Share This: Abel Tasman added another title to her list of achievements when she broke a sales record at Keeneland January Sale.
The four day 2019 Keeneland January Horses Of All Ages Sale is underway and it started on the right hoof. Keeneland reported an increase in head sold with a higher gross amount and average price compared to session 1 in 2018. The sale topper was Abel Tasman. She sold for $5 million dollars! That is the top price for any broodmare prospect ever sold at a Keeneland January Sale. There were several nice offerings at the start of the Keeneland sale with some promising results.
Share This: Lawn jockeys decorated with the winners of previous stakes decorate Keeneland.
It’s been exactly one week since things really heated up at Keeneland racetrack in Lexington, KY. The October meet opened Friday, October 5th and served up some hot temperatures and hotter stakes races. Fall Stars Weekend delivered 10 stakes races. Since then they have held another stakes as well. What has sire power meant to Keeneland’s racetrack so far and who may we expect to win this weekend’s stakes?
Share This: Training becomes very serious in the days leading up to the start of Keeneland’s Fall Meet.
Hooves are up and ready to race at Keeneland’s Fall Meet! I checked in on the action at Keeneland’s main track yesterday morning. There was an enormous feeling of anticipation as fans, staff, and connections gathered to watch Keeneland’s next contenders as they got in some prep work for the upcoming Fall Meet. There is a large amount of talent, purse money, stakes races and Breeders’ Cup berth races at Keeneland, over the next month. Racing begins Friday as Keeneland presents, Fall Stars Weekend.
Share This: Uncle Mo has sired many stakes winners and his yearlings are in high demand.
The site of a Thoroughbred always leaves me wanting More! As the 13 session long, Keeneland September Yearling Sale has 3 more days to go we have one Mo weekend to see Mo yearlings, spend or make Mo money and meanwhile enjoy some Mo racing. Uncle Mo was well represented at Keeneland’s sale and he has a couple more hips in the final 3 sessions. Additionally, he has sired several horses racing word-wide over these next 3 days. If you are looking for something Mo, please, read on.
Share This: Hip 69, a filly sired by Tapit, her dam is Pretty n’ Smart, was 2017’s top priced yearling sold in North America, at the Keeneland September Sale!
Suddenly it’s sales time! I love attending the September Yearling Sales at Keeneland in Lexington, KY. You never know what you’re looking at the first time you see it. Justify, our latest Triple Crown winner, is a Keeneland September sales grad. Today’s yearlings are classic champions in as little as 2 years time. Be sure I will follow up with results, pictures and tales from the sales. For now, I’ll keep it simple with the sales stats and story.
Share This: Affirmed, triple crown winner and U.S Racing Hall of Fame thoroughbred won many awards and his Hall of Fame plaque.
Fame does not come fast, not even for Thoroughbreds who sweep the triple crown at the young age of three. An induction into the Official National Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame is something one achieves many years into or even after their outstanding career in horse racing. Friday, finally finalized the fame of a few favorites.
Share This: Bound for Nowhere races regularly at Keeneland. He finished third in the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot.
All good things must come to an end. The 5 days of racing at Royal Ascot concluded today. There were several contenders representing America and with a scattering of races that provide a berth into the Breeders’ Cup we will see many of these Thoroughbreds compete in champion races again. Now that the races are over, let’s see the results in the aftermath of the Ascot.
Chelsea Cloisters, pictured at Keeneland, was a contender in the Queen Mary Stakes.
Ascot Racecourse in Ascot, Berkshire, England opened for live racing in 1711. The racecourse was founded by Queen Anne of the British Royal Family. The Royals still attend and enter contenders annually. In the same year of the racecourse’s inauguration, Queen Anne also initiated Royal Ascot, the 5 day highlight of British racing’s calendar year. In 2018, the races were held Tuesday, June 18th thru Saturday 6/23. 18 Grouped (the British version of Graded) Stakes took place. 8 races were Group One. The purse was over 7.3 million pounds (more than 9.6 million in U.S dollars). The event is very ritzy, with the classiest of fashion. 4 races offered automatic berths into the 2018 Breeders’ Cup.
Lady Aurelia won the Giant’s Causeway at Keeneland, she raced at Royal Ascot for a third time.
Here is a listing of the 8 Group One stakes with the distance and the winner as well as another BC berth race:
The Queen Anne Stakes- 1 mile – Accidental Agent -berth into the BC Mile
The King’s Stand Stakes – 5 furlongs – Blue Point
The St. James’s Palace Stakes – 1 mile – Without Parole
The Prince of Wales’s Stakes -1 mile and 2 furlongs – Poet’s Word -berth into the BC Turf
The Norfolk Stakes (this is the only Group 2 on this list)-5 furlongs – Shang Shang Shang -berth into the BC Juvenile Turf Sprint
The Gold Cup -2 miles and 4 furlongs –Stradivarius
The Commonwealth Cup – 6 furlongs –Eqtidaar
The Coronation Stakes – 1 mile –Alpha Centauri
The Diamond Jubilee Stakes – 6 furlongs – Merchant Navy -berth into the BC Turf Sprint
Lady Aurelia at Keeneland this past Spring raced at Royal Ascot for a third time.
Congratulations to all of the Royal Ascot winners and for the talented American racehorses that were worthy to attend. Royal Ascot is on my bucket list. I would love to experience the glamor and royalty of this 5 day racing event. I hope you were pleased with the aftermath of the Ascot. Keep following for more information on this summer’s top races and all things Thoroughbred.Share This:
Share This: Good Magic (#11) won this ride for Jose Ortiz in the Blue Grass Stakes to earn the second spot on the leaderboard for the 2018 Kentucky Derby!
Oh, lucky day! With just 13 days left on the countdown to the 144th running of the Kentucky Derby there is still so much to consider when choosing a favorite. With a field of 20 contenders it is still best to wait for the post position draw on Tuesday to make any hasty decisions. It is a good time to think about all 40 athletes that will face off on 5/5/18. The Thoroughbreds always capture my attention and imagination but what thought do I give the jockeys? Having spent time in and around Keeneland’s jockey quarters this spring meet I have paid more attention to their influence. In this story, I want to focus on two jockeys that will compete in the upcoming KY Derby, the brothers Ortiz.
Photo taken as the 14 contenders in the 2018 Blue Grass Stakes approach the first pass over the finish line. 5 are still on the top of the Kentucky Derby leaderboard. Go GoodMagic, Flameaway, Free Drop Billy, Blended Citizen and Sporting Chance! Machismo will race again, just 1 week later in the 2018 Arkansas Derby!
Happy Friday the 13th! I am tickled to think of all the peculiar betting habits and quirks I will see among the superstitious gamblers and horsemen at Keeneland today! Everyday is a good day at the track but tomorrow we will see the very last lap on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. Saturday, 4/14/18 features the final two prep races, the Lexington Stakes and the Arkansas Derby.
