“Overnight Thoroughbred purses have been increased approximately 5% across the board for the upcoming 2024 season,” noted Quarter Horse Racing Secretary Chad Keller.

Live racing will be offered on a Friday – Monday schedule with the following exceptions:

• Opening week of racing which will feature racing Friday, May 10 and Saturday, May 11 with no racing on Sunday or Monday May 12-13
• No racing on Monday, July 1 during the week leading up to Independence Day there will be a special Wednesday racing July 3, highlighted by central Iowa's fireworks display taking place after the races with post time set for 4:00 p.m.
• Standard post times for Friday and Saturday programs will be 6:00 p.m. while post times for Sunday and Monday programs will begin at 4:00 p.m.
• Special post times are scheduled for Saturday, May 18 (Preakness) and Saturday, June 8 (Belmont) at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 28 at 4:00 p.m. for the Iowa Classic.

The 2024 Thoroughbred stakes schedule during the Festival of Racing on July 5 and 6 is highlighted by the $300,000 GIII Cornhusker H., $250,000 Iowa Derby, and $225,000 Iowa Oaks, the latter two for 3-year-olds anchoring the Festival.

The top Iowa bred runners will take center stage during the Iowa Classic closing night card on Sept. 28 featuring all Iowa bred races for both breeds including a new addition for 2024 on the Thoroughbred schedule with the Iowa Classic Distaff Sprint overnight stake for Iowa bred fillies and mares going six furlongs with a purse of approximately $51,400.

Prairie Meadows Condition Book 1 is available and features the first 14 days of racing for Thoroughbreds only from May 10 – June 3.

Barn Area Opens for Horses Friday, Apr. 12 at 8:00 a.m. while training resumes Sunday, Apr. 14 (weather permitting). Stall applications for both breeds are due to the Racing Office by Tuesday, Apr. 2.

For more information, click here.

The post Prairie Meadows Outlines ’24 Season, Stakes Schedule appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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A common refrain from consignors heading into the one-session auction was timeliness, as the sale's place on the calendar puts it right in front of a busy summer of racing, both regionally and at boutique meets on both coasts at Saratoga and Del Mar.

“I think this sale is an extremely useful sale on the calendar because of the timing,” said Conrad Bandoroff of Denali Stud, which will offer 11 horses Monday afternoon. “It gives both buyers and sellers the option to bring in-form horses to the market and to really help to satisfy the demand for horses that have form and are running well. It is also potentially an avenue for horses that don't quite fit that mold–horses that need to be moved on and go to maybe a more regional or a softer circuit.”

The Seitz family's Brookdale Sales has been represented at every July Horses of Racing Age sale since its inaugural edition in 2013 and the consignment returns with 14 head on offer this year.

“It's a great outlet for people,” said Joe Seitz. “It is like two worlds coming together with people maybe offloading a horse that is still very raceable  and that gives people the opportunity to take advantage of this regional circuit which is so hot right now. It's a great opportunity for buying and selling.”

The horses of racing age sale can provide buyers with immediate access to success on the track.

“It's about as turnkey as you can get,” Seitz said. “When you bring a horse out here that is fit and has good form and with all the X-rays and physical information someone might need when they are trying to pick out a horse, what you're doing is presenting them something they can turn around with immediately and try to have some fun with, especially with these purses.”

Nowhere in the catalogue is that current form more noticeable than in the last offering in the catalogue, Crypto Mo (Mohaymen) (hip 645). Consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, the 3-year-old filly captured the GIII Iowa Oaks Saturday and comes into the auction on a three-race win streak.

“Crypto Mo is a very exciting addition to the catalogue,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. “She is a ready-to-go graded stakes-winning 3-year-old filly with a lot of racing opportunities ahead of her. She has a similar profile to Stiletto Boy, who came into this sale off a win in the Iowa Derby a couple years back and is now a Grade I winner of $1.8 million.”

Stilleto Boy (Shackleford) sold for $420,000 at the 2021 July Horses of Racing Age sale and went on to capture this year's GI Santa Anita H. and has hit the board in five additional Grade I races.

John Ennis has made a habit of bringing in-form juveniles to the July Horses of Racing Age sale. The trainer topped the 2020 auction with County Final (Oxbow), who came into the auction off a runner-up effort in the GIII Bashford Manor S. and sold for $475,000. Ennis brings five juveniles into the 2023 auction and all are coming off maiden special weight victories.

“I usually bring 2-year-olds with form that are pretty commercial to the buyer,” Ennis said. “And the timing is great. Being in July, they can take them anywhere, Saratoga or Del Mar.”

