Verifying

The Brad Cox stablemates Chop Chop (City of Light) and Verifying (Justify) worked five furlongs in company Friday morning at Churchill Downs as they prepare for next Friday's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, respectively. The pair broke off and began their breeze at the 4 1/2-furlong pole and were clocked in fractions of :11.80, :23.40, :35.80 and :47.40 before galloping out six furlongs in 1:13 flat, according to Churchill clocker John Nichols. Joe Talamo was aboard Chop Chop, last seen finishing a desperately close second...

This is somewhat of a watershed year for freshman sires, with six first-crop sires within the top 10 on the list of leading sires of 2-year-olds in North America through Monday. Spendthrift stalwart Into Mischief leads the group (as he has for five of the last seven years), but the same farm's freshman Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro) is second, Hill 'n' Dale's Good Magic (Curlin) is third, Coolmore America's Justify (Scat Daddy) is fourth, Hill 'n' Dale's Army Mule (Friesan Fire) is fifth, Three Chimneys's Sharp Azteca (Freud) is seventh,...

'TDN Rising Star' Blazing Sevens (Good Magic), dismissed at 85-10 off a third-place run in Saratoga's GI Hopeful S. Sept. 5 over similarly sloppy conditions, splashed past his foes in the lane to become the first highest-level winner for his freshman sire (by Curlin). In the process, he earned an automatic spot in the starting gate for the Nov. 4 GI Fanduel Breeders' Cup Juvenile--a race his sire won handily in 2017 while still a maiden and coming off a close second in the Champagne. Well-regarded and well-bred Verifying (Justify)...

1st-Saratoga, $105,000, Msw, 8-27, 2yo, 6f, 1:10.26, ft, 1 3/4 lengths. VERIFYING (c, 2, Justify--Diva Delite {GSW, $300,067}, by Repent), a half to none other than Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute), Ch. Older Dirt Female, MGISW, $3,971,500, ran to advanced billing to take a typically tough-looking Travers Day maiden as the 3-5 favorite. Debuting with blinkers on, the bay broke well and took a short lead to post splits of :22.90 and :46.04. He turned for home a bit wide, allowing Track Mate (Union Rags--Teammate) to challenge to his inside at...

1st-SAR, $105K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 11:35 a.m. EDT The star-studded GI Runhappy Travers S. day card kicks off with a pair of juveniles events, starting with this main track sprint. VERIFYING (Justify), a $775,000 KEESEP acquisition by the Coolmore contingent, is one of the most intriguing firsters in this event. The Brad Cox pupil is out of GSW Diva Delite (Repent), who summoned $1.2 million with this colt in utero at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton November Sale. That makes Verifying a half-sibling to champion Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute), who brought $5-million...