Global Campaign

In an atypical year for horse racing in which COVID-19 has played havoc on just about everything, it will be a typical Breeders' Cup Saturday, at least on the racetrack. Including also-eligibles, 104 horses have been entered to contest the nine races that will be offered and the list includes a who's who of the best horses not just in North America but in the world. Between the two days of racing, the Breeders' Cup could decide every Eclipse Award race but the 3-year-old filly championship, where Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil)...

Sagamore Racing, the Maryland-based breeding and racing operation founded 14 years ago by Under Armour chief executive Kevin Plank, is getting out of the sport. Its horses have been in the gradual process of being sold off, and the historic 530-acre Sagamore Farm in Glyndon will transition into supplying rye, corn and limestone-filtered spring water to support a Plank-backed whiskey distillery. Sagamore led all breeders of Maryland-breds by earnings in 2019, and at its peak during Plank's tenure the farm housed 100 horses. The news comes 10 years to the...

WinStar Farm has had many big years, but this one may prove its biggest to date. Kenny Troutt's operation has bred, raised and offered for sale four 2020 Grade I winners: Sept. 5 GI Woodward H. hero Global Campaign (Curlin); Paris Lights (Curlin), who led home a one-two for WinStar Stablemates in July's GI Coaching Club American Oaks; and Shedaresthedevil and Swiss Skydiver, who completed the exacta for their former WinStar-based stallion Daredevil in last Friday's GI Longines Kentucky Oaks. Plus, it co-campaigns GI Hollywood Gold Cup S. and GI...

'TDN Rising Star' Global Campaign (Curlin) was sent straight to the front by Luis Saez and refused to lose in Saturday's GI Woodward S. at Saratoga. The 2019 GIII Peter Pan S. winner led through fractions of :24.65 and :48.89 with heavily favored Tacitus (Tapit), a jaw-dropping winner last out of the GII Suburban S., just waiting to pounce in second. Global Campaign held a narrow advantage as they hit the quarter pole and took off from there while hanging on his left lead down the stretch to gamely register...

Five of the six runners slated to contest Saratoga's marquee handicap event--the GI Woodward S.--enter into Saturday's 10-furlong affair having won their latest starts. Heading the group is Juddmonte Farm's Tacitus (Tapit), who bounded home an easy 8 3/4-length winner in the 10-furlong Suburban July 4. For that race, trainer Bill Mott gave blinkers another try--even though an earlier equipment experiment failed to result in victory--and was duly rewarded. Last spring, the son of multiple Grade I-winning Close Hatches (First Defence) reeled off consecutive graded scores in the GII Tampa...

The present crisis will perhaps find horsemen a little more stoical than most. When it comes to biding their time, after all, the Thoroughbred gives them plenty of practice. Nonetheless it must test the patience more than anything to have a racehorse just back to fitness this spring after a long lay-off, only to find most of the racing program immersed by the pandemic. What a relief for his connections then that Global Campaign (Curlin) was able to find a landing strip for his touchdown, after a nine-month absence, at...

11th-Gulfstream, $41,000, Alw (C), Opt. Clm ($75,000), 4-25, 4yo/up, 7f, 1:21.71, ft. GLOBAL CAMPAIGN (c, 4, Curlin--Globe Trot, by A.P. Indy), named a 'TDN Rising Star' off a debut victory over track and trip last January, bounced back from a fifth to Code of Honor (Noble Mission {GB}) in the GII Fountain of Youth S. to defeat next-out GI Belmont S. winner Sir Winston (Awesome Again) in the GIII Peter Pan S. Connections passed on the Belmont and the $250,000 KEESEP yearling was last seen finishing third in the GII...

SARATOGA SPRINGS N.Y.--While Tapit ran the ring during Monday's session with the two top-priced yearlings, it was Curlin day at Fasig-Tipton's Saratoga Selected Yearlings Sale Tuesday with a trio of colts by the Hill 'n' Dale stallion reaching seven figures. Hips 174 and 153 topped the session and the sale at $1.5 million and Hip 159 tied Monday's Tapit topper, Hip 80, at a cool $1 million. "It's really pretty simple: quality sells," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. "We had a remarkable group of horses on offer tonight and the...