Quality Road

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 Chukyo and Hanshin Racecourses: 2nd-HSN, ¥9,680,000 ($93k), Maiden, 2yo, 1800m AMERICAN PEACE (c, 2, Tapit--La Cloche, by Ghostzapper) is one of at least four runners by this sire entered this weekend for owner Katsumi Yoshizawa of Master Fencer (Jpn) fame...

LEXINGTON, KY - While Into Mischief secured the top lots during Monday's first session of the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale, it was Quality Road in charge during Tuesday's second session as Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners went to a session-topping $560,000 to secure a son of the Lane's End stallion. The day kicked off with a daughter of Quality Road bringing what was ultimately the session's co-second-highest price of $230,000. Through two sessions, Fasig-Tipton has sold 489 yearlings for a gross of $16,390,500. The two-day average is $33,518, down 12.7% from...

On the heels of the announcement Friday that top three leading second-crop sire Daredevil will return to the U.S. from Turkey to stand at Lane's End Farm, the Versailles nursery and stallion station released its full roster and stud fees for 2021. A total of 21 stallions will make up the roster, led again by stalwart Quality Road, who gets a fee cut from $200,000 to $150,000. A majority of key breeding sheds are cutting 2021 stud fees due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Candy Ride (Arg) will also see his...

Cowboy Culture (Quality Road--English Willow, by Smart Strike) will stand the 2021 breeding season at Whitney Farms in Monrovia, Indiana. Undefeated in two starts as a juvenile, Cowboy Culture was a leading turf horse on the Midwest circuit in 2017, highlighted by victories in the GIII Arlington Classic followed by the Centaur S. at Indiana Grand, which sits 40 minutes to the east of Whitney Farms. Cowboy Culture will stand for an introductory fee of $2,500 live foal with an option to breed additional mares at $1,500 each. Breeders who...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 2nd-BEL, $80K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, post time: 12:55 p.m. ET Several well-bred firsters will look to run down the likes of morning line favorite Exact (Competitive Edge), who was second over track and trip Sept. 18. Allen Stable and Shug McGaughey unveil Cafe Society (Empire Maker), a $135,000 KEESEP yearling turned $475,000 OBSAPR 2-year-old off a :10 flat breeze. Dam Full Tap (Tapit) was carrying Cafe Society when she brought $375,000 at the 2017 Keeneland November sale. The three-time winner, who was third in...

by Brian DiDonato, Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis LEXINGTON, KY--The Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase, a hybrid of the company's July yearling sale, Saratoga sale and New York-bred yearling sale brought about by COVID-19- induced rescheduling, kicked off the 2020 yearling sales season Wednesday with signs of life for the market. A total of 172 yearlings changed hands for gross receipts of $27,166,000--good for an average of $157,942 and median of $100,000. The RNA rate was 34.4%. "At the outset, we had no expectations for the statistics," said Fasig-Tipton president and...

A daughter of Quality Road ignited a fury of bidding at Newtown Paddocks Wednesday, jumping into the seven-figure range in a matter of seconds and dropping the hammer at $1.5 million, which was the highest price of the day. When the smoke cleared, it was trainer Robbie Medina left signing the ticket on Hip 232 on behalf of longtime owner and breeder Joe Allen. (Click here for our post-sale interview with Robbie Medina) "She had the best pedigree in the book, so Joe wanted her," said Medina, who worked as an assistant...

4th-Delaware, $41,225, Msw, 8-26, 2yo, 6f, 1:11.85, ft. TATE (c, 2, Quality Road--Collective, by Bernardini), the 2-1 second choice in this debut, was hustled from the gate to keep pace with the early leaders before settling just off the pacesetters in third. He split foes at the top of the lane, charged to the lead with a furlong to run and stormed clear to graduate by seven lengths. Plamen (Curlin) was second. Tate is a half-brother to Shared Sense (Street Sense), GSW, $327,745. Collective produced a colt by Hard Spun...

Last year, an ongoing bull run in the North American bloodstock market carried the juvenile sector to a historic breakthrough. For the first time, aggregate turnover broke the $200 million barrier. The momentum felt so giddy that the next milestone, with the mean cost of a 2-year-old standing at $95,807, promised to be a six-figure average. No market, of course, can sustain perennial growth. Capitalism requires recession to regenerate value. While these cycles will ideally be mild, this particular market is always especially exposed to any incipient weakness. Very often,...

7th-Saratoga, $72,000, Msw, 7-19, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 1:05.33, ft. LUCIFERS LAIR (f, 2, Quality Road--Devil's Cave {GSW & GISP, $379,430}, by Put It Back), co-favored at 5-2 for this unveiling for the always dangerous Todd Pletcher barn, proved well meant and professional to score comfortably at first asking Sunday. Out-footed by only longshot Stone Town (Tapizar) early, the Maryland-bred sat perched off of that foe's right flank through an opening quarter of :22.37 and began to wear the pacesetter down after a :45.97 half. She seized command in the...

On a day when Chad Brown secured his 100th and 101st Grade I victories, Dunbar Road--already a Grade I winner herself--added to the haul in an event that was downgraded from highest-level status a couple years ago. Saving all the ground tucked just behind the speed early, the prohibitive favorite split rivals under confident handling heading for home. Saracosa tried to shadow that one's move, but Dunbar Road simply outclassed her competition to win geared down by as much as she pleased. An eight-length debut winner at Gulfstream last March,...

An intentional breeder is a student of their broodmares, diligently studying each mating and the resulting offspring while adjusting and making inferences at every corner. Over the past seven years, the Don Alberto Corporation has meticulously analyzed each foal produced on their growing Kentucky-based farm and has endeavored to make each mating more successful that the last as they continue to learn from their elite broodmare band. "The engine has started working," Don Alberto's Executive Director Fabricio Buffolo said. "We know the mares and know more about how they are...