LEXINGTON, Ky. - When you're hot, you're hot. And if Habaneros were any hotter, his groom couldn't bear to touch him. A 5-year-old gelded son of Tabasco Cat, Habaneros has come through layoffs and adversity to become a successful racehorse, winning three races this year and scoring his first stakes victory in last Saturday's Grade 3 Carleton F. Burke Handicap at Santa Anita's Oak Tree meet.
LAS VEGAS - Without the winners of the major Grade 1 races for 2-year-olds in last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile, the door opened for longshot Action This Day ($55.60), a colt who was ideally suited to 1 1/16 miles while most of his competitors were sprinter or milers. With a short field of legitimate contenders in this year's Juvenile, it is not the time to look for an Action This Day or Anees ($62.60 in 1999) to come from the clouds and light up the tote board.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Cecil Seaman, whose biomechanical analysis firm of the same name is familiar around sales grounds, will have four horses to cheer for at Saturday's Breeders' Cup. Seaman selected the dams of four Breeders' Cup runners: Cherlindrea, dam of Mile favorite Nothing to Lose; Kitten's First, dam of the Turf's heavy favorite, Kitten's Joy; Danzigs Fashion, dam of Distaff hopeful Island Fashion; and Ticket to Houston, who produced Juvenile Fillies contender Runway Model.
A day after posting declines across the board at its opener Monday, Fasig-Tipton Kentucky's fall yearling sale saw several six-figure lots by late afternoon Tuesday.
As of 5 p.m., the top lot on the final session's result sheets was Hip No. 634, a $140,000 Cat Thief-High Heeled Honey colt that Newtown Farm bought from Tom Evans's Trackside Farm, agent. The colt is a half-brother to a Grade 1-placed stakes winner, High Heeled Hope, Grade 2-placed Solly's Honor, and stakes winner Koennecker.
A half-brother to Pleasantly Perfect, the 2003 Breeders' Cup Classic winner and 2004 Classic contender, topped day two of the Tattersalls autumn horses-in-training sale in Newmarket, England, on Tuesday and appears headed to the United States.
Patrick Cooper, acting as agent for undisclosed American interests, paid about $425,040 for the 3-year-old Swagger Stick, a Cozzene-Regal State colt sold by Castle Stables. Cooper said the colt, already a winner, would race in the U.S. on the flat before becoming a steeplechaser.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Richard and Audrey Haisfield's NeverTell Farm has purchased Marquetry, the sire of champion sprinters Artax and Squirtle Squirt. The 17-year-old Conquistador Cielo stallion was to leave Vinery in Lexington for new quarters on Tuesday, although his destination was not made public as of Monday afternoon.
"NeverTell Farm owned a position in the horse and made an offer to purchase him outright, which the syndicate has accepted," Vinery president Bates Newton said Monday.
There's a story behind every horse who came home a winner on Maryland Million Day, Oct. 9 at Pimlico. But none could top the tale of Merryland Missy, the 4-year-old daughter of Citidancer who prevailed at more than 15-1 to win the $100,000 Maryland Million Distaff.
The late inclusion of seven racehorses, including three major stakes winners, to this week's Barretts October mixed sale should add interest to an event that is otherwise a regional sale featuring horses of moderate value.
The two-day sale will be held Monday and Tuesday at the Hinds Pavilion at Fairplex Park in Pomona, beginning daily at 11 a.m.
The name Stack is not a well-known one in the breeding industry. Not even in his own bailiwick of Ocala, Fla., does mention of this 24-year-old Nijinsky stallion raise many eyebrows. Yet, the numbers show that Stack, an older half-brother to Forty Niner, is more than just a successful stallion. Stack is the international leader in the percentage of stakes winners from starters at approximately 32 percent. That's 8 percent higher than his nearest competitor, Danzig. Mr. Prospector is fifth on this list at roughly 18 percent.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Just as a Julius Caesar parlayed small victories into great victories and grew to rule the world, racehorses also can parlay their talents into unexpected dominion. Breeders' Cup Juvenile favorite Roman Ruler stands at the edge of a great divide. If he crosses the Rubicon and, like Caesar before him, meets with great success, Roman Ruler will become the winter book favorite for the Kentucky Derby and the most talked-about horse for the races leading up to the Triple Crown next season.