Miles D

GII Wood Memorial S. runner-up Early Voting (Gun Runner) put in his final breeze ahead of the upcoming GI Preakness S. Friday morning at Belmont Park, going five panels in 1:00.63 in company with SW Miles D (Curlin). Under jockey Jose Ortiz, The Chad Brown pupil went three-eighths in :36.40 before completing the five furlong move in 1:00.63 and galloping out six furlongs in 1:13 flat over the fast main track. "He hit the times just as I wanted and he galloped out super," Brown said of Early Voting. "If...

Even with local heavyweights Mandaloun (Into Mischief) and Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) awaiting the $20-million Saudi Cup, there will still be plenty of talent on display in a loaded renewal of Saturday's GIII Mineshaft S. at Fair Grounds. Miles D (Curlin), third at 18-1 in the GI Runhappy Travers S. last summer, closed out his sophomore campaign with a pair of wins, led by a promising decision in Aqueduct's 1 1/8-mile Discovery S. last time Nov. 27. The runner-up that day Speaker's Corner (Street Sense) resurfaced with a razor sharp win...

Peter Brant and Robert LaPenta's Miles D (Curlin) may have earned a trip to the G1 Saudi Cup in February with his victory in Saturday's Discovery S. at Aqueduct. "I'm not one to send my horses to other continents to run. I like to stick to my circuits. But that race has been on my mind with the right style of horse," trainer Chad Brown said. "This might be the kind of horse that fits for me trying one of those races. Although he's had a couple of hard races,...

"England expects that every man will do his duty" were the eloquent and terrifying orders of Viscount Horatio Nelson before the Battle of Trafalgar (1805), where the great admiral annihilated the French fleet and destroyed Napoleon's maritime ambitions forever--losing his life to an enemy musket ball in the bargain. The Oct. 2 Churchill Downs winner TRAFALGAR, a courageous come-from-the-next-county closer, has more than done his duty and is thoughtfully named. 7th-Churchill Downs, $122,699, Msw, 10-2, 2yo, 1m, 1:35.61, ft, 2 1/4 lengths. TRAFALGAR (c, 2, Lord Nelson--Southern Drifter, by Dixie...

Champion Essential Quality (Tapit) came into Saturday's GI Runhappy Travers S. as the heavy favorite with three other Grade I victories to his credit, in addition to his Eclipse Award. Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow), on the other hand, entered with a point to prove as he never had a chance to show his stuff last time in Monmouth's GI Haskell Invitational S. July 17, after clipping heels and almost going down in the stretch. Essential Quality got the better of his rival at Saratoga Saturday, but not before Midnight Bourbon gave...

Eclipse winner Essential Quality (Tapit) headlines a strong field of seven in Saratoga's prestigious GI Runhappy Travers S. Saturday evening. Should he succeed he would be the second colt in as many as years to complete the GI Belmont S./Travers double and the first juvenile champion to take the Midsummer Derby since Street Sense won the 2007 renewal. Opening his sophomore account with wins in the GIII Southwest S. Feb. 27 and GII Toyota Bluegrass S. Apr. 3, the Godolphin homebred was fourth as the favorite in the GI Kentucky...

How very apt, that a Saratoga card also featuring a race named in her honor should culminate Saturday in a GI Runhappy Travers S. bearing a twin imprint of the legacy of Personal Ensign. Both Dynamic One (Union Rags) and Miles D (Curlin), one-two in the Curlin S. last month, trace their ancestry to the Hall of Fame mare: Dynamic One's mother is out of Personal Ensign's granddaughter Storm Flag Flying (Storm Cat); while Miles D's dam is Storm Flag Flying's unraced half-sister Sound the Trumpets (Bernardini). But if nobody...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY--Miles D (Curlin) proved himself to be graded stakes-worthy in the Curlin S. and trainer Chad Brown is aiming for Saratoga's biggest prize, the GI Runhappy Travers on Aug. 28. "We're headed to that race," Brown said. "We'll see how he works leading up to it, but I'm planning on taking a shot in that race." Brown said that Miles D, co-owned by Peter Brant and Robert LaPenta, will return to the worktab at Saratoga this weekend, probably on Saturday morning. Miles D was a solid second to...

2nd-Belmont, $90,000, Msw, 6-12, 3yo/up, 1m, 1:36.94, ft, 2 1/4 lengths. MILES D (c, 3, Curlin--Sound the Trumpets, by Bernardini) made a single visit to the races last season, a well-bet and close-up fourth at Aqueduct Oct. 11, in an event that has turned out to be no ordinary maiden. Next-out 'TDN Rising Star' and Smarty Jones S. winner Caddo River (Hard Spun) was runner-up to Godophin's Speaker's Corner (Street Sense) and a half-length better than Greatest Honour (Tapit), who would go on to annex the GIII Holy Bull S....

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency COLTS FROM FLAMBOYANT FAMILIES READY TO SHINE  8th-BEL, 63K, Msw, 2yo, 7f, post time: 4:47 p.m. EDT A $470,000 Keeneland September yearling for the partnership of Peter Brant and Robert LaPenta, Chad Brown's MILES D (Curlin) is the first foal of an unraced Bernardini mare who hails from the exceptional Personal Ensign (Private Account)'s immediate family. That Broodmare of the Year's Breeders' Cup-winning and -producing daughter My Flag (Easy Goer) is Miles D's granddam. The depth of this family seems limitless, but the graded winners...