Rigney Racing

With the Breeders' Cup a little over four months away, the 'Win and You're In' tickets to the signature event, the GI Longines Classic, are definitely numbered. The road to Del Mar currently goes through Churchill Downs on Saturday as Classic hopefuls enter the starting gate for the GI Stephen Foster Stakes. Looking to punch his ticket to the seaside oval is Godolphin homebred First Mission (Street Sense). The 'TDN Rising Star' certainly burned brightest when he took home the GIII Essex Handicap by five lengths at Oaklawn Park in...

4th-KEE, $110K, OC, 3yo, f, 1 1/16m, 2:36 p.m. Unraced since her 'TDN Rising Star' debut at Churchill Downs last September, TWIRLING GOOD TIME (Twirling Candy) returns to the races Sunday for Rigney Racing and trainer Phillip Bauer. Stretching out from 5 1/2 furlongs to 1 1/16 miles, the $250,000 KEESEP grad will look to carry the speed that saw her go nearly gate-to-wire in her four-length win while posting an 86 Beyer Speed Figure. Out of Celebrategoodtimes, a Harlan's Holiday mare who has produced five foals and as many...

Kentucky Senator Henry Clay might be considered one of the premier American politicians pre-Lincoln, but what is not up for debate was his fervent commitment to breeding equine athletes and attending the races. You cannot actually visit his home--Ashland--because the structure that stands on the Clay Estate just south of downtown Lexington is not original to "The Great Compromiser" and his time. However, interpretations of Clay-related objects enliven the tour. Ashland in name was imported as a stakes race when Keeneland opened in 1936. Some familiar female runners who graced...

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. Tipsy Tammy (f, 3, Arrogate--Peggy May, by Lemon Drop Kid) ran a winning race on debut. She just didn't win. Those were the words of trainer Phil Bauer, who saddled the highly regarded $600,000 Keeneland September Yearling purchase to a strong second-place finish behind 'TDN Rising Star' Impel (Quality Road) on debut at Fair Grounds Jan. 1. Sporting a pair of bullet breezes on her worktab, the...

Rigney Racing's Xigera (Nyquist), the 6 1/2-length GIII Falls City S. winner on Thanksgiving Day, will enjoy a planned break this winter before targeting next year's GI La Troienne S. on Kentucky Derby weekend, according to trainer Phillip Bauer. The Kentucky-based conditioner won last year's Falls City with now-retired Played Hard (Into Mischief) who returned five months later to win the La Troienne by a neck over GI Longines Kentucky Oaks winner Secret Oath (Arrogate). "We're going to take her to the sidelines for the winter and hopefully take the...

Xigera (Nyquist) no longer needs to prove to anyone her affinity for the dirt. As if she needed to off back-to-back stake wins by a combined 9 3/4 lengths. She certainly had the wagering public on her side in Thursday's feature race under the TwinSpires, going off at a popular 1-9 to take her third-straight race and second graded stake in the GIII Falls City S. Since swapped to the main track by owner Rigney Racing and trainer Phillip Bauer, the 3-year-old, who should have inspired confidence off a third...

Churchill Downs will host two Grade III races to go with your turkey and gravy Thursday, while Del Mar will add its own graded event for dessert. The GIII Cardinal S. opens the holiday action in Louisville with a field of seven fillies and mares expected to go nine furlongs over the Churchill turf. CHP Racing's Saffron Moon (Malibu Moon), the 2-1 morning-line favorite, is making her first start against stakes company for trainer Chad Brown. The 4-year-old has three wins in four turf appearances and is coming off a...

Keeneland closed its 2023 Fall Meet on a high note Saturday. The meet produced total all-sources wagering of $201.7 million, the second-highest Fall Meet handle and fourth-highest handle in Keeneland history. "The Fall Meet was terrific from start to finish, and we are thankful for the strong support of our participants, fans and community," Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin said. "It was rewarding to see crowds line the rail through the very last race every day, savoring all the excitement this season had to offer. And with the recent...

Rigney Racing's Played Hard (Into Mischief--Well Lived, by Tiznow), winner of the GI La Troienne S. in May, has been retired from racing, trainer Phil Bauer confirmed the news first reported in Blood-Horse Thursday. "She had a summer that just nothing bounced her way," Bauer said. "We took her to Saratoga and missed the Shuvee with illness. We planned on bringing her back to Churchill, but in her last breeze up there, she got an injury in her right hind ankle. So we had the discussion with Mr. [Richard] Rigney...

Richard Rigney says that nothing in life gives him a bigger kick than his horses. To understand just what that means, it might help to know his idea of a vacation. A few years ago, for instance, he went on a shooting range in Russia. Not that startling, perhaps: this was obviously before the war in Ukraine. It's just the caliber of the ordnance that was a little unusual. "Shooting a bazooka is so fun," Rigney says. "My wife Tammy was like, 'You know what? I think it's okay that...

Already a proven winner over the 1 1/16-mile trip, Buchu (Justify) made the jump from maiden winner to graded-stakes winner Friday with an eye-catching come-from-behind performance in the GII Jessamine S. on Keeneland's opening day. Facing her fifth track in as many starts, the dark bay debuted with a pair of thirds on the dirt--first at Ellis Park June 16 and then to Saratoga in a rained-off event July 30. Sixth once she finally got on the turf in upstate New York Aug. 20, Buchu broke through at 4-1 by...

Jockey Tyler Gaffalione and trainer Brad Cox entered the final day of racing Sunday at Churchill Downs having already locked up their respective titles for the 14-day September Meet. Both successfully defended their titles from a year ago and set new September Meet records for wins: Gaffalione with 25 victories through 13 days and Cox with 15. Gaffalione more than doubled second-place Cristian Torres's 12 wins prior to Sunday's 10-race card. This will be Gaffalione's 10th riding title at Churchill Downs since 2018 and fourth-straight September Meet title. Cox's dominant...