homebred

With the 76th renewal of Friday's GI Personal Ensign S. at Saratoga billed as a clash between division heavyweights Nest (Curlin) and Clairiere (Curlin), it was the other daughter in the field by Hill 'n' Dale's super sire Curlin who would prevail in a pillar-to-post mild upset. IDIOMATIC (f, 4, Curlin--Lockdown, by First Defence), a Juddmonte homebred trained by Brad Cox and ridden by Florent Geroux, threw her name into the figurative hat, winning her third consecutive graded race and first Grade I. Last year's GI Kentucky Oaks winner Secret...

Alder (Hard Spun)'s first trip to the gate July 15 at Ellis Park resulted in him being declared a non-starter after he became tangled and unseated Gerardo Corrales just as the bell sounded. With Corrales back aboard, no such issues plagued this 2-year-old colt as he sparkled down the lane to win on debut at Ellis Park on Sunday afternoon. The bold effort earned him 'TDN Rising Star' honors. Off at 9-5 here, the Godolphin homebred settled midpack up the backstretch as a trio vied for the lead into the...

11th-CD, $120K, Msw, 3yo/up, 6 1/2f, 5:58 p.m. Consigned by Denali Stud at the '21 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling sale, CUSP (City of Light) went to OXO Equine for $725,000. Trained by Paulo Lobo, the bay colt's dam Swingit (Victory Gallop) also produced MGSW Travel Column (Frosted) and MGISP Neolithic (Harlan's Holiday). He lines up opposite the widely-drawn WinStar homebred and Brad Cox trainee Paddington (Curlin), whose GISP dam Sea Island (Pulpit)--out of GISP Resort (Pleasant Colony)--counts GII Peter Pan S. hero Sightseeing as a full-brother. TJCIS PPS 5th-BEL, $90K, Msw,...

Charles Fipke's Grade I winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Shirl's Speight (Speightstown) will become the first foreign horse to ever run in Japan's G1 February S., Fipke's advisor Sid Fernando confirmed to the TDN Thursday afternoon. Set for Feb. 19, the race is over a mile on the dirt, and trainer Roger Attfield and Fipke are both set to travel to the Tokyo showpiece. "He's going," Fernando said of the 2022 GI Maker's Mark Mile hero. "He's doing well with Roger Attfield down in Florida." The February S. is one...

Classic winner Westover (GB) (Frankel {GB}) will remain in training at four, according to trainer Ralph Beckett. The Juddmonte homebred ran sixth in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe behind Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}) on Sunday. The G3 bet365 Classic Trial at Sandown went his way in April and was then a running-on third in the G1 Derby in June. The bay blitzed the G1 Irish Derby field by seven lengths at the Curragh later that month and was fifth in Pyledriver (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire})'s G1 King George...

Front-running Pleasant Passage dug in resolutely Saturday to  honor her recently deceased sire and stamp her ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Up in time to belie longer than 15-1 odds on debut at Saratoga Aug. 21, she employed opposite tactics here under new pilot Irad Ortiz, Jr., taking her five rivals along through fractions of :23.81, :49.77 and 1:14.98 over the yielding going. Free Look took a run at her to try and secure a ninth Miss Grillo trophy for Chad Brown, but Pleasant Passage stiff-armed...

Juddmonte homebred Masen (GB) (Kingman {GB}) justified 1-5 favoritism with a decisive score in Belmont's GIII Poker S. Saturday. Away alertly from the one hole, the bay was wrangled back into second by Flavien Prat, allowing Wolfie's Dynaghost (Ghostzapper) a clear lead through opening splits of :24.05 and :48.26. Ranging up alongside the pacesetter turning for home, Masen took control and extended clear for a one-length score. Wolfie's Dynaghost held second over Masen's stablemate Public Sector (GB) (Kingman {GB}). "He [Masen] ran back just inside a month, which is a...

Owner Michael Cannon woke up on Memorial Day with a gut feeling. Cannon Thoroughbreds was going to win a Grade I that day. His inkling didn't come without good reason. The stable's leading earner Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute) would be attempting to defend his title in the GI Shoemaker Mile and was slated as the 4-5 morning-line favorite. Of course as anyone in this business can attest, favoritism doesn't secure a trip to the winner's circle no matter how small the odds. So while Smooth Like Strait had to...

Last year's edition of the GI Preakness S. marked one of the best days of John Fradkin's life when Rombauer (Twirling Candy-Cashmere, by Cowboy Cal), a second-generation homebred for the California native and his wife Diane, took the second leg of the Triple Crown. Going off as the fifth choice, Rombauer stormed past favorites Medina Spirit (Protonico) and Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) in the stretch to win by 3 1/2 lengths. It was the first Preakness victory for trainer Michael McCarthy and jockey Flavien Prat and the first Grade I win...

   Code of Honor (Noble Mission {GB} - Reunited, by Dixie Union) arrived at Lane's End Farm, where he will stand the 2022 season, early in the morning hours of Tuesday, Dec. 7. The multiple Grade I winner was bred and raced by W.S. Farish and earned nearly $3 million over his four-year career. "It's a really fun day for all of us at Lane's End," Bill Farish said after watching the homebred take in his new surroundings at the Lane's End stud barn. "Code of Honor coming home is...

Two-time Group 1 winner Windstoss (Ger) (Shirocco {Ger}--Wellenspiel {Ger}, by Sternkoenig {Ire}) has been retired and will stand at stud in 2022 at Gestut Rottgen, who bred and raced the 7-year-old, Galopponline.de reported on Monday. A fee will be announced later. The Markus Klug trainee's biggest victory was in the 2017 G1 Deutsches Derby, and he also won the G1 Preis von Europe later that year. Highweighted as a 3-year-old from 11-14 furlongs in Germany, the bay also placed in additional nine group races in the UK, France and his...

It's a rare feat to get to the winner's circle on one of the biggest weekends in racing with a horse bred, owned and trained by the same connection, but Elizabeth Merryman did just that when her speedy filly Caravel (Mizzen Mast) gave a gutsy performance at Pimlico to take The Very One S. by a nose on Preakness weekend. Many would consider the juggling act between the foaling barn and the training center to be an impossibility, but Liz Merryman says for her, it's the best way to produce...