Charlatan

Multiple Grade I-winning 'TDN Rising Star' Charlatan (Speightstown) has been retired from racing and will take up stud duty at Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa, Hill 'n' Dale announced Thursday. Bred by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC, the imposing chestnut, out of GI Breeders' Cup Distaff-placed Authenticity (Quiet American), sold as the second-highest priced colt for his sire at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale at $700,000. Purchased by SF Bloodstock/Starlight West, the colt raced for owners SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Frederick Hertrich, III,...

The week between the GI Kentucky Derby and the GI Preakness S. is typically a quiet one, and this year the racing industry was basking in the glow of an exciting and safe Derby headlined by a feel-good story: Medina Spirit (Protonico), a hard-battling underdog any average joe could have purchased at public auction as a $1,000 yearling, had unexpectedly won the Run for the Roses under the care of seven-time Derby-winning trainer Bob Baffert, and was heading to Baltimore as a likeable overachiever trying to win the second jewel...

Bob Baffert told the media Sunday morning at Churchill Downs that his stable has been informed by the Kentucky Racing Commission that GI Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit (Protonico) tested positive for the medication betamethasone in post-race tests conducted after the Derby. In a 13-minute press conference (video) at his barn on the Churchill Downs backstretch Baffert, denied any wrongdoing. "All I can tell you is that betamethasone is an allowed therapeutic medication, but we did not give it to this horse," Baffert said. "In fact, Medina Spirit has never...

The disqualifications of Charlatan (Speightstown) and Gamine (Into Mischief) from May 2, 2020 wins at Oaklawn Park have been overturned, and Bob Baffert's 15-day suspension has been waived after a two-day hearing in front of the Arkansas Racing Commission. Charlatan was the winner of the GI Arkansas Derby, while Gamine won an allowance race the same day. Oaklawn announced lidocaine positives for the pair, disqualified them from the victories, and redistributed purse money last year. Tuesday, at the conclusion of the hearing, Baffert's attorney, W. Craig Robertson, said, "The ruling...

After impressive displays during the Dubai World Cup card, Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) and TDN Rising Star Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper) share the top spot with a 122 ranking in the second edition of the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings for 2021. The rankings are compiled by the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings Committee and published by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA). Mishriff, who led the rankings following his victory in the Saudi Cup, switched back to turf and won the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic next time out....

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 5th-Gulfstream, $55K, Msw, 3yo, 1m, post time: 1:24 p.m. ET Given his name, it might be more fitting if Peter Brant's BENNYFROMTHEBRONX (Tapit) were making his first trip to the races at the Jersey Shore, but instead, the half-brother to GISW 'TDN Rising Star' and recent Saudi Cup runner-up Charlatan (Speightstown) gets his career started at Gulfstream Park Saturday afternoon. The bay, a $300,000 Keeneland September acquisition, is the latest to the races from his dam, two-time graded winner and three-time Grade I-placed Authenticity (Quiet...

Three days after racking up yet another monumental win in a career chock full of them, legendary trainer John Gosden joined the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland Tuesday morning. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Gosden explained how he got Saudi Cup hero Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) to be as brilliant on dirt as he is on turf, what made his five-time champion Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) such a phenomenon, how his roots of training in California in the 1980s informed...

He did not win Saturday over in Saudi Arabia, but Charlatan (Speightstown) proved that he is undoubtedly the best dirt horse in America. That's how well he ran in his one-length defeat to Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) in the $20-million race. It was by no means a surprise that Charlatan and Knicks Go (Paynter) got caught up in a speed duel. Both are talented horses with abundant early speed and jockeys Joel Rosario (Knicks Go) and Mike Smith (Charlatan) rode aggressively, perhaps because neither rider wanted to see their...

According to a report on the website HorseRacingPlanet.com, winning jockey David Egan was fined $100,000 and suspended two days for excessive use of the whip when riding Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) to victory in the $20-million Saudi Cup Saturday. The Saudi stewards determined that Egan hit his mount 11 times, one more than the maximum allowed. Egan hit Mishriff several times in the stretch, starting out with his left hand before switching over to his right. In addition, the website reported that Mike Smith was handed a two-day suspension...

The $20-million Saudi Cup had been billed as a showdown between the brilliant American Grade I winners Charlatan (Speightstown) and Knicks Go (Paynter), but when the dust settled on the world's richest horse race it was the John Gosden-trained, Prince Faisal homebred Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) who stole the show to a raucous reception in his owner/breeders homeland. Breaking smartly from gate 12 under 21-year-old jockey David Egan, the G1 Prix du Jockey Club winner Mishriff-who also ventured to Riyadh to finish second in the Saudi Derby on this...

Knicks Go (Paynter) and Charlatan (Speightstown), a pair of major forces headlining the American racing scene in 2020, take on 12 others in Saturday's $20-million Saudi World Cup at King Abdulaziz Racecourse outside Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Both Grade I winners in their latest starts, the pair represent two of America's leading trainers, Brad Cox, who took home his first Eclipse Award last season, and Bob Baffert, a 2020 finalist who had previously annexed four training titles. Knicks Go, winner of the 2018 GI Breeders' Futurity S. while under the care...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia—Pegasus World Cup and Breeders' Cup Mile winner Knicks Go (Paynter) will jump from gate five in Saturday's $20 million Saudi Cup, with key rival Charlatan (Speightstown) also drawn well in nine. Splitting the two in gate seven is Tacitus (Tapit), one of two horses in the 14-runner field to be starting in the world's richest race for the second time.  Commenting on the first international runner for the Brad Cox stable, the trainer's assistant and Knicks Go's track rider Dustin Dugas, said, "We like it, it's right...