TDN Rising Star

Racing roads converge this Saturday. With a little over a month left before horses and their connections officially point to Santa Anita, the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series returns to Woodbine Racetrack. Featured are three 'Win and You're In' chances, including the GI Ricoh Woodbine Mile. Meanwhile, at Churchill Downs, the prep seasons officially open for 2-year-old colts and fillies, who are seeking to bank points for next May's 150th editions of the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks. There is much to get to with Belmont at the Big...

As the sport continues in its efforts to drastically reduced the number of fatalities that occur in races and in morning training, there's little doubt that StrideSAFE is going to play an important role in preventing breakdowns. StrideSAFE is a biometric sensor mechanism that slips into the saddle cloth to detect minute changes in a horses's gait at high speed. Those changes can, and often do, signal that a horse is in the early stages of having a problem that could lead to a fatal injury. If the StrideSAFE data...

Godolphin's €130,000 Arqana October acquisition Casapueblo (Ire) (Le Havre {Ire}--Uruguay {Ire}, by Authorized {Ire}) justified 7-5 favouritism by overcoming traffic issues and was elevated to the 'TDN Rising Star' ranks with a taking display in Wednesday's Prix de la Maniguette at Chantilly. The eventual winner lobbed along in third through steady early stages, but slipped to fourth when brake-checked and impeded approaching halfway in this debut. Full of run along the rail when encountering heavy traffic passing the quarter-mile marker, he found an open lane inside the final 300 metres...

The first foal out of 'TDN Rising Star' Guarana (Ghostzapper)--a colt by the ever-present Into Mischief--had interest from all corners of the Keeneland sales pavilion and was ultimately hammered down to Ron Winchell's Winchell Thoroughbreds for $1.4 million. Winner of the one-mile GI  Acorn S. and GI CCA Oaks going nine panels at three, Guarana picked up where she left off at four, winning the GI Madison S. over seven-eighths of a mile. Hill 'n' Dale consigned and ultimately purchased Guarana for $4.4 million with the Into Mischief colt in...

If the last 24 hours have given us anything to judge by, the future of racing on the West Coast seems to be in safe hands. Just one day after 'TDN Rising Star' Tamara (Bolt d'Oro) asserted herself atop her division in the GI FanDuel Racing Del Mar Debutante S., fellow 'Rising Star' Prince of Monaco (Speightstown) followed suit with a game performance to give trainer Bob Baffert his 17th win in the GI Runhappy Del Mar Futurity. The colt's victory Sunday came as absolutely no surprise. An eight-length debut...

In a battle of two touted maiden winners, it was ENDLESSLY (Oscar Performance) who got the final say in Sunday's GIII Del Mar Juvenile Turf S. Lined up opposite 'TDN Rising Star' Boltage (Bolt d'Oro), the 5-2 second choice kept to what he knew after a winning debut over this same distance earlier in the meet July 30. Also facing two of his stablemates in this spot, Endlessly broke with the pack but was quickly outrun passing the wire the first time by. A keen Des Doigts (Hootenanny), chased intently...

'TDN Rising Star' Tamara (Bolt d'Oro) was resting comfortably in her stall Sunday morning, the day after capturing the GI FanDuel Racing Del Mar Debutante S. The daughter of Hall of Famer Beholder sat closer to the pace than in her maiden victory. When jockey Mike Smith asked her, Tamara breezed past the pacesetter, opened up by the top of the lane and cruised home much the best. The comments afterward told it all. "It gave me chills," winning trainer Richard Mandella remarked. "I've been here in California for four...

Connections of Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) can be satisfied that Sunday's G1 Irish St Leger went by without drama, but the glory was with KHK Racing's TDN Rising Star Eldar Eldarov (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}--All At Sea {GB}, by Sea The Stars {Ire}) as he returned to form to provide his sire with a group 1 double on the Curragh's star-studded card. Putting a largely underwhelming summer behind him, having been seventh in the G1 Gold Cup and fourth in the G1 Goodwood Cup, the 16-5 second favourite enjoyed a perfect...

As much as Sunday's G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S. was about the withdrawal of City Of Troy (Justify) and the impressive winning performance of fellow TDN Rising Star Henry Longfellow (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}--Minding {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}), it was testament to Irish racing's totemic figure Aidan O'Brien who marked the occasion with a 4,000th training career success. Who else could pull a colt of the quality of the freakish G2 Superlative S. winner from such an important status event and still win it by five lengths, burying an impressive...

Sunday's G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S. at The Curragh was denied the participation of the star turn City Of Troy (Justify) after Aidan O'Brien opted to withdraw the G2 Superlative S.-winning TDN Rising Star. Following the disappointing run of the stable's Ylang Ylang (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the preceding G1 Moyglare Stud S., the ground was deemed too easy for the exciting juvenile. The Curragh was officially good-to-yielding after heavy rain before racing. Ryan Moore switches to fellow TDN Rising Star Henry Longfellow (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), the G2 Futurity...

Some eleven years after her multiple champion dam Beholder (Henny Hughes) was just nosed out of a victory, 'TDN Rising Star' Tamara (Bolt d'Oro) did her momma proud with a thoroughly dominating performance in the GI FanDuel Racing Del Mar Debutante on closing weekend at the seaside oval. It was an effort that even exceeded the already lofty expectations of her Hall of Fame connections. "She's been doing things in her training that 2-year-olds aren't supposed to do," said her jockey Mile Smith. "She's really special. She's like her mother....

Proving once again that he belongs at the top of the tree, Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}--Rhododendron {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}) laid it all out on Saturday to prevail in a gruelling edition of Leopardstown's G1 Royal Bahrain Irish Champion S. As he had in the Derby, when churning out historical sectionals at the business end, the 11-4 favourite was able to handle a demanding test carved out by last year's hero Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) and pour it on late as the closers inevitably came into the picture....