John Moynihan

It's early, but maybe not too early to start dreaming of the GI Kentucky Derby. At least it's not for owner Richard Rigney. Rigney is the owner of 'TDN Rising Star' Jonathan's Way (Vekoma), the winner of last Saturday's GIII Iroquois Stakes at Churchill Downs, the first of many races that award Derby points to the top five finishers. Making his second career start after overcoming trouble to win a maiden at Saratoga, Jonathan's Way was an impressive winner, suggesting there could be bigger and better triumphs in his future....

To many, no doubt, her genetic contribution is by now too attenuated to merit attention. At the very least, however, it must be acknowledged an impressive coincidence that the winners of both the GIII Iroquois Stakes and GIII Pocahontas Stakes--whose shared value, as reconnaissance for the Classics over the same track next May, is recognized by allocation of the first starting points--should share as sixth dam the Darby Dan foundation mare Golden Trail. The Golden Trail dynasty entwines such productive lines as those branded by Memories of Silver, Sunshine Forever...

Let's start this column with the disclaimer that it's way too early to start seriously talking about how a one-turn-mile victory at age two might translate to winning a 10-furlong stakes some 7 ½ months from now in a chaotic field of 20. We'll also put aside for the moment that the GIII Iroquois S. has never been a prognosticator for success in the GI Kentucky Derby. Dating to the race's inception in 1983, juveniles who ran in that late summer/early autumn Churchill Downs stakes have gone a collective 0-1-1...

Rigney Racing's TDN Rising Star Jonathan's Way (Vekoma) went wire-to-wire in the GIII Iroquois Stakes at Churchill Downs, earning the colt 10 qualifying points towards the GI Kentucky Derby. According to trainer Phil Bauer Sunday, the colt will now head to the Nov. 1 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Del Mar. "It was an unbelievable day for our barn," Bauer said. "Watching him turn for home in the Iroquois, he looked so comfortable on the front end. His ears told a story--he was just waiting for Joel [Rosario] to ask...

Stonestreet Farm has had plenty of stacked rosters going into Book 1 of the Keeneland September Sale, but the farm's longtime bloodstock advisor John Moynihan estimates that this year's class of of yearlings is among the best that the operation has ever presented to the market. "It's rare that you get the physical horse with these amazing pedigrees because so many times you get a physical and you don't have the pedigree or you get the pedigree but you don't have the physical," Moynihan reflected. "We're very fortunate this year...

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- At the top of the stretch of the opener of the Saturday card at Saratoga Race Course, a 2-year-old colt named Jonathan's Way (Vekoma) was fanned six, maybe seven wide. But he was moving and, like a giant tidal wave, gathering momentum with each long, powerful stride. Out in California, Richard Rigney, who owns the colt, was watching the race on a cellphone along with bloodstock agent John Moynihan. They had hope, but they also were realists.  After all, the six-furlong race was the first in Jonathan's...

It took trainer Phil Bauer and his owner Richard Rigney a little while to figure the racing game out. From the time Bauer went to work for Rigney in 2013 through 2021, the stable had never had more than 17 wins in a year or earnings in excess of $1,724,016. But the last three years have seen the stable flourish into a win machine and one that can compete at the highest levels of the sport. From 2022 to present, Bauer has had 70 winners from 316 starters for a...

Bloodstock advisor John Moynihan was one of 10 people who survived a plane crash in Australia Monday. "We all made it and are safe," Moynihan texted the TDN. Nine tourists from Kentucky and the pilot all survived the crash of a light plane which came down on the remote Lizard Island off the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, according to multiple reports. Moynihan is visible in the video below from a local news outlet as he walks onto an ambulance. [tdn_video service="youtube" videoid= "qhtXGwled-M"] According to Yahoo News, the plane...

Some kind of wand has been waved here. Of eight starters in the GI Preakness S., three represent the first crop of Good Magic--including GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage. Just weeks after their program received what felt like the ultimate accolade, in Broodmare of the Year honors for Dreaming Of Julia (A.P. Indy), Barbara Banke and her Stonestreet team duly have still further cause for gratification. Because just like Dreaming Of Julia, Good Magic is out of a daughter of one of the foundation mares bought by Banke's late husband,...

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. In a race that didn't deserve a loser, Stonestreet homebred Marsalis (c, 3, Curlin--Hot Dixie Chick, by Dixie Union) came up a head short on debut after running hard the entire way on the GII Risen Star S. undercard Feb. 19 (video). The well-bred chestnut's worktab was highlighted by a five-furlong bullet from the gate in :59 4/5 (1/47) at Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen's Fair Grounds base...

Stonestreet Stables LLC's `TDN Rising Star' Beau Liam (Liam's Map--Belle of Perintown, by Dehere) has been retired from racing and will stand the upcoming breeding season at Brereton and Elizabeth Jones's Airdrie Stud as a partnership between Stonestreet, Spendthrift Farm and Airdrie. Trained by Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, Beau Liam won his first three starts this season. Beau Liam will stand his first season for a fee of $6,000 stands and nurses. Named a TDN Rising Star following his 7 1/2-length debut at Churchill Downs, Beau Liam's six-furlong...

Curlin is in the midst of an exceptional year. He's the only North American sire with three Grade I winners already in 2021 with undefeated Kentucky Oaks heroine Malathaat, Florida Derby winner Known Agenda and Santa Anita H. victor Idol. He's also responsible for the buzz horse of the week in undefeated 'TDN Rising Star' and GIII Dwyer S. winner First Captain. As expected from Curlin, a sire known for his Classic-producing abilities, all four of these current stars broke through to stardom as sophomores or older. And while two...