Coolmore has invested heavily in carrying on the torch of its late classic sire Scat Daddy, who died suddenly in late 2015. Its efforts to keep the flame alive are paying off, as two of Scat Daddy's sons, including Triple Crown winner Justify, achieved milestones on Sunday.
Canadian champions who have gone on to be successful broodmares continued to make an impact on this spring's Triple Crown series, as Preakness Stakes winner Early Voting extended the legacy of his granddam, the late Silken Cat.
Preakness Stakes victor Early Voting continued the remarkable ascent into North America's elite sires for Horse of the Year Gun Runner, who now has an American classic winner to boast from his record-setting first crop.
Smart Strike and his sons have been extremely successful in producing stamina for the Triple Crown series – and, indeed, have stood out in the Preakness Stakes, specifically. That history is one of the best things that longshots Fenwick and Skippylongstocking will have going for them in Saturday’s Preakness.
Rob and Stacy Mitchell take pride in being hands-on owners and breeders, doing their own work with their horses at their Briland Farm in Lexington, Ky. That includes delivering the foals. As the Mitchells' homebred Kentucky Oaks winner Secret Oath faces males again in Saturday's Preakness Stakes, the couple may still be in Lexington awaiting a very special delivery.
Creative Minister was a 2 3/4-length winner of a salty allowance race at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May, some seven hours before Epicenter carried the Winchell Thoroughbreds colors to a game second in the Kentucky Derby. The two colts will converge in the Preakness Stakes on Saturday. Ironically, Creative Minister, who races for Fern Circle Stables, Back Racing, and trainer Kenny McPeek, is from a Winchell foundation family and will now seek to upset their star colt in the Preakness.
Rich Strike, who gave Calumet Farm a record-extending 10th Kentucky Derby victory as a breeder, will not be in Baltimore on Saturday. But Calumet homebred Happy Jack is expected to be in the starting gate for the Preakness Stakes, looking to extend the historic operation's record in the second jewel of the Triple Crown.
Flatter, a consistently successful sire who carried on the legacy of A.P. Indy as a cornerstone of the Claiborne Farm roster for nearly two decades, was euthanized on Monday due to the infirmities of old age. He was 23.
Rich Strike, from the first crop of Calumet Farm stallion Keen Ice, pulled off the second-biggest upset in Kentucky Derby history on Saturday evening at Churchill Downs, shocking a full house as he overhauled favored Epicenter in the final stages and returning $163.60.
It will be Sunday morning in South Korea when the Kentucky Derby is run Saturday morning at Churchill Downs, and the Thoroughbred industry in that nation will be waking up to find out if one of its residents is a winning classic sire.
