Coolmore America

If it stays like this, a single maiden winner might settle it. Because all that separates McKinzie ($2,294,679) from current leader Tiz the Law ($2,339,575) in the freshman table is $44,896. But wait, there's more. McKinzie isn't even second. Between the pair lurks Vekoma ($2,306,457), ensuring a desperate three-way contest for the prized laurels of champion first-season sire. It's even closer than this time last year, when four stallions were divided by barely $200,000. In the end, Mitole actually extended his lead down the stretch. But the fact that the...

Seemingly at home on both synthetic and turf courses, No Mo Candy (Uncle Mo) picked up her third win in a row and her first in stakes company in the GIII Pebbles Stakes at Aqueduct. Unveiled going 1m70 June 27 at Gulfstream Park, she missed by diminishing neck over that synthetic track and turned her luck around in that next start when she graduated July 26 by the same margin. Last seen putting up her best Beyer number to date, an 83 when she won against optional claiming company going...

Peter Brant, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg, and Brook T. Smith's Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), a $2.3-million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling sale topper turned 'TDN Rising Star' turned $7-million GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner, will return to the races for a 4-year-old campaign, according to a post on X by Coolmore America Thursday afternoon. Sierra Leone arrived at Coolmore's Ashford Stud near Versailles, Kentucky from Del Mar--site of the 2024 Breeders' Cup last weekend--on Monday and will be freshened for 2025. The full text of Coolmore's post appears...

The sire of 19 stakes winners on four different continents in 2024, Justify (Scat Daddy--Stage Magic, by Ghostzapper) will command a service fee of $250,000 in 2025, the Versailles, Kentucky-based nursery announced Monday. Alongside Into Mischief and Gun Runner, Justify will stand for the joint-highest covering fee in the United States. The rising 10-year-old stallion is the sire of a trio of Group 1 winners this season, including City of Troy, winner in succession of the G1 Betfred Derby at Epsom, the G1 Coral-Eclipse Stakes at Sandown and an all-the-way...

A race after running into a 'TDN Rising Star' at Keeneland, Quantum Burst (Munnings) will now be the running line for many horses after she overwhelmed this maiden field to take home her own TDN Stamp of Approval Saturday evening. Said fellow 'Rising Star' was Winstar Farm's Impulse Buy (Speightstown), who also earned the moniker at second asking at their mutual Keeneland start Oct. 5 at this distance. Once that one got to the lead, she never looked back, beating Quantum Burst by 11 lengths on the line. Swapping barns...

Champion and dual Hall of Famer Tepin (Bernstein--Life Happened, by Stravinsky), best known for winning the G1 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot, died at the age of 12. The news was confirmed by trainer Aidan O'Brien after the mare's daughter Grateful (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) won the G1 Qatar Prix de Royallieu at ParisLongchamp on Saturday. Bred by Machmer Hall in Kentucky, the bay was purchased by Robert Masterson for $140,000 out of the Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga Select Yearling Sale. She would go on to be trained by Mark...

Tiztastic (Tiz the Law) used his late speed to effect and took home the second black-type for his first-crop sire (by Constitution) in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile on Sunday. A well-beaten fifth on debut over the main track at Saratoga July 27, the dark bay won against restricted auction company going 6 1/2 furlongs north of the Tennessee line Aug. 29. Showing an affinity for the unique course and as a 9-2 shot here, the juvenile took up a position mid-pack up the backstretch. Beginning to make up some...

After being purchased by Tom Magnier for AU$3.4 million ($2,250,545) at this year's Inglis Chairman's Sale, the G1 VRC Oaks winner She's Extreme (Aus) (Extreme Choice {Aus}) will head to North America to be covered by Justify in her maiden season, according to Coolmore in an article on TTR AusNZ. As has been well-documented, the Triple Crown winner is not returning to the Southern Hemisphere this spring, but will cover a limited book to Southern Hemisphere time at Ashford Stud. "Justify has quickly emerged as a world-class stallion but despite...

Every now and then, a horse comes along who never seems to set a foot wrong. From record-setting freshman sire to perennial top 10 stallion, Uncle Mo is one of those horses. Additionally, it seems every time the Coolmore America/Ashford Stud sire reaches a new benchmark, he moves the bar just a little--or a lot--higher. The first-ever stakes winner for Repole Stables was a 'TDN Rising Star' on debut himself and has since been represented by 18 'Rising Stars' of his own, including three since May, and sired his 15th...

In a debut befitting his princely price tag, Parenting (c, 3, Justify--Iadorakid, by Lemon Drop Kid) kicked away from a well-met group of maidens at Santa Anita Park, and became the newest 'TDN Rising Star' to hail from the Bob Baffert barn. Hugging the rail after coming out a narrow leader via a scramble for the front, Parenting rolled into the lead off of :22.42 and :45.48 splits, and had put away most of his early competition by midstretch. Shaking loose under hand-urging, Parenting found enough in the tank to...

1st-Keeneland, $79,675, Msw, 4-26, 2yo, f, 5 1/2fT, 1:03.35, fm, 1 1/4 lengths. SATURDAY FLIRT (f, 2, Mendelssohn--Dragic {MSP, $104,350}, by Broken Vow) raced near the rear of the field on this unveiling, biding her time in cover as the frontrunners put up :21.89 and :45.18 early splits. Swung seven wide to the grandstand side as they rolled into the stretch, Saturday Flirt closed relentlessly but managed to overhaul 28-1 longshot Bois Blanc (First Samurai) in the late stages to win by 1 1/4 lengths. Out of a half-sister to...

by J. N. Campbell Looking strong as an oak in the GIII Ben Ali S. at Keeneland, Kingsbarns (Uncle Mo) cleared professionally down the lane to take home his second graded stakes trophy for Spendthrift's case on Saturday afternoon. The 2023 GII Louisiana Derby winner finished 14th behind Mage (Good Magic) in the GI Kentucky Derby before completing his 3-year-old year when he was beaten only a neck as the heavy favorite in the Pegasus S. at Monmouth June 17. After a nine-month hiatus, Kingsbarns returned to Gulfstream Park Mar....