Ramiro Restrepo

The holiday weekend of stakes action--and the Saratoga meet--conclude in style when morning-line favorite Ferocious (Flatter) faces eight rivals in contentious renewal of the GI Hopeful Stakes. Campaigned by JR Ranch, Ramiro Restrepo, High Step Racing and OGMA Investments, the $1.3-million OBS March graduate romped to a 7 3/4-length debut win and earned a 'TDN Rising Star' label Aug. 3. Off a step slow in that unveiling, Ferocious settled in a good stalking position behind an opening quarter-mile in :22.06 over a muddy and sealed main track. Tipped out to...

Saratoga Springs, N.Y.--While it wasn't the scenario he expected at the beginning of the month, trainer John Ortiz will be busy late Saturday afternoon saddling the fillies Brightwork (Outwork) and 'TDN Rising Star' Quietside (Malibu Moon) in consecutive stakes at Saratoga Race Course. First up will be WSS Racing's Brightwork in the GIII $200,000 Prioress Stakes, scheduled for 5:04 p.m. ET. Immediately after the six-furlong Prioress, Ortiz will scoot back to the paddock to prepare Shortleaf Stable's Quietside in the $300,000 GI Spinaway Stakes, which Brightwork won last year. When...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. Y.--Ferocious's (Flatter) blowout victory in the sixth race at Saratoga Race Course Saturday produced a series of backward and forward moments in the winner's enclosure. Ramiro Restrepo and Gustavo Delgado, Jr., principals in Mage's (Good Magic) rise to prominence and victory in the 2023 GI Kentucky Derby, held court following the $100,000 2-year-old maiden special weight race that might be the first big step for another standout. Restrepo and Delgado spearheaded the purchase of Ferocious for $1,300,000 at the OBS March sale and they were appropriately excited...

The money came late for Ferocious (c, 2, Flatter--Napier, by Midnight Lute), who was available at 4-1 for a good deal of the betting, and when all was said and done, was the 3.45-1 favorite making his career debut in Saturday's sixth race at Saratoga. And the money proved right on, as the colt exploded through the final eighth of a mile to become a no-brainer 'TDN Rising Star'. Things did not go especially well at the break for the $1.3-million OBS March purchase, as he reared slightly, costing him...

TIMONIUM, MD - The Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale opened with a steady session which gained steam throughout the day Monday at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium. "It was a very good start to the May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. "The results were basically identical to last year, from a statistical standpoint. We were very encouraged." A total of 142 horses sold Monday for a gross of $13,162,000. Monday's average was $92,690, and the median was $48,500. Monday's figures where on...

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis OCALA, FL - With a pair of colts topping the seven-figure mark, the tempo picked up during the second session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training Wednesday. With 144 horses sold Wednesday for $25,488,000, the session average was $177,000--up 6.2% from last year's corresponding session--and the median of $87,500 declined 2.8% from a year ago. The buy-back rate was 31.8%. "I thought it was a very good session," said OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski. "It felt like...

Ramiro Restrepo saw off a host of challengers to secure a colt by Flatter for $1.3 million during Wednesday's second session of the OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. Restrepo signed for the juvenile in the name of his Marquee Bloodstock and he was purchased on behalf of a group of international partners, including Gustavo Delgado, who will train the dark bay. The colt was consigned to the sale by Sequel Bloodstock, on behalf of his breeder, Gentry Stable. He is out of Napier (Midnight Lute), a half-sister to...

Operation Cashmere Club's assault on the White Turf of St. Moritz under the leadership of Generals Bromagen, Restrepo and Scherer began with a two-pronged attack, the primary force descending from Zurich in the North and a secondary force coming up from Milano in the South. The combined force of 70 plus Americans, Canadians, Irish, English and French converged upon the Hotel Kempinski Bar at 18:30 hours Thursday. In the face of such overwhelming odds the Kempinski Bar offered no resistance. The pattern continued Friday with a daytime assault on The...

George Baker is set to saddle two runners in the Grosser Preis von St Moritz--the feature race on the final day of the White Turf meeting at St Moritz on Sunday, Feb. 18--including Cumulonimbus (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), who will be having just his second start for the trainer and a new American ownership group which includes Kentucky Derby-winning owner Ramiro Restrepo. The jet-setting Baker will fly to Switzerland from Bahrain after supervising his team of runners at Rashid Equestrian and Horseracing Club on Friday, Feb. 16, headed by...

From Nov. 28 through Dec. 31, Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance collected over $200,000 in donations from its 2023 Holiday Giving Campaign to raise funds to support thousands of Thoroughbreds at 86 TAA-accredited organizations, the non-profit said in a release Wednesday. The Holiday Giving Campaign highlighted a different match sponsor each day, offering single-day sponsorships ranging from $500 to $10,000. 2023 Match Sponsors included: Mike Rogers, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Yvonne Schwabe, National HBPA, Denali Stud, Siena Farm, Donna Barton Brothers, Jack Damico, West Point Thoroughbreds, Rick Schosberg, Simon Bray, Dan & Denny...

Mage (Good Magic--Puca, by Big Brown), this year's Grade I Kentucky Derby winner, has been retired from racing and will begin his stallion career at Airdrie Stud for the 2024 breeding season, announced his connections in a press release Monday morning. Racing for the ownership group of OGMA Investments, LLC, CMNWLTH, Sterling Racing, LLC and Ramiro Restrepo and trained by the father-son team of Gustavo Delgado and Gustavo Delgado, Jr, Mage's victory in Kentucky Derby 149 stands as the highlight of a whirlwind 3-year-old campaign that saw him break his...

For the last three or four years, bloodstock agents Ramiro Restrepo, Bo Bromagen, and Clay Scherer had talked about attending the White Turf races in St. Moritz, Switzerland as fans. The races are among the most unique in the world. They're held every February and run over a frozen lake that is packed down with snow, creating a spectacle unlike anything, anywhere in the world of horse racing. The races have been held since 1907. "We always thought that the St. Moritz white turf races were so cool, so appealing,"...