Thoroughbred Daily News

In its annual Report of Mares Bred (RMBs) released Thursday, The Jockey Club estimates that the 2026 foal crop will be 17,000. That represents a slight decline of 300 from the 2025 crop.

The foal crop projection is computed by using RMBs received to date for the 2025 breeding season. RMBs are to be filed by August 1 of each breeding season.

The number of mares bred has fallen every year since 2015, when 34,122 mares were bred. Over that ten-year period, the foal crop has dropped by 28%.

During that same period the number of stallions covering 200 mares or more has increased from four to 10. The high mark was in 2022 when 16 stallions covered 200 or more mares.

Through Sept. 20, 2025, The Jockey Club reports that 740 stallions covered 24,681 mares. It estimated that an additional 2,000 to 3,000 will be reported as bred during the 2025 breeding season.

Of the RMB reports received, 201 mares were part of the Mare Incentive Program, which waives registration fees for certain 2026 foals of mares that meet criteria defined by The Jockey Club. This initiative was announced in December 2024 to stimulate interest in mares that appear to have left production. The report of Mare Incentive Program mares is available to anyone with an Interactive Registration account and is filterable by 12 data elements, including sire, dam sire, age, money earned, and class of race achieved.

Tiz the Law, who stands at Coolmore for a fee of $30,000, led all stallions, having been bred to 274 mares. That was just one more than Arabian Knight, who topped all first-year stallions. Arabian Knight stands at Hill 'n' Dale, also for a fee of $30,000. Tiz the Law was bred to 158 mares in 2024 or 116 fewer than he was bred to this year.

The top ten was rounded out by Practical Joke (263), Justify (244), Charge It (235), Domestic Product (224), Gun Runner (218), Not This Time (214) Vekoma (211), and National Treasure (202). Of the top 10 sires, four (Tiz the Law, Practical Joke, Justify and Domestic Product) stand at Coolmore. Spendthrift had two sires make the list in Vekoma and National Treasure. Gainesway, Hill 'n' Dale, Three Chimneys and Taylor Made each had one sire on the Top Ten list.

As is always the case, Kentucky again led North America in Thoroughbred breeding activity. During 2025, Kentucky's 189 reported stallions covered 16,373 mares, or 66.34% of all mares reported bred in North America. With 1,270 mares bred in California that edged New York (1,122) for second place on the list. Florida was next with 1,066. As recently as 2024, Florida produced 1,432 foals. The decline could be because Florida breeders are being cautious, not knowing the fate of Gulfstream Park.

Standing in New York, Bucchero was the most active stallion outside of Kentucky. He was bred to 192 mares. The leading sire in Florida was Win Win Win, who was bred to 137 mares.

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Yearlings by first-crop stallions continued to be in demand during Wednesday's closing session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's October Yearlings Sale as a colt by Jackie's Warrior (hip 482) topped the session at $180,000. Bred and consigned by Glen Hill Farm, the colt was picked up by Elijah and Nelson Arroyo of Arroyo Bloodstock who deemed him on social media to be “our favorite horse of the entire catalog.”

“Physically, he was one of the most muscular horses that we saw,” Elijah said. “He has a really nice presence to him and good angles. We try to look for horses that fit with the group that we've bought this year and he definitely fits and more. He's got a great mind to him.”

The Arroyos, who founded the racing information portal TBX, have been active across the yearling sales this season buying horses they believe can be future stakes runners. They also acquired a Solomini filly (hip 156) for $15,000 on Tuesday during the sale's opening session.

“We're trying to focus on horses who we believe have a real, big chance of being stakes horses when they run,” Nelson added. “We're trying to buy horses that, even if they pinhook well or not, that they're going to make it at the races and we believe in them. Horses that we believe have a bright future.”

Jackie's Warrior, who was announced at a $25,000 stud fee for 2026 ahead of his first 2-year-olds making the races next season, saw plenty of success last month at Keeneland including a $1.3m colt who sold to West Bloodstock. Given that success, the Arroyos were prepared to spend for their top colt.

“The two horses that I loved in this sale were hip 177 (Tuesday's sales-topper by Mo Donegal who sold for $240,000) and this one, who I liked a little more. He had a little bit more size, it's a colt, a popular freshman sire, bigger page. So we were prepared to have the [new] sales topper. Thank God he went under $200,000!”

Elijah, Nelson, and Brandon Arroyo | Jessica Martini

Out of a graded stakes winner in Broken Dreams, the Jackie's Warrior colt is a half to MGSW Caribou Club (City Zip) and a three-time track record setter at Gulfstream in Fly the W (Ghostzapper). Third dam One Dreamer was also a GI Breeders' Cup Distaff winner. There's quality still in the pipeline as well with Caribou Club's 2-year-old Into Mischief filly, named Eze Village, unraced but on the work tab at Saratoga over the summer.

In addition to breeding and consigning the session topper Wednesday, Glen Hill Farm also added the day's second highest price when another homebred son of Army Mule (hip 506) brought $125,000 to Breeze Easy LLC. That colt is out of MGSW Closeout, a full-sister to GSW Capital Request, SW Bricks and Ivy and GSP Family Foundation.

“It's a good family and he's a nice colt,” Glen Hill's Tom Proctor told OBS of the Jackie's Warrior colt. “I think the family goes back (to Glen Hill) about 7-8 dams. He's a big, good looking colt who is well balanced. I hope Nelson does well with him.”

Other first-crop stallions in demand Wednesday included Roadster who had a colt (hip 480) go the way of Sean S. Perl Bloodstock for $120,000 and a filly (hip 319) purchased by Champion Equine for $80,000. A pair of stallions with their first 2-year-olds this year also saw success with Spendthrift's Yaupon (recently bumped to $60,000 for 2026) and Florida's Pleasant Acres Stallions member Leinster both well represented.

There were four hips across the six-figure mark Wednesday, bringing the two-day total to eight. That eclipses the mark set by last year's OBS October Sale where seven yearlings hit six figures.

During Wednesday's final session, 146 yearlings sold for $3,635,100 for an average of $24,898 and a median of $18,500. The buy-back rate was 26.2%. Cumulatively over two days, 308 yearlings sold for $7,247,700 with an average price of $23,531 and a median of $15,000. The overall buy-back rate was 25.5%.

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The Fasig-Tipton October Digital sale closed Wednesday evening with broodmare Stifled Heiress (Munnings) as the topper when she was taken home for $470,000 and 240 horses sold for $4,947,500, according to a press release from the auction company on Wednesday.

Offering horses of racing age, racing/broodmare prospects, broodmares, yearlings, and weanlings, the online sale closed over two days with Stifled Heiress (hip 242), who is in foal to Leinster, going to Pursuit of Success LLC from the consignment of SGV Thoroughbreds, agent. The daughter of Munnings is already the dam of two winners from two starters, including this year's GII Gallant Bob Stakes winner Mad House (Vekoma).

Blame It On Alphie (hip 232), in foal to perennial leading sire Into Mischief, sold for $400,000 to Hunter Valley Farm & Mountmellick Farm from the consignment of Mulholland Springs, agent. By Blame, Blame It On Alphie is a stakes placed half-sister to three stakes winners.

“It's always nerve-wracking to be the first sale of the year offering a large quantity of breeding stock,” said Director of Digital Sales Leif Aaron. “Broodmares in foal were clearly in high demand–which makes perfect sense given the time of year. Our numbers are up significantly from 2024 to 2025: horses offered, sold, average, and gross are all showing major increases. The number of registered bidders rose by 25 percent, which is an incredible jump.

“Gains like that don't happen by chance,” he said. “This was the result of a massive collective effort. We turned around a 400-horse catalogue in just ten days–an enormous undertaking. That meant vetting, photos, seller descriptions, and mountains of paperwork. Buyers, too, put in the work to study the catalogue and come prepared. It was a true team effort from everyone involved, and we're deeply grateful to our customers for giving us the opportunity to put on this show.”