Buying inexpensive yearlings and getting them success on the racetrack before re-offering them in July provides clients with the thrill of racing and potential profit in the sales ring, according to Ennis.

“It's enjoyable to the owners to get to go racing and hopefully be in the winner's circle and then come to the sale and hopefully make a profit,” Ennis said. “Everybody is looking for horses at the moment, so the timing is perfect. All of the horses have been really well-received so far and all of the right people have come to see them.”

Monday's Horses of Racing Age sale will be followed by the Fasig-Tipton July Sale of Selected Yearlings, which will be held Tuesday beginning at 10 a.m.

The post With Time on its Side, Fasig-Tipton Horses of Racing Age Sale to be Held Monday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Murphy's landmark victory aboard Crypto Mo (Mohaymen) in the July 8 GIII Iowa Oaks was her first lifetime graded stakes win after 18,131 lifetime mounts. It was also a neat “full circle” score for the Iowa native, because Murphy (who previously rode under the last names Springman and Noll) had piloted the first-ever winner in the history of Prairie Meadows when that track first opened in 1989.

Win number 2,000 also came with a family connection–Crypto Mo is trained and part-owned by her husband, Travis Murphy. Redemption also played a starring role: A little more than a year ago, that very same filly, then age two, flipped out in the starting gate at Prairie Meadows prior to her debut. Murphy sustained eight broken ribs, four pelvic fractures, and a tear in her abdominal wall, knocking her out of action until Apr. 1 this year.

“I know the screenwriters' guild is on strike, but Hollywood is missing out on a fantastic story here,” quipped the Prairie Meadows racing secretary, Stuart Slagle, when TDN phoned the racing office Sunday morning to track down a phone number for Murphy.

“It was perfect,” Murphy said with a buoyant laugh when reached a few minutes later. “I couldn't have planned it better, to be honest with you.”

Murphy–unlike some jockeys who seem to linger for a long time on the cusp of a milestone win–had only been parked at the 1,999 plateau for six days and a span of just four mounts. But that round number of two grand had been in her head as a target for almost half her lifetime.

“When I first started, I could envision 2,000 wins because I was rolling as a younger rider,” Murphy said. “The first thousand came along a little easier and quicker than the second thousand. I thought it would come a lot sooner, to be honest with you. I started getting injured. Then I stopped to have a few children, so it took me awhile. But if you had asked me five years ago? I would have said no, I'm not going to make it.”

Murphy graduated from Iowa's Muscatine High School in 1980 as an all-state track and cross-country runner. She starred in those two sports at Northeast Missouri State University, where she graduated with a focus in equine studies as one of the top 10 agriculture students in her class. She was later inducted into that college's athletic hall of fame, but by the time that happened in 1999, Murphy had long since transitioned from running in races to horsebacking in them instead.

Starting first as an exercise rider, and then trying her luck as a jockey in South America, Murphy's first victory came in Argentina in 1986. She relocated to Florida and won her first stateside race at Tampa Bay Downs on Dec. 8, 1987. After stints in the mid-Atlantic and a brief foray to New York, Murphy returned to the Midwest after outriding her apprentice allowances.

By 1994, Murphy was a Prairie Meadows mainstay at or near the top of the standings. Through the remainder of that decade she emerged as the nation's winningest woman rider on several occasions. She racked up lifetime score number 1,000 at Hawthorne Race Course in 1998, and also that year established a Prairie Meadows meet record with 112 victories.

A spate of injuries took their toll on Murphy as the 21st Century dawned, slowing her down, but not stopping her. In 2001, she fractured six bones, including her pelvis and ribs, in an Oaklawn Park accident. In 2004, she was sidelined by a broken wrist.

For a while, May 11, 2006, looked like it would be not only Murphy's last day in the saddle, but perhaps the last day she ever walked: A Prairie Meadows mount stumbled out of the gate, veered into another horse, and sent Murphy careening headfirst into the dirt.

“I broke my neck, and I had to be life-flighted to the hospital,” Murphy said on Sunday, recalling the accident matter-of-factly. “I was kind of paralyzed for a week, and I slowly came out of it. They weren't sure I was going to come out of it. But I'm one of the lucky ones, and I did.”

The severity of the spill was initially enough to cause Murphy to call it quits, acting upon the advice of her doctors. She had a surgery that fused her C5, C6 and C7 vertebrae together, and wistfully told the Des Moines Register, “I sure wanted to reach 2,000 wins, but my health is more important to me.”

Murphy and her husband, Travis, had bought a 160-acre farm near Remington Park in Oklahoma shortly before that accident, and she began contemplating other career choices, like going back to school to get a nursing degree. The couple, at that time, had begun focusing on legging up horses for outside clients. But eventually, without the pressure of pointing for another comeback or the day-to-day rigors of the racetrack, Murphy said the farm work with the horses won her over again. In 2008, she returned to competing in races at age 46.

