Up to the Mark

Announced as a season-ending target long before such announcements are typically made, the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf proved fertile ground for the Coolmore partners' Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), who enjoyed what turned out to be a dream trip beneath Ryan Moore, got through when the real running commenced at the head of the lane and charged to the wire to defeat top U.S. hope Up to the Mark (Not This Time). It was a sixth victory in the mile-and-a-half second-richest race on the card for trainer Aidan...

Trainer Todd Pletcher breezed a remarkable 12 of his intended Breeders' Cup starters at Keeneland on Thursday morning over the main track.  Heading the dozen was GI Breeders' Cup Classic hopeful Bright Future (Curlin), who arrived in Kentucky this week from Saratoga. He worked five furlongs in 1:01.40. Also working five furlongs for a possible Breeders' Cup start was Charge It (Tapit), who covered the distance in 1:01.20.  "We originally were going to work all of our Saturday (Nov. 4) horses tomorrow but with rain in the forecast for tomorrow,...

Not This Time (Giant's Causeway), whose three-time Grade I-winning son Up To the Mark is a leading candidate for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf and Horse of the Year honors, will stand the 2024 breeding season for a fee of $150,000, stands-and-nurses terms, at Taylor Made Stallions. Not This Time stood the 2023 season for $135,000. The sire of 2022 champion 3-year-old male Epicenter, Not This Time has gone from strength to strength this term, and sits in eighth position on the general sire list with better than $10.4 million...

The next best thing to the Breeders' Cup is a weekend filled with Breeders' Cup preps. That was the story last week as 31 graded stakes races were contested, many of them races that would help shape the fields for the Breeders' Cup races. Who were the big winners? Who were the big losers? Here's our reports card: Up to the Mark: A+ It had been a depressing year for North American-based turf horses, who lost race after race to European shippers, including some whose credentials were rather modest. Saturday's...

Up to the Mark (Not This Time) and Master of The Seas (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), who finished noses apart in Saturday's GI Coolmore Turf Mile, both exited the race in good order, according to their connections. "He [Charlie Appleby] usually likes to let the dust settle a couple days after the race and then decide," traveling lad Chris Connett said. Following the race Saturday, Appleby indicated Master of The Seas could return to Europe Tuesday or Wednesday or possibly stay here if a Breeders' Cup run is in the cards....

Defying a four-month absence as well as 6-5 favorite Master of The Seas (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Up to the Mark (Not This Time) looked to have it all to do turning for home in Saturday's GI Coolmore Turf Mile at Keeneland, but the $450,000 Keeneland September acquisition exploded inside the final sixteenth of a mile and dropped his nose on the wire just ahead of the Godolphin runner for a thrilling victory. Defending champion 'TDN Rising Star' Annapolis (War Front) won the break and...

The parade of graded stakes races this Saturday is like a Christmas tree laden with presents. Towards the end of the celebration, as the wadded paper congregates, there will be a customary wistfulness that slowly sets in. We never want it to end. With 17, yes 17, graded races on the docket--nine of those have Breeders' Cup 'Win and You're In' status--it is going to be a splendid day to receive as Belmont at the Big A, Keeneland Race Course, Woodbine Racetrack, Gulfstream Park, Hastings Racecourse and Santa Anita Park...

It's a busy time at Keeneland. The September sale has just ended, the fall race meet is upon us and the November sale is right around the corner. With that in mind, the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland called upon Keeneland Director of Sales Operations Cormac Breathnach to fill us in on the latest from one of America's favorite racetracks. Breathnach was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week. The foal crop keeps dropping every year, but that doesn't seem to affect the September sale. There were...

Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's MGISW Up to the Mark (Not This Time--Belle's Finale, by Ghostzapper), will enter stud at Lane's End Farm at the conclusion of his racing career, the Kentucky Farm announced on Monday. The 4-year-old colt, who won the GI Manhattan S. At Belmont Park and the GI Turf Classic Stakes in his last two starts, has so far amassed a career line of 10-5-0-2, $1158,650 and is trained by Todd Pletcher. "He's a horse that we were always high on since he was two," trainer...

Before bidding commenced for the second and final session of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, a share in leading Taylor Made stallion Not This Time (Giant's Causeway--Miss Macy Sue, by Trippi) was hammered down for an even $2 million. The share was purchased by D. J. Stable, BlackRidge Stables, Barry Fowler and John Cummins, according to Taylor Made's Mark Taylor. The sale of the share was coordinated by Taylor Made Sales and is subject to a 10-day match from the syndicate. Not This Time stands at Taylor Made Stallions in Nicholasville,...

Shadwell's Mostahdaf (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) dominated the G1 Prince of Wales's S. by four lengths at Royal Ascot last month and improved his Longines World's Best Racehorse Ranking (WBRR) from 121 to 128 to sit second behind the 129-ranked Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) on the leaderboard, with the latest rankings released by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) on Thursday. Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) who was second as the favourite in the 10-furlong contest, sits on 123 while Adayar (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) was third home and is weighted...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y--Nothing new at old Saratoga this summer. As has been the case for many decades, most of racing's stars will be in town for America's most important Thoroughbred meet of the year. The first race of the 40 days of the 155th season opens at 1:10 p.m. Thursday with a 10-race program at Saratoga Race Course. By the time the meeting reaches its conclusion on Labor Day, Sept. 4, over 400 races, including 71 stakes worth $20.8 million, will have been run. The traditional opening-day feature is the...