Cupid

God of Love closed stoutly to give freshman sire Cupid (Tapit) his first graded victory in the GIII Grey S. at Woodbine Sunday. The chestnut colt broke from the outside and was caught five wide into the first turn while racing towards the back of the field. He had one horse beaten down the backstretch behind an opening quarter in :24.42 and a half in :49.58, but he began inching closer approaching the far turn. Caught wide once again turning for home, God of Love stormed into contention at the...

6th-Woodbine, C$77,590, Msw, 7-18, 2yo, 5 1/2f (AWT), 1:04.59, ft, nose. FEELTHEBEAT (c, 2, Cupid--Shelby's Song, by Songandaprayer) was third, beaten just a head in a blanket finish, in his five-furlong debut at Churchill June 4. Favored at 8-5 while adding blinkers in this move to the synthetic, the dark bay colt jumped out to the early lead and was in control while zipping through fractions of :21.91 and :44.89. He extended his advantage in upper stretch, but tired noticeably before just holding off the late-rushing Heat Merchant (Kobe's Back)...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 2nd-CD, $100K, Msw, 2yp, 5f, post time: 5:29 p.m. ET ANNA AND MIA (Cupid) becomes the first starter for her Grade I-winning sire and is out of a stakes-winning full-sister to MSP Breathethefire (Valid Expectations). The deeper female family also includes the flashy MGSW/GISP Phantom On tour (Tour d'Or). A $50K purchase at Fasig-Tipton February in early 2020, the February foal fetched $45K at FTKOCT in the fall and was most recently hammered down for $160K at the OBS March Sale after breezing an eighth...

And so we come to the group standing on the brink. The group facing the moment of truth, when their most precocious stock enters the gate and offers some initial indication as to their competence for the task for which, ostensibly at least, they were bred. As such, this should perhaps be the moment we double down. That's what we would do, at any rate, if we had real faith in the choices we have made for our mares. If we have selected their mates well, then people will be...

TIMONIUM, MD - The Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Fall Yearlings Sale got underway with an abbreviated session Monday afternoon which opened with an offering of 154 catalogued New York-breds and featured the session's two six-figure transactions. Just minutes into the action, Vicki and Mike McGowan's Xtreme Racing Stables purchased the day's top-priced offering when going to $160,000 to acquire a colt from the first crop of Grade I winner Cupid (hip 4). The yearling was consigned by Eaton Sales. "We put him here because we thought he would be a bigger fish...

A colt from the first crop of Grade I winner Cupid (Hip 3391) topped Wednesday's trade when selling for $200,000 to bloodstock agent Larry Zap, who was acting on behalf of Michael Mellen. The topper and the day's third-highest purchase, a son of fellow first-season sire American Freedom (Hip 3196), were both sold by Shawhan Place, who was the session's leading consignor by average. "Both of them are big, strong colts, especially the Cupid," said Shawhan's Matt Koch. "He is a good walking colt. We foaled and raised him at...

Three of Ashford Stud's Grade I-winning stallions will be in the limelight in the coming weeks as they are represented by their first crop of yearlings in the sales ring. Three-time GIW Practical Joke (Into Mischief), the regally-bred Cupid (Tapit) and juvenile champion Classic Empire (Pioneerof the Nile) all ranked amongst the top of their class with the sale of their weanlings, and now look to continue the streak with their yearlings. We sat down with Coolmore's Adrian Wallace and discussed two of the young sires. [tdn_vimeo_embed title="Cupid and Classic...

We've taken a breather in this series during the January Sale, where I shared many conversations on themes raised in its first two parts--notably the market's addiction to unproven stallions. Time after time, it was the same story. A shrug of the shoulders, a helpless spreading of the hands: "Yes, we know it's nuts. But we have to make the game pay." Fair enough. It's a bit like the individual who asks why he or she should make a massively inconvenient personal sacrifice, with regard to the climate crisis, when...