“I really wasn't going to come back to riding,” she said. “But I started messing around, getting on a few. And then I guess I'm a little bit on the crazy side, and I wanted to ride a few more. And then I started creeping closer to 2,000, so I thought, 'Well, why not give it a shot?'”

Although that number remained etched in her brain, Murphy told TDN that the one thing she wouldn't grant any headspace to was the thought of getting hurt.

“I always tell the younger riders, if you get scared out there, you better hang it up. Because that's not a good thing when you're riding scared,” Murphy said.

Murphy's riding workload isn't what it used to be, and she hasn't topped 27 wins in a year in any of the past 15 seasons. She had a 2-for-26 record in 2022, with that season being cut short on June 19 when Crypto Mo sent Murphy on yet another unplanned vacation of rehab and recuperation, just eight wins shy of 2,000.

Despite her gate histrionics, the filly herself was not injured. With Cassidy Fletcher subbing for Murphy, Crypto Mo eventually debuted on July 17, 2022, and managed to win one of her first five starts. Early on as a sprinter, she didn't flash enough talent to suggest she'd be a future graded stakes victress.

But that changed on May 28, 2023, when, after having been reunited with Murphy, Crypto Mo stretched out to two turns for the first time and wired a first-level allowance at Prairie Meadows by a whopping 17 3/4 lengths.

Cindy Murphy rides Crypto Mo | Coady Photography

Crypto Mo, who cost $20,000 as a KEESEP yearling, then wired the $50,000 Panthers S. over a mile at Prairie Meadows June 10. On Saturday night, Murphy again asked her for speed from the get-go, and Crypto Mo was never headed in the $225,000 stakes, running her record to 4-for-8 while bankrolling $210,870 in earnings for the partnership of Travis Murphy, Matt Trent, and Triple V Racing. On Sunday, Crypto Mo was supplemented to the Fasig-Tipton July Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale.

“I thought win number 2,000 would come the previous weekend, when I was on a couple of live horses,” Murphy said. “And then [Friday} I had a horse that had a shot, but he didn't do it. But when the win finally came on Saturday, it was even better, because this was the filly I got hurt on last year, and it's one of ours, from our connections.

“We had a lot of supportive crowd there, so that meant a lot. Even trainer Dale Romans, he came in [and won] one of the big races, and he congratulated me and said, 'Man, ever since I set foot in Iowa, nobody can quit talking about you and hoping you would get your 2,000th win.'” Murphy recalled.

Asked what goal is next now that she's equaled the benchmark she's been chasing for decades, Murphy didn't hesitate in replying.

“I am almost 62 years old, and I promised my kids and my grandkids that I would retire soon. So I am going to finish up the Prairie Meadows meet and I am going to hang up my tack,” Murphy said.

“I need to spend more time with the grandkids. I've got five of them now. I go trail riding with them at the farm. We've got a bunch of soccer players in the family, so I'm always going to the kids' games. And my youngest son is going into his sophomore year at college. He's a big track star, and I go to all of his track meets. It will just give me more time to get to things like this, to spend more time with the family,” Murphy said.

“I'll probably help Travis train, and be his right-hand woman, so to speak. I'll probably still gallop and work horses for him. I don't get on the babies that much anymore; they're a little bit more unpredictable. But I am going to retire from race riding,” Murphy said.

The post The Week In Review: After 2,000 Wins The Hard Way, Next Goal For Murphy Is Retirement appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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The three-year-old filly led throughout in the 1 1/16-mile race to win by two lengths with a Beyer Speed Figure of 90.  It was her second consecutive stakes win following a victory in the Panthers S. in early June. She has now won four of eight career starts for $210,870. It is her third win this year.

“Crypto Mo is a very exciting addition to the catalogue,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. “She is a ready-to-go graded stakes winning three-year-old filly with a lot of racing opportunities ahead of her. She has a similar profile to Stiletto Boy (Shackleford), who came into this sale off a win in the Iowa Derby a couple years back and is now a Grade I winner of $1.8 million.”

Crypto Mo will be available for inspection beginning Monday morning at Barn 12.

The July Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale will take place Monday, July 10, beginning at 2 pm in Lexington, Kentucky.

