Promises Fulfilled

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - It was quite easy for Donegal Racing to come up with a name for Gate to Wire (Munnings), who turned in an eye-catching debut performance Friday. "He looked fast," said Donegal CEO Jerry Crawford. Gate to Wire has lived up to his appearance in training and showed his speed in the opener at Saratoga Race Course, while posting a 1 3/4 -length victory in the $100,000 maiden special weight for 2-year-olds. Though he did not lead every step of the way, Gate to Wire, with leading...

2nd-Thistledown, $33,400, Msw, 6-26, 2yo, 5f, 1:00.24, ft, 1 1/2 lengths. COASTLAND (c, 2, Promises Fulfilled--Mother Nature, by Winslow Homer) debuted as a 5-2 shot here. The homebred was second last up the backstretch, but he was under a drive to the outside around the far turn. Utilizing a full-head of steam, the 2-year-old secured the front at the sixteenth marker and won by 1 1/2 lengths over Freedom Stance (American Freedom). A half-sister to SW Faction Cat (Wildcat Heir), the winner's unraced dam is responsible for a yearling filly...

Speightstown will head the roster at WinStar Farm in 2022 with a fee of $90,000, stands and nurses, the same fee for which he stood in 2021. Right behind the chestnut is Constitution, North America's second-leading third-crop sire, who will stand for $85,000 S&N, also the same as 2021. Among notable changes on the 18-horse roster, More Than Ready gets a trim from $65,000 to $50,000. "Our 2022 roster is suited for breeders at every level," said Elliott Walden, WinStar's president, CEO, and racing manager. "Speightstown, Constitution, and More Than...

When considering stallion potential, brilliance and precocity are rarely left out of the equation. But a unique find emerges when a headlining juvenile can carry out his talent as a sophomore and even as an older horse before beginning his stud career. Two of WinStar Farm's new recruits for 2021, Improbable (City Zip) and Promises Fulfilled (Shackleford), showed brilliance early on in their careers as flashy debut winners before each went on to become stakes winners at three and four. We spoke with WinStar's David Hanley on the pair of...

For the first half of this story, please visit yesterday's instalment. Precocity may not be the first thing you'd have in mind from Tom's d'Etat (Smart Strike--Julia Tuttle, by Giant's Causeway), who enters service at WinStar at $17,500 after only really seizing our attention at the age of seven. Nonetheless, he represents one of the most promising prospects of the intake. For a start, he's by a sire of sires out of a graded stakes-placed Giant's Causeway mare whose own dam was a full-sister to Candy Ride (Arg). And nine...

LEXINGTON,KY-- Just over 12 hours after the trio's contention for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, Improbable (City Zip), Global Campaign (Curlin) and Tom's d'Etat (Smart Strike) made the short trip from Keeneland to WinStar Farm, where they will soon take up stud duty for the 2021 breeding season. "We're really excited with Improbable, Global Campaign and Tom's d'Etat coming to the stallion barn," said WinStar's Elliott Walden. "They all look good-their color was good, they didn't look too drawn up and they got off the van and acted like they'd...

Robert J. Baron and WinStar Farm's Grade I-winning millionaire Promises Fulfilled (Shackleford--Marquee Delivery, by Marquetry) has been retired from racing and will enter stud at WinStar for the 2021 breeding season. His fee has been set at $10,000 S&N. Promises Fulfilled won five graded stakes at distances from six furlongs to 1 1/16 miles--winning the GI H. Allen Jerkens S., GII Fountain of Youth S., GII John A. Nerud S., GII Phoenix S., and GIII Amsterdam S. "When we look for stallion prospects, we want brilliance," said Elliott Walden, WinStar's...

Grade I winner Promises Fulfilled (Shackleford) makes his first racetrack appearance of 2020 Saturday in Belmont's GII True North S. Victorious in the 2018 GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S., the chestnut was fourth in a loaded renewal of the prestigious GI Met Mile last summer and romped in the track-and-trip GII John A. Nerud S. last July. Fading to sixth behind champion Mitole (Eskendereya) and the re-opposing Firenze Fire (Poseidon's Warrior) in Saratoga's GI Forego S. Aug. 24, Promises Fulfilled was last seen finishing sixth when trying to defend...