Sharp Aza Tack

3rd-Ellis, $71,000, Msw, 7-22, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 1:04.81, ft, 2 1/4 lengths. PONDERING (f, 2, Hard Spun--Always Thinking {SW, $162,638}, by Street Sense) debuted as advertised, breaking as the 4-5 favorite facing six rivals of which five were fellow first-time starters. Close to the lead while pressuring Pax Americana (War Front) and Electrifying Lady (Practical Joke) to her inside, the homebred stayed three wide throughout, swept up past those runners off the turn and easily took to the front, finishing strongly while kept to task by jockey Luan Machado...

Three Chimneys Farm's Sharp Azteca (Freud), winner of the GI Cigar Mile at Aqueduct and one of the top freshman sires of 2022, has been sold to Japan to stand stud at Shizunai Stallion Station in 2024, the Japanese Racing Association announced Friday. The move is subject to his passing quarantine restrictions. A leading sire of 2-year-olds last year, Sharp Azteca is responsible for progeny like Tyler's Tribe and Sharp Aza Tack.

This is somewhat of a watershed year for freshman sires, with six first-crop sires within the top 10 on the list of leading sires of 2-year-olds in North America through Monday. Spendthrift stalwart Into Mischief leads the group (as he has for five of the last seven years), but the same farm's freshman Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro) is second, Hill 'n' Dale's Good Magic (Curlin) is third, Coolmore America's Justify (Scat Daddy) is fourth, Hill 'n' Dale's Army Mule (Friesan Fire) is fifth, Three Chimneys's Sharp Azteca (Freud) is seventh,...

After breaking his maiden on debut at Ellis Park July 30, Private Creed shipped to Saratoga to contest the Skidmore S., checking in third just two lengths behind winner Oxymore (Astern {Aus}). Back in Kentucky, the 5-2 second choice behind overwhelming favorite Sharp Aza Tack, racing with blinkers for the first time, utilized a similar racing style from his first two starts--tracking in third behind pacesetter Revere Note (Revolutionary) with the favorite racing between them. Tipped to the inside of his rival past the quarter pole, Private Creed engaged Sharp...

Pan the camera away from Saratoga and Del Mar, where the glamorous juveniles debut one after another, and focus for a moment on two lower-profile tracks that hosted two eye-popping performances this weekend. On Saturday at Prairie Meadows, Tyler's Tribe, a 2-year-old Iowa-bred gelding by Sharp Azteca (Freud), won the 5 1/2-furlong Iowa Stallion Futurity by 12 1/2 lengths in 1:04:18 to remain undefeated in three starts. He earned a 90 Beyer Speed Figure--you read that correctly--for the easy score. It wasn't a fluke, either, because in his previous start...

SHARP AZA TACK (c, 2, Sharp Azteca--Que Chulo, by Bernardini) took his show across the country Saturday and couldn't have been any more impressive while becoming the second stakes winner for his fast-starting freshman sire (by Freud) in Monmouth's Tyro S. Having belied 12-1 odds when scoring first out on the Santa Anita sod June 10, the :10 flat OBSMAR breezer was no secret this time around as the even-money chalk. Briefly challenged to his inside by second choice Power Attack (War Dancer), Sharp Aza Tack shook free of that...