Click here for full results.

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Texas Racing Commission (TXRC) chairman Robert Pate reportedly announced that Amy Cook, the commission's executive director and chief law enforcer, is leaving her position “by year's end,” according to two individuals who witnessed Wednesday's commission meeting.

No successor was named during the meeting, nor were any reasons given for Cook leaving her position, according to the sources.

The TDN has reached out to the TXRC for clarification on these questions. This story will be updated as necessary.

Cook has been in the position since November of 2021, and is seen by some in the state industry as a controversial hiring.

Cook assumed the job after a long history in the U.S. military. While she had no prior experience in the horse racing industry, it appears as though her ideological opposition to the federal Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) was an important factor in her role.

Indeed, last year Pate told the TDN that Cook in her position has been working with the Texas Attorney General's office “to successfully attack the constitutionality of the HISA law.”

When HISA's racetrack safety program launched in 2022, the TXRC argued it was statutorily barred from joining HISA–a position it has since maintained.

Because the HISA Authority has jurisdiction over the interstate simulcasting of races, the commission argues it is prohibited from permitting Texan tracks to export their signals.

The inability for Texan tracks to simulcast their signals has resulted in massive drops in handle, with major implications for purses and track revenues.

Though purses in the state are bolstered by monies accrued through a tax on equine products like feed and tack, the TDN obtained a memo put together by Texas racing stakeholders earlier this year which argues the industry is still losing approximately $6 million in revenues annually.

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Despite a dominant 6 1/2-length history in the GI Champagne S. at Aqueduct Oct. 4, Napoleon Solo (Liam's Map) will skip the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Napoleon Solo is owned by Al Gold's Gold Square LLC and is trained by Chad Summers.

The story was first reported by the Daily Racing Form's David Grening.

“Unfortunately , the Breeders Cup is in California every year,” Summers said. “Hopefully, that will change. It's a lot to ask of these 2-year-olds. We weren't really sure what we wanted to do after the race that was that fast and he had to run hard in. After a couple days of reflection and talking it over with Mr. Gold, we feel like it would be a lot to ask of him to come right back in the Breeders' Cup. He's a young 2-year-old. We're going to look forward to next year and, hopefully, he'll go to the Breeders' Cup next year.”

Purchased for just $40,000 at Keeneland September, Napoleon Solo started his career in a Saratoga maiden race restricted to horses that sold for $60,000 or less at the sales. He won that day by 5 1/4 lengths. At odds of 6-1, he wired the field in the Champagne in an impressive performance.

Summers has yet to map out a plan for Napoleon Solo for next year.

“We'll take it one day at a time,” he said. “When he's ready to run, we'll look at all the options. He will be nominated to everything across the country. We also have that horse ['TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard SW & GISP] Two Out Hero (War Front) with Kevin Attard. Right now he's pointing to the Holy Bull. Well try him on the dirt.  We'd like to keep those horses separated. We'll see what options are out there when the situation is right. That's the beautiful thing about Derby prep season. There's no shortage of options.”

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In response to a release on the subject of 'Equine Sudden Death Syndrome' issued by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) on Sept. 25 (TDN story), which found that atrial fibrillation (AF) was a contributing factor to equine sudden death, Eric Hamelback, CEO of the National HPBA, called the findings into question in a statement of his own on Oct. 8, declaring that the HISA statement 'raised more questions than answers' and 'offered no scientific references, and provided no direct link to the alleged research behind their claims, even though the research has been publicly presented.'

In its Sept. 25 release, HISA reported that Exercise-Associated Sudden Death (EASD) accounted for 8% of racing fatalities and 18% of training fatalities at racetracks subject to HISA rules (as well as training centers owned by them). The release also said that retrospective analysis of cases since the inception of HISA showed that more than 50% of those cases were 'likely related to cardiac issues' often classified as 'sudden cardiac death.'

The HISA release proposed 'integrating cardiac screening' into the routine evaluation of horse by making use of wearable devices or veterinary exams with the goal of identifying at-risk horses prior to exercise.

Hamelback took issue to such monitoring in his release, laying out the limitations of heart rate monitors. Hamelback also calls out HISA for their neglecting to acknowledge how the removal of Furosemide (Lasix) can exacerbate the risk of EIPH.

“The welfare of racehorses and the integrity of the sport depend on clear, evidence-based leadership,” Hamelback said. “This is not what we are receiving in this last HISA press release. Anything less does a disservice to horsemen, veterinarians, and most importantly, the horses themselves.”

Late Wednesday evening, HISA CEO Lisa Lazurus released a statement, that is published here in its entirety:

“The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) is committed to advancing equine welfare through modern, data-driven science–not outdated assumptions or repeated

trial and error. Exercise-Associated Sudden Death (EASD) is responsible for a significant number of Thoroughbred racing and training deaths annually.  This is why HISA stepped up and assumed a leadership role in bringing together the first-of-its-kind, high-level working group of experts.

“Through collaboration with international clinicians and researchers, HISA's ongoing cardiac monitoring research has created the largest dataset in North America of both equine exercising electrocardiograms (ECGs) and ECGs of horses that have experienced EASD. This data is being analyzed to produce real, ground-breaking findings that are already being shared with, and applauded by, the international veterinary community. While peer-reviewed, published research is still forthcoming, HISA felt it was imperative to share this critical, life-saving information with the racing industry, especially as these findings were only made possible through the collaboration of trainers with researchers from the working group, veterinarians, and wearable device companies, all coming together in the name of equine welfare.

“Preliminary findings have been presented at the International Havemeyer Conference on Poor Performance, the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Forum, and will be featured at the Hong Kong Jockey Club International Conference later this year, as well as the International Conference of Racing Analysts and Veterinarians in Melbourne in 2026. All of these forums and conferences are selective and only accept compelling, novel and high-quality research through an evaluation of scientific merit, clarity and relevance.

“Modern ECG technology and data collection are well-accepted, non-invasive tools for assessing racehorses, and their use is well supported within the veterinary community. Citing decades-old studies as definitive evidence is disingenuous and flies in the face of reason and the ever-evolving nature of veterinary science. While the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association has issued dubious statements in the past, it is shocking that they would try and dissuade trainers and veterinary practitioners from applying these potentially life-saving measures to horses simply because they oppose HISA.

“HISA remains committed to transparency, collaboration, and scientific integrity–ensuring the sport's safety standards reflect today's best evidence, not yesterday's limitations.”

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Trainer Will Walden has come a long way in a short period of time. Training only since 2022, through Tuesday, he had 35 wins on the year from 141 starters for a win rate of 25%. His stable's earnings stood at $3.384 million. It's been a good year, in part because of a very good day. Walden won his first Grade I race last Saturday at Keeneland when the New York-bred Rhetorical (Not This Time) won the GI Coolmore Turf Mile. It was an important step for a trainer who admits he aspires to be one of the top trainers in the business.

Walden's success has also come after he battled substance abuse problems for years, but says he has found peace and sobriety.

To talk about the Coolmore Turf Mile, his plans for the future and other topics, Walden was this week's guest on the TDN Writers' Room Podcast presented by Keeneland. He was the Gainesway Guest of the Week.

How confident was he that Rhetorical, who was 9-1, would win the prestigious one-mile turf race?

“I was very confident and that was really exciting,” he said. “That's why my team and I show up every day. We want to win at the highest levels and be around high-caliber horses. We love every single one of them, no matter what level they compete at, but, obviously to win a Grade I at Keeneland was special.”

Walden said he brought the horse up to the Turf Mile the same way he imagined Bill Mott would have trained such a gelding. Slow, patient, one step at a time.

