Smart Strike

With 18 stallions already standing at stud, WinStar Farm already had one of the largest stallion rosters in Kentucky, but they will be busier than ever in 2021 after having welcomed five new recruits for the upcoming season. Laoban (Uncle Mo) will stand his first year in Kentucky after becoming a Grade I-producing sire this year, while Grade I winners Improbable (City Zip) and Promises Fulfilled (Shackleford) will start off their career at the Versailles farm. Today, we speak with WinStar's General Manager Dave Hanley on Global Campaign (Curlin) and...

Those of us who grew up in New York City in the 1950s and 1960s were not only blessed with some extraordinary major league teams and athletes, as well as more than enough superior racehorses, but were also lucky that so many of the radio and television play-by-play announcers were among the greatest of all time--ranging from Vin Scully in Brooklyn to Mel Allen in the Bronx to Fred Capossela at Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga. But the voice that sticks in our mind is that of the man who called...

Leading GI Breeders' Cup Classic contender Tom's d'Etat (Smart Strike--Julia Tuttle, by Giant's Causeway), hero of the 2019 GI Clark S. and an impressive last out winner of the GII Stephen Foster S. with a career-best 109 Beyer Speed Figure, will stand at WinStar Farm upon the conclusion of his racing career. Campaigned by Gayle Benson's G M B Racing and trainer Al Stall, Jr., he has compiled a record of 18-11-2-1 and earnings of $1,627,272. Tom's d'Etat is currently on a four-race winning streak and has his sights set...

Tom's d'Etat made his case for one of the top older horses of 2020 with a blowout performance in Churchill's GII Stephen Foster S. coming on the heels of three straight wins, including in last November's GI Clark H. under the Twin Spires. Allowing longshot Pirate's Punch (Shanghai Bobby) to dictate terms through initial fractions of :23.89 and :48.13, the 7-year-old loomed menacingly just to his outside before overtaking the pacesetter on the far turn following six furlongs in 1:11.67. Two lengths in front turning for home, the 6-5 choice...