Gary and Mary West

Priceless Sire Revives Aloha West's Deep Family

Hard to put a price on a stallion like this. Apart from anything else, he is the parting legacy of Danzig--conceived when the great patriarch was 26--and his maternal line brings a daughter of the wartime foal My Babu (Fr) as close up as third dam. True to that venerable seeding, his stock has emulated both the class and constitution that sustained his own speed--carrying commitment on the racetrack. Though his career was compressed into barely a year, he didn't just "dance every dance," but turned the pages for the...

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Gary & Mary West to Reduce Broodmare Band at Keeneland November

Prominent owner/breeders Gary and Mary West will begin an annual reduction of their broodmare band at Keeneland November starting with the 2021 sale. With Paramount Sales consigning, the Wests will offer 31 broodmares and broodmares prospects at this November's auction. Mares will be offered in foal to Hard Spun, Union Rags and The Factor, as well as to the Wests' champions Game Winner, Maximum Security and West Coast and Grade 3 winner and Grade 1-placed American Freedom. The Wests had acquired a significant number of mares in past years to...

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Concert Tour Confirmed for Preakness

Bob Baffert confirmed to the Maryland Jockey Club press department Tuesday that 'TDN Rising Star' Concert Tour (Street Sense) will contest next Saturday's GI Preakness S., taking on GI Kentucky Derby-winning stablemate Medina Spirit (Protonico). "We figure, this is the race," Baffert said. "The Derby is run. A lot of horses, they went through a lot to get here. He's sort of a fresh horse. In the Rebel, he looked so good." Gary and Mary West homebred Concert Tour began his career three-for-three, taking Santa Anita's GII San Vicente S....

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This Side Up: A Tour With Many Dates

Well, I guess in the week we lost Mrs. Chandler--that elegant bridge at the center of five generations (and counting) of Kentucky horse lore--nobody will need reminding to take the long view. Certainly not Shug McGaughey, who will perhaps be reminding the disappointed connections of Greatest Honour (Tapit) how things didn't turn out too badly for Coronado's Quest (Forty Niner) after he was likewise derailed from the Classic trail. Maybe Greatest Honour can now become Shug's fifth winner of the GI Travers S., a race with an even longer history...

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Taking Stock: West-Bred Life Is Good and Concert Tour Top Baffert Barn

Gary and Mary West bred last weekend's hugely impressive Gll San Felipe S. winner Life Is Good (Into Mischief) and Saturday's leading Gll Rebel S. contender Concert Tour (Street Sense), both 'TDN Rising Stars', both trained by Bob Baffert and probably the two leading Classics aspirants in his barn, with five wins, three graded triumphs and no losses between them. That's quite a feat for the Wests and their racing manager Ben Glass--clients of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants--because the Baffert barn is loaded with expensive and well-bred auction purchases for a...

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Life Is Good Justifies the Hype in San Felipe

Representing part of the group that campaigned 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify (Scat Daddy), and sharing a sire and some quirks with last year's Horse of the Year Authentic (Into Mischief), Life Is Good further asserted his position as the best of Bob Baffert's current crop of 3-year-olds Saturday, demolishing his competition in the GII San Felipe S. at Santa Anita. WinStar Farm and CHC Inc.'s 'TDN Rising Star' was a 9 1/2-length sprint winner on debut at Del Mar Nov. 22, and had been off since defeating stablemate Medina...

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First Mare In Foal To Champion Game Winner

Game Winner (Candy Ride {Arg}), the champion 2-year-old male of 2018, has had his first mare confirmed in foal, officials at Lane's End announced Thursday. The Machmer Hall-owned Desire Street (Congrats) was the first mare reported in foal to the son of Indyan Giving (A.P. Indy). The 9-year-old is a half-sister to SW & GSP Abraham (Distorted Humor); GISP Beat the Benchmark (Speightstown); and to Groton Circle, who produced SW Supreme Aura to the cover of Candy Ride in 2015. Desire Street's second dam includes MGSW & GISP Miss Isella...

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The TDN Kentucky Oaks Top 10 for Feb. 11
The TDN Kentucky Oaks Top 10 for Feb. 11

In the month since we last served up a TDN Kentucky Oaks Top 10, there have been a number of stakes for 3-year-old fillies, but not a lot of movement on our list. Sun Path (Munnings) drops off the list after a disappointing fourth-place finish in the Silverbulletday and we'll wait to include Girl Daddy (Uncle Mo) until she has her first official workout in 2021. Moonlight d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro) came out of last weekend looking like the top threat from the West after her win in the GIII Las...

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Street Sense 'Rising Star' Gets the 'Bob' as Baffert Completes San Vicente Exacta

'TDN Rising Star' Concert Tour (Street Sense) had to work a bit harder Saturday than his 2-5 odds for Santa Anita's GII San Vicente S. might have predicted, but it's never easy to hook a Bob Baffert runner--even when you're one yourself. A 3 1/2-length debut winner while earning a solid 88 Beyer Speed Figure going a furlong shorter Jan. 15, the Gary and Mary West homebred broke on top from the outside six hole, but was soon outsprinted by stablemate Freedom Fighter (Violence). The bay sat perched in third...

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Concert Tour Steps Up in San Vicente

Gary and Mary West's homebred Concert Tour (Street Sense), tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' following an effortless debut victory, steps right up to graded stakes company in the seven-furlong GII San Vicente S. at Santa Anita Saturday. The Bob Baffert trainee wired the field by 3 1/2 lengths while going six furlongs at Santa Anita Jan. 15 and looks like he'll relish added distance. Baffert, who has won the San Vicente a record 10 times, also sends out Freedom Fighter (Violence). The dark bay colt just held on after setting...

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Fulfilling the Candy Ride Legacy at Lane's End

Lane's End Farm brought their stallion roster up to 21 members this year as they welcomed several new additions for the 2021 season in Game Winner (Candy Ride {Arg}), Gift Box (Twirling Candy), Honor A. P. (Honor Code) and Daredevil (More Than Ready). We sat down with Bill Farish and spoke with him on Game Winner and Gift Box, both Grade I-winning millionaires who will join Twirling Candy and Unified in carrying on the Candy Ride (Arg) legacy at Lane's End. Now a perennial leading general sire, Candy Ride began...

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Feb. 4 Insights: Expensive Quality Road Colt Debuts at Fair Grounds

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency The most expensive yearling and second-priciest progeny overall of superstar sire Quality Road to sell in 2019, FIND NEW ROADS, will open his account in this New Orleans dirt sprint Thursday afternoon. Hammering to Tom Durant for $950,000 at Keeneland September, the bay is out of a daughter of GSW Welcome Surprise (Seeking the Gold), herself a half-sister to dual champion and legendary super-sire A.P. Indy (Seattle Slew) as well as Classic winner Summer Squall (Storm Bird). Trained by Bret Calhoun, Find New Roads shows...

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