Essential Quality

Strengthened by victories from She's a Julie (Elusive Quality), Lord North (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Essential Quality (Tapit), Godolphin has won its third consecutive John Deere Award, honoring the outstanding breeder of the 2020 Breeders' Cup World Championships and the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series. The John Deere Award, presented by Breeders' Cup Limited and NTRA Advantage, emphasizes the contributions of breeders to the Breeders' Cup program. The industry's breeders provide funding for the purses for the World Championships through the annual nominations of foals and stallions. NTRA Advantage and John...

Already considered one of the hottest barns in America heading into Breeders' Cup weekend, Brad Cox's stable provided an exclamation point to a monster 2020 season with a whopping four World Championship victories at Keeneland. Now leading all conditioners with 28 graded stakes wins this year and a legitimate threat to unseat four-time defending champion trainer Chad Brown at the Eclipse Awards, Cox joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Wednesday. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Cox explained his barn's breakout success...

Red hot trainer Brad Cox joins this week's TDN Writers' Room coming off four Breeders' Cup wins last weekend.

Godolphin homebred Essential Quality (Tapit) rallied from off a hot pace to go three-for-three in Friday's GI TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, giving Brad Cox back-to-back winners on Future Stars Friday. Stablemate Aunt Pearl (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) streaked to her own third win from as many tries one race earlier in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Overcoming trouble to take his Churchill sprint unveiling Sept. 5 and a clear-cut winner of the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity over track and trip Oct. 3,...

A trio of Brad Cox-trained juveniles headed towards the 'Future Stars Friday' Breeders' Cup program at Keeneland Nov. 6, got in their final major moves at soggy Churchill Downs Friday morning. The first of the threesome at 9 a.m. was Godolphin's 'TDN Rising Star' Essential Quality (Tapit), who figures the second choice in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile on the strength of his 3 1/4-length victory in the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland Oct. 3. The hombred son of Grade III-placed Delightful Quality (Elusive Quality) worked five furlongs outside...

MGISW War of Will (War Front) kicked off the Breeders' Cup action Friday morning at Churchill Downs. With jockey Declan Carroll in the irons, the bay went in fractions of :11.60, :23.40, :34.80 and :46.80. They galloped out six furlongs in 1:12.20, seven furlongs in 1:24.80 and a mile in 1:38.40, according to Churchill Downs clocker John Nichols. War of Will has made all three of his starts this season on turf, most recently finishing third in the GI Ricoh Woodbine Mile, but is being pointed for the GI Breeders'...

Fasig-Tipton has released the first group of supplemental entries to its 2020 November Sale, which are catalogued as hips 265- 279. Highlights include: Fancier (Hip 267): Dam of Get Her Number (Dialed In), recent winner of the GI American Pharoah S. at Santa Anita Sept. 26. Get Her Number will make his next anticipated start in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Consigned by Vinery Sales, agent. Synchrony (Hip 268): A stakes performer on both dirt and turf, the son of three-time leading sire Tapit is a six-time graded stakes winner...

None of us, after 2020, will ever again take even our simplest indulgences for granted. How much more culpable, then, was any complacency the industry may have permitted itself, over the years, in the patronage of the greatest investor in its history? His absence from the September Sale, a year after once again heading the buyers' table at $16 million, sharpened a sense of the incalculable collective debt owed to Sheikh Mohammed. His team did resurface, to much relief locally, for Book 1 of the October Sale at Tattersalls last...

Attempting to follow up on a victory by fellow Godolphin-bred Maxfield (Street Sense) in last year's GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity, Essential Quality (Tapit) thoroughly dominated his competition to score, thus earning a trip to next month's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Three paths wide into the first turn as Upstriker (Upstart) assumed the earning advantage, Essential Quality pressed that rival through an initial quarter in :23.97. Challenging for the lead despite pilot Luis Saez kept his feet set firmly in the dashboard, the homebred poked his head in front following a...

A field of nine, including several impressive debut winners, are set to line up in Saturday's GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity S. at Keeneland, a 'Win and You're In' for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Founder (Upstart) was green, but awfully good at first asking, graduating by a neck over his Chad Brown-trained stablemate and next out winner Highly Motivated (Into Mischief) in the Saratoga mud going six furlongs Aug. 29. He brought $600,000 from Jeff Drown and Don Rachel after breezing a quarter in :21 flat at OBS March. Godolphin...

Essential Quality (Tapit) overcame some mid-stretch traffic trouble and shot away from his rivals to easily capture Saturday's fourth race at Churchill Downs and earn 'TDN Rising Star' status in the process. Bet into 19-10 favoritism in what appeared to be a strong race on paper, the Godolphin homebred broke without incident and settled in about sixth position down the backstretch racing in about the four path. Sent along to split horses at the 2 1/2-furlong pole, he was full of run, but was forced to steady sharply while short...