Speightstown

Shirl's Speight (Speightstown)'s dam Perfect Shirl (Perfect Soul {Ire}) may have rallied from far back when she upended the 2011 GI Breeders' Cup F/M Turf at 27-1, but Shirl's Speight showed off impressive speed from the first jump Saturday at Woodbine to garner the 'TDN Rising Star' distinction. Sporting a mostly unassuming worktab over the local Tapeta, the Chuck Fipke homebred quickly assumed command and doled out splits of :23.02 and :45.38 while traveling well within himself. Rafael Hernandez still hadn't moved a muscle on the 3-1 shot as they...

WinStar's Speightstown continues to prove himself as an accomplished sire of sires. Already, he's had four sons go on to produce Grade I winners and just in the last two years, he's seen eight additional sons, including GISW Force the Pass and the multiple graded stakes-winning Qurbaan, begin their stud careers. In 2017, WinStar welcomed their graded stakes-winning homebred Speightster into the same stud barn as his prodigious sire. With an initial stud fee set at $10,000, a price that has stayed in place since, Speightster has been supported with...

Undefeated 'TDN Rising Star' Charlatan (Speightstown) will be forced to miss the June 20 GI Belmont S.--and likely the rest of the Triple Crown--due to a minor ankle injury, per trainer Bob Baffert. The story was first reported by the Paulick Report. "I feel like I just went a few rounds in the ring with Mike Tyson," Baffert told the TDN just after watching one of his other top sophomores, the previously unbeaten Authentic (Into Mischief), finished second in the GI Santa Anita Derby. "It was tough and I'm sad...

After giving some thought to passing the race, trainer Bob Baffert said he is leaning toward starting Charlatan (Speightstown) in the GI Belmont S. June 20. Baffert had been considering running Charlatan the GI seven-furlong Woody Stephens S., also June 20, and Nadal (Blame) in the Belmont. But Nadal was injured last week and retired. "I was thinking about running Charlatan in the Woody Stephens and then the Haskell because I had Nadal for the Belmont. Now that has changed," he said. Charlatan is scheduled to breeze Monday morning. Baffert...

DETROIT TESORO may not sound as an operatic name for this winning filly, but it is. The dam is Bella Traviata and Giuseppe Verdi's "La Traviata" is the ideal opera for some, and definitely one of the most popular. The most famous song (romanza) of "La Traviata" is "Parigi O Cara" "Paris, Oh Dear". I do not know where Detroit comes from (owner's prerogative), but in Italian Tesoro (treasure) is definitely a synonym of Cara as a term of endearment. I am exhausted and I rest my case. Detroit Tesoro,...

8th-SA, $50K, Msw, 3yo/up, 5 1/2f, 7:00 p.m. ET HRH Prince Sultan Bin Mishal Al Saud's FIERCE FOR SUL (Speightstown) has strung together a series of solid Santa Anita works--including a four-furlong move in :47 flat May 10 followed by a five-furlong breeze in 1:00 3/5 (XBTV) May 18--leading up to this first go for Bob. Baffert. At the OBS March Two-year-olds in Training sale last season, the :10 flat breezer was secured for $650,000, the highest price paid for a Speightstown juvenile from 12 sold in 2019. Dam CJ's...

Sharing picked up her sophomore season where she left off last term with a victory in the Tepin S. at Churchill Downs. Tracking from fourth through a :24.16 opening quarter and a :48.39 half, Maryland bred swept up two wide on the backstretch, took control in early stretch and held off a late bid from Abscond to win by 3/4 of a length. Pass the Plate rounded out the trifecta. A close-up third in her career bow at Saratoga last July, the chestnut earned TDN Rising Star honors with an...

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running at Kyoto Racecourse, where Unsaid Vow (Giant's Causeway) steps into group company for Saturday's G2 Kyoto Shimbun Hai: Saturday, May 9, 2020 11th-KYO, Kyoto Shimbun Hai-G2, ¥103,500,000 ($973k), 3yo, 2200mT UNSAID VOW (c, 3, Giant's Causeway--Country Cafe, by Lion Heart) dips...

From the moment Charlatan (Speightstown) crossed the wire in his impressive Feb. 16 unveiling at Santa Anita, people started comparing him to Triple Crown winner Justify (Scat Daddy), who also made his first racetrack appearance in February of his 3-year-old year. The Bob Baffert-trained chestnut followed that effort with an allowance win going two turns, like Justify. While that Horse of the Year went on to win the GI Santa Anita Derby next out, before taking home the roses on the First Saturday in May of 2018, Charlatan was forced...

Mozu Superflare (Speightstown) won the 1200m G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen at Chukyo on Sunday after a game effort on the front end and a timely disqualification. Disregarded at 31-1 in this full 18-horse field, the blinkered chestnut shot straight to the front and quickly opened up several lengths on the chasing pack, clearly relishing the soft going. She clicked off fractions of :22.90 for the opening quarter and :45.60 for the first 800 metres. Rivals began to wind up with their runs inside the final furlong and Kurino Gaudi (Jpn) (Screen...

"Only fools, liars and charlatans predict earthquakes." So said the man who instead gave us a means of measuring tremors once they have actually happened, Charles Richter. But how about when an earthquake announces a Charlatan? Because on the equivalent of the Richter scale, for those who try to quantify a horse's talent against the clock, a 105 debut Beyer for 'TDN Rising Star' Charlatan (Speightstown) at Santa Anita last month represented a convulsion that brought every other member of his crop crumbling to the ground. Some even whispered the...

6th-Santa Anita, $57,000, Alw (NW1$X), Opt. Clm ($80,000), 3-14, 3yo, 1m, 1:36.24, ft. CHARLATAN (c, 3, Speightstown--Authenticity {MGSW & MGISP, $883,362}, by Quiet American) made 30 cents on the dollar seem like Christmas in March and is on to bigger and better things following a thoroughly convincing 10 1/4-length allowance victory Saturday afternoon at Santa Anita. Quickly into stride from the outside gate in a scratched-down field of five just minutes after stablemate and fellow 'Rising Star' Nadal (Blame) stamped his authority on the GII Rebel S., Charlatan looked to...