Mike McCarthy

The field for Sunday's GIII Bob Hope Stakes, a seven-furlong event for 2-year-olds at Del Mar, features a small and somewhat eclectic group of six. Take, for example, MGISP McKinzie Street (McKinzie). The Tim Yakteen trainee impressed in his sprint debut earlier in the summer but has had the misfortune of running second and third in a pair of Grade I's including a last-out third to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Citizen Bull (Into Mischief) in the GI American Pharoah Stakes Oct. 5. He breaks from the rail and...

The connections of Lord Bullingdon thought highly enough of their horse to jump him up into graded-stakes company after running second to 'TDN Rising Star' Prince of Monaco (Speightstown) at Los Alamitos July 9. Second again in the GIII Del Mar Juvenile Turf S., he was denied again back in maiden special weight company at Santa Anita Oct. 7 before finally breaking through in the Qatar Golden Mile S. Nov. 3. Fourth last out in the GIII Cecil B Demille S., Lord Bullingdon stuck to what he knows best in...

5th-BAQ, $90K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6fT, 3:11 p.m. Blue Devil Racing Stable purchased DREAMING OF MO (Uncle Mo) at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale for $700,000. Two years prior, the bay filly's dam Dreaming of You (Pioneerof the Nile) was sold to Phoenix Thoroughbreds with the filly in utero at the Keeneland November Sale for $500,000. Second dam General Jeanne (Honour and Glory) also produced MGSW Justwhistledixie (Dixie Union), who foaled GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile hero New Year's Day (Street Cry {Ire}) and three full-brothers by Tapit--MGSW Mohaymen, GSW Enforceable,...

5th-Del Mar, $84,500, Msw, 9-10, 2yo, 1mT, 1:36.03, fm, 1/2 length. FORMIDABLE MAN (c, 2, City of Light--Fanticola {GSW & GISP, $561,986}, by Silent Name {Jpn}) was a 9-2 shot here at first asking and the bay colt wrangled the lead past the grandstand, settling on the front end into the first turn. The hooded Mike McCarthy trainee continued to set the fractions and arriving at the top of the lane, he fended off a challenge from fellow firster and favorite Ngannou (Mendelssohn) to win by half a length. The...

Lugan Knight (Goldencents) was not going to be denied as he matched strides down the lane with Arctic Arrogance (Frosted) in the $150,000 Jerome S. at Aqueduct Racetrack on Saturday afternoon. With 10-4-3-2-1 points available to the top 5 finishers on the Road to the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby, it was Lugan Knight's day to shine. Sent off as the second choice at 7-2, the colt set front-end fractions of :23.41 at the quarter-mile marker and :47.70 for the half-mile, all as the favorite Arctic Arrogance dogged his...

Only one week removed from Hollie Doyle's barrier-breaking success in the G1 Prix de Diane, another young female jockey with French connections has landed in the United States to try her luck. Mickaelle Michel's journey with horses started as many young horse girls do. "From my younger age, I loved horses," the 26-year-old said. "When I was 14, I knew I would like to work with them but I didn't know exactly which job. So I checked the internet and found a jockey school close to my house. I said,...

Saturday's GII Azeri S. at Oaklawn Park features several of the most prominent figures in the Distaff division each lining up to get their first graded stakes win of the 2022 season. The reigning champion sprinter and winner of the 2021 GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint Ce Ce (Elusive Quality) returns to the two-turn distance after spending much of her 2021 season at seven-furlongs. She's been plenty successful at this distance before, including a win the 2020 GI Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park and two third-place efforts in...

They say that some poker players have a "tell," a change in their behavior that can give away how they feel about their chances of winning a particular hand. Hall of Fame rider Victor Espinoza says that the 2021 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint winner, Ce Ce (Elusive Quality) is no different. "Most of the times I ride her, I know before I get to the gate what kind of a race she's going to run," he said. "So, did you know in the Breeders' Cup?" I asked eagerly....

MGSW Independence Hall (Constitution--Kalahari Cat, by Cape Town) will stand stud at WinStar Farm at the conclusion of his racing career. He will command a fee of $10,000 and will participate in WinStar's Dream Big Program, which offers breeders the opportunity to earn a lifetime breeding right. Hailing from the first crop of WinStar's red-hot young sire Constitution, Independence Hall was two-for-two as a juvenile, including a win in the 2019 GIII Nashua S. Opening his sophomore season with a win in the 2020 Jerome S., the dark bay was...

If any ducks have been careless enough to stray at the Michael McCarthy barn at Santa Anita, they've been promptly herded back into row. The McCarthy office has a new lick of bright white paint and a navy accent wall to compliment the trainer's coat of arms. There's the fancy new desk--one of those good-for-the-back ergonomic types that moves to fit the owner and not the other way around--and a blazing new flatscreen high in one corner. Then there's the trainer himself, freshly shorn from an in-office trim--a precision 10-minute...

Michael Lund Petersen's Gamine (Into Mischief), last year's Eclipse champion female sprinter, aims for her fifth straight victory in the GI Ketel One Ballerina S.--a Win and You're In event for the GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint--at Saratoga Saturday. Gamine capped her championship campaign with a 6 1/4-length romp in last year's F/M Sprint and she has been largely unchallenged in three starts so far this term. The bay filly opened 2021 with a five-length score in the Apr. 4 GIII Las Flores S. and added the May 1 GI...

The vast majority of the headlines leading up to the 146th renewal of the GI Preakness S. had to do with one horse, one trainer and one subject. But when the dust had settled at Pimlico at approximately 7 p.m. Saturday, the narrative had suddenly changed. In the span of 1 3/16 miles, the story was no longer one of rumors and speculation. It became a story about an improving horse, John and Diane Fradkin's Rombauer (Twirling Candy), that finally had his chance to prove his mettle on the big...