Tue, 04/03/2012 - 09:53

Fasig-Tipton Texas: Three share fastest furlong times

Juveniles by Into Mischief, Latent Heat, and City Place were the fastest over a furlong Monday at Fasig-Tipton’s under-tack show for its Texas 2-year-old auction in Grand Prairie, Tex.

The auction takes place April 5 at Lone Star Park in a one-day session starting at 11 a.m.

Sun, 04/01/2012 - 17:42

Florida barn fire kills nine Thoroughbreds

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A barn fire Sunday at James “Luke” and Jocelyn McKathan’s Reddick, Fla., farm and training center has killed nine Thoroughbreds, according to a report in the Ocala Star-Banner. 

Three other horses also suffered burn injuries but were rescued from the single-barn fire, which also injured one farm employee, who reportedly declined hospital treatment. J.B. McKathan, a bloodstock agent and pinhooker who is a son of the farm owners, told the Star-Banner that it was not yet clear whether those horses would survive.

Sun, 04/01/2012 - 15:24

Grand Slam dies of heart failure at 17

Adam Coglianese/NYRA
Grand Slam wins the 1997 Futurity Stakes at Belmont Park.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Ashford Stud stallion Grand Slam died Saturday afternoon of heart failure, Ashford’s owner Coolmore Stud announced Sunday.

The Gone West horse was 17. It was the second major stallion loss recently for the Irish-based Coolmore, whose very successful stallion Montjeu died last week of septicemia.

Fri, 03/30/2012 - 14:44

Borgia, German and French champion mare, dies of colic

Borgia, the German and French champion mare who finished a close second in the 1997 Breeders’ Cup Turf, has been euthanized after a severe case of colic, Racing Post reported Friday.

The 18-year-old Acatenango mare died at Gestut Ammerland outside Munich. Borgia’s owner and breeder, Dietrich von Boetticher, owns the farm.

Fri, 03/30/2012 - 12:24

Rousing Sermon needs big effort in Louisiana Derby to make Kentucky Derby

Shigeki Kikkawa
Rousing Sermon will try to earn a trip to the Kentucky Derby with a strong run in the Louisiana Derby.

Rousing Sermon, the champion 2-year-old California-bred male of 2011, needs a strong result in Sunday’s $1 million Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds to justify a start in the Kentucky Derby on May 5.

That’s the approach owners Larry and Marianne Williams are taking, according to their racing manager, Dan Kiser.

Going into the weekend, Rousing Sermon has $170,000 in graded stakes earnings, a sum that ranked him among the top 20 3-year-olds in the nation. The top 20 3-year-olds, ranked by graded stakes earnings, gain berths for the Kentucky Derby.

Thu, 03/29/2012 - 18:29

Shackleford to stand at Darby Dan

Tom Keyser
Shackleford is pointing for Aqueduct's Grade 1 Carter Handicap on April 7, with the Breeders' Cup as a long-term goal.

Shackleford, winner of the 2011 Preakness, will enter stud at Darby Dan Farm in Lexington, Ky., at the end of this year's racing season.

Thu, 03/29/2012 - 09:59

Montjeu, multiple Group 1 winner and top Coolmore sire, dies at 16

Montjeu, one of Coolmore Stud’s best sires and the highest-rated runner by their great Sadler’s Wells, died Thursday “after a short illness which was due to complications from an overwhelming septicemia” – an infection known as blood poisoning – the Irish-based farm announced. Montjeu was 16.

last year, Montjeu sired 15 group or graded winners in the Northern Hemisphere, including Epsom Derby winner Pour Moi. That was his third Epsom Derby winner, following Motivator in 2005 and Authorized in 2007. He also sired runners-up Walk in the Park (2005) and Fame and Glory (2009).

Mon, 03/26/2012 - 16:51

Son of Big Brown leads trio of $1 million buys at Fasig-Tipton Florida

Fasig-Tipton’s Florida select 2-year-old sale became the first of the season to sell a $1 million horse, and it happened three times Monday at the Palm Meadows Training Center in Boynton Beach, Fla.

Mon, 03/26/2012 - 12:38

Arqana sale in France catalogs 165 juveniles

France’s Arqana auction house has issued a 165-horse catalog for its May breeze-up sale at the Saint-Cloud racecourse.

The 2-year-old in training sale will take place May 11-12, starting at 2 p.m. local time each day. Eighty-five of the sale entrants are eligible for French breeders’ premiums, according to Arqana. The catalog is available online at www.arqana.com.

Mon, 03/26/2012 - 09:22

Rachel Alexandra carrying Bernardini foal

Rachel Alexandra, the 2009 Horse of the Year, is carrying her second foal, according to owner Stonestreet Farms’ Facebook page. Rachel Alexandra was bred to Bernardini this year.

The 6-year-old Medaglia d’Oro mare was the first of two female Horses of the Year to produce their first foals this year. Rachel Alexandra’s first foal, a colt by Stonestreet Stables runner Curlin, was born Jan. 22 at the Lexington, Ky., farm. Zenyatta, the 2010 Horse of the Year, had her first foal, a Bernardini colt, on March 8 at Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Ky.