8th-GP, $70K, Msw, 2yo, f, 1mT, 3:33 p.m. ET.
Hill 'n' Dale homebred and Josie Carroll trainee Royal Ascot (Justify) will look to get her dam off to a winning start as a broodmare. Second dam Chicquita (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), winner of the G1 Irish Oaks and runner-up in the G1 French Oaks, is a half-sister to Irish Group 1 winner and globetrotting turf specialist Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). TJCIS PPS

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Heavily bet down to 2-5 going for his second straight graded-stakes win, the 4-year-old wasted no time going right for the lead and assumed command a path off the rail ahead of Carrothers (Mshawish). Always under a wrap by jockey Rafael Hernandez, Tyson was briefly headed as he faced pressure up front from that same rival as the opening half went in :49.88. The top pair raced in tandem around the far turn but the grey had another gear left to find and, when roused at the furlong marker, easily dispatched Carrothers and quickly put open lengths on him to hit the wire much the best.

“He's a really nice horse,” said Hernandez. “[trainer] Josie [Carroll] told me, 'Raffi, just play it by ear. It's a small field, just see what happens and try to give a good race to the horse.' He'll do anything you want him to do. He showed up today.”

“It's one of our best pedigrees, one that we've cultivated for more than 30 years,” added owner/breeder John Sikura. “I have great admiration for Mike Tyson, and I thought this is a special horse, so I wanted to name him Tyson. Wonderful horse, beautifully bred and I want to thank everyone at the farm for the great job they've done, and Josie, for being a magnificent trainer and holding this horse together and getting him on the right track. It looks like he's going to be a champion.”

Pedigree Note:

Out of a winning full-sister to both GI Hollywood Starlet S. winner Streaming and SW Treasuring, Tyson counts MGSW Cezanne (Curlin), GSW/G1SP Arabian Hope (Distorted Humor), and recent GI Belmont S. hero Arcangelo (Arrogate) as members of his extended family under just his second dam. Third dam Better Than Honour is responsible for a pair of Belmont S. winners in champion 3-year-old filly Rags to Riches (A.P. Indy) and Jazil (Seeking the Gold) along with GSW/G1SP Casino Drive (Mineshaft) and GSW/GISP Greatest Honour (Tapit). Honouring has not produced a live foal since reporting a full-sister to Tyson in 2021 but did visit leading general sire Into Mischief for the 2024 season.

https://twitter.com/TVG/status/1685394111720001536?s=20

Saturday, Woodbine
SEAGRAM CUP S.-GII, C$178,850, Woodbine, 7-29, 3yo/up,
1 1/16m (AWT), 1:43.26, ft.
1–TYSON, 124, c, 4, by Tapit
      1st Dam: Honouring, by Smart Strike
      2nd Dam: Teeming, by Storm Cat
      3rd Dam: Better Than Honour, by Deputy Minister
($250,000 RNA Ylg '20 KEESEP). O/B-Hill 'n' Dale Equine
Holdings Inc (J G Sikura) & Stretch Run Ventures LLC (KY);
T-Josie Carroll; J-Rafael Manuel Hernandez. C$105,000.
Lifetime Record: 5-4-0-1, $225,205. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click
for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free
Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Carrothers, 122, g, 5, Mshawish–Queenofperfection, by Arch.
($125,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Mad Dog Racing Stable; B-Siena
Farms LLC (KY); T-Martin Drexler. C$35,000.
3–Artie's Storm, 122, g, 5, We Miss Artie–Tiz Stormy Now, by
Tiznow. O-Buttigieg Training Centre; B-Sunrise Farm (ON);
T-Paul M Buttigieg. C$23,100.
Margins: 3, HF, 4HF. Odds: 0.45, 4.00, 14.25.
Also Ran: Clear Destination, Kingmax (Ire), Seventyseven Stone.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs.
VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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The horse who set up the longshot by engaging in a speed duel with the favorite over the mud was Whichone, a colt owned by Harry Payne Whitney (yes, that important family). And what other Thoroughbred did Whitney own? Well, that would be Upset, who did just that, when he handed the great Man o' War his only career loss. And that is a minor example of a nexus.

As part of the Saratoga weekend card, it seems fitting that Saturday's GII Jim Dandy S. is the main prep for next month's GI Travers S. Horse racing, like life, always reflects irony of some type.

