Claiborne Farm

6th-Santa Anita, $62,000, Msw, 2-26, 3yo, f, 6f, 1:11.19, ft, 1 1/2 lengths. SOOTHSAY (f, 3, Distorted Humor--Spellbound {GSW, $231,750}, by Bernardini) prepped for this with a :59.40 best-of-32 breeze from the gate Feb. 19, and while she didn't show much speed from the blocks here, she had plenty of zip when it mattered. The 3-1 shot seemed to be climbing a bit in the early stages as she had just one beaten while racing out in the clear. She began to take closer order while still with plenty of work...

As the calendar inches inexorably towards March and a spring-long series of 2-year-olds in training sales, consignors are putting the finishing touches on juveniles heading to auction, paying particular attention to youngsters representing their stallions first crop to hit the track. The TDN is reaching out to consignors with 2-year-olds heading to the sales rings at OBS and Gulfstream Park next month to find out which freshman sires have impressed them. EDDIE WOODS Prolific consignor Eddie Woods has 24 juveniles catalogued for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March 2-Year-Olds in...

As we approach the end of the calendar, we turn our attention to the incoming sire class of 2021. We asked several judges who their favorite incoming sire is for next year and if there are any other stallions, new or otherwise, that have caught their eye as under-the-radar picks ADRIAN REGAN, Hunter Valley Farm  War of Will (War Front), $25,000, Claiborne Farm I hate singling just one, but War of Will made a lot of sense for me. I was very impressed with his physical appearance when we went...

As we approach the end of the calendar, we turn our attention to the incoming sire class of 2021. We asked several judges who their favorite incoming sire is for next year and if there are any other stallions, new or otherwise, that have caught their eye as under-the-radar picks. AIDAN O'MEARA, Stonehaven Steadings  Authentic (Into Mischief), $75,000, Spendthrift Farm  The horse we're most excited about this year is a bit of an obvious one, but it has to be Authentic. His sire has developed into the preeminent sire of...

War Front is undoubtedly heralded as one of America's top turf sires, but Claiborne's Bernie Sams said he finds any stereotype that the stallion is solely a grass producer is unjustifiable. "I think War Front has been labeled to some extent as a turf sire, but unfairly so because he got his start with dirt stakes winners," he said. "Then a lot of people started breeding to him and taking a lot of them to Europe. He probably is equally as good on dirt as he is on turf, if...

Champion sprinter Runhappy (Super Saver) will stand for $10,000 LFSN in 2021, Claiborne Farm announced Tuesday. Winner of the GI King's Bishop S. and GI Breeders' Cup Sprint S., the bay raced medication free. From 34 starters in his first crop, 19 have finished in the money, with five winners.

Classic winner and dual-surface multiple Grade I winner War of Will (War Front--Visions of Clarity {Ire}, by Sadler's Wells) has been officially retired and arrived at the Hancock family's Claiborne Farm near Paris, Ky., Monday morning to prepare for the 2021 breeding season. War of Will will stand for $25,000 live foal, stands and nurses. Trained by Mark Casse for Gary Barber, War of Will burst onto the Triple Crown trail last year with consecutive wins in the GIII LeComte S. and the GII Risen Star S. before capturing the...

3rd-Belmont, $67,900, Alw (C), Opt. Clm ($80,000), 10-17, 3yo/up, 1m, 1:33.93, my, 1 3/4 lengths. PERFORMER (c, 4, Speightstown--Protesting {GSP, $213,050}, by A.P. Indy) made light work of his first start since taking the GIII Discovery S. last November, galloping home as easy as you please in a one-mile Belmont allowance Saturday afternoon. Quickly into stride beneath Joel Rosario, the attractive chestnut colt raced a touch keenly from third while hugging the rail through solid opening splits. Rosario decided he could wait no longer rounding the turn and allowed the...

Congratulations to Wayne Clem, a finalist in the Leadership Award in Breeding category of the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards (TIEA), presented by Godolphin. The assistant yearling manager at Claiborne Farm, Clem has been employed by the storied nursery since 1967. "Wayne is one of the most selfless and best people I've ever worked with," said yearling manager Robby Hertzel. In addition to his duties during his 53 years at Claiborne, Clem has implemented an internship program mentoring and teaching students about all aspects of yearling care. "It is because of...

Claiborne Farm has released stud fees for the majority of its stallions who will stand at the Paris, Ky.-based farm during the upcoming 2021 breeding season, which included a significant reduction in price for its international super-sire War Front. Among Claiborne's 13 stallions, War Front leads the charge with a stud fee of $150,000. The internationally acclaimed son of Danzig and emerging sire of sires is North America's top sire by percentage of lifetime stakes winners, graded stakes winners, and Grade I winners. In 2020, War Front has added three...

by Brian DiDonato, Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis LEXINGTON, KY--A Tapit filly out of GISW Embellish the Lace (Super Saver) topped the opening session of Keeneland's September yearling sale on a $1.25-million bid by Claiborne Farm's Bernie Sams. The bay was consigned to the auction as hip 149 by Bluewater Sales LLC, Agent XVI, on behalf of breeder China Horse Club. While stringent COVID-19 protocols put in place to allow the world's largest yearling sale to be held at all may have dulled some of the electricity typically felt in...

LEXINGTON, KY - While the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc with sales across the globe from March through August, the calendar will return to some semblance of normalcy when the Keeneland September Yearling Sale kicks off right on schedule in Lexington Sunday at noon. "So many sales companies in the Northern Hemisphere have had to rearrange some things, but we have been very fortunate that the September sale is taking place in September at Keeneland," said Keeneland's Director of Sales Operations Geoffrey Russell. "We are resilient and I think we've had...