Nacho Problem broke her maiden June 29 at Belmont at the Big A and with it gave her sire, Waiting , his first winner. Breaking from the outside in a field of eight 2-year-old fillies, the chestnut led throughout the six-furlong turf challenge for New York-breds. Jockey Christopher Elliott rode her three-wide, building a 3 1/2-length…
Roll On Big Joe ‘s win in the Kelly’s Landing Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs June 28 rewarded Florida breeder Max Ubide tenfold June 28 by collecting his second graded stakes win of the year. Ubide bred, raised, and broke the 5-year-old son of Prospective until he departed for the 2022 OBS June 2-Year-Old Sale, where he sold…
It was a solemn day at Churchill Downs June 29 once the death of Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas was announced. The track, which Lukas called home for decades, honored the four-time Kentucky Derby (G1) winner and 15-time Classic winner with a moment of silence and playing of “My Old Kentucky Home” by…
Haras Phillipson’s undefeated homebred Touch of Destiny dominated the Asociacion Uruguaya de Propietarios de Caballos de Carrera (G3) at Hipodromo Maronas June 29 with a gate-to-wire victory. With this win, Touch of Destiny earned an automatic starting position in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) through the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and…
Jose Ortiz closed a sensational Spring Meet at Churchill Downs by officially clinching the riding title with 63 wins from 243 mounts, totaling more than $5.6 million in earnings. It marked Ortiz’s second straight Spring Meet crown beneath the Twin Spires and first outright after tying Tyler Gaffalione in 2024. Ortiz pulled away from his…
Joseph Lloyd’s Romeo romped home to win the $225,000 Bashford Manor Stakes at Churchill Downs June 29 by 3 3/4 lengths, finishing in 1:08.61, a stakes record for the six furlong race. Sent off at 9-2 odds, the John Robb-trained Romeo broke sharply under Xavier Perez to settle in behind the front-runners before taking command at the half-mile…
Calandagan finally made his breakthrough in group 1 company June 29 when running out the impressive winner of the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (G1). The Aga Khan Studs’ 4-year-old’s resolution had been questioned in some quarters after he chased home Jan Brueghel in the Coronation Cup (G1) at Epsom, his fourth consecutive second at the…
Lambourn followed in his sire and grandsire’s footsteps to become the 20th horse to complete the Epsom Derby (G1) and Irish Derby (G1) double. The Aidan O’Brien-trained colt twice looked beaten. Early pace-setter Sir Dinadan had the 8-13 favorite at it before they had straightened up. Once Ryan Moore got the better of Richard Kingscote’s mount,…
Winx ‘s part-owner Debbie Kepitis has said she will not pitch up again to buy the mare’s Snitzel colt, after it was confirmed June 29 that the youngster will head to next year’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale. Fellow owner Peter Tighe, however, has not ruled out that he might make a bid, but concedes the…
Goffs Group chief executive Henry Beeby declared triumphantly that Goff’s new Classic Breeze-Up Sale was “here to stay and will now be a key part of the calendar” after the inaugural edition generated €2,565,500 (US$3,007,151, €1=US$1.17) in turnover, a €65,783 (US$77,108) average price and a median of €45,000 (US$52,747) June 28. The auction defied critics, who…
