Emery

34-year-old trainer Matt Sims, who recorded his first stakes win Saturday with 28-1 longshot Brunacini (Dortmund) in the GIII Perryville Stakes at Keeneland, is already looking for a second with his upset runner before the winter season. "He looks good this morning, and he wasn't tired after the race," said Sims, who will split the winter between racing at Turfway Park and Oaklawn Park. "[We're] looking at the Cherokee Mile at Churchill Downs Dec. 1." Meanwhile, Perryville favorite Book'em Danno (Bucchero) had to settle for second Saturday after a tricky...

It was the Girl in Gold who came home best of all at Keeneland as Emery (More Than Ready) claimed the GII Lexus Raven Run Stakes for owner Stonestreet Stables. Last seen playing bridesmaid to GISW Ways and Means (Practical Joke) in the GI Test Stakes at Saratoga, where MGSW & GISP My Mane Squeeze (Audible) ran third, Emery had come into that contest riding a three-race win streak which began in June. After claiming victory in the Leslie's Lady Stakes at Churchill Downs and then picking up her first...

Unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Knightsbridge (Nyquist) will square off with GI Woody Stephens Stakes winner Book'em Danno (Bucchero) in a deep renewal of the GIII Perryville Stakes going seven furlongs at Keeneland Saturday. 'TDN Rising Star' Locked (Gun Runner), last seen finishing third as the favorite in the 2023 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita, is expected to scratch and instead make his sophomore debut in the lidlifter at the Big A Saturday. Godolphin homebred Knightsbridge posted a double-digit victory going seven furlongs on debut at Churchill Downs Nov....

It's a Grade I bonanza Saturday afternoon at Saratoga Race Course, as the track plays host to a trio of elite-level races--short and long, turf and dirt. The richest of the three events is the $1-million Whitney Stakes, offering the winner a fees-paid berth into the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar on the first Saturday of November. National Treasure (Quality Road) is the 9-5 favorite on David Aragona's morning line and can further tighten his grip on the handicap division with a victory. The $500,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling...

Stonestreet Stables' Emery inhaled pacesetting Mystic Lake in the final strides to earn her first graded victory in the GIII Victory Ride Stakes at Aqueduct Thursday. The 3-5 favorite sat off the pace as Mystic Lake was pressed by Halina's Forte through fractions of :21.72 and :44.38. Emery loomed a threat three wide approaching the lane, but Mystic Lake skipped clear and looked home free in upper stretch only to have the favorite find another gear late to get up to win by 3/4 lengths. "Short field, I was a...

6th-Keeneland, $110,000, Alw (NW1X)/Opt. Clm ($100,000), 4-19, 3yo, f, 6f, 1:11.06, ft, 5 1/4 lengths. EMERY (f, 3, More Than Ready--Athena {MSW, $459,222}, by Street Sense) broke her maiden by 5 3/4 lengths over a muddy course last summer at Saratoga, and then finished fourth in the slop to Eclipse winner Just F Y I (Justify) in the GI Frizette S. during the Belmont at the Big A meet in early October. Poised to kick off her 3-year-old campaign, the dark bay with Lasix was tabbed as the 1-2 choice...

2nd-GP, $89K, Msw, 3yo/up, f, 1mT, 1:40 p.m. ET. JUSTICE JULIA (Medaglia d'Oro) debuted a well-beaten fifth sprinting six panels at Saratoga last summer behind top two finishers Emery (More Than Ready), also a Stonestreet homebred, and eventual GIII Florida Oaks heroine Waskesiu (American Pharoah). On the work tab since late January at trainer Todd Pletcher's Palm Beach Downs base, the 3-year-old is out of broodmare of the year Dreaming of Julia (A.P. Indy), who also produced champion 3-year-old Malathaat (Curlin) and her full-sister GSW Julia Shining. Also entered, but...

Justice Julia (Medaglia d'Oro--Dreaming of Julia) would have been the sexier half of a commonly owned entry that was sent off as the 7-10 favorite in what became the first race of the final week of racing at Saratoga, but the half-sister to champion Malathaat (Curlin) was never truly involved, and entrymate Emery (f, 2, More Than Ready--Athena, by Street Sense) proved more than equal to the task, skipping clear in the final 150 yards to debut impressively. Away in midpack in a scratched-down field of five, Emery tracked from...