up going a mile at Los Alamitos in July. He was most recently fourth in Del Mar's Aug. 1 Shared Belief S. behind million-dollar stablemate Thousand Words (Pioneerof the Nile) and $850,000 GISW Honor A....

Cezanne (Curlin), who topped the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale when bringing a final bid of $3.65 million from M.V. Magnier, is training steadily for his return to the races, most recently working five furlongs in 1:00.00 (4/21) Thursday at Santa Anita for trainer Bob Baffert. "He's doing well," Baffert reported following the work Thursday. "We just freshened him up." Racing for Susan Magnier, Derrick Smith, and Michael Tabor, as well as co-breeder St. Elias Stable, Cezanne opened his career with a 2 1/4-length victory going 6 1/2 furlongs last June...

One-turn mile graded races always attract intriguing fields, and Saturday's GII Pat Day Mile S. for sophomores at Churchill is no exception. Favored on the morning line is the Coolmore contingent's $3.65-million Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream buy Cezanne (Curlin). A debut winner sprinting at Santa Anita June 6, he added a first-level allowance tally going this distance (but around two turns) at Los Alamitos July 2. The Bob Baffert trainee didn't necessarily win like his 1-9 odds that day suggested he might, however, and then could only manage fourth--albeit while earning a...

He's like the clean-cut, wide-eyed rookie sent into the lines, trying to read the expressions of the relieved troops. What might the likes of Charlatan (Speightstown) and Nadal (Blame) tell this star cadet, as they hand over the trenches, to steel him for the challenges ahead? Cezanne (Curlin) probably thinks they could do with a shave, and shouldn't be smoking on duty. But then he will notice the medals on their chests, and start to ask himself whether he too will step up; whether he will live up to everything...