Lane's End

Thousands upon thousands--likely hundreds of thousands--of words have been written about the legendary Zenyatta, who captured the heart and soul of racing during her time on the racetrack and remains just as beloved today, 13 years after her retirement. Winter Quarter Farm's Don Robinson, who foaled her, was kind enough to share his memories of her formative years with TDN. "Zenyatta was the ultimate," said Robinson. "I can't say enough superlatives about her. I could speak endlessly about her. "The real satisfaction is I delivered her mother, too. I had...

West Sunset (f, 2, West Coast--Vindicated Ghost, by Vindication) didn't let the Kentucky rain slow her down en route to a stylish coast-to-coast victory in a sloppy rendition of the Rags to Riches S. beneath the Twin Spires. Coming into the race with a neck victory over a fast main track at this venue Sept. 16 after being forced to close from the back of the field, she took a diametrically opposed trip here, immediately establishing a clear lead right from the jump. Well in hand on a loose lead...

Langfuhr, a son of Danzig and a top sprinter of the 1990s, has died at the age of 31 at Lane's End, the farm said in a press release early Thursday morning. A sire of 75 stakes winners, five champions and progeny earnings of over $119 million, Langfuhr was a member of the Lane's End Farm stallion roster from 2004 to 2018 when he was retired from stud duty at age 26. Bred and raced by the late Thoroughbred breeder and owner Gustav Schickedanz, Canadian-bred Langfuhr was named champion sprinter...

It's not often one is surprised when a 1-2 favorite wins, but Liam's Map had such a tumultuous trip in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile after a history of front-running scores that he had every right to lose. "I like the way he did it," said Javier Castellano, who also had won the GI Woodward with the horse the month before. "He had missed the break. [Todd] Pletcher told me, 'Make sure he breaks good and get a good position,' but when the gate opened, he missed the break....

One of the biggest stories going into the 2018 Breeders' Cup was trainer John Sadler's 0-41 record on racing's championship day. Accelerate, whose five for six already on the year included four Grade Is in California, succinctly put all that babble to rest with his win in the biggest race on the card. "What stands out to me with Accelerate was the year he had that culminated in the Breeders' Cup Classic," said Sadler. "He won, what, four or five Grade Is that year. So, he had just a fabulous...

Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's MGISW Up to the Mark (Not This Time--Belle's Finale, by Ghostzapper), will enter stud at Lane's End Farm at the conclusion of his racing career, the Kentucky Farm announced on Monday. The 4-year-old colt, who won the GI Manhattan S. At Belmont Park and the GI Turf Classic Stakes in his last two starts, has so far amassed a career line of 10-5-0-2, $1158,650 and is trained by Todd Pletcher. "He's a horse that we were always high on since he was two," trainer...

By all accounts, the undefeated GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Flightline was truly a once-in-a-generation horse. Like the legendary A.P. Indy, his great-grandsire who also stood at Lane's End, Flightline was a seven-figure yearling fashioned into a Horse of the Year, but it was the way he made very good horses look like ordinary mortals that cemented his acclaim. Flightline completed his first season at stud this year; will he also follow in A.P. Indy's footsteps and become a breed-shaping sire? "Flightline had an excellent start at stud, covering 152...

Next (Not This Time) isn't just winning races. He is destroying the competition. A marathon-race specialist, he did it again last week at Parx, when he won the GIII Greenwood Cup S. by an astounding 25 lengths. It's been quite a ride for his trainer, Doug Cowans, who claimed the now 5-year-old last year for $62,500. To talk about Next and to discuss his future plans, Cowans joined this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland. He was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week. Despite his horse's...

Jonathan Richard Cline, the son of former Lane's End farm manager Mike Cline, died unexpectedly in Lexington, Kentucky Wednesday, Sept. 20. He was 43. The son of Mike and Paula Cline, Jon Cline graduated from the University of Virginia in 2002 before finding his first job in the pallet industry in Cincinnati, where he met his eventual wife, Mandy. The couple would go on to have two sons, Charlie, now 12, and Mikey, 8. The visitation and Celebration of Life will be held Sept. 27 at Guardian Angels Church, 6539...

As the sport continues in its efforts to drastically reduced the number of fatalities that occur in races and in morning training, there's little doubt that StrideSAFE is going to play an important role in preventing breakdowns. StrideSAFE is a biometric sensor mechanism that slips into the saddle cloth to detect minute changes in a horses's gait at high speed. Those changes can, and often do, signal that a horse is in the early stages of having a problem that could lead to a fatal injury. If the StrideSAFE data...

A half-brother to GI Wood Memorial S. winner and young sire Outwork (Uncle Mo) by Into Mischief sold Tuesday at the second session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale for $3 million. Consigned by Lane's End, agent, the Feb. 11 colt is out of Nonna Mia (Empire Maker), who herself is a half-sister to MGSW and Airdrie sire Cairo Prince (Pioneerof the Nile). Terry Finley signed Hip 261's ticket for West Point Thoroughbreds, Chuck Sonson, and Woodford Racing. The son of Into Mischief is the early leader of both the...

Named in honor of Mike Repole's beloved grandmother, Nonna Mia (Empire Maker) won her second career start by 12 lengths for Repole Stable in 2008 and she went on to place in the GI Frizette S. and GIII Tempted S. as a juvenile that year. The mare's first two foals Nonna's Boy (Distorted Humor) and eventual Grade I victor and sire Outwork (Uncle Mo) were both debut winners early in their 2-year-old years and her third foal Nonna Bella (Stay Thirsty) claimed her first two career starts at three. Last...