“In my training career, I've been blessed to work for so many good people, so many good outstanding horsemen, to name a few like Todd Pletcher, Bill Mott, Wesley Ward,” Walden said. “I never worked for Brad Cox, but I've certainly learned a lot from him, training alongside of him at Churchill and Turfway. There are certain horses, obviously you train and you think, what would Todd Pletcher, Bill Mott, Brad Cox have done with them? I always felt like Rhetorical was a Bill Mott type of horses. I tried to make the decisions based on what would Bill do and Bill wouldn't jump him into a stakes too early. He'd space his races out.”

The GI Breeders' Cup Mile at Del Mar is next. Is he confident?

“We'll see how he trains up in between,” Walden said. “He came out of the race great and he's doing well now. It's going to be deeper waters. I do believe because of how tactical he is he will suit that turf course pretty well. I think that turf course and the style of running will suit him. It's a short stretch, which doesn't necessarily favor all Europeans, but I do think it'll favor this horse.”

While pleased that he's had such a big year, Walden aspires to do even better.

“The goal in life is always to keep moving forward,” he said. “We're extremely pleased with how this year has gone, but we have goals that are bigger than that. As a team, as a collective unit, we want to train on Saturdays in the biggest races. We love racing. So, we want as much action as possible. There's more out there to conquer. And I'd be lying to you if I said we were satisfied.”

Walden has been quite open about his problems with drugs and alcohol. With the help of Christian Countzler and Frank Taylor's Stable Recovery program, which has helped hundreds of individuals overcome drug and alcohol problems and find jobs in the racing industry, Walden has thrived.

“Christian ran the program that I went through,” Walden said. “I was a part of the inaugural Stable Recovery group, but I actually got sober in a different house than Christian was running. When I would tell them where I was, what facility I was at, they would say, that's a black belt recovery over there, meaning they took it very serious. And I think Stable Recovery has got a really good peer driven, peer held accountable program. It's a big group of guys and everybody's given some responsibility over there. And they're given the responsibility of holding their brother to their left and to their right and check and hold them accountable. When you've got brothers in arms walking through something, it's way stronger than trying to walk through it by yourself. And then you add the equine component, which I've seen personally melt the hardest of hearts and break men down and help them get in touch with a side of themselves that they've never been in touch with before. You add both those things together and you create this brotherhood that's surrounded with this everyday mission to take care of this beast. This requires a tenderness that maybe these guys aren't used to having or even being shown.”

The “Fastest Horse of the Week” was Rated by Merit (Battalion Runner), who got a 105 Beyer for his win in the Discovery S. Saturday at Aqueduct. Podcast co-host Randy Moss called him a horse to watch in the Breeders' Cup. The Fastest Horse of the Week segment is sponsored by WinStar.

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by 1/ST TV, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders' Association and West Point  Thoroughbreds, the team of Bill Finley and Moss went over the slew of Breeders' Cup preps last weekend. The consensus was that GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity winner Ted Noffey (Into Mischief) was among the most impressive winners over the weekend. The team also talked about the poor performance by Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) in the GI Juddmonte Spinster Stakes and speculated that she might be retired. The podcast ended with a remembrance of Jeff Siegel, a terrific guy and a great handicapper. He passed away last week at the age of 74.

Click here to watch the podcast and here for the audio-only version.

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Every week, the TDN posts a round-up of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country.

The following rulings were reported on HISA's “rulings” portal and through the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) “pending” and “resolved” cases portals.

Among this week's rulings, trainer Juan Munoz Cano has been suspended a combined 12 years and a combined $150,000 (including arbitration costs) for a series of clenbuterol positives spanning the end of last year and earlier this year, according to a final decision by an arbitral body whose ruling can be read here.

The ban (a consecutive series of six, two-year suspensions) begins Oct. 7.

Though the bronchodilator clenbuterol is classified by HISA as a banned substance, it is permitted for use for a maximum 30 days (within a six-month period) if accompanied with a valid veterinary prescription. Following administration, the horse in question is placed on the vets' list and unable to work or race until it tests clear.

The separate cases are a mixture of post-race tests and out-of-competition tests involving six different horses.

According to Equibase, Cano has been training since 2020, amassing 129 wins from 936 starts. His most successful year was in 2023, when he collected over $1.6 million in prize money from 32 victories.

Also this week, trainer Eusobio Juarez has been suspended a year and fined a combined $18,000 (including arbitration costs) for possession of Diisopropylamine, a banned substance, on Jan. 29. The suspension beings Oct. 8.

Diisopropylamine is a banned vasodilator, meaning it can widen the blood vessels and thereby improve blood flow. Diisopropylamine is also found in several everyday items like tobacco and beauty products, as well as hand sanitizer.

Resolved ADMC Violations

Date: 10/07/2025
Licensee: Karyn Wittek, trainer
Penalty: A written Reprimand (per 9/26/23 HISA Guidance). Admission.
Explainer: Vets' list medication violation for the presence of Omeprazole—a class C controlled substance—in a sample taken from Aubrey's Unbridled on 8/27/25.

Date: 10/07/2025
Licensee: Eusobio Juarez, trainer
Penalty: 24-month period of Ineligibility for Covered Person, beginning on October 8, 2025; a fine of $10,000; payment of $8,000 towards arbitration costs. Final decision of arbitral body.
Explainer: Violation for the possession of Diisopropylamine—a banned substance—for an event dated 1/29/25. This is a possible violation of Rule 3214(a)—Possession of Banned Substances.

Date: 10/06/2025
Licensee: Juan Munoz Cano, trainer
Penalty: Combined 12-year period of Ineligibility for Covered Person, beginning on October 7, 2025; Disqualification of Covered Horse's Race results, including forfeiture of all purses and other compensation, prizes, trophies, points, and rankings and repayment or surrender (as applicable); a combined fine of $150,000. In Solidify's case, Disqualification of the Horse's Race results (and other applicable forfeitures) applied to the results of races on 11/20/24, 12/06/24, and 12/27/24. Final decision of arbitral body.
Explainer: Medication violations (including out-of-competition violations) for the presence of Clenbuterol—a banned substance permitted under certain circumstances—in samples taken from Solidify, who won at Churchill Downs on 11/20/24; from True Jedi on 11/21/24; from Global Sensation on 11/21/24; from Protomagic on 11/21/24; from La Bukana on 10/31/24; and from Beer With Ice on 1/15/25.

Date: 10/03/2025
Licensee: Tanner Tracy, trainer
Penalty: 15-day period of Ineligibility for Covered Person, beginning on October 4, 2025; Disqualification of Covered Horse's Race results, including forfeiture of all purses and other compensation, prizes, trophies, points, and rankings and repayment or surrender (as applicable); a fine of $2,500; imposition of 2 Penalty Points. Admission.
Explainer: Medication violation for the presence of Acepromazine—a class B controlled substance—in a sample taken from Golden Biz, who won at Prairie Meadows on 8/25/25.

Date: 10/02/2025
Licensee: Adam Kitchingman, trainer
Penalty: A fine of $500; imposition of 1.5 Penalty Points. Final decision of HIWU.
Explainer: Vets' list medication violation for the presence of Diclofenac—a class C controlled substance—in a sample taken from Gigi's Girl on 8/18/25.

Date: 10/02/2025
Licensee: Graham Motion, trainer
Penalty: A fine of $500; imposition of 1.5 Penalty Points. Final decision of HIWU.
Explainer: Vets' list medication violation for the presence of Glycopyrrolate—a class C controlled substance—in a sample taken from Regal Kingdom on 8/18/25.

Date: 10/01/2025
Licensee: Moises Yanez, trainer
Penalty: Disqualification of Covered Horse's Race results, including forfeiture of all purses and other compensation, prizes, trophies, points, and rankings and repayment or surrender (as applicable); a fine of $500; imposition of 1.5 Penalty Points. Final decision of HIWU.
Explainer: Medication violation for the presence of Dantrolene—a class B controlled substance—in a sample taken from She's Gone Rogue, who won at Colonial Downs on 8/16/25.

