Monday marked not only closing day at Saratoga, but the end of an era, as pioneering racing partnership Dogwood Stable, in partnership with Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, was represented by its final runner.
This summer's marquee summer race meetings at Saratoga and Del Mar, which traditionally unveil promising 2-year-olds, provided a major opportunity for this year's highly anticipated class of freshman sires led by Triple Crown winner American Pharoah to step up – and step up, they did.
The Grade 3, $700,000 Runhappy Turf Sprint is expected to feature Eclipse Award champion Stormy Liberal, who has led a renaissance for his sire Stormy Atlantic.
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Thoroughbreds are prized for the bravery and athleticism, making them a natural fit for the sport of eventing, described as the triathlon of equestrian sport. Indeed, a number of Thoroughbreds are set to compete at the United States Eventing Association’s American Eventing Championships this week at the Kentucky Horse Park.
European champion Noble Mission managed to finish fifth on last year’s freshman sire earnings list, even with his most promising runner, Grade 1 Champagne Stakes runner-up Code of Honor, missing the Breeders’ Cup due to illness. The Galileo stallion figures to finish much higher on this year’s second-crop sire list after Code of Honor swept to victory in the Travers Stakes on Saturday at Saratoga, giving Noble Mission a Grade 1 winner from his debut crop.
Multiple Grade 1 winner Mitole will stand at Spendthrift Farm in 2020.
Arthur Hancock III was standing in the darkness outside a stall in Saratoga after the Curlin colt inside, raised and consigned by his Stone Farm, sold for $1.5 million to co-top the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale. Hancock was quick to credit the colt's breeder, celebrity chef Bobby Flay.
Roaring Lion, the Kentucky-bred who earned the 2018 Cartier Award as Europe’s Horse of the Year, was euthanized after suffering from another bout of colic in New Zealand, ending his health battle that began in late July. The son of leading sire Kitten's Joy was 4.
Three-time leading sire Tapit and current leading sire Into Mischief will each have two chances at the Runhappy Travers Stakes on Saturday – each with one veteran of the classics trail and one newcomer.
Lookin At Lucky has been a consistent presence in the 3-year-old division and will have a chance to take down another of its major events Saturday.
