Under a new matching funds agreement, the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club will match 50 percent of racehorse owners’ voluntary contributions to the California Retirement Management Account during its upcoming meet, which begins on July 17.
The match will grow to 100 percent in 2014, according to an announcement by Del Mar and CARMA. According to CARMA officials, owners contributed $48,161 to the organization during Del Mar's 2012 meet.
French Group 1 winner and freshman sire Aqlaam was represented by his first winner on July 6 when his son Culdaff broke throu gh with a victory at Haydock in his fourth career start.
Culdaff, who is trained by Charlie Hills for John Grant, won at seven furlongs over good to firm turf in 1:31.17. He had finished second twice in three previous starts.
Celtic Moon’s victory in a maiden special weight race on Sunday at Betfair Hollywood Park was the first by an offspring of Grade 3 winner and multiple classic-placed freshman sire Denis of Cork.
The chestnut ridgling won the five furlong turf race by 1 ¼ lengths, completing the distance in 57.69 seconds over turf labeled as firm. Bred in Florida by Suzanne Sharra-Maxwell and Kay Dennis, Celtic Moon is out of Three Wonders mare Beastlie Moon, who is the dam of two winners from as many starters.
Prior to Sunday, it could already be said that Lou Tucci and his uncle Carlo, who manage the family's Tucci Stables, have mastered the claiming game in a big way. The outfit campaigned former claimer One For Rose to multiple Sovereign Awards a decade ago.
Racing is old hat for Grade 2 winner Mr. O’Brien, but on July 13 the former mid-Atlantic runner will get a chance to see his former workplace at Pimlico Race Course in a new light.
With trainer Robin Graham in the saddle, Mr. O’Brien will be among hundreds of onetime racehorses expected to converge on Pimlico’s infield that day for the Totally Thoroughbred horse show. The event attracted more than 300 horses last year and raised about $16,500 for charities, and it also highlights Thoroughbreds’ suitability for second careers after they have left the racetrack.
Two of the best horses in the handicap division returned last Saturday in familiar venues and echoed past glories with explosive performances, setting up a contentious second half of the year on both coasts that should result in an exciting Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita Park.
Freshman sire Giant Gizmo achieved the rare feat of having his first winner come in a stakes race when Spin the King prevailed in a dramatic stretch run in the Clarendon Stakes on July 7 at Woodbine.
Grade 1 winner Eddington will stand the 2014 breeding season at Ballena Vista Farm in Ramona, Calif., for a fee to be announced at a later date.
The 12-year-old son of Unbridled had spent his entire stallion career to date at Claiborne Farm, retiring to the Paris, Ky., operation for the 2006 breeding season.
Eddington has sired five crops of racing age, with his stakes horses led by Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint winner Secret Circle, Grade 2 winner Brushed by a Star, and Grade 3 winner Gold Edge.
Few horses in modern history, both on the racetrack and in the breeding shed, have faced higher expectations than Dancethruthedawn.
The Sam-Son Farms homebred was well regarded from birth as the first filly out of 1991 Canadian Triple Crown winner and prolific broodmare Dance Smartly, who was among the most decorated runners to emerge from the operation’s foundation family.
Although she won 10 stakes races and earned a championship, Wilderness Song never quite gained the fame she deserved, racing for much of her career in the shadow of her stablemate, 1991 Canadian Triple Crown winner Dance Smartly. Wilderness Song was again relegated to the background when joining Dance Smartly in the broodmare band at their birthplace, Sam-Son Farms in Milton, Ontario, as Dance Smartly produced two classic winners.