Pending ADMC Violations
10/07/2025, Aaron West, trainer: Pending vets' list medication violation for the presence of Salicylic Acid/Salicylic—a class C controlled substance—in a sample taken from Proud Words, who finished second at Belterra Park on 8/27/25.

10/07/2025, Jena Antonucci, trainer: Pending vets' list medication violation for the presence of Lidocaine—a class B controlled substance—in a sample taken from Bee a Queen, who won at Gulfstream Park on 6/14/25.
Read Antonucci's statement on the matter here.

10/06/2025, Jose Puentes, trainer: Pending vets' list medication violation for the presence of Trichlormethiazide—a class C controlled substance—in a sample taken from Yes He Can, who won at Emerald Downs on 8/29/25.

10/03/2025, Kevin Rice, trainer: Pending vets' list medication violation for the presence of Acepromazine—a class B controlled substance—in a sample taken from Legends Can't Die on 8/28/25.

10/02/2025, Greg Allen Green, trainer: Pending vets' list medication violation for the presence of Phenylbutazone—a class C controlled substance—in a sample taken from Onefortheditch on 9/4/25.

Violations of Crop Rule
Delaware Park
Yabriel Omar Ramos – violation date October 2; $500 fine, two-day suspension

Hawthorne
Javier Tavares – violation date October 2; $250 fine, one-day suspension

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JCB Stables' Sarawak Rim (Arg) (Remote {GB}) will likely be the final horse trainer Ignacio Correas IV saddles before retiring to his native Argentina in mid-November when she goes postward in the Nov. 1 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. The 4-year-old filly–beaten just once in five trips to the post in Argentina–worked four furlongs from the gate in :48.60 (6/22) Wednesday at Keeneland.

Sarawak Rim won the May 1 G1 Gran Premio Criadores at Hipodromo Argentino De Palermo in her most recent race and she has been with Correas at Keeneland since July.

“She's got talent and she has surprised me every time she has worked,” said Correas, who won the Breeders' Cup Distaff at Santa Anita in 2019 with Blue Prize (Arg). “She's going to be really good next year, but it will be for somebody else.”

Correas has two more works scheduled for Sarawak Rim at Keeneland before shipping Oct. 23 to Del Mar where she will put in her final work for the Breeders' Cup.

Colebrook Farms' Simply in Front (Summer Front) likely earned a trip to Del Mar with her win in the GI First Lady Stakes at Keeneland Saturday, but trainer Eddie Kenneally said he is still deciding for which race.

“We are looking at Del Mar,” Kenneally said Wednesday morning. “It might be the GIII Goldikova or the GI Breeders' Cup Mile. The Goldikova would be the most logical spot.”

Simply in Front would face off against the boys in the $2-million Breeders' Cup Mile, while the $300,000 Goldikova is for fillies and mares. Both races are Nov. 1.

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The final deadline to nominate foals born in 2025 to the Breeders' Cup program at the one-time nomination fee of $400 is at 11:59 p.m. ET Oct. 15. The $400 weanling nomination entitles each foal with lifetime eligibility to the Breeders' Cup World Championships and the Breeders' Cup racing programs. All foals sired by a fully nominated North American Breeders' Cup stallion are eligible for nomination to the Breeders' Cup program in their year of birth at the weanling rate. From Oct. 16-Feb. 28, the nomination cost rises to $1,500.

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Last year's GI Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan (Goldencents–Ma'am, by Colonel John), who is expected to start next in the Nov. 1 GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, will begin his stud career next year at Airdrie Stud at an introductory fee of $15,000. In addition to the 2024 Derby, Mystik Dan also won this year's GII Lukas Classic Stakes and GIII Blame Stakes. He was runner-up in last year's GI Preakness Stakes and third in the GI Arkansas Derby, and heads to the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile as one of the leading contenders.

Girvin (Tale of Ekati–Catch the Moon, by Malibu Moon) leads the Airdrie 2026 roster, which was announced Wednesday, at $30,000–up from $25,000 in 2025. While the 11-year-old stallion's first Kentucky-bred crop will hit the track in 2026, he was represented this year by GI Ogden Phipps Stakes winner Dorth Vader. In the sales ring, his 61 yearlings sold at last month's Keeneland September sale averaged $139,000 and he was represented by the $1.1-million sale-topper at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May sale.

Also standing his first season at stud at Airdrie in 2026, graded winner Jonathan's Way (Vekoma–Female Drama, by Indian Charlie) will stand for $8,500.

Jonathan's Way, the first son of the white-hot Vekoma to be retired to stud, will also take up stud duties following his recent retirement from racing. A 'TDN Rising Star', presented by Hagyard in his Saratoga debut, he was a dominant winner of the Grade III Iroquois Stakes at Churchill Downs in his second start before ending his juvenile campaign with a fast-closing second in that track's Grade III Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes. An early favorite for the following season's GI Kentucky Derby, Jonathan's Way's Triple Crown hopes were dashed early in his 3-year-old season by a life-threatening bout with colitis. Though unable to return to the races following his illness, he retires to stud with a strong reputation and, at $290,000, being the most expensive weanling from Vekoma's debut crop.  Mystik Dan and Jonathan's Way will stand for initial fees of $15,000 and $8,500, respectively.

After solid years, Upstart and Complexity will stands for $25,000 and $20,000 respectively, with the latter taking a slight rate cut from $25,000. Like Girvin, Upstart's best-bred crop will be 2-year-olds of 2026, but his juveniles of 2025 already have him ranked in the top 15 general sires, a ranking that would have been significantly improved had his Percy's Bar not been disqualified from her win in Saturday's GI Darley Alcibiades Stake at Keeneland. A rising commercial force, his Keeneland September highlights included a high price of $650,000 and an average of more than $122,000. Complexity, now the leading second-crop sire in America by percentage of stakes winners, can already count nine individual stakes winners from his first crop of 3-year-olds and has added two new graded winners in the last 10 days in Innovative and his Breeders' Cup-bound second-crop star Intricate Spirit.

While 2023 GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic–Puca, by Big Brown) will stand for $15,000, after standing for $25,000 in 2025. Out of the Broodmare of the Year Puca, Mage bred 171 mares his first year and saw his half-brother Baeza (McKinzie) pick up a Grade I win in the Pennsylvania Derby, Puca's third consecutive elite-level winner.

Airdrie's ultra-consistent duo of Cairo Prince and Collected will also offer breeders a savings over last year's fees. A perennial fixture on the leading General Sires list, Cairo Prince's 2025 progeny earnings already exceed $5.6 million. He will stand for a fee of $10,000 for the upcoming season, down from $15,000. Collected, whose 2025 stars include the historic King's Plate hero Mansetti, Grade II winner Thought Process and leading juvenile stakes-winner Comport, stands at $7,500, down from $10,000 in 2025.

Airdrie's complete 2026 roster, with stud fees, is: Girvin, $30,000; Upstart, $25,000; Complexity, $20,000; Mage, $15,000; Mystik Dan, $15,000; Cairo Prince, $10,000; Jonathan's Way, $8,500; Beau Liam, $7,500; Collected, $7,500; Happy Saver, $7,500; Highly Motivated, $7,500; Divisidero, $3,500.

The post Derby Winner Mystik Dan to Begin Stud Career at Airdrie for $15k; Jonathan’s Way at $8,500 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Sierra Leone (Gun Runner–Heavenly Love, by Malibu Moon), last year's champion 3-year-old colt, will join the roster at Coolmore's Ashford Stud in Kentucky next year, the operation announced Wednesday. Racing for Peter Brant, Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg, and Brook Smith and trained by Chad Brown, Sierra Leone is expected to make his final career start in the Nov. 1 GI Breeders' Cup Classic, a race he won in 2024.

