Pioneerof the Nile

Even Richard Wagner would have struggled to make anything of this particular "ring cycle". In four starts, Eight Rings (Empire Maker) has so far abruptly alternated the full works--strings, horns, kettle drums--with a timid clink of the triangle. As such, he certainly can't afford to break the cycle when surfacing for the first time since his Breeders' Cup bust in the Bachelor S. at Oaklawn Saturday. Dropping in grade and distance, in fact, he needs to produce the dominant sophomore performance of a day that also features a new stakes...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - The two-day Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Yearlings Sale couldn't match up to its record-setting 2018 renewal, but when the dust settled Monday evening at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion, the auction had seen its fourth straight record-priced yearling. The record bid came from Larry Best, who said he had only seen the filly two hours before he spent $775,000 to acquire the daughter of Malibu Moon from the Winter Quarter Farm consignment. In all, 186 yearlings sold during the 2019 New York sale for a total of...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - A year ago, Jonathan Thorne sent a son of Pioneerof the Nile through the sales ring at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred Yearlings Sale and watched as the youngster sold for a sale-record $600,000. It was a gratifying moment for the longtime New York breeder who has been on the front lines of the evolution of the state's breeding program. Thorne returns to the New York sale with a five-horse consignment in 2019. "I was just really fortunate enough to breed a horse and raise him and...