Maple Leaf Mel

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.-Just the mere fact that a $3,500 yearling has won two races of any kind at Saratoga this summer, puts The Queens M G (Thousand Words) in a "that's impressive" category. In the GI Spinaway Stakes Saturday, she will try to add to her reputation by completing the rare sweep of the track's three stakes for 2-year-old fillies. The Queens M G scored in the 5 1/2-furlong Schuylerville Stakes, long the opening day feature, by 2 3/4 lengths at 44-1 July 11. She crushed the six-furlong GIII Adirondack...

The anniversary is right around the corner, a gruesome tragedy that nobody who was at Saratoga that day will ever forget. It was among the darkest days in the long history of racing upstate. But nobody had it worse than trainer Melanie Giddings, who, in a fraction of second, saw Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic) go from the sure winner of the GI Test Stakes to a horse who broke down inches before the wire and could not be saved. Her business is doing fine. She has 42 horses and...

The late Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic), who won last year's GIII Victory Ride S. and GIII Miss Preakness S. before tragically falling en route to victory in the GI Test S., was named New York-bred Horse of the Year along with champion 3-year-old filly and champion female sprinter honors during the New York Thoroughbred Breeders Inc.'s Annual Awards Ceremony Monday night. Bred by Joe Fafone and campaigned by Bill Parcells' August Dawn Farm, Maple Leaf Mel was trained by Melanie Giddings--for whom she was named--and Jeremiah Englehart. The complete...

New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. (NYTB) named their nominees for the Empire State's divisional champions of 2023, the organization said in a Friday morning release. A panel of New York turf writers, broadcasters, handicappers, racing analysts and photographers will vote on each division and for the New York-bred Horse of the Year. The winners will be announced at the NYTB Awards Dinner sponsored by the New York Thoroughbred Breeding & Development Fund on Monday, May 13 from 6-9 p.m. ET. at Sacred Saratoga on the property of GMP Farm in...

The finalists for the 2023 Eclipse Awards, recognizing excellence in Thoroughbred racing, were announced by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), The Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB) Saturday.. Winners in 17 horse and human categories will be handed out on FanDuel TV and other outlets, during the 53rd annual Eclipse Awards, presented by FanDuel Racing, John Deere, Keeneland, The Jockey Club and the NTRA, on Thursday, Jan. 25 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The evening will culminate with the announcement of the 2023 Horse of...

The Thoroughbred Daily News was among six 2023 Media Eclipse Award winners Friday when the awards were announced by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form, and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters. The 2023 Media Eclipse Award winners are as follows: Multimedia - TDN Writers' Room Podcast - "Wade and Carson Jost," Sept. 20, 2023; Thoroughbred Daily News Gulf War veteran Wade Jost and his son, Carson, joined TDN Writers' Room podcast hosts Bill Finley, Randy Moss, and Zoe Cadman on Sept. 23 for an in-depth and emotional...

The remaining days in 2023 dwindled to a few last week, a welcome development considering the year that it was. Yes, there was some good news. Arcangelo (Arrogate) winning the GI Belmont S. for trainer Jena Antonucci was as good a story as we've seen in some time. The saga of Cody's Wish (Curlin) continued to tug at our heartstrings. The sales continue to post huge numbers. Purses have soared in Kentucky and at Oaklawn, with maidens running for pots in excess of $100,000. But for every good story there...

My favorite moment, Arcangelo winning the Belmont, plus the Travers. And his trainer Jena Antonucci's poise and professionalism during his career and how she carried herself through all the hoopla. The most poignant moment, for me, was seeing the empty stall of Maple Leaf Mel with the flowers from the trainer of the winner who showed such great class in declaring that Maple Leaf Mel was clearly the winner and offering his condolences to Melanie.

As the year winds down, now is a relatively quiet time for horse racing. But there was nothing quiet about 2023, a year, it seems, where the bad news stories overshadowed the good news stories. What resonated most with TDN readers? Unfortunately, the answer seems to be our stories that reported on some of the darker aspects of the sport. Here are the top 10 most widely read stories of 2023 and the number of views they received: 1) Europeans Unleashed As Santa Anita is Struck by Tragedy, by Emma...

In early August, during the second session of this year's Fasig-Tipton New York Bred Yearlings Sale, a member of the Hidden Lake Farm consignment's team led a uniquely colored grey Ghostzapper filly into the sale ring and handed her off to the ringman on duty, Eddie Ortiz. As the auctioneer introduced the filly and bidding ensued, each nervous flick of her ear was met with a reassuring stroke down her neck, along her back and across the underside of her belly. Quiet words were spoken, only heard by Ortiz and...

At the conclusion of racing on Monday, Saratoga will have handled about $800 million for the meet, the third highest handle figure ever for the track. On-track attendance once again topped one million, and was officially at 1,055,543 after Saturday's GI Jockey Club Gold Cup Day card with two racing days to go. Yet, by just about any measure, it was not a good meet. Saratoga came into 2023 with the wind at its back. Every year the racing seemed to get bigger, the handle would grow and more and...

My first race was two years ago. The 2021 Haskell Invitational S., the summer before my senior year of college. It was the post parade that hooked me. When "Born to Run" sounded through the grandstand as Mandaloun, Hot Rod Charlie and Midnight Bourbon bounced onto the track, it didn't matter how the race would go. I was in. It was enough to latch onto despite the outrage I felt towards my home-state regulators for an ill-advised whip rule that took down Midnight Bourbon, along with my exacta box. But...