Goodnight Olive

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis LEXINGTON, KY - After a vibrant afternoon-into-night of bidding, the Fasig-Tipton November Sale grossed over $100 million for the third straight year with champions Nest (Curlin) and Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper) leading the way when bringing matching $6-million final bids Tuesday at Newtown Paddocks. "It was another remarkable horse sale, literally from start to finish," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. "It's really humbling to think that we've been able, for three years in a row, do over $100 million in sales in a single night....

Champion Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper--Salty Strike, by Smart Strike), who on Saturday captured her second GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, sold for $6 million Tuesday night at the Fasig-Tipton November sale to John Stewart. The amount matched the price Mike Repole spent on three-time Grade I winner Nest (Curlin) earlier in the evening. Consigned by Elite, agent as hip 237, Goodnight Olive went through the ring as a racing or broodmare prospect. She had first stepped into the same Fasig-Tipton ring in 2019 as an October yearling, where she...

Two of the planet's top jockeys, Ryan Moore and Irad Ortiz, Jr., were penalized by the Santa Anita Park stewards for riding infractions aboard winning mounts on the Nov. 4 Breeders' Cup program. Moore was fined $20,800 and suspended one day (Nov. 12) for being one whip strike over the limit of six when guiding 5-2 favorite Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) to victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf. Under Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) rules, the fine equates to 10% of Moore's personal purse winnings from...

More than $100,000 was raised during this year's Breeders' Cup Pledge, New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program announced Monday. That total was driven by four horses with pledge connections--Fierceness (City of Light), Unquestionable (FR) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper) and Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn})--winning their races on Future Stars Friday and Championship Saturday. Additional pledges are still coming in as of Monday and final donations are being tallied. Now in its 14th year, the Pledge has raised more than a million dollars, with 100 percent of funds going...

LEXINGTON, KY- The Fasig-Tipton November Sale, which has surpassed $100-million in gross the last two years, returns with another typically glitzy renewal Tuesday at Newtown Paddocks. Bidding on the first of 271 catalogued offerings begins at 2 p.m. "We are very excited about the overall quality of the catalogue," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. "I think our in-foal mares are definitely stronger than they've been in the past and we have some exceptional younger horses that are going to be offered. It's a tremendous group of young racing and broodmare...

Eclipse Award winner Irad Ortiz Jr. was honored with the 21st Bill Shoemaker Award as the outstanding jockey for the 2023 Breeders' Cup after guiding three horses to victory over the two-day event. The Shoemaker Award is given to the rider with the most wins during the World Championships and Ortiz won it for a record fifth time this year. Ortiz guided White Abarrio (Race Day) to the win in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, Elite Power (Curlin) in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint and Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper) in the...

ARCADIA, CA - You've got company Groupie Doll. Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper) successfully defended her title at Santa Anita on Saturday and joined the 2012-13 champion female sprinter as the only repeat winners of the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. Longshots Yuugiri (Shackleford) and Three Witches (Into Mischief) collected the minors. Favored at even-money, Goodnight Olive broke nicely from her rail draw and found a good spot beneath Irad Ortiz, Jr. in a joint third behind the first-time blinkered Eda (Munnings) and second-choice Society (Gun Runner) through an opening...

ARCADIA, CA -- After firing a five-furlong warning shot at Santa Anita Monday morning, Zedan Racing's 'TDN Rising Star' Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo) was installed as the 3-1 morning-line favorite while drawing post 12 at the Rood & Riddle Post-Position Draw for Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Classic. The Bob Baffert-trained GI Pacific Classic hero and $2.3-million OBS April breezer will face 12 rivals in the $6-million centerpiece, including fellow sophomore and the rail-drawn GI Belmont S. and GI Travers S. hero Arcangelo (Arrogate), GI Whitney S. winner White Abarrio (Race...

Jay Hanley considers himself lucky to have had more than his fair share of highs in horse racing, but he has also gone through plenty of mishaps, frustrations and heartbreaks. A co-owner of champion Lady Eli (Divine Park), he was there for the ups and downs of the extraordinary mare's career as she fought a seemingly insurmountable battle with laminitis and returned to the top of the sport. Then there is Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper - Salty Strike, Smart Strike), who overcame two setbacks early in her career and went on...

Trainer Chad Brown breezed several Breeders' Cup prospects Saturday at Belmont Park, including Jeff Drown's Zandon (Upstart), who registered his first move since capturing the GII Woodward S. October 1 at Belmont at the Big A. Under overcast skies and temperatures in the 50s, Zandon, who is targeting the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, went a half-mile in 48.87 seconds over the Belmont main track. "He went great, he worked super," Brown said. "His energy level is good coming out of the Woodward. He's doing well and it was just what...

Fasig-Tipton has catalogued 246 main-catalogue entries for The November Sale, the company's selected mixed sale to be held in Lexington, Kentucky on Tuesday, Nov. 7, following the Breeders' Cup. The single-session sale will begin at 2 p.m. "The Fasig-Tipton November Sale annually offers a collection of the world's finest bloodstock," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. "This year's catalogue is once again outstanding, offering 55 graded stakes winners or producers, 26 of which are Grade I." Browning continued: "We have Eclipse Champions, international champions, multiple Breeders' Cup winners, and a Kentucky...

It's a bit of Christmas in August Saturday at venerable Saratoga Race Course, which plays host to no fewer than five Grade I events for horses of all ages--on dirt and on turf--topped by the main event on the summer calendar, the $1.25-million GI Travers S. While the fields are short on numbers, they are long on quality, as three of the races have attracted reigning Eclipse Award winners, none of whom are anything close to a cinch in their respective heats. Champion and 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence) has...