The Wine Steward

The field for the GI Belmont S., ranked in "likeliest winner" order: 1) SIERRA LEONE (c, Gun Runner--Heavenly Love, by Malibu Moon). 'TDN Rising Star'. O-Mrs. John Magnier, Michael B Tabor, Derrick Smith Westerberg, Rocket Ship Racing LLC & Peter M. Brant; B-Debby M Oxley (Ky); T-Chad Brown. Sales History: $2,300,000 Ylg '22 FTSAUG. Lifetime Record: GISW, 5-3-2-0, $1,918,000. Last start: 2nd May 4 GI Kentucky Derby. This relentless, long-striding closer looms as the most logical choice to be draped with a blanket of white carnations Saturday at Saratoga. Yet...

With entrants ranging from a $2.3-million sales-topping yearling to a homebred, the $2-million GI Belmont S. turns a new page in 2024 with its first running at Saratoga Race Course. Here we take a look at the origins of all 10 entrants in the Classic, including the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness S. winners. 1). Seize the Grey (Arrogate--Smart Shopping, by Smart Strike) Mill Ridge's Headley Bell purchased Shop Again, second dam of Seize the Grey, for $450,000 at the 2007 Keeneland November sale on behalf of Tolie Otto,...

The Wine Steward (Vino Rosso), most recently seen finishing second in the May 11 GIII Peter Pan S., is being considered for either the 10-furlong GI Belmont S. or the seven-furlong GI Woody Stephens S., both at Saratoga June 8. "It depends on the trip, but I think he can get it [the distance]-- he's bred to get it and should be able to," David Staudacher, who co-owns the colt with Paradise Farms Corp., said regarding the 10-furlong Belmont distance. "I think he likes the track up there, so we'll...

The late Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic), who won last year's GIII Victory Ride S. and GIII Miss Preakness S. before tragically falling en route to victory in the GI Test S., was named New York-bred Horse of the Year along with champion 3-year-old filly and champion female sprinter honors during the New York Thoroughbred Breeders Inc.'s Annual Awards Ceremony Monday night. Bred by Joe Fafone and campaigned by Bill Parcells' August Dawn Farm, Maple Leaf Mel was trained by Melanie Giddings--for whom she was named--and Jeremiah Englehart. The complete...

Centennial Farms's Antiquarian (Preservationist) became the first graded winner for his young sire while punching his ticket to the GI Belmont S. with a victory in Saturday's GIII Peter Pan S. at the Big A. Off at odds of 5-1, the last-out GII Louisiana Derby sixth-place finisher found a good spot in an outside third rounding the clubhouse turn behind Unique Insight (Gun Runner) and favored last-out GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. runner-up The Wine Steward (Vino Rosso). Positions unchanged through a half mile in :47.96, Antiquarian hit the gas while...

Last year's champion 3-year-old colt Arcangelo (Arrogate) captured the GIII Peter Pan S. before adding top-level victories in the GI Belmont S. and the GI Travers S. A scratched-down field of six is expected to line up for Saturday's renewal of the Peter Pan at Aqueduct, which serves as the local prep for the final leg of the Triple Crown, which will be held at Saratoga and run at 1 1/4 miles June 8. 'TDN Rising Star' Deterministic (Liam's Map), a fantastic winner of the one-turn mile GIII Gotham S....

His contentious prohibition from Churchill penalizes many others besides Bob Baffert and his loyal patrons. A shot at the GI Kentucky Derby, once-in-a-lifetime for most, is also being denied to everyone else with a stake in his horses' development, from those on duty at the foaling shed to the pre-trainer to the feed company. And, of course, there's nothing like a Derby winner to market a stallion. As things have turned out, a setback means that Nyquist would have lost the services of Nysos even had he moved to another...

Saturday's GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. at Keeneland, the final stop on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, offers a path to Churchill Downs for the first Saturday in May for D. J. Stable and Robert Cotran's Hades (Awesome Slew). Currently on the outside looking in, Hades sits in 24th place on the leaderboard with 30 points. The GI Kentucky Derby is limited to 20 starters. The Lexington offers 42 points on a 20-10-6-4-2 scale. With a victory, Hades would be in the top 20. A runner-up finish would put him...

New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. (NYTB) named their nominees for the Empire State's divisional champions of 2023, the organization said in a Friday morning release. A panel of New York turf writers, broadcasters, handicappers, racing analysts and photographers will vote on each division and for the New York-bred Horse of the Year. The winners will be announced at the NYTB Awards Dinner sponsored by the New York Thoroughbred Breeding & Development Fund on Monday, May 13 from 6-9 p.m. ET. at Sacred Saratoga on the property of GMP Farm in...

The five days between last Wednesday's pre-entries and Monday's official draw for the Breeders' Cup afford a brief window of opportunity to examine a few subtleties that emerged from the early version of the match-ups for this weekend's championships. The decision by the connections of Practical Move (Practical Joke) to aim for the GI Dirt Mile instead of the GI Classic tops the list. The Classic, which lost Mage (Good Magic) and Geaux Rocket Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}) to illness and injury, respectively, over the weekend, lacks a standout favorite,...

"Her dad should have shot me," says Tim Hamlin wryly. Needless to say, he had met Nancy at a horseshow. She had just started out on her veterinary studies. "And she quit school to come to a little town in northwest Iowa to help me," Hamlin recalls. "This was '84, we were kids, had no money. We lived in a single wide trailer house for seven years. Nancy would get up at 4 a.m. to make donuts, so we could buy horsefeed." Eventually they found a filly that emboldened a...

Unbeaten and already a stakes winner in his first two starts, The Wine Steward kept his perfect record intact with a gutsy performance in Sunday's Funny Cide S. at Saratoga. Back facing New York-breds for the first time since his six-length debut win at Belmont May 28, the even-money favorite had to overcome a wide draw and a bumpy beginning. Caught outside throughout, he turned for home four abreast, set his sights on pacesetter El Grande O, and dug in to just get past that rival in the final jumps....