Connections

The Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland was full of exciting moments and unique stories, but some of the best were the ones that never made the headlines. I was in Lexington for Breeders’ Cup week and spent the majority of my waking hours at Keeneland. On Sunday morning after the two-day championships had concluded, an endless […]

Trainer Ed Moger, Jr. admitted that he couldn’t be totally shocked when 6-year-old trainee Stormy Lucy entered the Grade 1 Matriarch gates at odds of 65-1. After all, it was a full field of good horses. “She’s a really talented horse. There are several of [her past] races she could’ve won with a better trip,” […]

When Brandy’s Girl and jockey Paco Lopez charged home by 4 ¾ lengths in the Juvenile Filly Sprint Stakes at Gulfstream Park West Nov. 7, it wasn’t just the start of a promising 2-year-old’s foray into the big leagues. For owner/breeder/trainer Edwin Broome, it was the fruition of a smart claim years earlier. Brandy’s Girl […]

Only a few days removed from the first Breeders’ Cup wins of his training career, Mark Casse said he’s still recovering from the emotional roller coaster. Despite having five Sovereign Awards as leading trainer in Canada, Casse had saddled 23 horses in the Breeders’ Cup and watched them all walk back to the barn without the trademark […]

They didn’t exactly blend in with the Breeders’ Cup crowd at Keeneland, these folks dressed in exotic Asian hats and colorful garb. But it soon became clear why they were there, as the winning connections gathered to celebrate following the $1 million Turf Sprint. Some of them had traveled 6,450 miles in the hope of […]

For Sheila Rosenblum, a summons for jury duty came at the worst possible time. Rosenblum had to explain to a New York court that the end of October was really not going to work for her. She was a little busy, she explained. She had a horse headed to the Breeders’ Cup in Central Kentucky. […]

Vincent Viola didn’t get on the Forbes 400 list by being one-dimensional. The self-made e-trading mogul believes that both business and sports come down to an artful balance of a black-and-white plan — and zeal. It’s an approach that has worked for him in the stock market and on the racetrack. The son of a […]

Elle Harrell has put an awful lot of miles on her car in the past year. A few weeks ahead of the Breeders’ Cup, she ticked over to 100,000 on one of many trips from Louisville to Shelbyville, Ind., where she saddles horses as assistant to Joe Sharp. “I saw that a little more quickly […]

During last year’s Keeneland September Yearling Sale, a front-page story in a newsletter published by the Paulick Report focused on a significant new buyer at the auction, Dennis Albaugh, under the headline, “A New Player With Big Dreams.” Just over a year later, some of those dreams are beginning to come true. In Saturday’s $500,000 […]

“I’ve watched a lot of races, and you know it when you see something special. Every time she runs, you see something special.” That was bloodstock agent Tom McGreevy speaking of Songbird, the unbeaten 2-year-old filly by Medaglia d’Oro who won Saturday’s Grade 1 Chandelier Stakes at Santa Anita Park by 4 ½ lengths. McGreevy […]