Sierra Leone, who topped the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale when selling for $2.3 million, was tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' following his debut victory at Aqueduct the following November. He faced only graded company from then on and has hit the board in all 13 starts to date, with five wins and current earnings of $7,006,200.

“I've trained a lot of great horses, and to me, I'd say unequivocally he's the best horse I've had my hands on…he's just in a different league,” Brown said of Sierra Leone.

During his sophomore campaign, Sierra Leone won the GII Risen Star Stakes and GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes en route to an agonizingly close runner-up effort in the GI Kentucky Derby and a third-place finish in the GI Belmont Stakes.

Second in the GII Jim Dandy Stakes and third in the GI Travers Stakes, he concluded his championship season with a 1 1/2-length victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic.

In 2025, Sierra Leone added a win in the GI Whitney Stakes and runner-up efforts in the GI Stephen Foster Stakes and GI Jockey Club Gold Cup.

“We're incredibly excited to welcome Sierra Leone to Ashford for the coming season,” commented Ashford Stud's Dermot Ryan. “When you hear someone like Chad Brown say that he is the best he has ever trained, it doesn't get any better than that.”

Sierra Leone's 2026 stud fee is still to be announced.

The post Sierra Leone to Ashford Stud in 2026 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

New Vocation has launched its 16th annual Breeders' Cup Pledge, giving contenders the opportunity to donate a percentage of their earnings from the championships to support the charity's mission of rehabilitating, retraining, and rehoming retired racehorses. Since its inception in 2009, the pledge has raised more than $1.2 million for aftercare.

This year, in conjunction with New Vocations' recently launched Capital Campaign Phase II, participants in the pledge will receive a complimentary personalized brick, which will be placed along the walkway at the organization's Lexington facility.

“We are very grateful for the tremendous support we've received over the years through the pledge,” said New Vocations' Thoroughbred Program Director Anna Ford. “The pledge offers an easy way for connections to give back to the horses and support their transition into new careers. The funds raised play a vital role in our mission, allowing us to serve more than 600 horses annually. We hope many will be inspired to join this year, and we look forward to placing a large number of new bricks as part of our Lexington expansion.”

In 2024, the Pledge raised over $120,000, with more than 50 championship contenders represented by owners and/or trainers who pledged a percentage of their earnings.

New Vocations will continue to accept pledges from owners and trainers until Oct. 30. For more information about the pledge, visit www.newvocations.org/events or contact anna@horseadoption.com or carey@horseadoption.com.

The post New Vocations Launches Annual Breeders’ Cup Pledge, With an Added Incentive appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance will serve as a sponsor of the Freestyle discipline at this year's Retired Racehorse Project's Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium. The 2025 Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, presented by Thoroughbred Charities of America, will take place at the Kentucky Horse Park Oct. 8-11. The event is designed to showcase the talent and versatility of off-track Thoroughbreds, while supporting their transition to successful second careers.

The Freestyle discipline will take place Oct. 9 in the Covered Arena beginning at 8 a.m. This discipline is a free-form competition designed to demonstrate the skills of the trainer's choice.

Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance will also host a booth at the vendor fair during the Thoroughbred Makeover, where riders and attendees can learn more about accredited aftercare and its vital role in ensuring the long-term care of retired racehorses.

The post TAA to Sponsor Freestyle Discipline at Thoroughbred Makeover Symposium appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

The New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. will host its annual general membership meeting and educational seminar Sunday at the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion in Saratoga Springs. This year's seminar, titled “Keeping or Selling? Mapping Your Breeding Goals,” will focus on how breeders and owners can forecast and manage their breeding strategies, while balancing market demands and long-term objectives for breeding and racing.

Sponsored by the New York State Thoroughbred Breeding & Development Fund, the seminar will feature Becky Thomas, owner of Sequel New York and Sequel at Winding Oaks in Ocala; Linda Rice, a leading New York trainer for more than a decade; and Peter Penny, one of the foremost yearling inspectors for the Fasig-Tipton sales company.

The panel will be moderated by Tom Gallo, NYTB board member and former president, as well as managing partner of Dream Maker Racing Stable and owner of Blue Stone Farm in Cambridge, New York.

“The focus of our educational seminar this year is to provide breeders and owners with valuable insight into making key decisions–from mating choices to maximizing a foal's value at auction,” said NYTB Executive Director Najja Thompson. “We are fortunate to have such an accomplished panel willing to share their knowledge, and we encourage everyone to attend.”

The event, which includes a complimentary dinner and cocktail hour, will run from 5 to 8 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to RSVP by Friday at nytbreeders.org/events.

To promote the open format of the seminar, NYTB is soliciting questions in advance. Questions may be emailed to info@nytbreeders.org.

Fasig-Tipton's Saratoga pavilion will also host an open-house celebration to honor longtime New York breeder Chester Broman's 90th birthday next Monday from 5 to 7 p.m. The celebration will include beverages, hors d'oeuvres, birthday cake, a live band, and video replays of many memorable Broman-bred runners.

“Chester has been a pillar of New York breeding and racing, but more than that, he's been a mentor, role model, and friend to so many,” said Dr. Scott Ahlschwede, President of NYTB. “His passion for horses and his commitment to doing things the right way have set a standard that inspires breeders and owners across the state.”

The post Thomas, Penny, Rice to Headline NYTB Seminar Sunday; Celebration to Honor Chester Broman Monday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Trainer Kenny McPeek doesn't know what happened to Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) in Sunday's GI Juddmonte Spinster Stakes at Keeneland, where she was a non-threatening fourth in one of the worst races of her career. He's checked her from head to toe and has not found anything wrong with her. Other than ruling out a start in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, McPeek isn't sure what is next for the 2024 Horse of the Year, but admitted that retirement is a possibility.

“You have to consider retiring her,” he said. “She has done more than anyone ever could have expected from a $40,000 yearling. She's been amazing for two full years. I've used the analogy many times. Training horses is like trying to catch a big wave and you want to stay on top of it and surf as long as you can, but they all eventually come to shore. If there is a silver lining to the cloud, it's that if she's going to be retired and be a broodmare, this will give her plenty of time to rest and be bred in the spring.”

In the Spinster, Thorpedo Anna was in a stalking position for most of the race and looked like a possible winner. But she ran out of gas in the stretch and lost by 8 1/2 lengths.

“We don't have any obvious excuses,” McPeek said. “She scoped clean and she was sound coming out of the race. We are probably going to send her over to Dr. [Larry] Bramlage and let him do a full exam of her. There was a notion that she had a brief case of the thumps after the race, which would have had to do with dehydration or an electrolyte imbalance. Any really good horses that you handle, and I've had several, they don't go forever. She's been amazing up to this point. Sunday just wasn't her day. Is she tailing off? That's something that we have to consider. Someone asked if she was in heat. She wasn't. We did bloodwork this morning  to figure out if there was some sort of dehydration factor.”

Thorpedo Anna was the latest example of McPeek spending only a modest amount of money on a yearling only to have them turn into a star.

“I think we set the bar so high with her,” he said. “I thought Take Charge Lady's bar was high. Then I thought Swiss Skydiver's bar was high. What I'm most proud of is that we bought them all as yearlings.”

McPeek said that if Thorpedo Anna is retired, he would like to parade her at Keeneland before that meet is over.

“There are a lot of people who really care about her. She has a huge fan base,” he said.

He also said fans would be welcome to come to his Magdalena Farm to visit the star filly after she arrives there.

Thorpedo Anna has won 12 of 16 starts, including 10 stakes races, and has earned $5,440,913. She has won seven Grade Is, including last year's GI Kentucky Oaks and GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. Her best ever performance may have come in the GI Travers Stakes, where she faced males and finished second, just a head behind Fierceness (City of Light).

