Liam's Map

Beau Liam (c, 3, Liam's Map--Belle of Perintown, by Dehere) stamped himself as a sophomore to watch for the second half of the season with an eye-catching 'TDN Rising Star' performance over older horses on debut at Churchill Downs Saturday. The 5-1 chance broke well from his outside draw and sat just off the leaders in third through a sharp opening quarter in :21.73. The Stonestreet homebred, trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, revved up three deep at the quarter pole and took off in the stretch like a...

3rd-CD, $100K, Msw, 3yo/up, 6f, 1:43p.m. Godolphin's CASUAL AFFAIR (Into Mischief) returns to action following a close-up second in his unveiling at Keeneland Apr. 23. Trained by Brendan Walsh, the homebred is out of Ashado (Saint Ballado), Champion 3-year-old Filly and Older Female in 2004 and 2005, and subsequently inducted in racing's Hall of Fame in 2014. Stonestreet's BEAU LIAM (Liam's Map) kicks off for trainer Steve Asmussen off a steady string of works, including a bullet four-furlong move (:47, 1/57) two back May 16. Out of graded winner Belle...

Several GI Kentucky Oaks-bound fillies put in their final major workouts Saturday morning leading up to Friday's Churchill Downs Classic. Leading the Churchill Downs worktab, Phoenix Thoroughbred's Crazy Beautiful (Liam's Map), winner of the Mar. 27 GII Gulfstream Park Oaks in her most recent start, worked a half-mile in :49.20 under Danny Ramsey for trainer Kenny McPeek. "She had a breeze last week in :59, which was a bullet work," McPeek said. "So today I just went a half with her, something simple, again just a basic maintenance work. She's...

A Liam's Map filly (Hip 1188) from the Flying Fish consignment looks to become the next star to come out of Art Fisher's training center after being one of eight juveniles to work a bullet in :9 4/5 during the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale under-tack show Saturday. The start of the sixth and final session was delayed until 9:30 a.m. due to storms in the forecast. "The third time I breezed her, I called the guy who owns her and said, 'This filly is diseased with speed.' So,...

You have to hand it to Liam's Map. Besides all his other merits, as a racehorse and now as a stallion, he has an unerring instinct for publicity. As a freshman, in 2019, the son of Unbridled's Song mustered only two stakes winners. Nothing wrong with that, from 46 starters. Champion American Pharoah had four, from 72. But when he struck the target at all, Liam's Map made sure he hit the bull's-eye. Both those stakes scores came in Grade I races, Basin taking the Hopeful and Wicked Whisper the...

Winless since last August, 'TDN Rising Star' Crazy Beautiful (Liam's Map) marked her return to the winner's circle in style, taking Saturday's GII Gulfstream Park Oaks. Sent off at 5-2 while searching for her first graded stakes victory, she was settled at the back of the compact field as 6-5 choice Con Lima showed the way through initial fractions of :24.16 and :48.69. Rallying from the back as the field compressed approaching the quarter pole, the Ken McPeek trainee strode through the center of the group and continued to gain...

A Triple Crown winner in his native Barbados, Saffie Joseph Jr. took his first shot at America's Classics in 2020 with GISP Ny Traffic (Cross Traffic), who failed to hit the board in both the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness S. last fall before heading to the sidelines for the remainder of the season. Fast forward to 2021, Joseph returns to the Triple Crown trail with another exciting prospect in Three Chimneys Farm and eFive Racing's Collaborate (Into Mischief), who is slated to contest Saturday's GI Curlin Florida Derby...

Two years ago, Bricks and Mortar (Giant's Causeway) parlayed a victory in the GI Pegasus World Cup Turf into a battling success in the GII Mervin Muniz Memorial S. and--ultimately--a Horse of the Year title. Following in those considerable hoofprints, Robert and Lawana Low's Colonel Liam (Liam's Map) validated odds-on favoritism in the event named in honor of the Fair Grounds' late, beloved racing secretary to continue on a similar trajectory, scoring by a 1 1/2-length margin that belied the ease with which it was accomplished. Away without incident from...

By Brian DiDonato & Steve Sherack What a difference a year makes. With a $750,000 filly from the first crop of Practical Joke leading the way, the first auction of 2-year-old sales season completed a very promising two-day run as the 2021 OBS March sale concluded with across-the-board gains compared to last year and numbers not too far off of 2019 stats recorded during more normal circumstances. Consigned by Top Line Sales as hip 311, Wednesday's highest-priced lot and the sale's overall topper was purchased by Japan's Hideyuki Mori, who...

The journey from Missouri to Hallandale Beach proved to be more than worth it for owners Robert and Lawana Low when they watched their speedy gray colt Colonel Liam (Liam's Map) flash past the wire to win the $1-million GI Pegasus World Cup Turf. While Robert Low said they were confident going into the Pegasus, they were unconvinced that the newly-turned 4-year-old had to win by a landslide in order to be considered a top contender in his division. "I think it was a really nice field," he noted. "There...

The 2020 campaign of Robert and Lawana Low's Colonel Liam (Liam's Map) picked up steam as it rolled along and the athletic gray colt picked up where he left off Saturday, as he found his way out of a jackpot and into the clear with time ticking away in Saturday's GI Pegasus World Cup Turf and outfinished stablemate Largent (Into Mischief) to win the $1-million event. Cross Border (English Channel) rounded out the trifecta, while the outposted Social Paranoia (Street Boss) completed a 1-2-4 finish for trainer Todd Pletcher. Off...

It's now or never, guys! The deeper we go into our survey of Kentucky covering options for 2021, the fewer stallions remain standing. And those we reach today, about to launch a third crop of juveniles, have entered a decisive stage of their climb. Two or three are ascending confidently toward the next ridge; a handful are clinging tenaciously to a ledge; but many are now slithering unhappily down through the scree. Several have already disappeared into regional or overseas programs. For now, the leading Bluegrass farms are persevering with...