Price Bell

Racing analyst and reporter Christina Blacker has joined the board of directors of Light Up Racing, an organization formed to enhance the public perception of the Thoroughbred industry. "I am grateful to be a part of Light Up Racing's mission," Blacker said. "It is one that is very close to my heart and one I've put a lot of time and effort into over the years. Horse racing is a beautiful sport filled with equally beautiful, deeply caring and hard-working individuals, but is not actually what we, as a collective,...

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...

by Brian Malloy The initial public forum for Light Up Racing at Fasig-Tipton in Lexington Monday night kicked off the most encouraging effort I've seen in my 44 years in horse racing. Vicky Leonard, the Kiwi PR pro who spearheaded a similar effort in Australia after a spate of tragic accidents in the Melbourne Cup, cogently outlined this grass roots campaign to a packed house and was greeted with thunderous applause. I taught the capstone course in public relations for several years at the University of Kentucky with a systems...

LEXINGTON, KY--It was standing room only for the inaugural community event in Lexington for Light Up Racing, the initiative launched last year with the goal of empowering the racing industry by providing consistent, transparent information and research. Held Monday, Feb. 26 at Fasig-Tipton, the event drew over 200 industry members who gathered to learn about how Light Up Racing was founded and what it has already accomplished around different parts of the globe, what the organization aims to achieve in the U.S. going forward, and how individuals can play a...

Aloha West (Hard Spun--Island Bound, by Speightstown) was represented by his first foal when Bashful (Orb) produced a colt  by the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Monday at Machmer Hall Farm. "The baby has great bone, size, and substance," said Machmer Hall owner Craig Brogden. "Very happy with the beautiful baby." In addition to the 2021 Breeders' Cup Sprint, Aloha West also finished second in that year's GII Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix S. and third in the 2022 GI Churchill Downs S. Aloha West stands at Mill Ridge Farm for...

'Light Up Racing', an initiative led by a group of industry participants, striving to illuminate the path to transparency, awareness, and accountability in horse racing, has been launched, according to a press release. Light Up is spearheaded by a group of industry participants, including Price Bell, Roderick Wachman, Jason Litt, and Dr. Jeff Berk. Kick Collective, the marketing agency behind the Australian-based initiative Kick Up for Racing, is driving the marketing and communications. "We have been inspired by the impactful work of Kick Up in Australia and believe we have...

Every day, just as the the lull of the afternoon wants to take hold, Dad walks into the office from the farm and proclaims the rhetorical: "How lucky are we?" You see, Dad frequently goes out to greet our guests on our Mill Ridge-Horse Country tours, most often after they have fed carrots to mares standing by the fence. To a person they will look him in the eye: "You know how lucky you are to do what you do?" This is the reward we did not anticipate as we...

Celebrating 40 Years of the Breeders' Cup with Living Legends In the nearly 40-year history of the Breeders' Cup, only two sets of full-siblings have won Breeders' Cup races. It's difficult enough for a mare to produce one Breeders' Cup winner, but two individual Breeders' Cup winners? That's such a rarity only six mares have ever done it. And only two of those six have had lightning strike twice as they've produced two Breeders' Cup winners by the same sire. The first set, Juddmonte homebreds Banks Hill (GB) and Intercontinental...

Celebrating 40 Years of the Breeders' Cup with Living Legends It wasn't so long ago that the magnificent sire Gone West held court at Mill Ridge Farm near Lexington. From 22 crops, all while at Mill Ridge, he netted a mouth-watering 9% black-type winners from starters, including Breeders' Cup winners Da Hoss (twice), Johar, and Speightstown, all back in the days when the Breeders' Cup was still a single day and there were far fewer races. The son of Mr. Prospector passed away in 2009, but his influence on the...

He's the first one to admit he's a "little guy," a small breeder who owns two mares, two breeding rights, and all the good and bad luck that comes along with any such small operation. Losing his farm in the economic crisis of 2009 was just about as bad as it gets. Winning a race as a breeder at Royal Ascot? Just about as good. Ramon (R. J.) Rangel says he never would have had the opportunity he experienced Thursday--when Valiant Force (Malibu Moon) whom he co-bred with Spendthrift Farm...

Aloha West (Hard Spun--Island Bound, by Speightstown), winner of the 2021 GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, has had his first mare reported in foal. Bashful (Orb), owned by Carrie and Craig Brogden's Machmer Hall, was reported in foal to the 6-year-old stallion who is standing his first season at Mill Ridge for a fee of $10,000, live foal. "We love having teammates like Carrie and Craig Brogden supporting Aloha West, and thankful for quality shareholders and breeders who believe in him," said Price Bell, Mill Ridge syndicate and general manager.

After a short hiatus from the stallion business, Mill Ridge welcomed GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Oscar Performance to their farm in 2019. Four years later, they now add a second stallion to their roster in Aloha West (Hard Spun - Island Bound, by Speightstown), who claimed the 2021 GI Qatar Racing Breeders' Cup Sprint for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Wayne Catalano. With breeding shed doors opening soon, what has this newcomer's initial reception been like with breeders? "A lot more positive than the Oscar Performance reception was," said...