The post Iowa Oaks Winner Crypto Mo Supplemented To July Horses Of Racing Age Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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A convincing 5 3/4-length winner of the local Oaks prep in the June 11 Panthers S. over a mile, the chestnut was dragged back to last and dropped down onto the fence to caboose the field through an opening couple of furlongs in a solid :23.50. Content to bide her time in the rear, Butterbean had one beaten entering the turn, but made eyecatching progress inside at the three-eighths pole. Tipped out under a full head of steam by Glenn Corbett, Butterbean raced up to odds-on Falconet (Uncle Mo) with a bit more than a furlong to travel and scampered clear to score impressively. Free Like a Girl (El Deal) made the running inside of Falconet and held gamely for third.

McPeek was also represented by GI Belmont Derby upsetter Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway) and Runaway Wife (Gun Runner) and Silverleaf (Speightster), second and third, respectively, in the GIII Indiana Oaks.

Runner-up in auction-price-restricted maiden allowances at Churchill in October and November last year, Butterbean completed the exacta in an 'open' Gulfstream maiden Jan. 22, but was only sixth in a similar test at Keeneland Apr. 10. A neck second when in search of a confidence boost against $75,000 maiden claimers beneath the Twin Spires May 4, the $22,000 Keeneland September bargain graduated 23 days later and made it two straight when last seen in the Panthers.

Pedigree Notes:

The first graded winner for the expatriated Klimt, Butterbean is out of an unplaced half-sister to GSW Conquest Daddyo (Scat Daddy) and SW Hangingbyathread (Giant's Causeway). Her 2-year-old half-brother Fast Forward (Bolt d'Oro) is unplaced in a single start in Churchill maiden special weight company this past May and Letting Go produced a full-sister to Butterbean last season.

A really special day, Thank You!! To all those that support us, especially my staff and clients, none of this happens without them. Butterbean!!! Bargain buy. My daughter going nuts because she named her after this fairy. pic.twitter.com/dStSPg1H7l

— Kenny McPeek (@KennyMcPeek) July 10, 2022

Saturday, Prairie Meadows
IOWA OAKS-GIII, $225,000, Prairie Meadows, 7-9, 3yo, f, 1 1/16m, 1:43.72, ft.
1–BUTTERBEAN, 122, f, 3, by Klimt
                1st Dam: Letting Go, by Johannesburg
                2nd Dam: Hangingbyamoment, by Thunder Gulch
                3rd Dam: Kermis, by Graustark
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($22,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP).
O-Magdalena Racing & William Klimashousky; B-Woodgate
Farm (KY); T-Kenneth G. McPeek; J-Glenn W. Corbett.
$134,400. Lifetime Record: 8-3-4-0, $294,510. Werk Nick
Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Falconet, 122, f, 3, Uncle Mo–Birdatthewire, by Summer
Bird. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($250,000
Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-CHC Inc. & WinStar Farm LLC; B-WinStar
Farm, LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $44,800.
3–Free Like a Girl, 122, f, 3, El Deal–Flashy Prize, by Flashy Bull.
1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($5,500 Ylg '20 ESLYRL). O-Gerald
Bruno, Jr., Carl J. Deville, Chasey Deville Pomier and Jerry
Caroom; B-Kim Renee Stover & Lisa Osborne (LA); T-Chasey
Deville Pomier. $22,400.
Margins: 3, 5, 1. Odds: 3.90, 0.70, 9.90.
Also Ran: Candy Raid, My Friend Amy, Hartley, Miss Hard Knocks, Nosilverspoonshere.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

The post Klimt Filly Caps Big Day for McPeek in Iowa Oaks appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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The Oaks was one of two graded stakes on the night, along with the G3 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap. The third big race of the evening was the $250,000 Iowa Derby

Trained by Mike Maker and racing for W. Kirk Wycoff's Three Diamonds Farm, Army Wife was ridden to victory by Joel Rosario, who was aboard the Declaration of War filly for the first time in the Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico. She covered 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.10 and paid $4 to win, It was her fourth victory from nine career starts.

Shesa Mystery finished second, with 8-5 second choice Pauline's Pearl 2 1/2 lengths farther back in third and The Grass Is Blue fourth in the field of six 3-year-old fillies. Sister Annie finished fifth, with Windmill trailing the field. Oliviaofthedesert was scratched.

Rosario was content to secure a cozy spot on the rail aboard Army Wife, who raced in fourth position early and in the run down the backstretch. Sister Annie hung up fractions of :24.27, :48.18 and 1:12.06 for the first six furlongs, with Shesa Mystery putting pressure on her going into the far turn.

Sister Annie and Shesa Mystery battled for the lead on the turn for home, but Rosario had them both measured, swinging Army Wife off the rail three wide into the stretch, hitting the front nearing the eighth pole and drawing off for the victory.