In this year's edition, Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming) isn't going to be 100-1. However, compared to the experience of GIII Matt Winn S. victor and 'TDN Rising Star' Disarm (Gun Runner), Eclipse champion 2-year-old and 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence), who will be wearing first-time blinkers, Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}), winner of the GIII Withers S. and second in the GII Wood Memorial S., and GI Arkansas Derby star and GI Kentucky Derby third Angel of Empire (Classic Empire), the 3-year-old colt has something to prove after running second last time out in the GIII Dwyer S. July 1 at Belmont Park. The Brad Cox trainee passed the eye test in his debut at Keeneland in April and against allowance company May 21 at Churchill Downs.

Not to be missed on the Saratoga Saturday card is another race with historical connections in spades. This year's GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. will feature a rematch from February's G3 Riyadh Dirt Sprint in Saudi Arabia in which the reigning Eclipse champion dirt sprinter and GISW Elite Power (Curlin) stepped away as GISW Gunite (Gun Runner) gave chase for second. The $900,000 Keeneland September buy built on that win with another impressive display in the GII True North S.

Elite Power | Sarah Andrew

Elite Power worked a half mile alone in :51.22 Sunday over the Oklahoma training track in a breeze that Mott indicated was similar to the chestnut's half-mile work in :51.11 on Oct. 28 over the same surface ahead of his Breeders' Cup victory. “That's him by himself,” Mott said. “He's run well off of those kind of works right before his races. He did that in Saudi. He was working :51 before he won the Breeders' Cup. He wouldn't wow anyone when he's working by himself.”

Looking elsewhere on Saturday in North America, Monmouth Park will card its own Oaks. The Grade III includes Promiseher America (American Pharoah) from Ray Handal's stable and Occult (Into Mischief), who was last seen running third to MGISW Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief) in the GI Acorn S. on the Belmont S. undercard.

In the wake of cancellations due to heat the past couple of days, Woodbine Racetrack will hope to run the GII Seagram Cup for 3-year-olds and up. Tyson (Tapit) will garner much attention since the 4-year-old gray colt won the GIII Dominion Day S. last time out for trainer Josie Carroll.

Del Mar Thoroughbred Club will have plenty of action to contribute as their program includes the GII San Diego H. and the GI Bing Crosby S., which offers a Breeders' Cup 'Win and You're In' voucher for the GI BC Qatar Racing Sprint.

Both Del Mar races sport field sizes of 10-plus. The San Diego includes MGISW Defunded (Dialed In), who won Santa Anita's GI Gold Cup May 29 and will carry the most weight here at 125. With 12 hopefuls entered for the Bing Crosby, Anarchist (Distorted Humor) returns to California after running second to Elite Power in the GII True North S. The 4-year-old colt will face some veteran runners in G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen hero Sibelius (Not This Time) and MGISW and '21 winner Dr. Schivel (Violence).

Rebel's Romance works at Saratoga | Sarah Andrew

Shifting to Sunday, not to be missed on the stakes slate are a pair of Grade IIs for 3-year-olds and up over the turf. Saratoga's Bowling Green S. has enticed GI Breeders' Cup Turf conqueror Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) for trainer Charlie Appleby. Last seen running a well-beaten seventh in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic in March, the 5-year-old gelding will look to get his second half of his season off on the right foot.

“He's a well-traveled horse; Germany, Keeneland, England and Dubai,” said Appleby's traveling assistant Chris Connett. “He's traveled this trip pretty well and he's settled in good shape. He's a typical Dubawi, he's got better with age. He's a big horse that's really grown into his frame. Hopefully, we'll get to see him at his best on Sunday.”

Count Again | Horsephotos

Meanwhile the Eddie Read S. at Del Mar includes four entries from Phil D'Amato's shedrow, including MGISW Count Again (Awesome Again), winner last time out of the GI Shoemaker Mile S. May 30 at Santa Anita Park, and MGSW Balnikov (Ire) (Adaay {Ire}), who is looking to bounce back after finishing eighth in that same race. The competitive Leo Powell trainee and MGSW Dicey Mo Chara (GB) (Adaay {Ire}) goes out for a barn that won last weekend's GII San Clemente S. The 5-year-old gelding's last start yielded a finished third-place finish at Santa Anita May 13 in the GIII San Luis Rey S.