The post McPeek Says Thorpedo Anna May Be Retired appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Gary Barber, Cheyenne Stable and Wachtel Stable's Rhetorical (Not This Time) provided his all-conquering sire with his second winner of Keeneland's GI Coolmore Turf Mile in the space of three years, striking from close range to earn an all-expenses-paid trip to Del Mar for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile exactly four weeks down the road. Not This Time's Eclipse Award-winning son Up to the Mark won this event in 2023 ahead of a very good runner-up effort in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf.

Only once-beaten in five career starts coming into this first go at graded stakes company and exiting a popular victory in the state-bred restricted West Point Stakes at Saratoga, the $320,000 Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Yearling Sale grad–carrying the Wachtel black and gold this time–was dispatched at odds of 19-2 and bounced nicely from gate nine, and when GIII Mint Millions winner Epic Ride (Blame) went up to sit off the cracking early pace set by Quatrocento (War Front) and the stretching-out Howard Wolowitz (Munnings), Irad Ortiz, Jr. was able to slide Rhetorical down onto the fence to save ground while those ahead of him did the heavy lifting.

Enjoying the run of the race for the remainder of the contest, Rhetorical traveled one out and one back with cover on the back of the distance-challenged Howard Wolowitz down the back and around the second turn and was steered three wide and into the clear to lay down his challenge in upper stretch. Rhetorical quickly went to a weakening Quatrocento inside the final furlong and proved an ultimately comfortable winner, as Program Trading (GB) (Kingman {GB}) and Brilliant Berti (Noble Mission {GB}) made belated inroads.

Rhetorical became the second open Grade I winner on the afternoon bred in New York, joining Frizette Stakes heroine Iron Goddess.

The Coolmore Mile was a first winner at the Grade I level for young trainer Will Walden.

“I'm just happy for the team. This is why we do it, get up and do it seven days a week, for moments like this,” Walden said. “Super happy for the horse and the ownership: Adam Wachtel (of Wachtel Stable), Gary Barber, Everett Dobson (of Cheyenne Stable). There were some doubts about whether the horse could jump up. We didn't know. But he'd been training awfully good and giving us all the signs that we wanted to see going forward.

“Irad came into the office this morning and we talked about the race. He rode it to perfection. He's such a clutch rider and makes the right decisions in those split-second decisions. Just happy for everybody involved.”

With just the five previous starts under his belt, each as the betting favorite, Rhetorical was easily the least-experienced member of the Coolmore Mile field. A maiden winner in a pair of starts last year at three, he returned from an August layoff to thump first-level NY-bred allowance company at Aqueduct May 18 and easily defeated open second-level allowance foes at Saratoga ahead of a 2 1/4-length success in the West Point Stakes. Spirit of St Louis (Medaglia d'Oro), runner-up in the West Point in 2023 and 2024, won this year's GI Pegasus World Cup Turf and GI Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic Stakes.

Pedigree Notes:

Rhetorical is the 29th group/graded winner and ninth Grade I winner (56 SWs overall) for his remarkable young sire and at the other end of the spectrum, the late Distorted Humor was being represented by his 72nd group/graded winner as a broodmare sire, his 26th at the highest level.

The Robert Masterson-bred Sheet Humor, also the dam of the five-time stakes winner and five-times graded-placed Sterling Silver, was sold to Korean interests in foal to Central Banker for $3,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Fall Mixed Sale in 2021. The mare produced a colt in March 2022, but according to the Korean Studbook, was barren to Race Day for 2023 and slipped her Hansen foal of 2024.

Saturday, Keeneland
COOLMORE TURF MILE S.-GI, $1,038,750, Keeneland, 10-4, 3yo/up, 1mT, 1:33.61, fm.
1–RHETORICAL, 126, g, 4, by Not This Time
1st Dam: Sheet Humor, by Distorted Humor
2nd Dam: Sheets, by Scatmandu
3rd Dam: One Hot Minute, by Relaunch
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I WIN. ($320,000 Ylg '22 SARAUG). O-Gary Barber, Cheyenne Stable LLC and Wachtel Stable; B-Mallory Mort & Karen Mort (NY); T-William Walden; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr. $573,500. Lifetime Record: 6-5-0-1, $824,700. *1/2 to Sterling Silver (Cupid), MSW & MGSP, $1,143,051. Werk Nick Rating: C+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Program Trading (GB), 126, r, 5, Lope de Vega (Ire)–Dreamlike (GB), by Oasis Dream (GB). (250,000gns Ylg '21 TATOCT). O-Klaravich Stables, Inc.; B-Fittocks Stud & Arrow Farm Stud (GB); T-Chad C. Brown. $185,000.
3–Brilliant Berti, 126, c, 4, Noble Mission (GB)–Believe in Bertie, by Langfuhr. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O/B-Klein Racing (KY); T-Cherie DeVaux. $115,625.
Margins: 3/4, NK, HF. Odds: 9.59, 4.39, 10.53.
Also Ran: Jonquil (GB), Diego Velazquez (Ire), Quatrocento, Howard Wolowitz, Epic Ride, Mercante, Beach Gold, Woodshauna (Fr). Scratched: Donegal Momentum.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

#4 SIMPLY IN FRONT ($28.24) gets up to win the $800,000 First Lady Stakes (G1) at @Keeneland. This is the first Grade 1 win for the four-year-old Summer Front filly. @kenneallyracing trains, @_benacurtis up. pic.twitter.com/dYiChKbKz7

— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) October 4, 2025

The post No ‘Rhetorical’ Questions: Another Not This Time Winner of the Coolmore Mile appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Silawi (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) continued a big day internationally for Wathnan Racing Saturday, giving the ownership group a second top-level win on the day in the GI Pattison Canadian International Stakes at Woodbine.

Making his North American debut, the Irish-bred gelded son of Dubawi has racked up plenty of air miles through the years, though perhaps not as many as race favorite Nations Pride (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}). Silawi spent much of his formative years in France, breaking his maiden in his fifth start at Saint-Cloud in April 2023. Second in a the G3 Prix du Lys as a 3-year-old, he then shipped to Qatar where he contested both the Derby Trial and the G1 Qatar Derby late that same year before hopping a plane once more to both the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia for runs in the G1 Jebel Hatta and the Saudi International Handicap in early 2024. On the road three more times in the year since (back to France, to Qatar and then to England), Siwali finally got back in the winner's enclosure last time out taking the G3 Weatherbys Global Stallions App Winter Hill Stakes at Windsor going 1 1/4 miles Aug. 23.

He joined stablemate Haunted Dream (Ire) (Oasis Dream {Ire}) in the gate Saturday for Hamad Al-Jehani but was the less favored of the pair, going off at 10-1. Racing with the addition of Lasix for the first time Saturday, Silawi saw one path to victory and it was straight to the lead. Sharp from his outer draw, the longshot had only minor only pressure from both Nations Pride and My Boy Prince (Cairo Prince) who sat off his tail with one lap remaining past the half in :47.30. Still unhurried and on his own on his second time into the backstretch, Silawi continued to sneak away and had a clear, several-length margin back to Nations Pride who was left as the only pursuer into the far turn as the mile went in 1:37.53.

From there, it became clear that Billy Loughnane, who inherited the ride aboard the race favorite from the injured William Buick, was already working and doing little to cut into the gap with a quarter to run. American runner Tawny Port (Pioneerof the Nile) found his best stride inside the furlong pole and came with a challenge up the rail but, while the final result wound up tight, Silawi never let him by to upset the field and earn his first Grade I win. Nations Pride hung on for third. The final time of 2:27.52 was a new course record at Woodbine.

“It is a lucky day for me,” said winning jockey Faleh Bughenaim who also picked up the catch ride Saturday. “Daniel [Tudhope] told me he cannot get the flight and Hamad (trainer, Al-Jehani), gave me a chance to ride. He's one of the best horses we have in our yard in Newmarket, and Hamad and his assistant believe Silawi can do great races. He gave me a nice Group 1 [win] in Canada, and I was happy it worked out.”

