Fri, 11/08/2024 - 14:20

Sierra Leone, Carl Spackler to race again next year

Sierra Leone wins BC Classic at DMR Nov 2 2024
Barbara D. Livingston
Sierra Leone will rejoin Chad Brown’s stable at Payson Park later this month. The Saudi Cup is an early season goal.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – It didn’t come as a surprise, but trainer Chad Brown was thrilled nonetheless when the connections of Sierra Leone officially announced late Thursday afternoon that the Breeders’ Cup Classic winner would be returning for a 4-year-old campaign in 2025.

Fri, 11/08/2024 - 13:00

Nom de Plume has license to improve again

Coady Media
Nom de Plume is a leading contender for Sunday's feature at Churchill Downs.

Bonne Chance Farm is the nom de course of owner-breeders Gilberto Sayão da Silva and Paulo Fernando de Oliveira, who send out the 4-year-old filly Nom de Plume as one of the favorites in the featured fifth race Sunday at Churchill Downs.

Fri, 11/08/2024 - 12:55

DeVaux likely sending She Feels Pretty to American Oaks

Coady Media
Trainer Cherie DeVaux will likely send Queen Elizabeth II winner She Feels Pretty to the American Oaks at Santa Anita.

While Cherie DeVaux trained More Than Looks to win the Breeders’ Cup Mile last weekend at Del Mar, she’s not done seeking Grade 1 turf prizes in 2024.

She Feels Pretty, smashing winner of the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup on Oct. 12 at Keeneland, will likely travel to California for the Grade 1 American Oaks on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita.

Fri, 11/08/2024 - 12:55

Injury free, East Avenue to winter at Fair Grounds

Debra A. Roma
Ninth as the favorite in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, East Avenue will head to Fair Grounds before targeting Kentucky Derby preps.

East Avenue was back on the racetrack Thursday morning at Churchill Downs but won’t have a chance to get his career back on track until sometime next year.

Thu, 11/07/2024 - 11:57

May Day Ready headed to Japan for Hanshin Juvenile Fillies

May Day Ready at BEL Oct 19 2024
Susie Raisher
Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies turf runner-up May Day Ready will make her next start at Kiyoto Racecourse in Japan, per trainer Joe Lee.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - May Day Ready, the multiple stakes-winning 2-year-old filly and runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar, will make her next start in the Grade 1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies at Kiyoto in Japan on Dec. 8, trainer Joe Lee confirmed Thursday morning.

The Hanshin Juvenile has a purse of 140,200,000 yen, which translates to $915,758 in U.S. dollars.

Wed, 11/06/2024 - 14:38

Far Bridge, Big Invasion to race in 2025

Barbara D. Livingston
Far Bridge, winner of this year's Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, will return to race in 2025.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Far Bridge, the two-time Grade 1 winner who finished ninth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, and Big Invasion, the multiple stakes winner who finished 10th in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, will both race again in 2025, trainer Christophe Clement said.

Far Bridge won the Sword Dancer and Joe Hirsch Turf Classic in 2024 before finishing 5 3/4 lengths behind Rebel’s Romance in the BC Turf.

Wed, 11/06/2024 - 14:33

Law Professor being pointed to Cigar Mile

Adam Coglianese/NYRA
Law Professor wins a one-turn mile allowance race in February at Aqueduct, earning a 100 Beyer Speed Figure.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Law Professor has done his best work at Aqueduct and though most of his success has come in races run around two turns, he is targeting the Grade 2, $500,000 Cigar Mile, a race run around one turn, on Dec. 7 as his next start.

Wed, 11/06/2024 - 13:35

Immersive is the star, but Cox loaded with 2-year-old fillies

Immersive wins the BC Juvenile Fillies at DMR Nov 1 2024
Barbara D. Livingston
Undefeated Immersive locked up a championship by winning her third straight Grade 1 in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.

Immersive might have scored the highest-profile victory winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, but she’s far from the only talented Brad Cox-trained 2-year-old filly heading into winter.

Wed, 11/06/2024 - 13:35

Track Phantom, Hall of Fame back in business Saturday

Barbara D. Livingston
Track Phantom will make his first start since finishing 11th in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on Saturday.

Saturday is comeback day for a pair of Steve Asmussen-trained 3-year-olds.

Track Phantom, last seen finishing 11th in the Kentucky Derby, and Hall of Fame, most recently 10th in the Louisiana Derby, start in separate allowance races at Churchill Downs.

Track Phantom has accomplished far more than his stablemate, winning the Gun Runner and the Lecomte last winter at Fair Grounds. Accordingly, he returns in a salty higher-level allowance over seven furlongs.

Tue, 11/05/2024 - 10:37

Moira sells for $4.3 million at Fasig-Tipton November sale

Barbara D. Livingston
Trainer Kevin Attard hugs Moira and jockey Flavien Prat after their win in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

Moira sold for $4.3 million on Monday night at the Fasig-Tipton November sale, two days after winning the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar, certainly a popular victory on both sides of the border.  

The 2022 Canadian Horse of the Year, Moira became the seventh Canadian-bred to win a Breeders’ Cup race and the first since Wavell Avenue in 2015. Her victory also is the third by a Queen’s/King’s Plate winner, joining Dance Smartly (1991, Distaff) and Awesome Again (1998, Classic) as the only horses to have won at both events.