Tom Ryan

by Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland September Yearling Sale continued to churn out strong results straight through to the conclusion of its Book 2 section Thursday night in Lexington with an additional two yearlings selling for seven figures, led by a $1.7-million son of Quality Road, bringing the four-day total for the auction to 30 seven-figure yearlings. Fifteen reached that mark last year. "It was an incredible week," said Keeneland's Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy. Over the two Book 2 sessions, Keeneland sold 449...

It did not take long for the action to get going during Book 2's opening session Wednesday with Hip 383, a colt by sensational young sire Gun Runner, summoning $1.05 million just minutes into the session. He was purchased by the powerhouse partnership headed by SF, Starlight and Madaket Stables with SF's Tom Ryan doing his bidding on the phone. Bred by Ann Fostock, the Feb. 2 foal was consigned by Pope McLean's Crestwood Farm. The bay hails from a deep Juddmonte family with his second dam being MGISW Flute.

by Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - The Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Selected Yearlings Sale opened with a lively session of trade punctuated by four seven-figure yearlings Monday evening in upstate New York. A colt by Uncle Mo, consigned by Lane's End as agent for his breeder, Summer Wind Farm, attracted the session's highest bid when selling for $1.5 million to the partnership of West Point Thoroughbreds and Woodford Racing. In all, 69 yearlings sold at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion Monday for a total of $28,930,000. The average...

The team at Town and Country Farms knew they had a good one when heading into the Keeneland September sale last fall and its Into Mischief colt delivered in the sales ring when selling to the stallion-making partnership of SF Bloodstock/Starlight Racing/Madaket for $850,000. Now named Newgate, he began to justify the price tag with a 'TDN Rising Star'-worthy debut at Del Mar last Saturday (video). The Courtelis family's operation will be hoping history repeats itself when it sends a full-sister to the colt through the sales ring during the...

SF Bloodstock's Tom Ryan, representing the ownership group which moved four top three-year-olds to other barns last week, posted a statement on Twitter Friday night clarifying the impetus of the move. "In light of recent commentary, our ownership group wishes to clear up a couple of misconceptions that have arisen about the transfer of our potential Derby horses to Rodolphe Brisset and Tim Yakteen," Ryan wrote. "The owners alone made this decision, and they did so in order to give the horses the opportunity they deserve to compete in this...

Four of Bob Baffert's GI Kentucky Derby prospects will be transferred to other trainers, according to a press release issued by Baffert Thursday morning. 'TDN Rising Star' Messier (Empire Maker), 'Rising Star' Doppelganger (Into Mischief) and McLaren Vale (Gun Runner) are being sent to trainer Tim Yakteen, and will remain in Southern California. Blackadder (Quality Road) has already left California and will be sent to the barn of Rodolphe Brissett in Kentucky. Yakteen is a longtime former assistant of Baffert's, having last worked for him in 2004. Under the suspension...

By Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale continued with strong demand during a lively session of bidding Thursday in Lexington. The auction's first of two Book 2 sessions concluded with both average and median up and the buy-back rate down from the corresponding session in 2020. "Incredible," Keeneland's Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said of Thursday's action. "It was a really vibrant market again today. I think people were a little frustrated in buying, but we had a lot of happy...

New Vocations Thoroughbred Program Director Anna Ford will never forget the excitement she felt watching the 2009 GI Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic as 16-1 shot Mushka (Empire Maker) kept passing one horse afer another in the stretch to close for second. As a horse taking part in the first ever New Vocations Breeders' Cup Pledge program, Mushka's performance meant a $36,000 donation from owner Betty Moran. It was a lifeline for a growing charity dedicated to finding second homes for the sport's retirees. "I'll never forget how excited we were,"...

by Jessica Martini, Brian DiDonato & Christie DeBernardis LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland September Yearling Sale, led by a trio of million-dollar yearlings, opened with a day of steady trade in Lexington Monday. A total of 95 yearlings sold during the session for $38,172,000, at an average of $401,811 and a median of $325,000. "I think the trade was really strong," Keeneland's new vice president of sales Tony Lacy said at the close of business Monday. "The numbers may have stacked very comparably to last year, but I think there...

A trio of horses that visited the winner's circle over Fourth of July weekend will make their next appearances in the Fasig-Tipton auction ring Monday as part of the company's July Horses of Racing Age Sale. Stilleto Boy (Shackleford) (Hip 557) gave his resume a major boost last weekend with his first black-type win. On July 2, the sophomore gelding scored an emphatic victory beneath Jose Ortiz, taking the Iowa Derby by 4 1/2 lengths at odds of 16-1. The chestnut earned a 95 Beyer Speed Figure for that effort....

SF Bloodstock is one of the largest and most successful investors in stallions in the Thoroughbred business worldwide. So when SF throws it support behind a young sire, it's worth taking notice. SF owns stallions in the U.S., Australia and Europe, and this year the group will find out if its backing of the 2016 champion 3-year-old Almanzor (Fr) will bear fruit, with that three-time Group 1 winner soon set to be represented by his first runners. Meanwhile, SF has continued its patronage of the French breeding business, and in...

A year ago, a brigade of American runners dominated results in the inaugural running of the $20-million Saudi Cup, taking four of the top five placings in the world's richest race. Another top-level group of U.S.-based horses are set to return to Riyadh for the second running of the 1 1/8-miles race Feb. 20. Leading the group is Charlatan (Speightstown), who returned from a layoff to record a scintillating victory in the Dec. 26 GI Malibu S. last month. The newly turned 4-year-old worked six furlongs in 1:12.60 (1/5) at...