Al-Jehani added: “Silawi is a frontrunner, and with this racecourse, I think with a tighter track, I think you got a huge advantage if you are in front, and we know that the Godolphin horse (Nations Pride), he's a nice horse, and if we decide to make a different plan, it will be hard to beat him. So, we take that advantage to go forward, and we make the pace from the beginning and follow the plan very well, and I think he deserves to be here in the winning enclosure today. It's not a surprise because I feel from the beginning when we start to do the entry. I believed if Silawi came to Woodbine racecourse, he can show greater performance. So, the trainer is not always right, but today I'm right, so it's a great result for the team. That result, it's not coming from Hamad Al-Jehani alone–it's coming from all the team.”

Wathnan Racing, who purchased Silawi as a 3-year-old at the Arqana Arc Sale in 2023 for €380,000, also saw top-level success Saturday when their Fallen Angel (GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}) took the G1 Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket earlier in the day. And if that weren't enough, another Wathnan runner First Look (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) took down the G2 Qatar Prix Dollar at ParisLongchamp.

Pedigree Note:
Silawi is the 51st winner at the Grade/Group I level for Darley stallion sensation Dubawi who also counts champions like Rebel's Romance amongst his top 2025 runners. As you would expect from a horse bred by Wertheimer et Frere, the gelding is impeccibly well bred out of a homebred mare who conquered both the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac-Criterium des Pouliches and the G1 Pour Moi Coolmore Prix Saint-Alary before retiring to her broodmare career where she has produced four winners from five to race. Silawi's best siblings include his 3-year-old full-brother Silius (Ire) who is a stakes winner in France and placed in multiple graded stakes there as well along with half-brother Fasol (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) who is MGSP in France also. The family has been in the Wertheimer et Frere studbook all the way back through Silawi's fifth dam in Vallee Dansante who was born in Kentucky in 1981. Silasol has a 2-year-old unraced Night of Thunder colt, a yearling Kingman colt and a filly by Churchill born this year.

Saturday, Woodbine
CANADIAN INTERNATIONAL S.-GI, C$760,000, Woodbine, 10-4, 3yo/up, 1 1/2mT, 2:27.52, fm.
1–SILAWI (IRE), 126, g, 5, by Dubawi (Ire)
            1st Dam: Silasol (Ire) (Hwt. Filly-Fr, MG1SW-Fr,
                        $640,479), by Monsun (Ger)
            2nd Dam: Stormina, by Gulch
            3rd Dam: Brooklyn's Storm, by Storm Cat
1ST GRADE I WIN. (€380,000 3yo '23 ARARC). O-Wathnan
Racing; B-Wertheimer Et Frere (Ire); T-H.A. Al Jehani; J-Faleh
Nasser Bughenaim. C$450,000. Lifetime Record: GSP-Fr,
GSW-Eng, 26-4-4-4, $534,401. *1/2 to Fasol (GB) (Galileo
{Ire}), MGSP-Fr, $142,626; Full to Silius (Ire), SW & MGSP-Fr,
$157,328. Werk Nick Rating: A+.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Tawny Port, 126, h, 6, Pioneerof the Nile–Livi Makenzie,
by Macho Uno. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($430,000 Ylg '20
KEESEP). O-Peachtree Stable; B-WinStar Farm, LLC (KY);
T-Miguel Clement. C$150,000.
3–Nations Pride (Ire), 126, h, 6, Teofilo (Ire)–Important Time
(Ire), by Oasis Dream (GB). O/B-Godolphin (Ire); T-Charles
Appleby. C$75,000.
Margins: NO, 1 3/4, HF. Odds: 10.45, 4.70, 1.00.
Also Ran: Dancin in Da'nile, Haunted Dream (Ire), Tosen Wish (Ire), English Actor, Raptor's (Brz), Roscar, My Boy Prince. Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

#7 SILAWI ($22.90) holds on to win the $750,000 The Canadian International (G1) at @Woodbinetb. Faleh Nasser Bughenaim was aboard the Dubawi gelding for trainer H.A. Al Jehani.. pic.twitter.com/zxKHDSWtBs

— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) October 4, 2025

The post Silawi Steals The Canadian International On The Front End appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Undefeated Ted Noffey (Into Mischief), a runaway winner of the GI Spendthrift Farm Hopeful S. and a 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard,' solidified his status as the horse to beat in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile with an impressive performance in Saturday's 'Win and You're In' GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity S. at Keeneland.

Off as the 4-5 favorite while drawn widest of all in post six in this two-turn debut, the Spendthrift Farm colorbearer found a perfect spot in second beneath the hot-handed John Velazquez through an opening quarter in :23.96 and a half mile in :48.23. The handsome gray hit the front on the far turn, kicked for home in control and kept on powering down the stretch to defeat 3-2 second-choice and fellow 'Rising Star' Blackout Time (Not This Time), a dominating maiden winner second out at Ellis Park, by 2 3/4 lengths. Pacesetter Litmus Test (Nyquist) was third.

An eye-catching debut winner going 6 1/2 furlongs on Whitney day at the Spa Aug. 2, Ted Noffey earned a gaudy 98 Beyer in his Hopeful win.

“Everything in his training indicated to us that he wouldn't have any issue with (two turns),” winning trainer Todd Pletcher said. “It's always great to see them actually do it. It worked out beautifully today. He had a good trip to the first turn, got into a good rhythm and was just kind of waiting on Johnny (Velazquez) to give him the cue. It was what we were hoping for and what we expected but, like I said, you always want to see it.”

You've certainly heard the 'typo' story behind his name now. Ted Noffey is named, tongue in cheek, for Spendthrift Farm's longtime general manager and Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers' Club 2024 Ted Bates Farm Manager of the Year Ned Toffey, who had his named misspelled in a recent interview with a trade publication.

“I'm sure going to enjoy it, because there's plenty of them that go the other way,” Toffey said. “It's a tough game, and when you have a day like this you'd better enjoy it because tomorrow might be a lot worse. It's a lot of fun. We've been really fortunate. We have great ownership behind us that support everything, a wonderful team, and we're just in a great situation and in a position to have this kind of success. Hopefully, it will continue, but it's a great day and we're sure going to enjoy this.”

Toffey continued, “Our impression from talking to Todd (Pletcher) and from what we've seen is that he would handle the stretch-out. He's a nice sized, scopey, leggy horse, built to like two turns. The way he ran in the Hopeful would make you think he'd like two turns, but they still have to do it. We were cautiously optimistic, but you just never know until they do it, and he sure did it today.”

Spendthrift Farm and Pletcher also won the 2-year-old filly equivalent GI Darley Alcibiades S. with 'Rising Star' Tommy Jo (Into Mischief) via disqualification on Friday's program. Spendthrift won four races on Saturday's card.

Pedigree Notes:

One of 27 top-level winners for Spendthrift Farm's six-time reigning champion general sire Into Mischief, Ted Noffey brought $650,000 from Spendthrift Farm as a Keeneland September yearling.

Ted Noffey's dam SW & MGSP Streak of Luck (Old Fashioned) brought $620,000 from Aaron and Marie Jones at the 2021 KEENOV sale. She is also responsible for a yearling filly by Munnings ($425,000 KEESEP yearling purchase by Repole Stable) and an Into Mischief colt of this year. She was bred back to Not This Time.