In the $250,000 Iowa Derby, New York-based jockey Jose Ortiz gunned Stilleto Boy to the lead at the start and the Kentucky-bred gelding by Shackleford relaxed on the front end, repelled a challenge from Flash of Mischief around the far turn, then cruised to victory by 4 1/2 lengths.

Trained by Doug Anderson and bred by John and Iveta Kerber, the Iowa Derby winner is owned by the Kerbers, Michael Coleman, Aaron Kennedy and trainer Anderson. Stilleto Boy was winning for the second time in seven career starts, having earned his maiden diploma in his fifth start, going wire to wire at Oaklawn Park on April 17. In his most recent start, Stilleto Boy finished fourth after never getting the lead in the Prairie Mile Stakes at Prairie Meadows on June 4.

Sent off  the longest shot in the field of six (following scratches of Proxy, Bourbon Thunder and Snow House), Stilleto Boy paid $35.40 for the win. He ran the 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in 1:42.64 after setting fractions of :23.79, :47.73, 1:11.48 and 1:36.12.

“We wanted him on the front end and Jose did a fantastic job of getting him there,” said Andersen.

Flash of Mischief, who chased Stilleto Boy throughout, held second as a 12-1 outsider for trainer Karl Broberg, with Gagetown2 1/2 lengths back in third and 2-1 second choice Super Stock a neck back in fourth. Nova Rags, the 9-5 favorite, finished fifth, with Rightandjust trailing the field.

Jose Ortiz and Stilleto Boy upset the Iowa Derby

The post Army Wife Marches To Iowa Oaks Victory; Stilleto Boy Tiptoes On Lead For Derby Upset appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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A close second choice on the morning line at 5-2 is G2 Black-Eyed Susan winner Army Wife, trained by Mike Maker. The Declaration of War filly will break from the rail under top jockey Joel Rosario.

Winner of the listed Busanda Stakes in January, The Grass is Blue also ships west for trainer Bill Mott. The Broken Vow filly most recently finished sixth in the Black-Eyed Susan.

The full field is as follows:

1. Army Wife – Maker – Rosario
2. Pauline's Pearl – Asmussen – Ricardo Santana, Jr.
3. Sister Annie – Brad Cox – Florent Geroux
4. Shesa Mystery – Jeff Hiles – David Cabrera
5. The Grass Is Blue – Mott – Junior Alvarado
6. Oliviaofthedesert – Ken McPeek – Shane Laviolette
7. Windwill – Larry Jones – Alex Birzer

The post Royally-Bred Pauline’s Pearl Tabbed Morning-Line Favorite For Iowa Oaks appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Alex Canchari made his move aboard Flat Out Speed in the run down the backstretch of the 1 1/16-mile Oaks, taking command from the early pacesetter, Lagoon Falls, then having enough left in the tank to hold off a late run from Aurelia Garland and jockey David Cohen. Ocean Breeze, the 6-5 favorite ridden by Martin Garcia, finished third.

A 3-year-old daughter of Flat Out trained by Lynn Chleborad, Flat Out Speed covered the distance on a fast track in 1:42.79 after fractions of :23.92, :47.48, 1:11.57 and 1:36.39.

The win was the fifth in six starts for Flat Out Speed, racing for Poindexter Thoroughbreds LLC. Out of the Street Sense mare, Blue Gallina, Flat Out Speed was bred in Iowa by H. Allen Poindexter and Wynnstay LLC.

Flat Out Speed's only defeat came in an allowance race at Oaklawn in April, her first start of the year after an unbeaten campaign of three races as a juvenile at Prairie Meadows. Flat Out Speed was coming out of a 5 1/2-length win as a prohibitive favorite against Iowa-breds in the Bob Bryant Stakes on June 27.

Martin Garcia didn't leave Prairie Meadows empty handed, taking the Cornhusker aboard 7-5 favorite Night Ops for trainer Brad Cox and owner Steve Landers Racing LLC.

Third early behind pacesetter My Sixth Sense and Dunph most of the way, Night Ops made his move on the final turn and easily drew off, covering 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.30. My Sixth Sense held second, with veteran Rated R Superstar rallying for third.

A 4-year-old by Warrior's Reward out of Bear All, by Kitalpha, Night Ops was winning for the sixth time in 18 career starts. A winner of the $350,000 Essex Handicap earlier this year at Oaklawn, Night Ops was coming off a ninth-place finish behind By My Standards in the May 2 Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap.

Night Ops carried co-highweight 118 pounds under the handicap conditions of the race.

The Festival of Racing offered more than $450,000 in purses in eight stakes races on the Saturday and Sunday programs.

The post Flat Out Speed, Night Ops Take Graded Stakes At Prairie Meadows appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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