Tapit

2nd-SA, $61K, Msw, 2yo, 5f, 3:30 p.m. When the hammer fell at OBS back in March, MUTH (Good Magic) was not only the session topper, but the 2-year-old tied the sale record with a final price of $2 million. Purchased by Amr Zedan and trained by Bob Baffert, the bay colt breezed during the under tack show by going 1/8 in :9 3/5. Muth debuts for these connections from the outside post with Juan Hernandez aboard. TJCIS PPS 1st-BEL, $90K, Msw, 2yo, f, 5f, 1:05 p.m. On Belmont's Sunday card,...

With a new cycle of yearling sales nearly upon us, nearly everyone will once again be deciding where they are most prepared to compromise. Would you prefer an athlete low on pedigree, or will you trust the genes to come through even if you're not wowed by the specimen in front of you? Well, there's no mistaking which strategy is recommended by the story of the GI Belmont S. winner. Though from one of America's most aristocratic families, Arcangelo (Arrogate) lurked in the September Sale as Hip 1182 and was...

Counterforce (Smart Strike), currently Canada's leading second-crop sire and 2022 champion freshman sire, will relocate from Road's End Farm in British Columbia to Stride Away Thoroughbreds in the Okanagan region for the 2024 season. The stakes winner is a half-brother to GII winner Cezanne (Curlin) and out of a half-sister to the dam of Saturday's GI Belmont S. winner Arcangelo (Arrogate). "He's a lovely horse, with a magnificent pedigree," said Stride Away co-owner Cathy Reggelsen. "He came out firing as a freshman last year and that's certainly continued this season...

ELMONT, NY -- Godolphin homebred and 'TDN Rising Star' Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief) followed up her thrilling GI Kentucky Oaks victory with a hard-fought, head decision over Dorth Vader (Girvin) in Friday's GI Acorn S. at Belmont Park. Occult (Into Mischief) was another four lengths back in third. Cutting back to a one-turn 1 1/16 miles here, the 9-5 second-choice raced within striking distance in an outside fifth as the stretching-out and favored 'Rising Star' Munnys Gold (Munnings) led through fractions of :23.34 and :46.37. Pretty Mischievous loomed boldly while...

ELMONT, NY - Breathe easy. Following significant improvement in air quality conditions throughout New York State, the 155th GI Belmont Stakes--celebrating the 50th anniversary of Secretariat's performance of a lifetime in the final leg of the Triple Crown--will go on as scheduled Saturday evening. If there's one sire's name that you want to see when handicapping the 1 1/2-mile Classic, it's Tapit. Responsible for a co-record four Belmont winners, two second-place finishers and two third-place finishers, the 22-year-old Gainesway kingpin will be represented by potential race favorite Tapit Trice (Tapit)...

So, what's next? The plague of locusts? The only surprise is that the smoke filling the air at Belmont Park has drifted across the continent from Canadian forests, and didn't actually emerge from a widening fissure in the crust, crumbling daily, that appears to divide horsemen and their horses from the inferno. Hopefully a reprieve of the GI Belmont S. might yet be extended to some other elements in what has become too relentlessly apocalyptic a narrative. In terms of what has been definitively established, our sport's macabre run of...

Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) can make some noise at what has to be a terrific price in Saturday's GI Belmont S. He continues to improve with each of his six career starts for trainer Brad Cox, and was a bit unlucky in his last two tries. The handsome gray came up just a nose short with a wide trip after bouncing off rivals down the stretch in the GII Wood Memorial S., then was a respectable fifth after racing too close to a scorching pace in the GI Kentucky...

ELMONT, NY - With the rising sun attempting to make its way through hazy skies as air quality health advisories remain in effect throughout the New York City area due to the Canadian wildfires, eight of the nine GI Belmont Stakes runners were in action during the first hour of training on a cool Wednesday morning. Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) and Tapit Shoes (Tapit), both equipped with white bridles and NYRA's commemorative 50th Anniversary Secretariat Belmont S. saddle towels, made a favorable impression in their first day of training...

ELMONT, NY -- Last year's champion 2-year-old colt and 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence), scratched on the morning of the GI Kentucky Derby with an untimely foot bruise, was tabbed as the 5-2 morning-line favorite for the 155th running of the GI Belmont Stakes at Tuesday's post-position draw held in the Triple Crown Lounge at Belmont Park. The Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable colorbearer, last seen defeating subsequent Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) in dramatic fashion in the GI Curlin Florida Derby Apr. 1, will exit from post...

Trainer Brad Cox has added a third GI Belmont S. contender to his lineup with Tapit Shoes, a stakes-placed son of Tapit who was last seen running second to Red Route One (Gun Runner) in the Bath House Row S. at Oaklawn Park on April 22. "He's a pretty consistent workhorse, steady, and always gallops out well," Cox said Thursday morning at Churchill Downs. "He gives us some confidence that he could like the mile and a half." Owned in partnership by Spendthrift Farm, Steve Landers Racing, Martin Schwartz, Michael...

8th-CD, $127K, OC 100k/N1X, 3yo, f, 1m, 4:22 p.m.    'TDN Rising Star' SCYLLA (Tapit), a daughter of champion older mare and MGISW Close Hatches (First Defence), takes on winners for the first time following an eye-catching, come-from-behind debut victory for Bill Mott going six furlongs at Keeneland Apr. 15. The Juddmonte homebred, favored at 9-5 on the morning line while stretching to a one-turn mile here, is a full-sister to the multiple Classic-placed Tacitus, MGSW & MGISP, $2,267,350. TJCIS PPS

In this continuing series, we examine the past winners of significant filly/mare races by the lasting influence they've had on the breed. Up today is Santa Anita's GI Gamely S., the first Grade I of the year for fillies and mares on the turf out west. Although the great Hall of Famer Gamely split her time between coasts, it was California that got to name what has become a major race after her. The daughter of Bold Ruler won some of the sport's biggest contests for fillies and mares, was...