Woodford Thoroughbreds

Integration's well-timed throttle management in the more than capable hands of jockey Flavien Prat worked to perfection as the 4-year-old swooped in late to take the featured GII Red Smith Stakes at Aqueduct on Saturday afternoon. After a stellar start to his career in 2023, which saw the $700,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale buy graduate on debut by 6 1/2 lengths over the turf at Colonial Downs, then score in the GIII Virginia Derby and the GII Hill Prince Stakes at the Big A, Integration hit the board in the...

7th-BAQ, $90K, Msw, 2yo, 1 1/16mT, 3:40 p.m. ET. An $800,000 Keeneland September Sale grad, DAKTO (Quality Road) makes his first start for the ownership group of St. Elias, West Point, Woodford and CJ Stables. Trained by Shug McGaughey, the debut runner is out of Bolton Landing Stakes heroine March X Press (Shanghai Bobby). This dam went to the Parks Investment Group for $560,000 at the 2021 Keeneland November Sale while Dakto was in-utero, and is also responsible for GIII Dwyer Stakes victor Fort Bragg (Tapit). TJCIS PPS

8th-Prairie Meadows, $36,810, Msw, 7-7, 2yo, f, 4 1/2f, :52.37, ft, 3 1/2 lengths. GUNITE MAX (f, 2, Volatile--Super Simple, by Super Saver) fired a bullet three furlongs from the gate in :35 3/5 June 21 and was sent off as the 21-10 second choice for this first trip to the races. Off a fraction slowly, the $12,000 Fasig-Tipton October yearling was hustled up to press the pace from second into the turn. Sent to the front in upper stretch, the bay swapped leads on cue and covered her final...

5th-Monmouth, $51,675, Msw, 6-16, 2yo, f, 5f, :58.82, ft, 4 1/2 lengths. AGUAS DE CRISTAL (f, 2, Volatile--Cedar Hall {MSP}, by Bayern) broke her maiden at first asking which handed her freshman sire (by Violence) his first winner out of 124 foals of racing age. As a 7-2 shot here, the filly pursued favorite Me Governor (The Factor) up the backstretch. As the pair separated themselves from the rest of the field, they began to trade blows into the lane. With a sixteenth left, it was clear Aguas de Cristal...

   In this series, the TDN takes a look at notable successes of European-based sires in North America. This column is highlighted by the victory of Pipsy during the Belmont at the Big A meeting in New York. Pipsy Soars In New York  Pipsy (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), who races for Woodford Throughbreds, LLC, earned the first graded win of her career in the GIII Soaring Softly S. during Belmont's spring meeting at Aqueduct on Sunday (video). Trained by Will Walden, the filly is now three-for-four. The Noel Finegan-bred was a...

by Jessica Martini & Stefanie Grimm OCALA, FL - Without a breakout horse and numerous outs, the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training dutifully marched through its paces Thursday, with a colt by Nyquist attracting the session's highest price of $550,000 late in the day. Bloodstock agent Donato Lanni, bidding on behalf of Zedan Racing Stable, signed the ticket on the session topper for the third straight day. From a catalogue of 302 horses, just 187 went through the ring Thursday and the session, which started...

Florida's Six K's Training & Sales, owned and operated by Scott Kintz and family, is relocating from Midwest Thoroughbreds in Anthony to Woodford Thoroughbreds in Reddick by the end of the month. Kintz used to work for Woodford, in addition to Taylor Made Farm and Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm, prior to starting his own training and sales company in 2019. "I couldn't be happier to be moving back home," said Kintz. "I came to Florida to work for Woodford and now we're taking Six K's back there. My son...

John Gleason will assume the position of farm trainer at Margaux Farm effective Oct. 2, the operation said in a release. He will report directly to the farm's General Manager Richard Budge. Gleason has amassed over three decades of experience in Thoroughbred horse care management in training, starting and rehab. After beginning his career showing halter and Western pleasure horses, Gleason transitioned into Thoroughbreds in his early 20s at Glen Ridge Farm, where he managed and prepared yearling and 2-year-olds for the sales. Gleason took a position with Bryan and...

Shannon Castagnola has been named as Airdrie Stud's new director of sales, the Midway nursery said in a release Friday afternoon. Helping to head up both the stallion nominations and public sales divisions, Castagnola managed the yearling and breeding stock consignments for Woodford Thoroughbreds for the past nine years. "I am thrilled to be working with the incredible Airdrie Stud team," said Castagnola. "It's energizing to be working with a farm this diversified and with such a tremendous history of success. From the beautifully bred mares whose families have been...

Xtra Heat (Dixieland Heat--Begin, by Hatchet Man), winner of 25 black-type races in an overachieving career that saw her named the Eclipse Award-winning 3-year-old filly of 2001, passed away last December at the age of 24, according to a release from Woodford Thoroughbreds. Bred in Kentucky by Pope McLean, Sr., Pope McLean, Jr., Marc McLean and P. Feringa, the diminutive Xtra Heat sold for less than five figures as a weanling, yearling and 2-year-old, but won her first six races before tasting defeat for the first time in the 2000...

With the breeding season underway, the TDN staff is continuing the '2023 Mating Plans' series, presented by Spendthrift Farm, to find out what stallions breeders have chosen for their mares this year, and why. Here Woodford Thoroughbreds shares their plans for the breeding season. As a commercial breeding farm, Woodford Thoroughbreds operates with two principles in mind when choosing our matings. 1) We are producing racehorses. In 2023, Woodford is the breeder of Mimi Kakushi (City of Light), a Group 3 winner on the Oaks trail; Rocket Can (Into Mischief),...

Elite Sales, the Thoroughbred consignment business of Liz Crow and Bradley Weisbord, will begin selling yearlings in 2023, adding to their existing business of breeding and racing stock, according to the pair. "Elite Sales launched in 2017 with the goal of being the number-one consignor of horses of racing age and broodmares/broodmare prospects," said Weisbord. "With six years under our belts, we have experienced a wide range of success including selling 21 off-the-track broodmare or racing prospects for $1 million or more." The addition of yearlings to their lineup is...