Oscar Performance

We all know how hard it is to stand a turf horse in Kentucky today. For the minority of breeders sufficiently enlightened to offer such sires some commercial viability, moreover, the reel snapped a couple of years ago with the loss of Kitten's Joy and English Channel within months of each other. Happily, it has not taken long to cast a new leading man. Oscar Performance has delivered his lines confidently from the first take. In fact, he has even improved on the script--his leading earner, to this point, being...

Endlessly continued his near-perfect roll with an emphatic four-length victory in Turfway's GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks Saturday. The win gave the Amerman Racing homebred 100 points, good enough to place him in second behind GII Louisiana Derby scorer Catching Freedom on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard. Lucky Jeremy (Lookin At Lucky) went to the front early, leading the field into the first turn through an initial quarter in :23.33. Meanwhile, Endlessly took up position toward the back under Umberto Rispoli, several lengths off the lead. Exiting the far turn, Lucky Jeremy...

6th-Oaklawn, $115,000, Msw, 3-15, 3yo, 6f, 1:10.53, sy, 6 1/2 lengths. THIS IS USCAR (c, 3, Oscar Performance--Journey On {GSP, $259,878}, by Good Journey) drifted up from his 5-1 morning line to jump as a 9-1 longshot in this debut spot. Up on the pace from the break, he stayed right outside of pacesetter Capital Connection (Connect) and dueled that rival nearly the entire way around the track. The pair traded blows through fractions of :21.97 and :46.00 over the sloppy surface but, as they swung off the turn, This...

For a stallion farm, it's the equivalent of the "difficult second album" so notorious in the music industry. You've launched a new sire, and profited from the customary stampede of commercial mares. But the vogue proves to be cruelly fleeting. When he returns to the covering shed, the following spring, he offers exactly the same performance history, chromosomes and conformation as before. But suddenly the phone is cold. Precisely the factors that drove his debut book--novelty, plus security from imminent exposure of his competence (or otherwise) to replicate ability--have meanwhile...

12th-Gulfstream, $70,000, Msw, 2-24, 3yo, 7 1/2fT, 1:27.11, fm, 5 3/4 lengths. SET (c, 3, Oscar Performance--Three Am Tour {Ire}, by Strategic Prince {GB}) broke well and was quick into stride to show the way from the fence through :24.01 and :47.31 early splits. Never under any threat as 1:10.07 flashed up, it was a race for second place once they hit the stretch as the Mark Casse trainee drew off from the field to win as easily as he pleased by 5 3/4 lengths. Stakes-placed Typhoon Fury (Mitole) had...

Endlessly (Oscar Performance) got back in the winner's circle and earned himself a trip to the Triple Crown's middle jewel with a win in Saturday's El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate. Having gone three for three to start his career, including wins in both the GIII Del Mar Juvenile Turf S. and the GIII Zuma Beach S., the son of Oscar Performance tried his hand at the top level but came up empty when eighth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf last November. Nominated to the Triple Crown...

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for Saturday running at Hanshin and Nakayama Racecourses: Saturday, December 9, 2023 6th-HSN, ¥13,720,000 ($96k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1800m SEXY BOUQUET (f, 2, Liam's Map--Shurakaa, by Tapit) cost $180,000 as a Keeneland September yearling and is out of a daughter of 2007 GI Breeders' Cup Filly...

2nd-AQU, $85k, Msw, 2yo, 7f, 12:20p.m. ET From the family of GISW Acoma (Empire Maker) and her half-brother, the late, great GISW Arch (Kris S.), CONQUEST WARRIOR (City of Light) will be the priciest unveiling on the afternoon in New York, carrying a princely $1 million tag from the 2022 KEESEP sale. Racing for Courtlandt Farms under the tutelage of Shug McGaughey, the colt is a half-sibling to a series of winners out of dam MSW Tea Time (Pulpit) including unraced 3-year-old filly Soul Play (Union Rags), who was also...

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running at Kyoto and Tokyo Racecourses: Saturday, November 11, 2023 5th-KYO, ¥13,720,000 ($91k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1800mT OSCAR BRAVE (c, 2, Oscar Performance--Russian Symbol {Ire}, by Danehill Dancer {Ire}), a $17,000 Keeneland September yearling turned $240,00 OBS April juvenile, is the latest foal...

Mill Ridge Farm will host a stallion open house every day from Tuesday, Nov. 7 through Saturday, Nov. 12, the Lexington, Ky, farm announced on Tuesday. The farm will showcase their two Breeders' Cup-winning stallions--Oscar Performance (Kittens Joy) and Aloha West (Hard Spun)--every day from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Lunch will be served. Oscar Performance, who won the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf in 2016, will stand for a fee of $25,000, live foal in 2024. He currently is a top second-crop stallion with five black-type winners and two...

MGISW Oscar Performance (Kitten's Joy) will stand for $25,000, live foal, in 2024 at Mill Ridge Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, the farm announced on Tuesday. The figure represents an increase of $5,000 over his 2023 fee. Aloha West (Hard Spun), the winner of the 2021 GI Breeders' Cup Sprint will stand for $8,500, live foal, a slight decrease from the $10,000 fee he stood for this year. "Having two Breeders' Cup winners as stallions at Mill Ridge, in Oscar Performance, who has made such an exciting start to his stud...

5th-BAQ, $90K, Msw, 2yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 2:44 p.m. ET On Friday at the Belmont at the Big A meet, trainer Cherie DeVaux and co-owners Martin Schwartz and David Ingordo celebrated Reagan's Flame (Flameaway) coming home a winner over the turf in her first start. Now Schwartz and DeVaux send PURLOIN (Arrogate) to the post looking for a similar outcome. A $200,000 Keeneland September purchase by Midnight Bloodstock, the gray filly went for $400,000 during the OBS April Sale with DeVaux signing the ticket after she went 10 2/5 during...