Justify

2nd-Del Mar, $61,500, Msw, 11-11, 2yo, 6f, 1:09.82, ft, 2 1/4 lengths. PILOT COMMANDER (c, 2, Justify--Rebuke, by Carson City), drawn on the inside in post two, ran to the money as the 6-5 favorite on debut. The $700,000 OBS March breezer broke like a shot and was pressed to his inside through an opening quarter of :22.89. He began to shake free rounding the far turn, kicked for home as the one to catch, and, despite hanging on his left lead down the stretch, handled his Bob Baffert-trained stablemate...

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis LEXINGTON, KY - Three Witches (Into Mischief) provided the highlight of a workaday Book 2 section of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale when selling for $1.7 million Friday in Lexington. Book 2 opened with a uneven session Thursday at Keeneland, but activity was more consistent throughout Friday's Book 2 finale. "It was a solid day of trade," said Keeneland's Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy. "From start to finish, it felt a little more consistent and healthy today. Yesterday was a little bumpy,...

2nd-DMR, $61K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 4:00 p.m. A couple of pricey colts will lineup for their Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert on Saturday at Del Mar. IMAGINATION (Into Mischief) was purchased for $1,050,000 as a yearling at Keeneland September by SF Bloodstock/Starlight Racing/Madaket before adding investors Stonestreet Stables, Dianne Bashor, Robert Masterson, Waves Edge Capital, Catherine Donovon and Tom Ryan. The bay colt out of GSW Magical Feeling (Empire Maker) counts Oaklawn Mile S. hero Exulting (Tapit) as a half-brother and GIII Monmouth Oaks heroine Occult as a full-sister....

Maria Sol Aller, who along with Murat Sancal, has been training, buying and selling racehorses for over a decade from their base at Elmendorf Farm, has taken the plunge and will be consigning under her own banner, Green Hills at Elmendorf, for the first time at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. The fledgling consignment could get off to a flyer when it offers a weanling filly by Justify (hip 96) during Book 1 of the auction Wednesday in Lexington. "We've been very busy. We have been buying around 60...

A pair of late entries have been added to Tuesday's Fasig-Tipton November Sale. Stakes-placed Malibu Mischief (Goldencents), in foal to Triple Crown winner Justify, is catalogued as hip 270. The 7-year-old mare is consigned by Paramount Sales. The 3-year-old filly Make the Boys Wink (More Than Ready) won a Churchill Downs allowance race Saturday for Phoenix Thoroughbreds and trainer Brendan Walsh. Consigned as hip 271, she is consigned by Denali Stud. The Fasig-Tipton November Sale will be held Tuesday, beginning at 2 pm.

All five of the 'Future Stars Friday' winners at Santa Anita appeared to emerge from the efforts unscathed, with connections looking forward to their Classics campaigns in 2024. The very domination of the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light) will likely have put the colt at the head of the class for champion 2-year-old honors, and the Repole Stable homebred looked good Saturday morning. "We were extremely happy with the way Fierceness ran," trainer Todd Pletcher said. "The race kind of unfolded the...

ARCADIA, USA -- A clean sweep for Europe in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. How about that to start the Breeders' Cup? And then for the closing act, a one-two for Aidan O'Brien in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf after the drama of the early-morning scratching of race favourite River Tiber (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}). For the curtain up, Big Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}), named to honour a fallen friend, paid the best possible tribute to the late Paul Evans in giving his British owners Paul and...

Having sired five Northern Hemisphere Grade I/Group 1 winners since June, Coolmore America's outstanding second-crop stallion Justify registered a 'Future Stars Friday' double when Wise Racing LLC's Hard to Justify stuck on grimly to deny game Irish raider Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio) in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. The $190,000 Keeneland September yearling made it a half-dozen elite-level scorers for the 2018 Triple Crown winner, whose daughter Just F Y I locked up an Eclipse Award with her hard-fought success in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies not 45...

ARCADIA, CA - For your information, George Krikorian's unbeaten homebred Just F Y I (Justify) is the best 2-year-old filly in the country. Given a 7-1 chance while drawn widest of all in post 12 in Friday's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, she secured a beautiful spot from her outside draw and immediately took the race to 4-5 favorite and unbeaten GI Del Mar Debutante S. winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Tamara (Bolt d'Oro) from the start. Always traveling like a winner beneath Junior Alvarado from an outside second, she...

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Wedneday's Observations features a son of six-time American Grade I winner Abel Tasman (Quality Road) at Dundalk 15.30 Dundalk, €15,000, Mdn, 2yo, 7f (AWT) Aidan O'Brien trainee HALLOWED (Galileo {Ire}) is a son of six-time Grade I heroine Abel Tasman (Quality Road), who was knocked down for a sale-topping...

GI Breeders' Cup Classic contender Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo) was first onto the main track Monday morning when he worked a bullet five furlongs in :59 flat, will walk at the barn Tuesday, and then is planned to return to the track Wednesday. "He's healthy, he's working well. There have been no hiccups," Baffert said. "He's ready. I know this is going to be a tough race, but if he brings his 'A' game, I don't really care who's running against us. That's my focus with him." The colt made...

LEXINGTON, KY-The Fasig-Tipton October Yearlings Sale produced its strongest session of the week Wednesday at Newtown Paddocks, bringing its cumulative figures within striking distance of its 2022 record levels. Through three sessions, 790 yearlings have grossed $38,981,000 for an average of $49,343 and a median of $23,500. The average is down just 4.5% from the same point of last year's sale and the median is down 6%. "It was another solid day," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. "Today the numbers were up over the similar session last year and...