Travel Column

Blue-blooded Clairiere (Curlin) and pricey yearling purchase Travel Column (Frosted) boast one win each from their two prior match-ups and one will break the tie Saturday in the GII Fair Grounds Oaks. Clairiere came out on top by a gutsy neck in their last meeting in NOLA in the GII Rachel Alexandra S. Feb. 13. Out of MGISW Cavorting (Bernardini), the Stonestreet Stables homebred won on debut going 1 1/16 miles at Churchill Downs Oct. 25 and was second to Travel Column next out in that track's GII Golden Rod...

It was an eventful weekend on the road to the GI Kentucky Oaks, with major preps at Aqueduct (Busher Invitational S.), Oaklawn (GIII Honeybee S.) and at Santa Anita (GIII Santa Ysabel S.). The winners of all three of those races have made their way into our Oaks Top 10. Kalypso (Brody's Cause), who was third in the Santa Ysabel, drops out as trainer Bob Baffert has said he won't point her to the Oaks. There's nothing on tap for the 3-year-old fillies this weekend but there will be a...

  It wasn't that long ago that the picture for the 3-year-old fillies seemed pretty straightforward. Vequist (Nyquist) was the clear leader of the division and there appeared to be a handful of other top fillies that could challenge her supremacy. Has that ever changed. Vequist did nothing right in her 3-year-old debut in the Davona Dale S., finishing ninth, 26 lengths behind the winner. Second choice Millefeuille (Curlin) didn't fare much better, finishing seventh. The winner, Wholebodemeister (Bodemeister), paid $107.60. Meanwhile, GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies runner-up Dayoutoftheoffice (Into...

Champion 2-year-old filly Vequist (Nyquist), winner of the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland last fall, tops the roster of 106 early nominations to the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs Apr. 30. Campaigned by a partnership consisting of Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Swillcan Stable and trained by Butch Reid Jr., Vequist is based at Palm Meadows in South Florida and is scheduled to run in Saturday's GII Davona Dale S. at Gulfstream Park. Other top contenders that were nominated to the Oaks include Stonestreet Stables' GIII...

Sometimes you talk to a breeder and know instantly that each and every horse he or she raises is their pride and joy. There might be no better example than Chris Welker. As the co-breeder of 'TDN Rising Star' Travel Column (Frosted), Welker can share dozens of stories of the youngster's time at Spring Ridge Farm. She can tell you about the many frustrating sessions they went through when Travel Column was a hard-headed yearling, but if you bring up the filly's win in last year's GII Golden Rod S.,...

Last week's major development was the win by Clairiere (Curlin) in the GII Rachel Alexandra S. presented by Fasig-Tipton, where she won a hard-fought decision over Travel Column (Frosted). With the victory, she has jumped up to the No. 2 spot in our rankings. She also becomes the third daughter of Curlin to make it into the Top 10 and a fourth, Millefeuille (Curlin), is knocking on the door for the Bill Mott stable. The other big change this week is that Dayoutoftheoffice (Into Mischief) drops out. While the connections...

Turn the clock back a dozen years and recall when a fledgling filly parlayed a November win in the GII Golden Rod S. into a torrid nine-stakes win streak that culminated in Horse of the Year honors. That filly, of course, was Rachel Alexandra. Now it's 2021, and the Fair Grounds annually honors Rachel Alexandra's brief (one win, one second) tenure in New Orleans with a Grade II stakes race in mid-February. Saturday's edition just so happened to feature the one-two fillies from the Nov. 28 Golden Rod S. at...

Hall of Famer Rachel Alexandra carried the famed burgundy and gold silks of Stonestreet Farm to six victories, four of which were Grade Is, including the GI Preakness S. and GI Woodward S. So, it was only fitting that another filly carrying the colors of Barbara Banke's operation, Clairiere (Curlin), won that Horse of the Year's namesake Grade II race at the Fair Grounds Saturday. The event, which produced GI Kentucky Oaks winners in 2018 and 2019, offered 50 points towards this year's run for the lillies. Clairiere rallied strongly...

The expensive Travel Column (Frosted) and regally bred Clairiere (Curlin), who finished one-two in the GII Golden Rod S., face off again Saturday at Fair Grounds in the GII Rachel Alexandra S., presented by Fasig-Tipton, which offers 50 points towards the GI Kentucky Oaks. Tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' after an impressive score in her career bow sprinting at Churchill Sept. 4, the $850,000 FTSAUG purchase was third when trying two turns for the first time in Keeneland's GI Darley Alcibiades S. Oct. 2. The gray was last seen rallying to...

With the year having just begun, it will take a while for the picture for the GI Kentucky Oaks to come into focus. For now, the fillies who thrived last year dominate this Top 10 list, but that can, and likely will, change as the calendar works its way toward the first Friday in May and new names emerge in the major preps for the Oaks. It is, at the very least, a solid group, headed by GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Vequist, who will be named the champion...

Travel Column (Frosted) endured a checkered passage--to say the least--in Saturday's GII Golden Rod S. at Churchill Downs, but showed a fair bit of courage to hit the wire first. A half-step slow out of the gates and pinched back soon after, Travel Column was last to make the clubhouse turn and was taken hold of by Florent Geroux as Farsighted (Bernardini) took them along at a sensible clip. The $850,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga acquisition was slipped a bit of rein at about midway and improved her position into midfield and...

A trio of 'TDN Rising Stars,' including unbeaten Thoughtfully (Tapit), will square off in Friday's GI Darley Alcibiades S. at Keeneland, a 'Win and You're In' for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. The rail-drawn Thoughtfully, tabbed as a 'Rising Star' out of a blowout debut win for Steve Asmussen at Churchill Downs June 11, made good on the promise with a sparkling performance in Saratoga's GII Adirondack S. Aug. 12. The $950,000 FTSAUG graduate tries two turns for the first time here. Drawn one to her outside is fellow...