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1st-HAW, $35K, Msw, 2yo, f, 4 1/2f, 3:30 p.m.
Another recent OBSMAR grad who fetched $500,000, Dorothy Crowfoot (Audible) makes her first start for trainer Larry Rivelli. Her dam, Enjoy This Moment (Midnight Lute), is a half-sister to MGSW Sum of the Parts (Speightstown) and GSW Rocket Heat (Latent Heat). TJCIS PPS

6th-WO, $111K, Msw, 3yo/up, f, 7f (AWT), 3:57 p.m.
Heading north of the border, Tag Team (Curlin) debuts for Josie Carroll with Kazushi Kimura aboard. The $400,000 OBSAPR purchase is out of a female family which includes second dam Citiview's full-sister GISW Hookedonthefeelin. She is responsible for MGISW Pussycat Doll (Real Quiet), dam to GISW Aquaphobia (Giant's Causeway), and GISW Jimmy Creed (Distorted Humor). TJCIS PPS

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Her reward? Later that year, somebody claiming to represent a movie star approached Riley offering to buy into the horse, in the same breath mentioning the gentleman whose barn Casual Lies would then be joining. Naturally, the horse stayed where he was. And, whatever the progress meanwhile made by wider society, so did horse racing.

As has been pretty universally recognized, our community could not have been more fortunate in where fate finally found a female trainer to win a Triple Crown race. Jena Antonucci knows that her gender should be as irrelevant to everyone else as it is to Arcangelo (Arrogate), and it feels somewhat disrespectful that she should be constantly required to interpret such a momentous personal milestone as though she has arrived in our midst as some kind of gender token. But she has generously reconciled herself to that particular indignity, in order to help articulate and address those shared by all women.

And while it's embarrassing that the American sport had to wait until 2023 for this moment, actually the situation is still more flagrant in my homeland. With the likes of Criquette Head-Maarek and Jessica Harrington having won so many big races in Europe, guess how many women currently feature among the top 30 of the British trainers' championship? Two, maybe? (As is the case, thanks to Linda Rice and Brittany Russell, in the American standings.) Surely not just one?

Well, close, but the answer is one fewer than that.

That deplorable state of affairs suggests that the people investing in British stables, along with their management teams, are an even more stubborn crew than the handicappers. For the latter have grasped that Rachel Blackmore, who has raised the bar so high in jump racing, is not just the best female jockey but the best jockey, period.

If I had to confess to a candidly sexist generalization, simply from the demographics prevailing in a particular culture in a particular time, it would be that women, if anything, might have a more natural engagement with horses. Be that as it may, it would plainly be impossible for anyone to maintain the slightest coherence in proposing that they might, in any way, be less qualified to train racehorses.

Historically, admittedly, women trainers may have had to meet additional challenges, in terms of asserting the kind of authority they were chronically denied in so many other workplaces. And it is not as though those battles have been definitively won elsewhere, for instance in politics or business. But their current profile in this profession suggests a culpable failure, in our community, to match even such progress as has been painfully achieved in other walks of life.

Jena Antonucci with Arcangelo the day before the Belmont S. | Sarah Andrew

So much so, that arguably it should be incumbent on those in a position to influence behaviors to exercise some positive discrimination. Given the gender ratio among licensees, after all, that's nothing like as tough as it should be. But perhaps these billionaires should be saying to themselves: “Right, my team is about to hit the sales. At the end, I'm going to ensure that at least [for instance] two of my eight new yearlings go to female trainers.” Is that so much to ask in a world containing, say, Josie Carroll and Cherie DeVaux?

We know the chicken-and-egg element in any trainer's reputation: get some good material, win some good races, get better material. Of course, I'm not saying that all trainers would do equally well with the same material. But if we truly believe in merit, then the only way for the training profession to become a true meritocracy-and to achieve the requisite volume of female entry-is for the role models to have proper respect and opportunity. As it is, Antonucci had to seize her moment with a $35,000 yearling, hardly an exponential leap from the $7,500 Casual Lies.

Out of nowhere, and in its hour of need, Antonucci has stepped up to the plate not just for her sex but also for her sport. This is a person who had already shown exemplary ambition in terms of a more holistic, acorn-to-oak approach to the Thoroughbred's career. But even her uninhibited exhibition of excitement and joy, during the race last Saturday, offered us something valuable. This was not female joy; it was human joy. It was something that anybody would aspire to share.

