Siena Farm

West Point Thoroughbreds, Siena Farm, Bobby Flay and Woodford Racing's First Captain (Curlin) remained unbeaten with an authoritative victory in the GIII Dwyer S. at Belmont Park Monday. Sent off the 2-5 favorite, First Captain raced at the back of the five-horse field as Ridin With Biden (Constitution) set the pace under a snug hold through an opening quarter in :23.47. The pacesetting longshot was still a length in front after a half in :46.67, but First Captain was tipped out for clear sailing at the top of the lane...

Classier went wire-to-wire and resolutely held off stablemate Defunded to give trainer Bob Baffert his fifth straight win in the GIII Los Alamitos Derby Sunday. Sent off at 6-5, Classier was on the lead through fractions of :22.98 and :47.01. Defunded, the 3-5 favorite, rolled up to challenge the pacesetter after three-quarters in 1:11.08 and, while Classier began inching away in upper stretch, the favorite battled back in a stirring stretch battle to the wire. Classier refused to yield and earned his first graded victory in determined fashion. "I waited...

On Memorial Day, we saw a great race between Country Grammer and Royal Ship (Brz), a horse that I purchased in Brazil for Fox Hill Farm and Siena Farm. Two classy horses battling to the wire and neither giving up. But, what Royal Ship was giving up was weight to the winner and that is the issue that I want to address. Why, in a Grade I stakes race, or any graded stakes for that matter, are the horses not running with equal weights or, at least, weight for age...

The fastest 3-year-old in training will not be found in the field for Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby. In one of the most impressive debuts turned in by a 3-year-old colt in years, 'TDN Rising Star' Flightline (Tapit) not only won Saturday's maiden special weight at Santa Anita by 13 1/4 lengths, he earned a 105 Beyer Speed Figure (video). Based on the numbers, that makes him faster than any of the 20 horses lining up for the Derby. His stablemate, Rock Your World (Candy Ride {Arg}), earned a 100 Beyer...

8th-Fair Grounds, $47,000, Msw, 11-27, 2yo, 6f, 1:10.15, ft, 3 1/4 lengths. SWIFTSURE (c, 2, Uncle Mo--Island Saint {GSP, $133,860}, by Speightstown) had lit up the Fair Grounds main track in his two most recent morning trials--a bullet five furlongs from the gate in :59 4/5 (1/24) Nov. 13 and five-eighths in 1:00 flat (2/45) a week later--and was no secret at 11-10 to get his career off on a high note. Very alertly into stride, the dark bay colt set a pressured pace down inside from the much more...

With more than 1300 wins and $30 million in career earnings, a training center in Florida and a breeding operation in Ohio, Tim Hamm has already done plenty to prove his skills as a horseman and businessman. But on Friday, he'll get a chance to showcase his program on the biggest stage when he sends out unbeaten and more or less untested Dayoutoftheoffice (Into Mischief) to take on the household barns in the GI Juvenile Fillies. It will be his first runner, as a trainer at least, in the World...

Really, nobody can demand respect. It has to be commanded. This business has plenty of people who shout their achievements from the rooftops of social media. They have done their own reckoning, and that doesn't necessarily incline the rest of us to reinforce their self-esteem. How much more impressive, surely, is the understated, week-by-week accretion of laurels by a man like Doug Cauthen. He is always reluctant to "claim" credit for a particular horse, knowing that the fulfilment of its potential is always divided between so many different hands. Even...

Co-Owner, Siena Farm, Paris, KY Since the beginning of time, humans have pigeonholed each other by race, religion, gender and wealth, which has resulted in discrimination. There are many pathways that can and must be taken to reduce systemic racism and prejudice. But I see no pathway to eliminate latent discrimination; humans will always pigeonhole. There continues to be systemic racism in all sports and in American society. Blacks, Asians, Hispanics, Native Americans and Muslims continue to bear the brunt of latent discrimination and prejudice. In the early days of...

The Manganaro name is a very familiar one in the horse racing game. A third generation horse owner, Paul Manganaro finds it difficult to recall a time when horses, and racing, was not part of his life. Manganaro got his first taste of racing at a young age, courtesy of his grandfather John, who was a plasterer by trade, and father John Jr., and uncles Frank and Anthony. Anthony Manganaro went on to found the boutique breeding operation Siena Farm, currently spanning 225 acres in Paris, Kentucky. "When my grandfather...