Saturday Insights: First Foal Out Of MGISW Bast Debuts At Santa Anita

4th-SA, $65K, MSW, 3yo, f, 6f, 5:32 p.m.

QUICK BROWN FOX (Justify), the first foal out of MGISW Bast, debuts Saturday for owner/breeder Spendthrift Farm and trainer Richard Mandella. Spendthrift went to $4.2m, a top-four price, at FTKNOV in 2020 for the daughter of Uncle Mo who earned over $850,000 on the track for trainer Bob Baffert. Bast herself is out of $1.5m Eaton Bloodstock broodmare buy Laffina (Arch) and the family has plenty of graded-stakes caliber runners led by GISW and $1.2m FTKNOV broodmare Fault (Blame) and SW/MGSP South Bennd (Algorithms). Quick Brown Fox fired a best-of-five bullet in her most recent work, going six furlongs in 1:13 Feb. 29 for Mandella who puts Joel Rosario aboard on the debut. TJCIS PPS

1st-GP, $89K, MSW, 3yo, 1m, 1:10 p.m.

Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable went to $360,000 to secure Whiskey N Soda (Vino Rosso) as a yearling at Keeneland in 2022 and the Triple Crown-nominated colt debuts Saturday with trainer Todd Pletcher. Dam Bible Belt has already produced several stakes horses including MSP Gospel Way (Brody's Cause), SP Happy Boy Rocket (Runhappy) and GSP Hardworkcleanlivin (Colonel John). TJCIS PPS

8th-FG, $57K, MSW, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 5:15 p.m.

Making his second start, Gun Party (Curlin) was a $1.7m yearling at Keeneland in 2022 and ran a good second at 10-1 odds over a sloppy Fair Grounds track behind next-out GIII Gothan S. runner up Just a Touch (Justify). The Steve Asmussen trainee, who posted an 80 Beyer Speed Figure in that loss, lines up on the rail inside another son of Curlin looking for redemption in Cornishman. That Godolphin homebred, starting for the third time Saturday off a pair of seconds, keeps Florent Geroux aboard for Brad Cox and also hopes for a dry track off catching the slop at 1 1/16 miles over the local course Feb .17. TJCIS PPS

The post Saturday Insights: First Foal Out Of MGISW Bast Debuts At Santa Anita appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Hall of Famer Walter Blum Dies

Hall of Fame jockey and long-time Florida steward Walter Blum died early Thursday, Mar. 14 due to complications of lung disease, announced his son Walter Blum Jr. on social media. He was 89. The story was first reported by the Daily Racing Form (DRF).

The Brooklyn, N.Y. native started his racing career young as a hotwalker before launching into riding in 1953 at 19, and leading the country in wins in both 1963 and 1964. While largely riding in New York and New Jersey, Blum did travel for high-profile rides. Despite having only one Triple Crown series victory–in 1971 when Pass Catcher denied Canonero II the Triple Crown in the Belmont–he'd counted a victory in nearly every major New York stakes, including the Whitney, Frizette, Prioress, Brooklyn, Metropolitan, Test, etc. as well as finding the winner's enclosure in the Santa Anita and Florida Derbys.

He also tallied the notable achievement of beating two equine Hall of Famers when his charges defeated five-time Horse of the Year Kelso and the great Buckpasser. Blum was named the George Woolf Memorial Award winner in 1964 and served as president of The Jockeys' Guild for five years starting in 1969.

Upon retirement from the saddle in 1975, Blum had 4,382 wins from 28,673 starts, and at that time, only four other jockeys could claim more victories. From there, he secured his first tenure as a steward at Atlantic City Race Course before taking the state steward position in Florida in 1978, where he served until his retirement in 2004.

“The world lost a star last night,” said Walter Blum Jr. in his Facebook post. “I love you with all my heart dad. I'm going to miss you so much. I can't believe you're gone. I've lost my best friend.”

The post Hall of Famer Walter Blum Dies appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights