Peter Brant

7th-DMR, $75K, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 8:02 p.m. ET. Conditioned by John Sadler, Don Alberto homebred UNIQUE POWER (Into Mischief) debuts for his dam--champion older dirt female Unique Bella (Tapit)--who was acquired by the stable for $400,000 at the 2015 Keeneland September Sale. Her own dam is GI Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic heroine Unrivaled Belle (Unbridled's Song). Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm took this mare home for $3.8 million at the 2016 Keeneland November Sale. Unrivaled Belle's half-sister, Lemon Belle (Lemon Drop Kid), is responsible for GIII Gotham Stakes champ...

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - The Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, which opened Monday with figures on pace for a third year of records, concluded Tuesday with an electric session which demolished the sale's previous high for gross, average, and median. At the close of business Tuesday, 154 yearlings sold for $82,160,000--highest ever in the auction's 103-year history, surpassing the previous record of $75,055,000 set last year. The average of $533,506 also improved on the 2023 record figure of $487,370, while the median of $425,000 bettered the...

Hip 146, a colt by boom sire Gun Runner bred on a cross over Tapit mares that has proved a rich source of high-class runners, was hammered down to Coolmore and Peter Brant for $1.9 million to skip to the head of class during the first hour of trade during Tuesday's second session of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale. The Feb. 27 foal was consigned by Lane's End on behalf of the colt's breeder, Jane Lyon's Summer Wind Equine, and hails from one of her best families. Hip 146 is out...

After a seven-figure RNA earlier in the session, an Into Mischief colt was the first to crack the $1-million threshold in Monday evening's opening session of Fasig-Tipton's Saratoga Select Yearling Sale when selling to Coolmore's M. V. Magnier and White Birch's Peter Brant. The Darby Dan Farm-consigned colt was bred in Kentucky by Lothenbach Stables out of the winning Distorted Music (Distorted Humor), dam of 2022 GIII Chilukki Stakes winner She Can't Sing (Bernardini). The Feb. 28-foaled, $1-million colt, who went through the ring as Hip 30, sold earlier this...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--In early June, while I was working on a story about the GI Met Mile for the TDN, one question led me to another. First: What year did two-time Met Mile winner Gulch go into the Hall of Fame? Second: How could Gulch, who won seven Grade I races, finished in the top three in 25 of 32 career starts and earned over $3 million in the 1980s not be in the Hall of Fame? "Yeah. You've got it. You're right," breeder-owner Peter Brant said. "They don't always...

1st-SAR, $100k, 3yo/up, f/m, 6 1/2f, 1:10 p.m. ET LADY PINK (Into Mischief), a $720,000 acquisition by Peter Brant at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, is out of the unplaced Astray (Bernardini), whose SW & MGSP dam Away (Belong to Me) was responsible for MGSW and GI Kentucky Derby runner-up Eight Belles (Unbridled's Song) and an additional pair of stakes horses. The bay is a half-sister to Bob Marco (Arrogate), stakes-placed on the grass as a 3-year-old. Rigney Racing's Two Sharp (Twirling Candy), a $925,000 KEESEP yearling, blew the break...

This past week the racing has come a distant second in the minds of many when set against the tragedy that has befallen the family of racing commentator John Hunt. Such an appalling act of cruelty is impossible to contemplate, especially when it concerns someone who is so popular and respected. In any workplace there are divisions and squabbles. What unites the racing press room in Britain is the unquestionable fact that John is not only a talented professional but a thoroughly decent man; a friend to so many.  He...

Peter Brant and Coolmore's Whistlejacket (Ire) (No Nay Never--Adventure Seeker {Fr}, by Bering {GB}) led home the stands' side group when fourth in last month's G2 Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot and found plenty in the closing stages to secure an ultimately impressive tally in Thursday's G2 Kingdom Of Bahrain July Stakes at Newmarket. Breaking on the lead and remaining there throughout, the 11-10 favourite came under pressure when threatened on both sides passing the quarter-mile marker and kept on powerfully, despite drifting left on the climb, to prevail by...

Aidan O'Brien trainee Whistlejacket (Ire) (No Nay Never--Adventure Seeker {Fr}, by Bering {GB}) debuted with a runner-up finish in an Apr. 21 six-furlong maiden at the Curragh and made no mistake dropped down in trip for Monday's Listed GAIN First Flier S. back at the Co. Kildare venue. Sharply into stride to race on the front end from flagfall in this black-type bow, the 500,000gns Tattersalls Book 1 graduate was shaken up soon after passing the quarter-mile pole and surged clear under continued urging inside the final furlong to easily...

He wasn't the most cooperative at the stalls and he left himself plenty to do over a Keeneland main track that was playing kind to speed over the course of the afternoon, but 'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (c, 3, Gun Runner--Heavenly Love, by Malibu Moon) saved his best for last and cemented his status as one of the top couple of contenders for the GI Kentucky Derby with a fast-finishing victory in the 100th running of the GI Toyota Blue Grass S. Saturday afternoon. The victory, on the back...

   In this series, the TDN takes a look at notable successes of European-based sires in North America. This week's column is highlighted by the victory of Mawj in the GI Queen Elizabeth II Cup S. presented by Dixiana Farms at Keeneland last weekend.   Classic Filly Comes Good At Keeneland Godolphin homebred Mawj (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), already a winner of the G1 1000 Guineas at Newmarket, doubled her top-level tally in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup S. at Keeneland on Saturday and gave trainer Saeed bin...

4th-BAQ, $90K, Msw, 2yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 2:12 p.m. The expectations for JUST JULES (Justify) are high given her $1.05m price tag as a yearling at Keeneland September last year. Purchased out of a partnership by her breeder, the filly is a half to GSW Ballet Dancing (Medaglia d'Oro) and MGSP Untreated (Nyquist). This is also the family of champion 2-year-old filly Halfbridled (Unbridled). Just Jules is drawn inside for trainer Bill Mott. A homebred for Peter Brant, Belle Gambe (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) is out of Unaided (GB) (Dansili {GB}),...