Moira

In the first Grade I of the 2024 Saratoga meet, Juddmonte homebred Whitebeam (GB) (m, 5, Caravaggio--Sleep Walk {GB}, by Oasis Dream {GB}) repeated in the Diana Stakes, giving trainer Chad Brown a record ninth win in the race and eighth in the last nine years. It also marked his 154th career Grade I win. Canada's 2022 Horse of the Year and Queen's Plate winner Moira (Ghostzapper) was second, while MGISW Gina Romantica (Into Mischief) finished third. In a textbook front-running ride from Flavien Prat, Whitebeam lulled them to sleep...

Chad Brown has won the GI Diana Stakes seven times in its last eight runnings and, well, the odds say that right about 5:45 p.m. Saturday, that will be eight out of the last nine. That's because the Mechanicville native will send out half of the 10 runners for the first elite-level contest of the Saratoga meeting. Strength, indeed, in numbers, but a quintet also not short on quality. Chili Flag (Fr) (Cityscape {GB}) is perhaps the antithetical European import for the barn in the sense that she required three...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY -- It's a tossup as to what is the biggest sporting event this weekend for trainer Jeremiah Englehart. The choices are these: the $175,000 GIII Sanford Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday or the Vermont Lacrosse Classic two and a half hours away in the town of Essex. Come again? Englehart will do double duty because three of his five kids are in the lacrosse travel tournament. He wont miss that. And he can't be absent from the Spa because he has to to saddle Mo...

The 2022 Canadian Horse of the Year Moira (Ghostzapper--Devine Aida, by Unbridled's Song) fetched $3 million to the phone bid of DM Racing, an anonymous racing partnership, to lead the early results of the broodmare and racing prospect section at Tuesday's Fasig-Tipton November sale. Moira was the winner of the fastest Queen's Plate in history last year and was last seen finishing third in Saturday's GI Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf behind Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}). Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa, agent, consigned the Canadian champion, who...

With a nod to Chicago motorsport legend Jan Gabriel's famous call of Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!, the blockbuster weekend of horse racing isn't in the books just yet with 11 graded stakes scheduled. Out of those, three guarantee a starting spot in next month's 40th Breeders' Cup World Championships --'Win and You're In'. In Toronto, Woodbine Racetrack cards the GI E.P. Taylor S. A renewal of the celebrated 1 1/4 grass event, this year's edition includes Godolphin homebred and Dubai multiple group stakes winner With The Moonlight (Ire) (Frankel {GB}). The...

The name Canuck Racing Club might not be a familiar one to most folks in the horse racing industry, however at least one of the personalities behind it most certainly is. Less than two weeks ago in Saratoga Springs, New York, bloodstock agent Donato Lanni made his presence felt when signing the tickets on five yearlings--led by a pair of sales-topping colts--totaling over $9 million in gross expenditures. Already well established south of the border, the Montreal-raised Lanni decided to forge a deeper stake into the Canadian industry over the...

"What's in a name?" Spurning Master Shakespeare and embracing anecdotal evidence, consider the tale of how Saratoga's Oklahoma Training Track got its name. Horsemen complained that the distance across Union Avenue to the main course was such a hike that it might as well be in Boomer Sooner land. Another piece from the past concerns the name of the Alabama S. Dating to 1872, the race was given that moniker after the Derby-winning owner William Cottrell of Mobile asked if it could be dubbed after his home state, instead of...

Ellis Park will host its first Grade I race in its 100-year history Saturday, but there are plenty of other graded stakes scheduled before the Fourth of July at Belmont Park, Delaware Park, Woodbine Racetrack and Gulfstream Park. Here's a rundown of what's on tap. Showdown in Belmont's Dwyer One of two graded stakes on Saturday in Elmont is the GIII Dwyer S. Going a mile, the race pits Fort Bragg (Tapit), who was forced to scratch from the GI Woody Stephens S. by trainer Bob Baffert when the 3-year-old...

Lucky Seven Stable's Rattle N Roll (Connect), winner of this term's GIII Ben Ali S. Apr. 22 and GIII Pimlico Special S. May 19, is the horse to beat returning on short notice in Saturday's GIII Blame S., the featured race on "Stephen Foster Preview Day" at Churchill Downs. The $1-million GI Stephen Foster will now be held four weeks later at Ellis Park. The Ken McPeek-trained 2021 GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity winner will face seven rivals from his rail draw, including the re-opposing Ben Ali second and third-place finishers...

Woodbine Entertainment has released the nominations for the 2023 OLG Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, consisting of The King's Plate, the Prince of Wales and the Breeders' S. Totaling 124 3-year-olds foaled in Canada, the list of nominees includes star performers from last season, winners south of the border over the winter and many preparing for the upcoming Woodbine meet. Contested over three different surfaces at two courses, the Canadian Triple Crown will kick off Sunday, Aug. 20 at Woodbine with the 164th running of The King's Plate followed...

Moira (Ghostzapper), dominant winner against males in last year's Queen's Plate S., took home both Horse of the Year and Champion 3-Year-Old honors at the 48th Annual Sovereign Awards ceremony hosted by the Jockey Club of Canada on Thursday. The evening began with a commemoration of the club's 50th anniversary and recognition of the founding members from 1973. The top three finalists in each category are determined by the online ballots of the Jockey Club of Canada's voters. The media category award finalists were determined by professionals within the industry...

The tone was so casual that Donato Lanni couldn't be sure quite how earnest the words had been. If he saw something interesting at a yearling sale, he was to let George Krikorian know. Still in his 20s, Lanni had first connected with the movie theater magnate when cold calling on behalf of John T.L. Jones Jr. after a Corwyn Bay (Ire) filly won a maiden in his silks. Might Krikorian breed the dam back to the Walmac stallion? He did just that and, when he came to visit the...