St Elias Stable

$1.45-Million Arrogate Colt Leads The Way At OBS Spring Opener

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis OCALA, FL - The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training opened Tuesday with a session that produced figures nearly identical to the auction's 2022 opening session. "It was a good start to the sale," said OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski. "A lot of horses sold very well. And I'd like to think the strength will continue through the next three days. I feel pretty good about that. There are a lot of good horses left to sell." During Tuesday's...

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Sunday Insights: Beautifully Bred Curlin Colt Unveiled At Gulfstream

1st-GP, $50K, Msw, 3yo, 5fT, 12:40 p.m. A Triple Crown-nominated colt for the connections of Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg, Jonathon Poulin and St. Elias Stable, SOUTH SIDE (Curlin) was a $500,000 yearling purchase out of the Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga Select Sale. His dam, while unplaced herself, is out of the graded stakes winning mare Mariah's Storm (Rahy), who readers will recognize as the dam of none other than the full-brothers by Storm Cat, Giant's Causeway and Freud. In addition, this is the family of several...

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Forte Arrives at Churchill Downs

St. Elias Stable and Repole Stable's GI Kentucky Derby favorite Forte (Violence) arrived at Churchill Downs on Monday following a 14-hour van ride from trainer Todd Pletcher's winter base of Palm Beach Downs in South Florida. Last year's champion juvenile colt bedded down in his barn 39 and joined fellow Derby hopefuls Kingsbarns (Uncle Mo) and Tapit Trice (Tapit), both who arrived in Louisville on Sunday. Forte, who won last year's G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile and G1 Hopeful S. before being honored with the Eclipse Award, has won both the...

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TDN Derby Top 20: Upheaval in the Ranks

A new kingpin graces the No. 1 slot after a wild, final weekend of 100-point preps. The rankings below are independent from the "Road to the Derby" leaderboard Churchill Downs uses to determine starting berths, with several horses included here who are currently below the cut.   1) PRACTICAL MOVE (c, Practical Joke--Ack Naughty, by Afleet Alex) O-Leslie & Pierre Jean Amestoy & Roger Beasley; B-Chad Brown & Head of Plains Partners (KY); T-Tim Yakteen. Sales history: $90,000 RNA yrl '21 KEESEP; $230,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR. Lifetime Record: GISW, 7-4-1-2,...

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City of Light's Fearless Soldier Strong at Second Asking

5th-Gulfstream, $70,000, Msw, 3-12, 3yo, 7 1/2fT, 1:29.34, fm, 2 1/2 lengths. FEARLESS SOLDIER (c, 3, City of Light--Hessie's Girl, by Giant's Causeway) had something of a rough debut Feb. 16 when he tossed his head at the jump and hopped coming out of the stall. Racing all over the synthetic track from there, as far as seven wide in the stretch before lugging in through the final furlong, he finished a very green fourth but producing a field-best Beyer Speed Figure of 74. Cutting back from that 1m70 contest...

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Champion Forte Super Strong in Fountain of Youth

The champ is back and possibly better than ever. Last year's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner and champion 2-year-old colt 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence) returned to the races in style with a powerful performance in Saturday's GII Fountain of Youth S., good for 50 points on the road to the GI Kentucky Derby. "We kind of carefully laid it out and put him in a program that would put him in the condition to be ready to run and still having room for improvement and room to continue to...

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Champion Forte Works 'Strongly' for Fountain of Youth

Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Forte (Violence) breezed five furlongs in 1:01.58 Saturday morning at Palm Beach Downs in preparation for a planned start in the GII Fountain of Youth S. Mar. 4 at Gulfstream Park. "He finished up very strongly and galloped out great. We're very, very happy with him," Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said. Saturday's breeze was the fifth in a series of workouts following Forte's Eclipse Award-clinching victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Keeneland. Irad Ortiz Jr., the only race rider Forte...

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Taking Stock: Pletcher on the Curlins

Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher is on fire, unveiling one promising colt or filly after another in maiden, allowance, and stakes races it seems. Last month, Pletcher won his eighth Eclipse Award as North America's leading trainer. Not only that, but three horses trained by Pletcher also won Eclipses: Forte (Violence), champion 2-year-old colt; Nest (Curlin), champion 3-year-old filly; and Malathaat (Curlin), champion older female. Like Pletcher, Curlin shone at the Eclipses. Aside from Nest and Malathaat, his Elite Power was named champion sprinter of 2022, giving the Hill 'n'...

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Derby Top 12: The Point Race Begins

The first week of January doesn't have much in common with the first Saturday in May--with the exception that the inaugural TDN Top 12 has arrived to herald the coming of the seemingly far-off GI Kentucky Derby season. Get tied on and enjoy the ride. 1) ARABIAN KNIGHT (c, Uncle Mo--Borealis Night, by Astrology) 'TDN Rising Star'. O-Zedan Racing Stables, Inc.; B-Corser Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert. Sales history: $250,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP; $2,300,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $86,025. Last start: 1st Keeneland Maiden Special Weight, Nov. 5....

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November 27 Insights: Pletcher Unveils Well-Bred Quality Road Colt

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 12th-CD, $120k, Msw, 3yo/up, 7 1/2f, 6:24p.m. ET Repole Stable, St. Elias Stable, and Woodford Racing LLC partner-up on this $500,000 KEESEP procurement in PATOU ROAD (Quality Road), who will be getting a late start to the races for his powerhouse connections. In the barn of Pletcher, who has had a notably great year with the ownership group, the colt is out of Patou (Ghostzapper), herself a half-sister to GSW Moulin de Mougin (Curlin)--the dam of GSP Spicer (Quality Road); GISP Vionnet (Street Sense)--dam of...

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Forte 10-1 Individual Favorite in Pool 2 of Kentucky Derby Future Wager

Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Forte (Violence) was made the 10-1 individual betting favorite while the pari-mutuel field of "All Other Colts and Geldings" from the 2020 foal crop not listed within the 38 individual betting interests was tabbed as the heavy 3-5 choice. The four-day pool, which features $2 Win and Exacta wagering, will open Thursday at noon (all times Eastern) and close Sunday at 6 p.m. Pool 2 will run concurrent with the lone Kentucky Derby Sire Future Wager, where fans can...

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Battalion Runner Flashes His Hand as a Sire via Rudder's Men

It might feel a touch trite to repeat it, but the timeworn observation is such for a reason: the stallion market is one packed to the brim with tough customers and salty competition. And it turns out, both literally and metaphorically as evidenced by the recently released Report of Mares Bred. Breeders gravitate to quality and are more frequently turning to tried-and-true sources to find it, or are becoming more demanding of first-year sires before taking the chance. In an economy where connections are forced to steadily tighten their belts,...

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