Maxfield

Voila Magic, the 9-2 third choice in this inexperienced group, wanted the front but had to contend with Acknowledge (Authentic) early to his inside. The pair dueled past the half-mile pole in :46.03 and it was Voila Magic who went on with things, putting that rival away off the far turn and opening up on his wrong lead to cruise home ridden out 5 3/4 lengths in front of 2-1 favorite Ennis Town (Echo Town). Voila Magic is Volatile (by Violence)'s second 'TDN Rising Star', joining Saratoga maiden winner and...

As most of us can attest from painful experience, this business will always be an exception to the axiom that "a rising tide floats all boats." Even a record, boomtime sale like the one just completed at Keeneland will inevitably have left many a vessel beached or taking on water. As usual, the September Sale extended a wide spectrum even among the losers, never mind between losers and winners, from the single colt that changed hands for as little as $1,000, to the granddaughter of Take Charge Lady who fell...

To many, no doubt, her genetic contribution is by now too attenuated to merit attention. At the very least, however, it must be acknowledged an impressive coincidence that the winners of both the GIII Iroquois Stakes and GIII Pocahontas Stakes--whose shared value, as reconnaissance for the Classics over the same track next May, is recognized by allocation of the first starting points--should share as sixth dam the Darby Dan foundation mare Golden Trail. The Golden Trail dynasty entwines such productive lines as those branded by Memories of Silver, Sunshine Forever...

LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland September Yearling Sale continued ahead of its 2023 edition as Book 3 concluded Sunday night with a colt by Maxfield leading the way when selling for $575,000. Through the two Book 3 sessions, 526 yearlings sold through the ring for a gross of $83,880,000. The section's average was $159,468--up 4.7% from a year ago--and the median was $130,000, an increase of 13.04%. Ten horses sold for $500,000 or more, compared to 13 hitting that mark a year ago. During last year's Book 3 section, 562...

16-1 longshot Musical Mischief (Into Mischief) upset the GII Fasig-Tipton Locust Grove Stakes Saturday to earn her first graded stakes win. The $300,000 yearling had shown a prior affinity for the dirt at Churchill Downs, romping late last year in an off-the-turf allowance race by 11 1/2 lengths and going right into the 1 1/4-mile GI American Oaks at Santa Anita where she managed third behind the talented Anisette (Awtaad {Ire}). Second in the Allaire Dupont Distaff Stakes at Pimlico May 17, Musical Mischief returned to Churchill to win an...

A dark bay filly by first-crop yearling sire Maxfield brought $1 million Monday at the first session of the Keeneland September yearling sale. John Stewart's Resolute signed the ticket for Hip 53, who is out of the unraced French Passport (Elusive Quality) and a half-sibling to GI Alabama Stakes and GI Ogden Phipps Stakes winner Randomized (Nyquist) from the same family as MGISW Got Stormy (Get Stormy). Consigned by Four Star Sales, agent, the $1-million filly and May 11 foal was bred by Cove Springs in Kentucky.

The 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale released its catalog Tuesday with 4,396 horses set to go through the ring over 12 sessions. The sale will be held Monday, Sept. 9 through Saturday, Sept. 21 in Lexington, KY. "This time of year energizes Keeneland and our entire industry as we prepare to showcase an outstanding collection of quality yearlings and welcome many domestic and international horsemen and horsewomen to Lexington to participate in a vibrant marketplace unlike anything in the world," said Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin. "Having achieved some...

by Christina Bossinakis & Stefanie Grimm Lexington, KY--The onset of the yearling season every summer can be a bit of a worrisome time for many. With the yearlings that have been so painstakingly selected by Fasig-Tipton's team for its first yearling sale of the season, it can often be a bit unnerving whether things will go off without a hitch or not. And at the conclusion of Tuesday's yearling session, it appeared that it had. "It was a fantastic start to the 2024 yearling sales season," affirmed Fasig-Tipton President and...

Every year, the Fasig-Tipton July sale offers the first chance for buyers to get a look at a new crop of yearling sires. Many buyers were seeing these sires' yearlings for the first time this week, and while it's admittedly early, we took a little survey to get their first impressions. The group includes: Basin, Beau Liam, By My Standards, Charlatan, Core Beliefs, Essential Quality, Independence Hall, Knicks Go, Known Agenda, Leinster, Lexitonian, Maxfield, Modernist, Raging Bull, Rock Your World, Silver State, Tacitus, Uncle Chuck, and Yaupon. LIZ CROW: Tacitus...

5th-CD, $120k, Msw, 3yo/up, f, 1mT, 2:45p.m. ET MIXOLOGIST (Frosted) will break from the middle of the field in this maiden on the grass, and the LNJ Foxwoods color bearer has big shoes to fill as the half-sister to Australian multiple Group 1-placed Princess Grace (Karakontie {Jpn}). Said sister was a three-time graded winner and three-times Grade I-placed in the States before changing hands for $1.7-million in 2022 at FTKNOV to China Horse Club and being exported to Australia. She twice came a neck short of winning her first race...

As we approach the opening of the 2024 breeding season, the TDN staff is once again sitting down with leading breeders to find out what stallions they have chosen for their mares, and why. Here we catch up with Larry Johnson, the owner of Legacy Farm in Bluemont, Virginia. "I'm trying to go from primarily breed-to-race to more commercial opportunities," said Johnson. A GREAT TIME (10, Street Magician - Short Time, by Clever Trick) to be bred to Constitution A homebred stakes winner of nearly $250,000 by my homebred stallion...

Now we're really entering nosebleed altitudes for most breeders, between $30,000 and $50,000: a zone where you should feel that you're improving the odds of coming up with an elite horse. It tells you a lot about our business that the majority of the two dozen stallions operating at this level can only do so because they have yet to send a single runner into the starting gate. A quarter of these we immediately set to one side, as absolute beginners, because those received separate consideration in the opening instalment...