Malibu Moon

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. Against the flow of the race from the outset, Locked (c, 2, Gun Runner--Luna Rosa, by Malibu Moon) rallied smartly from last after some trouble at the start to finish a very encouraging third sprinting on debut at Saratoga Aug. 5. Chilly on the board at 12-1 for trainer Todd Pletcher, the Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm colorbearer was forced to take up sharply shortly after...

One of only two French-trained juveniles in Sunday's G1 Sumbe Prix Morny at Deauville, Infinity Nine Horses' TDN Rising Star Ramatuelle (Justify) will need to draw on a significant amount of her abundant talent to maintain her sequence in one of the best renewals of the six-furlong feature in recent years. Out on her own at the end of Chantilly's G3 Prix du Bois and G2 Prix Robert Papin, the Christopher Head trainee now has to stand up to a collective of the best sprinting colts from Britain and Ireland...

Amo Racing's longshot G2 Norfolk S. winner Valiant Force (Malibu Moon) will target the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, trainer Adrian Murray revealed. The colt has already secured a spot in the starting gate at Santa Anita Park in California on Nov. 3 as the race was a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series qualifier for the Future Stars Friday card. "He's probably going to be aimed at the Breeders' Cup now in November," Murray said. "He will more than likely run before then but having talked to the owner he...

He's the first one to admit he's a "little guy," a small breeder who owns two mares, two breeding rights, and all the good and bad luck that comes along with any such small operation. Losing his farm in the economic crisis of 2009 was just about as bad as it gets. Winning a race as a breeder at Royal Ascot? Just about as good. Ramon (R. J.) Rangel says he never would have had the opportunity he experienced Thursday--when Valiant Force (Malibu Moon) whom he co-bred with Spendthrift Farm...

All the talk before Thursday's G2 Norfolk S. centred around American Rascal (Curlin) and Elite Status (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}), but it was the 150-1 shot Valiant Force (Malibu Moon--Vigui's Heart, by Quality Road) who held sway to provide Amo Racing with a breakthrough first Royal Ascot winner. Runner-up to His Majesty (Ire) (No Nay Never) on debut in the Listed First Flier S., the Adrian Murray-trained $100,000 Keeneland September yearling was discounted by the betting public due to his latest fifth despite having excuses in the G3 Marble Hill...

Salute the Stars continued his rise through the ranks here with a determined victory in the Pegasus S. at Monmouth Park. Coming into the race riding a two race win-streak which began when he wrapped his juvenile season with a victory against maidens at Ellis on the grass, he moved from John Ortiz to Brad Cox before his seasonal bow last out May 14 in an off-turf allowance. Winning there by a neck, he was made the 5-2 second choice behind Kingsbarns, who was reappearing for the first time since...

4th-Belmont, $90,000, Msw, 5-28, 3yo/up, f/m, 7f, 1:25.06, ft, neck. VIRTUAL REALITY (f, 3, Cloud Computing--Miss Malibu Style, by Malibu Moon) had been on the work tab religiously since the middle of February, and put it all together here at first asking, finishing best of the inexperienced runners in the field. Breaking inward at the jump, Manny Franco was able to correct her but wound up three wide before jostling with eventual third-place finisher Ms. Solveig (Bernardini) as that one steadily inched closer to the rail. The bumper cars came...

In this continuing series, Alan Carasso takes a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running for the grand re-opening of Kyoto Racecourse and Tokyo Racecourses as Group 1 racing takes the week off: Saturday, April 22, 2023 6th-TOK, ¥14,880,000 ($111k), Allowance, 3yo, 1600m PARAIBA TOURMALINE (f, 3, Malibu Moon--Private Jet, by Private Feeling) opened her...

Since 2004, we've shined the spotlight on over 1,500 'TDN Rising Stars' worldwide, recognition given to a horse early on its career who has done something so impressive on the racetrack that our team believes they will go on to become graded stakes winners.  A horse is designated as a 'Rising Star' by the TDN staff after a careful and comprehensive review of many factors--including the quality of the field, margin and time of victory, pedigree, sales price and more. Over the years, it has become a badge of honor...

5th-AQU, $85k, Msw, 2yo, f, 6 1/2f, 1:46p.m. ET Purchased for an eye-catching $825,000 from KEESEP by Mike Ryan for CHP Racing, MODERN LOVE (Curlin) will look to justify that price here against a well-connected field of maidens. The half-sister to GISW Competitionofideas (Speightstown) hails from a winning family line--the second and third dams claim 17 winners immediately beneath them, combined, and six with black-type. Her Chad Brown-trained stablemate Ana's Gun (Gun Runner) will also carry a flashy pedigree in her maiden voyage; being the half sister to GI Breeders'...

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this Sunday entered to run on Tenno Sho day at Tokyo and at Hanshin Racecourse: Sunday, October 30, 2022 4th-HSN, ¥13,400,000 ($91k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1200mT META MAX (c, 2, Into Mischief--Zapara, by Not For Love) was purchased by Eddie Woods's Quarter Pole Enterprises for...

Editor's note: In just under two weeks, Spendthrift Farm will officially open its B. Wayne Hughes Visitors Center in honor of its late founder. The two-story visitors center will offer a trophy room, gift shop, and help to enhance tourists' visits to the farm. A bronze statue of the late Malibu Moon will greet guests as they arrive. The sculptor responsible for the bronze, Douwe Blumberg, gave the TDN a behind-the-scenes look at how the sculpture came together. My professional sculpting career began over 30 years ago, following an 18-year...