Tom Ryan

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...

When SF Bloodstock and Newgate Farm purchased Con Te Partiro (Scat Daddy--Temple Street, by Street Cry {Ire}) for $575,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton November sale, the team was already impressed with her accomplishments, but fast forward two years and it will be an even more imposing mare who goes through the ring during the first session of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale Nov. 9 in Lexington. Out of the Grade I placed Temple Street and a half-sister to multiple graded placed Donworth (Tiznow), Con Te Partiro was purchased by...

LEXINGTON, KY - Bidding continued to be solid for the prized lots, but the market was increasingly polarized as the second and final Book 3 session concluded Saturday in Lexington. Trainer Bob Baffert and Donato Lanni purchased the day's highest-priced offering, going to $450,000 to acquire a colt from the first crop of Unified on behalf of Mike Pegram, Paul Weitman, and Karl Watson. During Saturday's session, 239 horses sold for $18,364,200. The average was $76,838 and the median was $52,000. With 110 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate...

By Brian DiDonato & Jessica Martini LEXINGTON, KY--While Thursday's second and final Book 2 session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale included some lulls without big-money sellers, it finished strong, with the day's top two lots coming in the final 20 or so hips. A colt by the in-demand Into Mischief (hip 1203) was the lone Book 2 offering to reach the seven-figure threshold, selling for an even $1-million to Peter Leidel, who did his bidding on the phone. The son of Grade II winner Teen Pauline (Tapit) was consigned...

by Brian DiDonato, Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis LEXINGTON, KY--A Tapit filly out of GISW Embellish the Lace (Super Saver) topped the opening session of Keeneland's September yearling sale on a $1.25-million bid by Claiborne Farm's Bernie Sams. The bay was consigned to the auction as hip 149 by Bluewater Sales LLC, Agent XVI, on behalf of breeder China Horse Club. While stringent COVID-19 protocols put in place to allow the world's largest yearling sale to be held at all may have dulled some of the electricity typically felt in...