Canadian Champion Mighty Heart Retired, Stud Plans To Be Determined

Mighty Heart, Canada's Horse of the Year in 2020 and 2021, has been retired from racing, and he will debut at stud in 2024, with long-term plans on where he'll stand to be determined later, Canadian Thoroughbred reports.

The 6-year-old son of Dramedy retired with seven wins in 25 starts for earnings of $1,139,221, racing as a homebred for Lawrence Cordes and trained by Josie Carroll Patrick County Jr.

Mighty Heart currently resides at Ballycroy Bloodstock in Loretto, Ontario, while plans are made for his debut at stud.

Racing with just one eye after a paddock injury as a foal, Mighty Heart rose to prominence after winning the first two legs of the 2020 Canadian Triple Crown – the Queen's Plate at Woodbine and the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie – in his first two career stakes starts. He fell short in his Triple Crown bid in the Breeders' Stakes at Woodbine, but the effort was enough to earn Mighty Heart his first Canadian Horse of the Year title.

Mighty Heart followed up in 2021 with a victory in the Blame Stakes at Churchill Downs, when he returned to Woodbine to take the Grade 3 Dominion Day Stakes. He also won the G2 Autumn Stakes at Woodbine to clinch his second Sovereign Award for Canadian Horse of the Year.

Mighty Heart's racing journey was the subject of the book “Run With a Mighty Heart” by Jennifer Morrison.

Read more at Canadian Thoroughbred.

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NBC Sports Preakness Coverage To Include 11 Total Races Across Friday, Saturday

NBC Sports presents the 148th Preakness Stakes as Kentucky Derby winner Mage attempts to win the second leg of the Triple Crown, this Sat., May 20, on NBC and Peacock beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET live from Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md.

NBC Sports' Preakness day coverage features eight races across NBC, Peacock and CNBC on Saturday. Live coverage from Pimlico Race Course begins with 90 minutes of racing this Friday, May 19, headlined by the Black-Eyed Susan for three-year-old fillies, beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET exclusively on Peacock. Over the two days, NBC Sports will present 11 live races from Pimlico.

Friday's program will feature a special “Betting the Preakness” segment that will discuss exotic bets and two-day wagers that handicappers can learn more about throughout the day's racing ahead of the Preakness on Saturday.

Telemundo Deportes will present coverage of the Preakness Stakes beginning Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET on Universo and streaming on TelemundoDeportes.com and the Telemundo app.

In addition to Mage, the 148th Preakness Stakes field features National Treasure, who is trained by Bob Baffert and finished fourth in the Santa Anita Derby (G1), 2023 Champagne Stakes (G1) winner Blazing Sevens, 2023 Lexington Stakes (G3) winner First Mission, and 2023 Bath House Row winner Red Route One.

COMMENTATORS: NBC Sports' coverage of the Preakness Stakes features host Mike Tirico; analysts Jerry Bailey, the Hall of Fame jockey and two-time Preakness winner, and Randy Moss; handicapper Matt Bernier; host/reporter Ahmed Fareed; reporters Britney Eurton, Donna Brothers, Kenny Rice, and Nick Luck; and race caller Larry Collmus.

Steve Kornacki, NBC News' celebrated national political correspondent, returns to NBC Sports' Preakness coverage as an insights analyst for the third year.

The senior producer of NBC Sports' Preakness Stakes coverage is Lindsay Schanzer. The Preakness Stakes is directed by Kaare Numme. Executive producer and president, NBC Sports Production is Sam Flood.

