Wed, 05/16/2018 - 11:56

Family ties run deep for homebred Lewisfield

Jim McCue/Maryland Jockey Club
Favored Lewisfield edged clear to a one-length victory in Saturday's Not For Love Stakes.

Maryland-bred Lewisfield will be representing the legacy of late breeder and owner Jim Lewis in the Grade 3 Maryland Sprint Stakes on Saturday at Pimlico.

A stakes-winning son of Maryland stallion Great Notion, Lewisfield races as a homebred for Lewis’s widow Linda Zang, an internationally renowned dressage rider, judge, and coach. Zang carried on Lewis’s racing and breeding program following his death in 2012. Lewisfield’s dam, Smart Crowd, was a winning homebred for Lewis, and the gelding is named for a farm founded by Lewis’s father, James F. Lewis, II.

Wed, 05/16/2018 - 11:46

Distorted Humor, Curlin among proven classic sires represented in Preakness

Proven sires are in good number in the short field for Saturday’s Preakness Stakes, including Distorted Humor and Curlin, each seeking his third classics winner.

Wed, 05/16/2018 - 11:36

Bravazo looks to emulate Calumet predecessor Oxbow

Barbara D. Livingston
Bravazo is bred on the same cross as Calumet Farm's 2013 Preakness winner Oxbow.

It was only five years ago that Oxbow won the Preakness Stakes after finishing sixth in the Kentucky Derby, giving Calumet Farm another victory in the Triple Crown series in its first full year of ownership by Brad Kelley.

Now the Calumet empire brings in Bravazo, bred on the same cross as Oxbow and looking to emulate him by stepping up in the Preakness after also finishing sixth in the Derby.

Tue, 05/15/2018 - 17:51

A P Valentine, River Squall join Old Friends roster

A P Valentine, a Grade 1 winner and runner-up in the 2001 Preakness and Belmont Stakes, has been pensioned to Old Friends Equine Retirement in Georgetown, Ky., along with Grade 3 winner River Squall.

Both horses previously resided at veterinarian William Day's Cedar Creek Farm in Brenham, Texas.

Tue, 05/15/2018 - 14:34

Nicanor, a full brother to Barbaro, sent to Old Friends

Adam Coglianese
Nicanor won 4 of 18 career starts and earned $147,697.

Nicanor, a stakes-placed runner, sire, and full brother to Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, has been pensioned to Old Friends Equine Retirement in Georgetown, Ky.

The 12-year-old son of Dynaformer gained a following as the first sibling of Barbaro’s to reach the racetrack after Barbaro died from complications tied to his breakdown in the 2006 Preakness Stakes.

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Mon, 05/14/2018 - 16:23

Sparkman: Declaration of War encourages flattering comparison

Barbara D. Livingston
Declaration of War, shown training at Santa Anita, will be racing on dirt for the first time in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Comparisons between the racing and stud careers of the late Giant’s Causeway and Declaration of War are inevitable. Both won Group 1’s at a mile and 1 ¼ miles in Europe, and then ended their racing careers with wholly honorable narrow defeats in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Mon, 05/14/2018 - 13:46

Will Take Charge filly sparkles in debut win

Barbara D. Livingston
Will Take Charge is targeting the Grade 1 Stephen Foster on June 14 at Churchill for his next start.

Champion Will Take Charge was represented by his first winner in stylish fashion, as Tijori led throughout for a 3 1/4-length debut victory at Santa Anita on Friday.

The filly was given a Beyer Speed Figure of 77, the top number this year for a 2-year-old of either sex.

Mon, 05/14/2018 - 13:46

Wuheida retired, ends race career on winning note

Barbara D. Livingston
Wuheida's final race was a victory in the Dahlia Stakes at Newmarket on May 6.

Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf winner Wuheida has been retired and will enter the broodmare band of owner-breeder Godolphin.

Fri, 05/11/2018 - 12:39

Zenyatta recovers from unsuccessful pregnancy

Barbara D. Livingston
Zenyatta lost her pregnancy in April after suffering an inflammation of the placenta.

Hall of Fame racemare Zenyatta's run of bad luck as a broodmare continues, as the mare will not have a foal in 2018 after aborting her pregnancy to the cover of successful sire Into Mischief.

Fri, 05/11/2018 - 12:20

Keen eye taking bloodstock agent Liz Crow to new heights

Courtesy of Liz Crow
Liz Crow is a partner in both BSW Bloodstock and Elite Sales, and serves as racing manager for Ten Strike Racing.

Liz Crow was an unknown commodity when she signed the $100,000 ticket as agent on Monomoy Girl at the 2016 Keeneland September yearling sale, so much so that the auction company’s bookkeepers had to have a word with her after the fall of the hammer.