Jr.

Much to the delight of owner/breeder Rustlewood Farm and trainer Mark Casse, Pappacap (Gun Runner) will face nothing of the quality of the likes of 'TDN Rising Star' and likely Eclipse Award winner Corniche (Quality Road) when he makes his sophomore debut in Saturday's GIII Lecomte S. at the Fair Grounds. The homebred was off the board just once from five runs in 2021, winning the GII Best Pal S. by open lengths at second asking before completing the exacta underneath the OBS April topper when beaten 3 1/4 lengths...

Irad Ortiz, Jr., who only recently returned from a 30-day suspension, will be sidelined 3-4 weeks with a knee fracture, according to a tweet from Daily Racing Form's Marty McGee. The three-time reigning Eclipse Award-winning jockey was given 30 days for separate riding infractions at Aqueduct Dec. 3 and 4 and returned to the saddle at Gulfstream Park Thursday, Jan. 6. Ortiz, Jr. was aboard Shea On a Mission (Mission Impazible) in Hallandale Jan. 7 and was injured when the 4-year-old filly became fractious in the gates. He took off...

Jockeys Jorge A. Vargas, Jr. and Jalon Samuel have tested positive for COVID-19 and will be off their mounts for the remainder of the weekend, the New York Racing Association, Inc. announced Friday. All members of the NYRA jockey colony are vaccinated and adhere to established protocols. Vargas, Jr. rode races on Thursday, Dec. 30 and sought testing Friday after developing mild symptoms overnight. Vargas, Jr. did not experience symptoms during Thursday's card. Samuel had no mounts during Thursday's card and was not on-site at Aqueduct. He sought testing after...

With 2021 now behind us--thankfully, some might say--it's time to look back at the TDN stories that were the mostly widely read during the year. Unfortunately, it's a list largely void of feel-good stories. That's not surprising during what was another tumultuous year for the sport, from the sad saga of Medina Spirit (Protonico) to the sentencing of drug cheat Jorge Navarro to five years in prison to the 11th-hour surprise that was the United States Anti-Doping Agency announcing that it would not be part of the Horseracing Integrity and...

Time has not been kind to jockey Jackson Silva. He's reached middle-age, has been beaten up physically by his many years in the saddle and has wound up on the sport's bottom rung at Turf Paradise. But he still has dreams, ones that could yet be realized. Trainer Ruth Wilkes, who has stuck by Silva, has come up with a once-in-a-lifetime horse in the filly Dido's Lament and the filly represents Silva's one last chance at glory. It's not a glamorous story, but the movie "Jockey," set to debut in...

Edited Press Release  Irad Ortiz Jr. won his fourth consecutive Bill Shoemaker Award, given to the most outstanding jockey at the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar. The Shoemaker Award goes to the jockey who won the most races in the 14 World Championship races this weekend with the tiebreaker being a 10-3-1 point system for second- through fourth-place finishes. Ortiz and William Buick both won three races, but Ortiz also had a runner-up finish and three fourth-place finishes while Buick finished fifth with his only other mount. Ortiz...

A celebration of life for Kentucky horseman James M. Herbener, Jr. will be held in Fasig-Tipton's Lexington, Kentucky sales pavilion Saturday, Oct. 23. It will begin at 5 pm and will be immediately followed by a reception in the pavilion's upstairs bar. All those that wish to attend are welcome. Those that cannot attend may view the service via livestream by following this link.

Well-respected consignor Jim Herbener, Jr. died Sunday morning of an apparent heart attack. Herbener, who was in the midst of selling horses at the Keeneland September sale, died at his home in Georgetown, Kentucky. He was 69. His death was confirmed by his long-time friend, John Williams. Herbener was the consignor of seven yearlings in the sale, including an Arrogate filly who sold Sunday for $80,000. Williams said that he and Herbener's daughter Heather, will team up to sell the remainder of the Herbener horses left in the sale. "He...

A total of 284 horses of all ages have been cataloged for the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Fall Sale, the auction house's annual New York breeding stock sale, to be held in a single session Monday, Oct. 18 at the Humphrey S. Finney Sales Pavilion in Saratoga Springs, New York. The event returns to the calendar for 2020, having been a casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic 12 months ago. "After being forced to cancel last year's sale due to the pandemic, Saratoga Fall returns with a larger catalogue than 2019," said Fasig-Tipton...

6th-Saratoga, $100,000, Msw, 7-17, 2yo, 1 1/16mT, 1:45.57, gd, 3/4 length. PORTFOLIO COMPANY (c, 2, Kitten's Joy--Iteration, by Wild Again) snapped a 10-starter, 2 1/2-day 'skid' for the Chad Brown barn to get the job done at first asking. The $125,000 Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearling Showcase graduate jumped alertly and wanted to overrace passing under the line for the first time, but ultimately settled not far from a walking early pace which saw the half go up in :50.86. Always traveling with the front-runner well within his sights, Portfolio Company was...

A total of 210 yearlings by many of the world's top stallions have been cataloged for the 100th renewal of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, to be held Monday and Tuesday, Aug. 9 and 10, in Saratoga Springs, NY. Evening sessions begin each night at 6:30 p.m. The Saratoga Sale is the first major North American yearling sale to be held as many as 100 times. The boutique event was canceled last summer owing to the COVID-19 outbreak, marking the first time since World War II that the sale had not...

By Christie DeBernardis & Christina Bossinakis LEXINGTON, KY--There was plenty of buzz at Newtown Paddocks Monday with a lively day of trade for Fasig-Tipton's July Breeding Stock and Horses of Racing Age Sales. The popular Horses of Racing Age Sale was back for its ninth straight year and there was plenty of demand for promising or accomplished runners. Stakes winner Front Run the Fed (Fed Biz) topped the auction, selling to George Sharp for $440,000 off a third-place finish in the GIII Poker S. The second highest-priced horses was recent...