Speightster

GI Breeders' Cup Classic contender 'TDN Rising Star' GISW Newgate (Into Mischief), along with three other horses pre-entered in this weekend's championships at Del Mar, worked Sunday morning at Santa Anita. Firing his second bullet in a row going five furlongs, this time in :58.80, the Bob Baffert-trainee shared the top ranking on the morning with John Sadler runner GSP-Arg & GISP Full Serrano (Arg) (Full Mast). In the Classic, Newgate will be making his second start since returning from a six-month layoff after a ninth-place finish in the G1...

According to a Wednesday press release, the 2024 Wanamaker's April Sale catalogue is now available, which includes yearlings, horses of racing age, open broodmares, and broodmares in-foal. Bidding will open at 9:00 a.m. ET on Thursday, Apr. 25, with the first listing set to close at 2:00 p.m. Subsequent listings will close in three-minute increments.   Highlights of the catalogue include: Nyquist filly, Deck of Cards, who has won her last three starts at Keeneland and Turfway Park and has earnings of over $125,000. Ligeia, a Florida-bred filly with two...

Straight No Chaser (h, 5, Speightster--Margarita Friday, by Johannesburg), unraced since posting a powerhouse, front-running victory in the GIII Maryland Sprint S. on last spring's GI Preakness S. undercard, is on the comeback trail for trainer Dan Blacker. After stopping the clock for six furlongs in a razor sharp 1:08.27 and earning a career-best 107 Beyer Speed Figure in that 7 1/2-length decision at Pimlico, an undisclosed party agreed to purchase a minority interest in the MyRacehorse colorbearer. The deal, however, was called off after a positron emission tomography (PET)...

David Jacobson's Bowl of Cherries (Speightster) collapsed and died on the horse path following her sixth-place finish in Thursday's second race at the Belmont at Aqueduct meeting. Making her 32nd lifetime start, the 5-year-old mare went off favored at 6-5 but was never a factor in a $25,000 claiming race eventually won by Beautiful Karen (Competitive Edge). Bowl of Cherries was also owned by Jacobson but had a claim voided on her following the race. "Following the running of Race 2 at Aqueduct on Thursday, Bowl of Cherries (#3) collapsed...

The promising 2-eary-old filly Kenwick (Bernardini) may have won in Pennsylvania, but her pedigree shouts Lexington KY from the very rooftops of two local neighborhoods. Kenwick is a central residential area of the city, while Bell Court, as in the dam's name, is an almost adjacent zone, closer to downtown. Both areas have an Old America feel to them: nothing fake, nothing too gentrified, just authentic, with a touch of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" ambiance. There is in fact a small theatre in the Bell House in Bell Court: the...

A recent PET scan at Santa Anita revealed an "area of concern" in the left front fetlock of graded-stakes winner Straight No Chaser (Speightster), trainer Dan Blacker said Thursday. The 4-year-old colt will be sent to the farm for a 90-day break. He was last seen at Pimlico for the GIII Maryland Sprint on the Preakness S. undercard May 20 where he won by an impressive 7 1/2 lengths. Straight No Chaser had not worked since the Maryland Sprint. Blacker said the 4-year-old Speightster colt recently underwent a medical examination...

Two-for-two at Horseshoe Indianapolis earlier this summer, Count de Monet didn't receive a lot of respect at the tote board, going off for his stakes debut at Oaklawn at 15-1. Despite wanting a similar front-running position as Tyler's Tribe, Count de Monet was outrun to the lead by that rival and boxed in against the fence by Too Much Info (Maclean's Music). Still covered up around the turn as Tyler's Tribe paced the field through opening fractions of :22.33 and :46.11, Count de Monet began to make up ground when...

5th-Saratoga, $105,000, Msw, 8-17, 2yo, f, 6f, 1:11.62, ft, 7 1/4 lengths. SOCIALLY SELECTIVE (f, 2, Speightster--Dharma Girl {SW, $219,008}, by French Deputy), completely overlooked on the tote board at 13-1, out-paced the field from the break, using her inside draw to establish front-running position just off the fence. Godolphin homebred Padma (Tapit) gave chase from second but made up little ground as Socially Selective led the field into the far turn, tipped off the rail into the straightaway, and showed an extra gear when asked a furlong from home....

A half-dozen juvenile colts and fillies shared the bullet furlong time of :9 4/5 at the first of seven under-tack preview shows for the upcoming OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training Sunday. The first to shade 10 seconds in their one-eighth breeze was Hip 87, a filly by Tapiture out of the unraced mare Youngnflashy (Flashy Bull) consigned by Grassroots Training & Sales. The filly was bought for $25,000 at Fasig-Tipton October. Three more fillies posted :9 4/5 time shortly thereafter--Hip 121, by Speightster, consigned by Randy Miles and...

Speightster (Speightstown--Dance Swifty, by Danzig), who arrived late last month at Northern Dawn Farm in Hillsburgh, Ontario, to stand the 2022 breeding season, was euthanized Feb. 6 after suffering a severe injury to a hind leg while in his stall. Canadian Thoroughbred was first to break the news. A 'TDN Rising Star', Speightster won his first three career races, including a defeat of GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile hero Texas Red (Afleet Alex) in the GIII Dwyer S. and entered stud in 2017 at his owner's WinStar Farm. From two crops...

Represented by a pair of flashy 3-year-old maiden winners at Oaklawn Park, owners Alex and JoAnn Lieblong have been on quite a nice run at their hometown track the past two weekends. Favorite Outlaw (c, 3, Maclean's Music--Coco Belle, by Storm Boot) earned a 95 Beyer Speed Figure--the highest rating of any sophomore so far this season--after airing at second asking by 3 1/2 lengths for Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen going six furlongs Jan. 29 (video). "We're very pleased," said Alex Lieblong, who heads his own investment firm in...

9th-Oaklawn, $84,000, Msw, 1-23, 3yo, f, 6f, 1:10.83, ft, 3 3/4 lengths. HOT AND SULTRY (f, 3, Speightster--Hot Water, by Medaglia d'Oro) burst out of the gate at Oaklawn Sunday with her mind on running and never looked back, toying with the field for a facile 3 3/4-length score. The dark bay was sent as the 8-5 choice and kept a narrow advantage through :21.97 and :46.21 splits. She changed leads on cue coming off the turn, batted off her rivals, and drew clear in the stretch, easing up late...