Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners

Built Different: Hard Spun Colt Romps in Gun Runner Stakes

Built (Hard Spun), a maiden winner at second asking at Keeneland Oct. 6, stretched to two turns in style with a daylight victory in Saturday's Gun Runner Stakes at Fair Grounds, good for 10 points on the Road to the GI Kentucky Derby. Off at odds of 7-2, the rail-drawn Built showed the way through fractions of :24.64 and :49.23 and dropped the hammer in the stretch to win by 6 3/4 lengths. Magnitude (Not This Time) was second; Render Judgment (Blame) was third. Heavily favored 'TDN Rising Star' Admiral...

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Pletcher Targets Pegasus with Locked and Crupi

Graded-stakes winning stablemates Locked (Gun Runner) and Crupi (Curlin) have been confirmed to make their 2025 debuts in the Jan. 25 GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream, according to trainer Todd Pletcher Sunday. Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm's Locked raced four times as a 2-year-old, including a win the GI Breeders' Futurity and a third to champion stablemate Fierceness in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile but was knocked off the Triple Crown trail earlier this year with a knee injury. The TDN Rising Star made his return with...

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How I Got Hooked On Racing: Brian Spearman

How did we get hooked on this sport? We all have stories about how our love affair developed and blossomed. The TDN will be reaching out to numerous notable people in the industry to get their stories to find out how they got hooked and stayed hooked on the sport. Brian Spearman, Chairman, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners Growing up in Saratoga, it's pretty inevitable that you're going to fall in love with horse racing if you love horses and you love the whole atmosphere. As a young adult, I went to...

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Journalism's Late-Breaking News In Maiden The Story At Del Mar

6th-Del Mar, $56,500, Msw, 11-17, 2yo, 1m, 1:36.49, ft, 2 1/2 lengths. JOURNALISM (c, 2, Curlin--Mopotism {GSW & MGISP, $876,090}, by Uncle Mo), an $825,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga grad, wrote his own headline as he made the papers at the seaside oval on Sunday. The bay showed signs that he could rally in such a fashion when he was up for third on debut at Santa Anita Oct. 27. Allowed to go off as a 9-2 shot here, the 2-year-old burst out of the stall, but was content to settle in...

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Eclipse Thoroughbred Fillies Trending in the Sales Ring and in the Breeding Shed

For over a decade, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners has built a reputation for racing Grade I-winning fillies who go on to prove successful, both in the sales ring, and then in the breeding shed. The operation was part of the partnership which sold champion Nest (Curlin) for $6 million last year and it sold Feathered (Indian Charlie), who subsequently produced superstar Flightline (Tapit), for $2.35 million in 2016. Eclipse will once again be loaded with top-shelf fillies on offer at next week's breeding stock sales in Lexington. "From the get-go, we...

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Locked Romps in Much-Anticipated Big A Return, Could Target Cigar Mile

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm's 'TDN Rising Star' Locked (Gun Runner), an impressive winner of last fall's GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland and most recently third as the favorite in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita Nov. 3, returned to the races in style with a runaway victory in the opener at the Big A Saturday. Favored at 2-5 and racing with first-time Lasix, he was ridden by John Velazquez to keep pace in second, set his sights on Gun It (Tapit) approaching the quarter pole...

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Built Constructs Nice Road To Break Maiden At Keeneland

7th-Keeneland, $100,000, Msw, 10-6, 2yo, 7f, 1:23.96, ft, 1 1/2 lengths. BUILT (c, 2, Hard Spun--Sea Garden, by Curlin) finished fourth on debut, but then was elevated to third after another horse was disqualified at Ellis Park Aug. 24. The winner who collected a 'TDN Rising Star' badge for his effort and was just crowned as the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity champ was East Avenue (Medaglia d'Oro). As the 2-1 second choice here, Built raced in between runners out of the chute and then set up shop off sole leader...

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Locked Gearing Up at Saratoga, Keeneland's Perryville a Potential Comeback Target

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm's 'TDN Rising Star' Locked (Gun Runner--Luna Rosa, by Malibu Moon), one of the early-book favorites for this spring's GI Kentucky Derby following an impressive win in the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity and third-place finish as the favorite in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile last fall, could return to action in the GIII Perryville Stakes at Keeneland Oct. 19. Locked missed a pair of intended starts earlier this spring, including the GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park Mar. 2, and was subsequently...

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Warming Becomes Second Winner for Freshman Sire Global Campaign

2nd-Belmont The Big A, $90,000, Msw, 6-21, 2yo, f, 6fT, 1:09.78, fm, 2 1/4 lengths. WARMING (f, 2, Global Campaign--Haute Style, by Unusual Heat) became the second winner for her freshman sire (by Curlin) with a smart debut score sprinting over the Big A lawn Friday. Drawn widest of all in post nine, the 5-1 chance was under a ride early and outsprinted in sixth. She began to advance beneath Manny Franco on the far turn and kicked home nicely to score by 2 1/4 lengths over favored Good Long...

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All Thursday Spa Stakes Winners Exit Respective Races Well, Plans Pending

All four of the stakes winners on the Thursday card at Saratoga exited their respective races in good order according to their conditioners. The Grey Wizard (Ire) (Caravaggio) took home the GII Belmont Gold Cup S. with a timely surge at the wire, which earned the 5-year-old the Golden Ticket for the G1 Melbourne Cup at Flemington Nov. 5. Trainer Graham Motion said, "He looks really good, this morning. I'm very happy with him. He scoped clean and he looks really well." Motion said he will speak with [owner] Aron...

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Juvenile Into Diamonds Graduates At First Asking Over Keeneland Turf

2nd-Keeneland, $77,839, Msw, 4-25, 2yo, 5 1/2fT, 1:03.29, fm, neck. INTO DIAMONDS (c, 2, Into Mischief--Diamond Sparkles {GSP}, by War Front) was overlooked by the betting public at odds of 6-1 for his debut here. The bay settled mid-pack up the backstretch as the tone was set by fellow firster Cheval de Guerre (Caravaggio). Trying to get involved around the far turn, the colt fanned four wide at the top of the lane and uncorked a bid to catch the leader. With a final push just the before the wire,...

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Pletcher Sophomore Fillies Headed Down Separate Paths

Trainer Todd Pletcher reported that both of his fillies that contested Friday's GI Central Bank Ashland S. emerged from the efforts none the worse for wear, but are likely to part company for the time being. 'TDN Rising Star' Leslie's Rose (Into Mischief) atoned for her third in the GII Davona Dale S. with a good-looking three-length victory in the Ashland, earning herself a ticket to the May 3 GI Kentucky Oaks in the process. "We are trying to sort things out, and we will let the dust settle from...

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