Faiza

With the runnings of the GIII Las Virgenes S. at Santa Anita and the Martha Washington S. at Oaklawn, there's now a bit more clarity to the division, particularly in California where Las Virgenes winner Faiza (Girvin) look like she is the best of that group. The Martha Washington was won by the Brad Cox-trained Wet Paint (Blame), but she didn't beat a stellar group and will have to wait for another day to make this list. This will be a quiet weekend for the 3-year-old fillies. Gulfstream does offer...

A $725,000 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic grad, Faiza (Girvin) already had lofty expectations by the time she entered the starting gate for the first time Nov. 12. A popular choice at the betting windows, she put on a 3 1/2-length winning performance that day worthy of a 'TDN Rising Star' tag and immediately backed that form up with a narrow win next time out over familiar foe Pride of the Nile (Pioneerof the Nile) in the GI Starlet S. at Los Alamitos Dec. 10. In a field that included the top three...

It's early in the season, but not too early to get excited about the group eyeing the GI Kentucky Oaks. In Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief) you have a standout 2-year-old and a deserving Eclipse champion. Hoosier Philly (Into Mischief) has so impressed trainer Tom Amoss that he said the GI Kentucky Derby is under consideration. Justique (Justify) has been ultra-impressive at times. They're the Top 3, but numbers four through 10 make up a group filled with potential. At least two prominent members of the division will not make it...

Another Oaklawn meet is underway and with the Arkansas track offering the highest purse structure in the country during the winter months, expectations are that it will be another banner season in Hot Springs. To discuss the Oaklawn season, the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland called upon track president Louis Cella to explain why Oaklawn has become such a phenomenon. Cella was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week. "It's because we don't charge $12 for a beer," Cella said when asked how Oaklawn continues to draw...

'TDN Rising Star' Faiza (Girvin) narrowly outslugged Pride of the Nile (Pioneerof the Nile) and survived a stewards' inquiry to deliver as the 1-2 chalk in a roughly run renewal of the GI Starlet S. at Los Alamitos Saturday. The win marked the sixth straight Starlet victory and ninth overall for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. The flashy six-furlong debut winner at Del Mar Nov. 12 was making her two-turn debut in the Starlet. Placed in a perfect spot by Flavien Prat in an outside, stalking third through fractions of...

Born just a day apart in the same foaling barn, two daughters of Girvin once roamed the same Bluegrass fields in their early days at Airdrie Stud. On Saturday, the duo will meet again as 'TDN Rising Star' Faiza and stakes-placed Blessed Touch enter the starting gate for the GI Starlet S. at Los Alamitos Race Course. The Brereton C. Jones-bred fillies represent two of the 20 winners this year for fast-starting first-crop stallion Girvin, who has relocated from Ocala Stud to Airdrie for the 2023 breeding season. With four...

   Sent right to the front after a fast beginning by jockey Flavian Prat, FAIZA (Girvin--Sweet Pistol, by Smart Strike), a $725,000 2-year-old purchase out of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale, hooked up early with Teena Ella (War Front) and outlasted her rival to earn 'TDN Rising Star' status on debut. The pair kept the pace honest, covering the first quarter in :21.92 as Teena Ella, the daughter of four-time champion Beholder, stuck a head in front and the top two pulled several lengths clear of the rest of the field....

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency                4th-DMR, $70K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, 5:00 p.m. The third foal out of four-time champion Beholder (Henny Hughes), TEENA ELLA (War Front) debuts Saturday for the same connections as her dam, owner/breeder Spendthrift Farm and trainer Richard Mandella. Beholder, herself out of blue hen Leslie's Lady (Tricky Creek), is a half-sister to the likes of GISW & top-10 freshman sire Mendelssohn (Scat Daddy) as well as GISW & perennial leading sire Into Mischief (Harlan's Holiday). The first of...