Independence Hall

Every year, the Fasig-Tipton July sale offers the first chance for buyers to get a look at a new crop of yearling sires. Many buyers were seeing these sires' yearlings for the first time this week, and while it's admittedly early, we took a little survey to get their first impressions. The group includes: Basin, Beau Liam, By My Standards, Charlatan, Core Beliefs, Essential Quality, Independence Hall, Knicks Go, Known Agenda, Leinster, Lexitonian, Maxfield, Modernist, Raging Bull, Rock Your World, Silver State, Tacitus, Uncle Chuck, and Yaupon. LIZ CROW: Tacitus...

Few jockeys have ever come so far so fast. Keith Asmussen, the son of Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, has been riding full time for less than two years, but has already snagged mounts in the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks and sits in second-place in the jockey standings at Oaklawn Park. Asmussen, who will ride Just Steel (Justify) in the Derby and Lemon Muffin (Collected) in the Oaks for trainer Wayne Lukas, joined the TDN Writers' Room Podcast presented by Keeneland this week to discuss his...

Somehow this is a real sweet spot in the market. For a stallion farm, the $10,000 cover is a particular pitch: you're a cent away from offering a horse at four figures, but you feel that dropping him into a low-rent neighborhood might be beneath his dignity. You're offering a very accessible fee, but you're not going to let him look cheap. That makes this a surprisingly congested zone, ample for separate assessment. And since clinging to a five-figure fee somewhat represents a show of faith, some of these sires...

With the breeding season underway, the TDN staff is continuing the '2023 Mating Plans' series, presented by Spendthrift Farm, to find out what stallions breeders have chosen for their mares this year, and why. Here Woodford Thoroughbreds shares their plans for the breeding season. As a commercial breeding farm, Woodford Thoroughbreds operates with two principles in mind when choosing our matings. 1) We are producing racehorses. In 2023, Woodford is the breeder of Mimi Kakushi (City of Light), a Group 3 winner on the Oaks trail; Rocket Can (Into Mischief),...

MGSW & GISP Independence Hall (Constitution) sired his first reported foal when a colt out of the winning Distorted Humor mare Seascape was born Monday, Jan. 16 at Mahoney Eden Manor Farm in New York. The colt was bred by Mahoney Eden Manor, Dark Horse Racing Stable and Cutair Racing. "He's a very leggy, racy-looking colt, just what you imagine when you look at Independence Hall," said Britt Wadsworth. "If they come out looking as such, we're all in good shape." From the first crop of leading sire Constitution, Independence...

The catalog for Fasig-Tipton's Gulfstream Sale of Selected 2-Year-Olds in Training is now available online. The auction, which will be held at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida, will take place Wed., Mar. 30, beginning at 2 pm. The under-tack show is scheduled for Monday, Mar. 28, beginning at 9 am. "The Gulfstream sale annually offers a concentration of quality that is unmatched by any 2-year-old sale," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. "Buyers that arrive in South Florida for this year's sale will once again be presented with quality individuals...

With the 2022 breeding season right around the corner, we will feature a series of breeders' mating plans over the coming weeks. Today we have Randy Gullatt of Twin Creeks Farm. INTO MYSTIC (m, 6, Into Mischief--Loveofalifetime, by Medaglia d'Oro), to be bred to Constitution She's a multiple stakes winner and multiple graded stakes-placed maiden mare with earnings of $448,623, and will be bred to Constitution. Constitution, purchased out of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling sale by Twin Creeks Racing and WinStar Farm, is loaded in the pipeline with a tremendous...

With the 2022 breeding season right around the corner, we will feature a series of breeders' mating plans over the coming weeks. Today we have Erin Fisher of Harper Ridge Thoroughbreds. "All my horses are crossed with stallions that I feel will throw appealing and sound horses that can provide second and third careers off the track and provide longevity to the breed," said Fisher. "I look for soundness and attitude with the idea that my foals can have long futures in any discipline after racing." APPEALING WAY (m, 8,...

As Tapit's list of Grade I winners quickly approaches 30 constituents, his sons are now proving their worth in the stud barn. Constitution leads the charge of Tapit sons at stud with an $85,000 fee. The WinStar sire concluded 2021 with a fifth worldwide Group 1/Grade I winner in Cigar Mile H. victor Americanrevolution and his 20th black-type winner in GII Santa Anita Mathis Mile S. winner Law Professor. While WinStar Farm hopes that Constitution, whose first crop was foaled in 2017, could one day become a foundation sire at...

Todd Pletcher has won the GI Cigar Mile four times with the most recent being the 2012 renewal won by Stay Thirsty (Bernardini). The Hall of Famer has a strong chance to take home his fifth Cigar Mile title Saturday when he saddles the two top choices Americanrevolution (Constitution) and Following Sea (Runhappy). Americanrevolution was moved to Pletcher after his debut and won his first three starts for his new barn, including dominant score in the state-bred New York Derby July 19 at Finger Lakes and Albany S. Aug. 27...

Independence Hall (Constitution), coming off a 7 1/4-length win in the GII Fayette S. at Keeneland Oct. 30, breezed a bullet half-mile in :46.80 (1/25) Saturday at Churchill Downs ahead of next Saturday's GI Cigar Mile. "I'm very happy with the way he worked," trainer Michael McCarthy said. "We wanted to go ahead and put a little air in his lungs and that's definitely what we got. A race like the Cigar Mile doesn't come around very often and we wanted to make sure we're nice and sharp." Independence Hall...

Back in March of 2009, in the Werk Thoroughbred Consultants blog, the late Jack Werk recounted a wager we'd made years earlier. This is what he wrote: "The year that Elusive Quality went to stud, pedigree expert Sid Fernando and I had a small side bet: Who was the best sleeper or long shot from that crop? Sid picked Distorted Humor, standing for $12,500, a pretty astute choice at the time. I, of course, picked Elusive Quality, who also went to stud very cheap--$10,000. "As it turns out, we both picked wisely! The top two...