Midnight Bisou

What was it, many have asked, that drew Jeff Bloom to Midnight Bisou at the 2017 OBS April 2-Year-Old Sale? While it surely wasn't her unmet reserve from the Keeneland September Sale, where bidding stalled at $19,000, perhaps it was her three-time stakes-winning dam. Diva Delite (Repent) had yet to produce a winner, but as a racehorse she had claimed the GIII Florida Oaks and earned over $300,000. On the other hand, maybe something in the filly's :10 1/5 breeze at the sale had caught his eye. [tdn_vimeo_embed title="Midnight Bisou:...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 3rd-BEL, $70K, OC ($80K), 3yo/up, 1m, post time: 1:28 p.m. ET Phipps Stable and Claiborne Farm's Performer (Speightstown) makes his belated first start of the year. The Shug McGaughey trainee has been off since winning his fourth straight (from five attempts) in Aqueduct's nine-panel GIII Discovery S. Nov. 30. His third dam is MGSIW My Flag (Easy Goer), who in turn produced champion juvenile filly Storm Flag Flying (Storm Cat). TJCIS PPs 7th-KEE, $70K, Msw, 2yo, f, 7f 184 ft., post time: 4:24 p.m. ET...

Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute--Diva Delite, by Repent), the reigning Eclipse Award-winning older female and five-time Grade I winner, has been retired from racing, according to Jeffrey Bloom, co-owner and managing partner or Bloom Racing Stable. "I cannot begin to tell you what this mare has meant to me, my family, and my partners," said Bloom. "The places she has taken us and the thrills she has given us are immeasurable. And just to be in her presence is to feel what greatness is all about. Her calm, inquisitive demeanor, her...

In a press briefing held Tuesday, The Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia (JCSA) announced that the 2021 running of the $20-million Saudi Cup will be held Feb. 20, one week earlier than the date for the inaugural edition of the world's richest race. The announcement was made by HRH Prince Bandar Bin Khalid Al Faisal, Chairman of the JCSA, who, during a question-and-answer session with the media, also addressed the unresolved situation concerning Maximum Security (New Year's Day) and his former trainer Jason Servis. Shortly after Maximum Security crossed the...

According to a tweet from co-owner Jeff Bloom, Eclipse Award-winner Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) has been sent to Dr. Larry Bramlage to be evaluated after a four-furlong workout in 50.15 seconds Monday at Saratoga. "Midnight Bisou had an easy routine maintenance breeze this morning at Saratoga. Our champion mare was a bit 'off' after cooling out. Out of an abundance of caution she will be sent to Dr. Larry Bramlage in Lexington, KY for a full evaluation," Bloom wrote. She was being pointed to the Oct. 4 GI Spinster S....

Elite Sales will offer three champion fillies and mares for sale at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale Nov. 8 when they send Monomoy Girl (Tapizar--Drumette, by Henny Hughes), Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute--Diva Delite, by Repent) and Uni (GB) (More Than Ready--Unaided {GB}, by Dansili {GB}) through the ring. Among them, the group have earned a combined $13.2 million. Monomoy Girl, owned by Monomoy Stables, Michael Dubb, The Elkstone Group and Bethlehem Stables, was 2018's Champion 3-Year-Old Filly and the 2018 Breeders' Cup Distaff winner. She is three-for-three in 2020 and added...

It was two years--and four months--ago that Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) gamely dug in past the Twin Spires of Churchill Downs to earn a victory in the GI Kentucky Oaks. This Friday, the popular champion will be in action at Churchill Downs on Oaks Day once more, this time as a 5-year-old in the GI La Troienne S., her first try in a Grade I since being sidelined for all of 2019. Following her Oaks triumph with scores in the GI Acorn S., GI Coaching Club American Oaks and GI Longines...

Two years ago, when it was announced that legendary Calumet Farm was hiring Jack Sisterson as its primary trainer, there was skepticism. At just 33 years old, with only experience as an assistant to his name, it was fair to question whether or not Sisterson was prepared to carry the flag for such a powerful racing and breeding brand. Those questions have now been answered--resoundingly in the affirmative, as just a short while later, Sisterson has not only proved equal to the task, but appears on his way to the...

This past Saturday wasn't a great day to be a favorite in an open stakes race at the nation's premier race meets. Chalk horses went a collective one-for-seven at Saratoga and Del Mar, and the list of excuses included stutter-step starts, bumps leaving the gate, stretch-run roughhousing, getting disqualified, and being dueled into defeat in internal pace battles. Tight finishes in several stakes elevated the interest level, although the results in general did not lend clarity to the nationwide divisional races with the GI Kentucky Derby inside the five-week mark...

Champion Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) was bet like she could not lose Saturday's GI Personal Ensign S. at 1-5, but apparently no one told 9-1 shot Vexatious (Giant's Causeway). The Calumet runner refused to yield to the Eclipse winner in the final furlong of the Saratoga stretch to secure a spot in the starting gate for the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. Stakes winner Motion Emotion (Take Charge Indy) went straight to the front with Vexatious stalking in a close-up second and Midnight Bisou just off of them in third through...

Champion Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) will attempt to successfully defend her title in Saturday's GI Personal Ensign S. at Saratoga. Winner of seven of eight starts last year, including three Grade Is, the bay followed her win in this event with a facile score in the GI Beldame S. at Belmont in September. She suffered her sole loss last season in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff Nov. 2, but had still done more than enough to secure the Eclipse Award as top older mare. Running last most of the way...

Will Farish's Code of Honor (Noble Mission {GB}) breezed a half-mile in :49.04 (XBTV video) at 5:30 Monday morning over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga, completing his preparations for Saturday's GI Whitney S. The nine-furlong event offers the winner a fees-paid berth in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland Nov. 7. Working beneath his regular exercise rider Lexi Peaden, last year's GI Runhappy Travers S. hero went his opening quarter in :25.1 and galloped out five-eighths of a mile in 1:01.2 to the satisfaction of Hall of Fame...