Rusty Arnold

Two Labradors grace the front steps of the main house at Shawnee Farm. Their dark coats glossy in the sunlight, the affable mother-daughter pair are among the eight generations of hunting dogs bred by G. Watts Humphrey Jr. and his wife Sally. As much as the sport of horse racing has been an unwavering passion for the Humphreys throughout their many years together, so too has their shared penchant for bird hunting. In fact, the sport led them into forming a business relationship that evolved into a lifelong friendship--one that...

In a mad scramble for the wire in Saturday's $1-million GII Ainsworth Turf Sprint S. at Kentucky Downs, 23-1 Calumet homebred Gear Jockey (6, h, Twirling Candy--Switching Gears, by Tapit) got a desperate head down in front of 3-2 choice One Timer (Trappe Shot) and 11-1 Bad Beat Brian (Jack Milton). It was a repeat of his success in this same race two years ago when it was a Grade III, albeit by a far slimmer margin. Final time for the six furlongs was 1:10.59. The Turf Sprint is a...

Kodiac Wintergreen (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), getting an extra half-furlong to work with following a late-running second-place finish in her five-furlong debut at Belmont June 11, was sent off the even-money favorite Thursday at Saratoga. The bay filly was away well, but was shuffled back to mid-pack. Racing greenly on the turn, she was behind a wall of horses at the top of the lane and was tipped out to the center of the course. She found her best stride in deep stretch and closed with a powerful late flourish to...

While Friday's GII Eight Belles S. was bet more or less like a coronation for the freaky and previously unbeaten Munnys Gold, Red Carpet Ready--whose own perfect record was tarnished last out--had other ideas. Away as the second choice almost 14 times the favorite's odds, Red Carpet Ready shadowed the pacesetting chalk early with both kept well off the inside. Red Carpet Ready put the screws to Munnys Gold around the turn after a :45.11 half, and quickly opened up as noses pointed for home. Munnys Gold dug in deep,...

1st-Keeneland, $100,000, Msw, 4-14, 3yo/up, 6f, 1:09.94, ft, 2 3/4 lengths. SWEET CHERRY PIE (c, 3, Twirling Candy--Sweet Cat {MGSP, $232,950}, by Kitten's Joy) clearly had no qualms about facing older horses in just his second start off a troubled fourth-place debut at Gulfstream Park six weeks ago, checking in behind the highly regarded winner Scotland (Good Magic). Cutting back a furlong off his Florida debut at seven-eighths, the Kentucky-bred showed early speed right out of the gate and raced closest to the rail as he battled with Cape Trafalgar...

   In this new series, the TDN takes a look at the success of European-based sires in North America, on a semi-weekly basis. This week's column (Feb. 18-Feb. 25) is highlighted by the victory of Godolphin homebred Lake Lucerne (Dubawi {Ire}) in the Albert M. Stall Memorial S. at Fair Grounds on Feb. 18. A worldwide influence for class, Dubawi celebrated his 250th stakes winner with Lake Lucerne's two-length victory for Brendan Walsh and Tyler Gaffalione in a 1 1/16-mile turf stakes in New Orleans eight days previously. The 6-year-old...

Ashbrook Farm and Upland Flats Racing's Red Carpet Ready picked up right where she left off Saturday, dominating Gulfstream's GIII Forward Gal S. to stay unbeaten and earn eight GI Kentucky Oaks qualifying points. Belying almost 37-1 odds when she aired in the Churchill slop first out Oct. 30, the dark bay handled the next step with aplomb, taking the Nov. 26 Fern Creek S. by daylight over a next-out allowance winner back under the Twin Spires. Off as the narrow second choice behind multiple local stakes winner Atomically--last seen...

The betting public had some difficulty knowing exactly what to do with Red Carpet Ready in Saturday's $200,000 Fern Creek S. at Churchill Downs. The $180,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga graduate opened her account at first asking by 10 going six furlongs on the Stars of Tomorrow I program here Oct. 30, but it came over a heavily rain-affected track and was only modestly graded. The dark bay filly was accordingly no better than 7-1 off a morning line that was half that number and jumped alertly to stalk the pace outside...

However unlikely it seemed back in the autumn when the syndicate was formed, the members of the Dew Sweepers LLC have been provided with reason to believe their dream of securing a Royal Ascot winner can become a reality with the news that Irish Champion Jockey Colin Keane has committed to riding both of their runners next week. It makes sense, too. The Dew Sweepers LLC, formed and managed by Jack Goldthorpe, features several Irish ex-patriots and they will be cheering on Keane as he gets the leg over Late...

Churchill Downs will be curtailing usage of its newly installed $10-million turf course for the remainder of the meet by capping grass races to a maximum of two per day and moving 19 races listed in condition books two and three to the main dirt track. The news arrived Sunday in the form of a note on the overnight for the June 10 races. On Monday, Churchill's senior director of communications, Darren Rogers, explained the reasoning to TDN via email. "We've decided it's best to limit turf racing to two...

Gear Jockey (Twirling Candy), third at 67-1 as a maiden in the 2019 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita, delivered a career high while punching his ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. The Calumet Farm homebred sat just off the pacesetting Bombard (War Front) in second, took over under confident handling as they hit the quarter pole and took care of business from there to win for fun. Longshot Diamond Oops (Lookin At Lucky) nosed out Bombard for second. Gear Jockey, a maiden winner at ninth...

Five sophomore fillies face off against a compact but well-bred bunch in Saturday's GII Mother Goose S. at Belmont Park. Heading the quintet is Three Chimneys Farm's Always Carina (Malibu Moon), who earned her TDN Rising Star status only two days removed from her superstar sire's death at age 24. A fourth-length winner going six panels in her debut at the Big A Apr. 11, the Chad Brown trainee blew the doors off with a dominating 9 3/4-length score while stretching to a mile against optional claiming company here May...