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It was like mother, like daughter in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps Stakes on Saturday at Belmont Park. Cavorting, a three-time Grade 1 winner in New York, captured the race in 2016. Her first foal, Clairiere, is now a two-time Phipps winner after claiming Saturday's edition.
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There are few names better to find in the pedigree of a Belmont Stakes candidate than Tapit – and he has an outsized mark on Saturday's renewal.
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Tapit, Quality Road, and Into Mischief – all elite-quality sires – are from sirelines descended from one of Secretariat's influential daughters, as Big Red's indelible flame continues to burn through the decades, 50 years after his dominant performances to end the Triple Crown drought.
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Dorth Vader, who upset the Grade 2 Davona Dale at odds of 45-1 earlier this winter at Gulfstream Park and most recently finished a game fifth after being hung wide pressing the early pace in the Kentucky Oaks, has been transferred from trainer Michael Yates to George Weaver in preparation for her upcoming start a week from Friday at Belmont Park in the Grade 1 Acorn.
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American Rascal was born to international royalty, as his sire and first two dams are champions. He'll look to begin growing into that legacy when, off an impressive debut victory, he targets the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes on June 22 at the Royal Ascot meeting.
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Kentucky Derby winner Mage tested the capacity limits of the winner’s circle at Churchill Downs, as he is owned by the four-pronged partnership of OGMA Investments, Ramiro Restrepo, Sterling Racing, and Commonwealth, the latter involving several hundred partners. But, improbably, the winner's stand for the Preakness Stakes two weeks later looked even more likely to overflow as the owners of National Treasure took their turn with the Woodlawn Vase.
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Mage, a graduate of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds in training sale, returned to Maryland a year after that auction as the Kentucky Derby winner. Less than 48 hours after he was expected to start Saturday's Preakness Stakes, horsemen will head to the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium for this year's sale.
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While he failed to replicate himself as a sire, Secretariat had a notable career as a stallion which included siring extraordinary racehorses such as Lady's Secret and Risen Star.
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National Treasure is considered one of the primary challengers to Kentucky Derby winner Mage in the Preakness Stakes. Passing on the Kentucky Derby worked out well for one of the most prominent names deep in National Treasure's family. His female line traces directly to Masda, full sister to the great Man o' War, who skipped the 1920 Kentucky Derby before dominating the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.
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Coffeewithchris, who is trying to become the first Maryland-bred in four decades to win his birth state's biggest race, has already been a breakthrough horse for current National Thoroughbred Racing Association president and CEO Tom Rooney, as the first stakes winner he has bred.
