Del Mar

Most recently promoted to the victory in the G3 Oak Tree Stakes at Goodwood on July 31, Shadwell homebred Raqiya (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) was beautifully rated from the front by Frankie Dettori and had plenty left for the dash to the wire, registering a 5-1 success in Saturday's GIII Goldikova Stakes at Del Mar. The well-backed East Coast raider Sacred Wish was first away from her low draw, but the typically aggressive Paco Lopez took a tug to get her off the speed, and Dettori took full advantage, sending...

All-sources handle for the 10-race program on the first day of the 41st Breeders' Cup World Championships Nov. 1 at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club was $63,679,944, the second-highest handle for a Breeders' Cup Friday and the fourth consecutive year the Friday handle has topped $60 million. The Future Stars Friday card featured five Breeders' Cup races for 2-year-old horses, the seventh straight year the Breeders' Cup has carded all its juvenile races on the same day since the event expanded to its two-day format in 2007. Friday's on-track attendance...

DEL MAR, USA -- "If we get the horses we can deliver," said Ger Lyons after proving his point emphatically in the opening Breeders' Cup race on Future Stars Friday. "We have to up our game every day to take on Aidan. It's just fantastically competitive at home." That second point was also proved, again and again, in the hours to follow as Lake Victoria (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) remained unbeaten in her taking of the Juvenile Fillies Turf and Henri Matisse (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) gave Aidan O'Brien a record-equalling...

DEL MAR, CA - Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert had three chances at a record-extending sixth winner of the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Del Mar Friday. And none of them were favored. Let go at odds of 15-1, Citizen Bull (Into Mischief) made every pole a winning one while leading home a one-two-four finish for Baffert's powerhouse stable. It was 1 1/2 lengths back to Gaming (Game Winner) in second. Irish raider Hill Road (Quality Road) rallied from last of 10 to tag 'TDN Rising Star' Getaway Car...

It was a frustrating few days in the lead-up to the Breeders' Cup meeting for Team Ballydoyle, with the likes of Ylang Ylang (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Diego Velazquez (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) forced to miss the event, not to mention Jan Brueghel (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) having to forego an appearance even farther afield in the G1 Melbourne Cup next Tuesday. Their biggest moment comes Saturday with City of Troy (Justify) in the $7-million Classic, but 'TDN Rising Star' Lake Victoria (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) was first to strike for the Irish-based...

Europe drew first blood Friday, albeit with an upset choice, as Magnum Force (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) came from off the pace to win the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint and kick off the Future Stars Friday action at Del Mar. The Irish-bred son of Tally Ho Stud's Mehmas came through at second asking going five furlongs at Cork in Ireland before having two near misses to rivals he lined up against again Friday (second in the Julia Graves Roses Stakes and third in the G2 Flying Childers Stakes behind...

Who do you like? TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack makes his picks for Breeders' Cup Saturday at Del Mar. Race 4: GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint--#10 Scylla (10-1) Scylla ran a very good second going two turns in Del Mar's GI Clement L. Hirsch, then returned to Bill Mott's Saratoga base and cut back to this distance with another solid second-place finish in the GI Ballerina just three weeks later. She's been freshened since, is drawn nicely on the outside and is more than capable of running...

Twin Creeks Racing Stable's Chasing Liberty (Constitution) was among the pre-entries to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, but was three deep on the list of horses that were not selected by the Breeders' Cup seeding panel. The homebred was instead re-routed for Friday's Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes, heretofore a race for dirt marathoners, but switched to something of a consolation event for the Juvenile Turf. Sent off at odds of 34-5 and trying two turns for the first time off a troubled fourth in the 5 1/2-furlong Indian Summer...

DEL MAR, CA - Maiden Special Weight, for 2-year-old fillies that sold or RNA'd for $45,000 or less in their most recent sale. British Idiom (Flashback), a $40,000 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling graduate, met that criteria and successfully kicked off her career with a stylish, 3 1/2-length debut victory as the 7-2 favorite for trainer Brad Cox at Saratoga in the summer of 2019. The Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb and The Elkstone Group colorbearer, of course, followed up with a win in the GI Darley Alcibiades Stakes at Keeneland and...

DEL MAR, CA -- It's showtime. Featuring 14 Grade I races worth more than $34 million in purses, the Breeders' Cup World Championships, with an emphasis on World, return to the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club for a third time, beginning with the 'Future Stars Friday' program. Ideal conditions with sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 60s are expected. A total of 179 horses were entered for the two-day Championships, including a record 67 international participants from nine different countries as well as three previous winners. A stacked renewal of...

by Steve Sherack & J.N. Campbell  DEL MAR, CA -- A stallion share (2.5% fractional interest) in undefeated 2022 Horse of the Year and GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Flightline (Tapit) brought $2.5 million from Jane Lyon's Summer Wind Farm to top the inaugural Keeneland Championship Sale held in Del Mar's paddock Wednesday evening. The final offering of the sale, the stallion share was consigned by Lane's End Farm as Hip 12. Flightline welcomed his first foals this year and will command a $150,000 stud fee at Lane's End in...

DEL MAR, CA - The 'Grizzly' is sitting on go. After a light training session on Tuesday, 'TDN Rising Star' Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) turned in her first local gallop in the pre-dawn hours at Del Mar on a brisk Wednesday morning. The GI Kentucky Oaks heroine and GI Breeders' Cup Distaff 4-5 morning-line favorite displayed her typical high energy and was an absolute handful beneath exercise rider Danny Ramsey throughout her powerful 1 1/2-mile gallop. "Good?," trainer Kenny McPeek asked Ramsey as Thorpedo Anna was heading off the track....