TED NOFFEY is the real deal now 3 for 3! He took control coming to the stretch under @ljlmvel pulling away to win the $650,000 @ClaiborneFarm Breeders' Futurity (G1) at @keenelandracing. The son of Into Mischief (@spendthriftfarm) is in the @FanDuel @BreedersCup Juvenile (G1). pic.twitter.com/g3SakINpkg

— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) October 4, 2025

Saturday, Keeneland
CLAIBORNE BREEDERS' FUTURITY-GI, $642,594, Keeneland, 10-4, 2yo, 1 1/16m, 1:43.98, ft.
1–TED NOFFEY, 122, c, 2, by Into Mischief
   1st Dam: Streak of Luck (SW & MGSP, $352,109), by Old Fashioned
   2nd Dam: Valeria, by Elusive Quality
   3rd Dam: Lindsay Jean, by Saint Ballado
($650,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP). 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard'. O-Spendthrift Farm LLC; B-Aaron & Marie Jones LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher; J-John R. Velazquez. $397,963. Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0, $617,963. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Blackout Time, 122, c, 2, Not This Time–Beauty Parlor, by Elusive Quality. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard'. ($230,000 Ylg '24 KEEJAN; $235,000 RNA Ylg '24 KEESEP; $210,000 Ylg '24 FTKOCT). O-Brookdale Racing, Inc., Lance Gasaway and Magdalena Racing; B-Newstead Corp (KY); T-Kenneth G. McPeek. $128,375.
3–Litmus Test, 122, c, 2, Nyquist–Study Hard, by Malibu Moon.
1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($875,000 Ylg '24 FTSAUG). O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Bashor, Dianne, Determined Stables, Golconda Stable, Waves Edge Capital LLC and Donovan, Catherine; B-Machmer Hall (KY); T-Bob Baffert. $64,188.
Margins: 2 3/4, 2 1/4, 6 3/4. Odds: 0.92, 1.58, 9.59.
Also Ran: Diciassette, Spice Runner, Big Dom. Scratched: Ewing.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

The post Unbeaten ‘Rising Star’ Ted Noffey Makes a Name for Himself in Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Four of the six 2-year-old runners in Saturday's GI American Pharoah Stakes at Santa Anita had graded stakes experience, but it was one of the two maiden winners making his stakes debut who came home with the victory and secured a 'Win and You're In' spot for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Del Mar in four weeks time. Intrepido (c, 2, Maximus Mischief–Overly Indulgent, by Pleasantly Perfect), named a 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' in his Aug. 23 Del Mar win, rated and showed fight in between horses before finishing strong to capture his first graded win and punch his ticket to championship day.

When the gates sprang, Intrepido jumped sharply, but jockey Hector Berrios eased him back slightly as $1.15-million Keeneland buy Kristofferson (Nyquist) and GSW & GISP Desert Gate (Omaha Beach)–one on either side of Intrepido–were both intent on the lead. As the two favorites–Desert Gate at 4-5 and Kristofferson at 9-5–vied for supremacy through :22.83 and :46.76 fractions, it was Desert Gate, a 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard', holding the edge at every call while Intrepido was in tight between horses behind them and even forced at one point to take up slightly off heels.

“It was a bit of a complicated race at the start,” said Berrios. “I tried to go to the front, but I saw [Desert Gate] break first, so I settled into second. From the first turn, I had to ease back a little. And again around 600 meters I had to hold.”

On the turn, Desert Gate dismissed Kristofferson as Intrepido went around the latter, tipping several paths wide to avoid him and bumping soundly with GI Del Mar Futurity third Civil Liberty (Independence Hall). While all that was happening in the middle of the track, GIII Del Mar Juvenile Turf runner-up Plutarch (Into Mischief) cut the corner to challenge Desert Gate and gradually wore him down in a long battle, finally getting his head in front a sixteenth from home. Plutarch looked to have it won in the last strides, but Intrepido found another gear in the final sixteenth to catch the dueling pair yards from the wire. He flew by late on the outside, getting the 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.67.

“When I made my move to the outside he responded,” continued Berrios, “although not very strongly at first. But when I asked him again, he responded and produced an impressive change of pace and flew down the final stretch. He's an amazing horse. I'm very proud of the effort he showed today.”

Intrepido was a $385,000 purchase at the OBS April sale by Michael Pender for Dutch Girl Holdings and Irving Ventures. He was the only member of the field to have previously won at a mile and one of only two not trained by Bob Baffert.

“He's a nice horse, a really nice horse,” said trainer Jeff Mullins.

Intrepido debuted July 26 at Del Mar with a fourth sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs behind unbeaten $3-million OBS March topper, 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard', and GI Del Mar Futurity winner Brant (Gun Runner), then got his own 'Rising Star' title and first win going a mile over that same surface Aug. 23 after he dueled at the start and pulled clear impressively in the lane. He is not nominated to the Breeders' Cup, but is eligible for nomination for the $2-million Juvenile at $100,000.

Pedigree Notes:

Maximus Mischief is the sire of four graded winners from his three crops to race, including his first-crop runner and MGISW Raging Torrent, whose retirement was announced this summer and who will be a new stallion next season at Lane's End. Maximus Mischief, who stands at Spendthrift alongside his sire, Into Mischief, has 14 black-type winners.

Sierra Fria Farm bred Intrepido in Kentucky out of the placed mare Overly Indulgent, who went through an auction ring once, only to be a $14,000 RNA at the Fasig-Tipton New York yearling sale in 2013. She hails from the same family as 2008 GIII LeComte Stakes winner and GII Arkansas Derby second Z Fortune (Siphon {Brz}) and has now produced one of the 16 stakes winners out of daughters of Pleasantly Perfect. While Overly Indulgent and her dam were bred in New York, some of their immediate tail-female ancestors were bred in Minnesota, South Carolina, and Indiana, not always spots commonly known to produce an eventual Grade I winner among a mare's descendants.

Overly Indulgent has a yearling colt by Caracaro, an Apr. 15-foaled filly by Fulsome, and was covered by Maximus Mischief once again for next term.

#2 INTREPIDO ($19.60) had a strong kick late to get up and win the $300,000 American Pharoah Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita. The son of Maximus Mischief (@spendthriftfarm) earned a spot in the @FanDuel @BreedersCup Juvenile (G1). @HIBerrios was up for @Jmullinsracing. pic.twitter.com/Hi6ZaX19ou

— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) October 4, 2025

Saturday, Santa Anita Park
AMERICAN PHAROAH S. PRESENTED BY DK HORSE-GI, $300,500, Santa Anita, 10-4, 2yo, 1 1/16m, 1:43.67, ft.
1–INTREPIDO, 122, r, 2, by Maximus Mischief
      1st Dam: Overly Indulgent, by Pleasantly Perfect
      2nd Dam: Wittenberg Miss, by Smart Strike
      3rd Dam: Fortunate Faith, by Fortunate Prospect
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I WIN. ($30,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP; $385,000 2yo '25 OBSAPR). O-Dutch Girl Holdings LLC and Irving Ventures LLC; B-Sierra Fria Farm LLC (KY); T-Jeff Mullins; J-Hector Isaac Berrios. $180,000. 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Lifetime Record: 3-2-0-0, $232,800. Werk Nick Rating: F. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Desert Gate, 122, c, 2, Omaha Beach–Theogony, by Curlin. ($125,000 Wlg '23 KEENOV; $100,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP; $260,000 2yo '25 OBSMAR). O-Pegram, Michael E., Watson, Karl and Weitman, Paul; B-Twin Oaks Bloodstock (KY); T-Bob Baffert. $60,000. 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard'
3–Plutarch, 122, c, 2, Into Mischief–Stellar Wind, by Curlin.
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O-Magnier, Mrs. John, Tabor, Michael B. and Smith, Derrick; B-Orpendale/Chelston/Wynatt (KY); T-Bob Baffert. $36,000.
Margins: 3/4, NO, 5 3/4. Odds: 8.80, 0.90, 8.30.
Also Ran: Civil Liberty, Balboa, Kristofferson.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

The post ‘Rising Star’ Intrepido, by Maximus Mischief, Wins ‘WAYI’ American Pharoah appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.