Constitution

It is the typically interesting opinion of John Sikura that "a stallion's genetic switch is either on or off." The quality and quantity of his books may affect his profile, but his potency (or otherwise) will be operative the day he covers his first mare. Sure enough, six Grade I winners to date for Not This Time all belong to his first two books, conceived at just $15,000. Whatever he might yet achieve with his upgraded mares, paying $135,000 last year and now $150,000, he did not need their help...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - So far, a colt named Mindframe (Constitution) has been nothing short of mind blowing. Two starts. Two wins. By a combined margin of 21 1/4 lengths. His connections think so much of him that start No. 3 will be the GI Belmont S. Saturday at Saratoga. Trainer Todd Pletcher and co-owner Mike Repole are confident the lightly raced horse will make a credible showing in the 1 1/4-mile Belmont. Despite having little experience, Mindframe was made the 7-2 second choice by New York Racing Association linemaker...

In this continuing series, Alan Carasso takes a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running at Hakodate, Kyoto and Tokyo Racecourses: Saturday, June 8, 2024 3rd-HAK, ¥10,480,000 ($67k), Maiden, 3yo, 1000m ARGENTINITA (JPN) (f, 3, Constitution--Way to Versailles, by Tizway) fetched just $16,000 at the 2016 OBS June Sale, then punched well above her weight...

While Ashford young gun Justify was busy making waves over the pond this weekend, it was Gainesway's time-tested sire royalty who quietly added to his legacy on American shores. No matter how you slice it, one stallion in North America--and only one--leads all active lifetime sires by every major category, be it earnings, black-type winners, graded winners, Grade I winners, and even lifetime starters and winners. Unmatched among living active sires, Tapit hasn't had bigger crops than the other stallions on the list (he ranks third among the top 10...

Baltimore, MD--The naysayers said it couldn't be done. Seize the Grey (Arrogate) wasn't fast enough, was unlikely to go that far and simply put, was just being thrown into the deep end. D. Wayne Lukas, however, blocked out the noise. The Hall of Famer has been quoted countless times over the years that he has built a career running where he didn't belong. And the 88-year-old proved once again that he not only belongs, but gave yet another master class in winning a Classic in Saturday's GI Preakness S. at...

3rd-Churchill Downs, $98,185, Alw (NW1X), Opt. Clm ($100,000), 5-4, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:43.17, gd, 7 1/2 lengths. MINDFRAME (c, 3, Constitution--Walk of Stars {SW, $154,944}, by Street Sense), a dominating 13 3/4-length winner of his seven-furlong debut on the Florida Derby undercard at Gulfstream Park Mar. 30 en route to 'TDN Rising Star' honors, handled his first two-turn assignment with aplomb, cruising home the easiest of winners in Churchill allowance company Saturday morning. Drawn the outside in a field of eight, the $600,000 Keeneland September yearling bounced away so well...

The rankings below are independent from the "Road to the GI Kentucky Derby" leaderboard that Churchill Downs uses to determine starting berths. In addition, several horses listed here could be aiming for other Triple Crown races. 1) MUTH (c, Good Magic--Hoppa, by Uncle Mo) 'TDN Rising Star'. O-Zedan Racing Stables Inc; B-Don Alberto Corporation (KY); T-Bob Baffert. Sales history: $190,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP; $2,000,000 2yo '23 OBSMAR. Lifetime Record: MGISW, 6-4-2-0, $1,504,100. Last start: WON Mar. 30 GI Arkansas Derby. Right now there's a court showdown in Kentucky initiated by...

The GII Louisiana Derby runner-up GSW Honor Marie (Honor Code) and fourth-place finisher GSW Track Phantom (Quality Road) returned to the work tab Sunday morning at Churchill Downs as they continue to train towards Kentucky Derby 150. In the early hours, Track Phantom breezed five furlongs in 1:02.00, the ninth fastest of 19 on the morning while sporting new equipment--a small set of blinkers. With Joel Rosario in the irons, the pair went in company with another Asmussen trainee and Track Phantom galloped out six furlongs in 1:15.20. "I thought...

The temperature may be cooler in Lexington this week, but things heated up quickly on opening day at Keeneland with the first graded event of the spring at the Lexington oval coming down to a head bob. It took a photo to determine Red White and Blue Racing LLC's Neat (c, 3, Constitution--Orabella, by More Than Ready) had outpunched Mar. 2 Colonel Liam S. runner-up Cugino (Twirling Candy) by the slimmest of margins in the $400,000 GIII Transylvania S. for 3-year-olds going 1 1 1/16 miles on the lawn. Lagynos...

Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables' Mindframe (Constitution), sent off the even-money favorite in his debut, more than lived up to the hype, earning 'TDN Rising Star' status with a 13 3/4-length romping victory Saturday at Gulfstream Park. The dark bay colt was hustled from the gate and just off the leader in the early strides before settling back off the pace behind fractions of :21.92 and :44.44. When Irad Ortiz said go, he made eye-catching progress to grab the lead out of the turn and stormed home an unchallenged...

5th-GP, $89K, Msw, 3yo, 7f, 1:26 p.m. ET IDONEO (Uncle Mo), the first foal out of SW and GII Mother Goose S. runner-up Classic Fit (Bernardini), has been working smartly for this debut run for Bill Mott. The Godolphin homebred has posted six bullet workouts at Payson Park since January, including a three-furlong move in :36 3/5 (1/11) Mar. 25. The 'Boys in Blue' will also be represented by fellow debuting homebred Six Kings (Nyquist), who was produced by a half-sister to GISW Film Maker (Dynaformer). He is trained by...

We all know how hard it is to stand a turf horse in Kentucky today. For the minority of breeders sufficiently enlightened to offer such sires some commercial viability, moreover, the reel snapped a couple of years ago with the loss of Kitten's Joy and English Channel within months of each other. Happily, it has not taken long to cast a new leading man. Oscar Performance has delivered his lines confidently from the first take. In fact, he has even improved on the script--his leading earner, to this point, being...