Highlights of Preakness Stakes coverage Saturday on NBC, Peacock and CNBC include:

  • Eight races, with a total of 11 live races over Friday and Saturday's coverage
  • Profiles on the connections of Kentucky Derby winner Mage, including co-owner Ramiro Restrepo, trainers and father-son Gustavo Delgado and Gustavo Delgado Jr., and jockey Javier Castellano, who piloted his first Derby winner in Mage
  • “High Tea on Old Hilltop” segment featuring Nick Luck engaging with fans in the infield
  • Celebrity picks for the 148th Preakness Stakes
  • Multiple jockey cams
  • A camera focused on race caller Larry Collmus
NBC SPORTS' PREAKNESS STAKES COVERAGE SCHEDULE
Date Time (ET) Event Platform(s)
Fri., May 19 4:30 p.m. Black-Eyed Susan Peacock
Sat., May 20 1 p.m. Preakness Stakes early races CNBC, Peacock
4:30 p.m. 148th Preakness Stakes NBC, Peacock

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Sam Houston Boosts Quarter Horse Purses By 10 Percent

Sam Houston Race Park is pleased to announce that a purse increase of 10% will go into effect with the Thursday, May 18 race card. The boost will cover each of the overnight races for the 2023 Quarter Horse meet which concludes on Saturday, June 17.

The 2023 Sam Houston Race Park Quarter Horse live racing season began on April 21 with maiden claiming purses ranging from $7,500 – $10,000; 3 year-old maiden at $17,500 and allowance purses between $18,500 – $21,500. Entries have been strong throughout the meet with average field size of 8.58 horses per race.

Michael Acton joined Sam Houston Race Park as racing secretary on February 3, 2023 and will also oversee the racing meets at the Penn Entertainment owned racetracks Retama Park and Zia Park.

“We are pleased to offer this increase as a way of thanking our loyal horsemen for their support,” said Acton. “With live Quarter racing currently in Louisiana and Oklahoma, trainers have options where they choose to run; we appreciate their loyalty to Texas racing.”

Live racing continues Thursday, May 18 through Saturday, May 20. Friday's card will feature two excellent features, the $209,200 Sam Houston Derby (G3) and $50,000-added Sam Houston Classic (G2).

Trials were run for the Sam Houston Derby on April 29 with Jess Good Wine setting the fastest 350-yard time of the evening of :17:323 seconds, aided by a 12 mph tail wind. Owned by Guns Up Racing, the Oklahoma-bred son of Jess Good Reason Sa out of the Mr Jess Perry mare Mr Perrys Wine, has been installed as the 2-1 morning line favorite and will break from post eight under rider Bryan Candanosa. Delight Interest will break from post seven for owners Triple Five with Juan Pulido in the saddle. The son of Separate Interest, also trained by Diaz, has won his last three races, setting the fourth fastest qualifying time. Here is a link to the ten fastest qualifiers for the Sam Houston Derby, which will run as the tenth race on the card with an approximate post time of 10:18 pm (Central).

A field of eight will compete in the Sam Houston Classic at the distance of 440 yards. Carlos Ponce's Jet Black Grace drew the rail for trainer Juan Diaz, Jr. at odds of 2-1. The son of Jet Black Patriot ran in the 2022 Texas Classic Futurity and followed that with back to back victories. Juan Pulido will pilot the 4-year-old gelding, who has finished in the money in seven of his eight career efforts. A field of eight will compete in the Sam Houston Classic at the distance of 440 yards. Carlos Ponce's Jet Black Grace drew the rail for trainer Juan Diaz, Jr. at odds of 2-1. The son of Jet Black Patriot ran in the 2022 Texas Classic Futurity and followed that with back to back victories. Juan Pulido will pilot the 4-year-old gelding, who has finished in the money in seven of his eight career efforts. Two 870-yard Sam Houston stakes winners, Shockinglyfamous, owned by Stone Chase Stables LLC and Kasey Willis and Rockin J Running Horses' Viva Le Don will shorten up and have the experience to rival their younger competitors. Willis trains Shockinglyfamous, who has won ten of his 37 races and Tammy Kay Johnson has saddled Viva Le Don 33 times. The 7-year-old son of Rock Solid Jess has earned $500,066 in his exceptional career.

Post time for Friday's program is 6:15 pm with the Sam Houston Classic running as race nine and the Sam Houston Derby as the 10th race.

