Girl Daddy

With the year having just begun, it will take a while for the picture for the GI Kentucky Oaks to come into focus. For now, the fillies who thrived last year dominate this Top 10 list, but that can, and likely will, change as the calendar works its way toward the first Friday in May and new names emerge in the major preps for the Oaks. It is, at the very least, a solid group, headed by GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Vequist, who will be named the champion...

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'...

The adage reckons a picture to be worth 1,000 words. Of course, as has been remarked, that means 1,001 words must be worth more than a picture. (On which wiseguy basis, I will generously trade this column for that Rembrandt in your loft.) But then it might take something closer to 1,000 pages to record everything the owners of Thousand Words (Pioneerof the Nile) have experienced over the past year. This colt gave a literal quality to their topsy-turvy fortunes when rearing and toppling in the Derby preliminaries, sending Bob...

'TDN Rising Star' Girl Daddy (Uncle Mo) was kept in the clear by jockey Joe Talamo, was given her cue nearing the stretch and sprinted home an impressive winner of Thursday's GIII Pocahontas S., clinching a spot in the field for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland on the first weekend of November. Girl Daddy tracked a fast early pace, first from midfield before improving to be third and three deep rounding the turn. Cut loose by Talamo leaving the quarter pole, the $500,000 Keeneland September yearling opened...

Louis Wright's Inject (Frosted), who turned in an eye-opening performance in her career debut at Ellis to earn TDN Rising Star status, will try and punch her ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies with a victory in Thursday's GIII Pocahontas S. at Churchill Downs. Let go at 7-1 for that five-furlong unveiling Aug. 15, the daughter of first-season son of Tapit came from just off the pace to win by a widening six-length margin at the wire. The $390,000 KEESEP yearling purchase is a half-sister to GI Belmont...

Girl Daddy, sent out by the same connections that have used the Pea Patch in recent years as a springboard to launch the careers of graded stakes-winning juveniles Not This Time (Giant's Causeway) and Dennis' Moment (Tiznow), turned heads on debut Friday to earn the 'TDN Rising Star' distinction. The $500,000 KEESEP buy displayed a fairly unassuming Churchill worktab for a typically patient conditioner, but took some tote attention to be off at 9-5--longer than only fast-working fellow firster Malibu Bird (Malibu Moon). Flat-footed at the start, the grey rushed...