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Bloodlines Presented By No-No Cribbing Collar: The Classic Tradition Of Arcangelo

When Arrogate died in June 2020, his oldest foals were only yearlings. None had gone into training; nothing substantial was known about their potential or prowess.

The best-known racer from that first crop is 2022 Kentucky Oaks winner Secret Oath, also winner of the Grade 2 Azeri this season and second in the G1 Apple Blossom and La Troienne. The first crop also included Grade 1 winner Fun to Dream (La Brea Stakes).

Although a stakes winner did not emerge from Arrogate's first crop until New Year's Day of their second season, the black type popped up earlier with the racers from the second crop, including the 2022 Grade 1 winners Cave Rock (Del Mar Futurity, American Pharoah Stakes), as well as And Tell Me Nolies (Del Mar Debutante).

The gray champion's second crop has continued to add graded stakes winners this season with Affirmative Lady (G2 Gulfstream Park Oaks) and most recently with Arcangelo, who won the G3 Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park on May 13.

The nine-furlong event around the sweeping turns of Belmont Park is typically seen as a significant prep for the Belmont Stakes over 12 furlongs, and there is more than a hint of classic quality to the pedigree of this season's winner, Arcangelo.

He is, for one thing, out of a mare by multiple leading sire Tapit (Pulpit), who has sired four winners of the longest classic: Tonalist (2014), Creator (2016), Tapwrit (2017), and Essential Quality (2021).

In addition, Arcangelo's dam, the Tapit mare Modeling, is out of Teeming (Storm Cat) and is a half-sister to a pair of Belmont Stakes winners: Jazil (Seeking the Gold), winner of the classic in 2006, and Rags to Riches (A.P. Indy), the Belmont winner in 2007 over subsequent Horse of the Year Curlin.

In addition to her relationship to these elite performers, Teeming is the dam of three stakes winners and two stakes-placed racehorses, along with the elite producer Achieving (Bernardini), who is the dam of three stakes winners, including Grade 2 winner Cezanne (Curlin) and Arabian Hope (Distorted Humor).

Bred by Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings and Edward McGhee, Teeming's daughter Modeling was unraced and was covered as a 2-year-old and sold at the 2014 Keeneland November sale to Don Alberto for $2.85 million, in foal to Distorted Humor (Forty Niner). The resulting foal was the maiden special winner Montmartre.

Bred in Kentucky by Don Alberto, Arcangelo sold for $35,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September sale to Jon Ebbert and races for Blue Rose Farm.

A May 11 foal, the scopey gray did not race until the closing weeks of 2022, finishing second on debut at Gulfstream on Dec. 17. Arcangelo won his third start, a maiden special at Gulfstream on March 18, when he raced a mile on dirt in 1:34.82. The colt's next start was the Peter Pan.

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The classic prep was a major step up for a maiden winner, but Arcangelo handled the escalation in class and won by a head over Bishops Bay (Uncle Mo), who was the undefeated favorite coming into the Peter Pan. The third horse, Henry Q (Blame), was 8 3/4 lengths back in third after nine furlongs in 1:49.71.

The effort suggests that the first two in the Peter Pan may possess the required quality to challenge for the classic prize next month in the Belmont Stakes. A good showing would be a compliment to the namesake of their prep race because Peter Pan won the Belmont Stakes more than a century ago.

The Peter Pan Stakes was named for the son of Commando (Domino) and Cinderella (Hermit) who won 10 of his 17 starts, including the 1907 Belmont Stakes. At stud, Peter Pan the horse became an even more important influence in American breeding in the first half of the 20th century. His most important sons were Black Toney, the sire of Black Gold, winner of the 1924 Kentucky Derby, and Bimelech, winner of the 1940 Preakness and Belmont Stakes; and Futurity winner Pennant, the sire of the top racehorse and sire Equipoise, whose son Shut Out won the 1942 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes.

What a classic tradition that is!

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