A year before a woman named Jena found her platform in the Belmont, the same race had allowed one named Jana to share her experiences in a world dominated by men. Jana Barbe and her husband Roy had raised a Belmont contender, We the People (Constitution), despite being relative newcomers to the game.

She acknowledged the Turf to have proved a conservative environment, in need of more diversity in every way. But this is a corporate highflier who used to come home from work “picking shards out of my head” from that notorious glass ceiling. When she graduated law school, in 1987, the percentage of female equity partners at big law firms was 15 to 18 percent, and the goal was 20 percent. The goal today? Still 20 percent.

So, what Jena did last Saturday was what Jana urged last year, when discussing the only way to achieve change. “One person at a time, one foot in front of the other, and being really smart in how we go about it,” she said. “We will get there. Because we have to. In the end the sport will become integrated because it can't not.”

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Roth continued, “We have thoroughly enjoyed our time in Southern California and celebrated many milestones there, including winning the GI Breeders' Cup F&M Sprint with Covfefe at Santa Anita. In particular, we would like to thank Richard Mandella and his team for their tireless work and dedication to our horses and all those in his care. Richard has done a terrific job for our stable and we have enjoyed so much success together.”

In the same tweet, Roth announced the retirement of the family's multiple graded stakes winner United (Giant's Causeway). Trained by Mandella, the 7-year-old gelding won the 2020 and 2021 renewals of the GII John Henry Turf Championship S., as well as the 2021 GII Eddie Read S. He was second in the 2019 GI Breeders' Cup Turf. On the board in 15 of 22 starts, United won 10 times and earned $1,813,549.

“He will remain a part of the LNJ family and is being retired as our riding horse in Kentucky, where we hope he will enjoy his second career just as much as his first,” Roth tweeted.LNJ

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A native of Toronto, Melnyk won his first Queen's Plate in 1998 with Archers Bay (Silver Deputy), a horse he purchased at the Keeneland September sale for $120,000.

“It's everyone's dream,” he said of winning the Queen's Plate. “You can't imagine what it's like to come here and win the Queen's Plate. I've owned claiming horses and I've run Standardbreds at small tracks. But to have one that can win the Queen's Plate is something one can only dream. This [Woodbine] is my old stomping grounds. I used to come here every weekend.”

Over the next several years, Melnyk would invest heavily in the sport and at one point his racing and breeding stock included 500 horses. Teaming up with trainer Todd Pletcher, he won an Eclipse Award for the top sprinter Speightstown (Gone West), the winner of the 2004 GI Breeders' Cup Sprint. The Eclipse champion sprinter that season, Speightstown has gone on to a stellar stallion career standing at WinStar Farm.

For Melnyk, Pletcher developed another star in Flower Alley in 2005. The son of Distorted Humor won the GI Travers S. and three other graded stakes before being retired in 2006. Flower Alley sired 2012 GI Kentucky Derby and Preakness S. winner I'll Have Another.

Melnyk's other Grade I winners include Harmony Lodge (Hennessy), Lukes Alley (Flower Alley), Host (Chi) (Hussonet), Pool Land (Silver Deputy), Bishop Court Hill (Holy Bull), Marley Vale (Forty Niner) and Tweedside (Thunder Gulch).

Melnyk moved to Barbados, in 1991, naming nearly all of his horses for Barbadian towns and sectors, but stayed heavily involved in Canadian racing. He campaigned 12 Sovereign Award winners and was named Canada's outstanding owner in 2007 and outstanding owner and breeder in 2009. In 2017, he was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. His Canadian-bred stars include Sealy Hill, who swept the Canadian Filly Triple Crown in 2007 and went on to finish runner-up in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf the following season.

“Eugene Melnyk was a true Canadian sportsman, one of our leading owners, and a dear friend of Woodbine and the horse racing industry here in Ontario. His contributions to the sport were significant and he was recognized with many accomplishments and awards along the way, highlighted by Sovereign Awards, an Eclipse Award, and ultimately being enshrined in the Horse Racing Hall of Fame. On behalf of Woodbine Entertainment, we send our deep condolences to his family and friends,” said Jim Lawson, CEO, Woodbine Entertainment.

In 2013, Melnyk cut back substantially on his racing and breeding operation, offering several of his top horses through Taylor Made at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale, where Pool Land attracted a sales-topping $900,000 from Live Oak Plantation. Sealy Hill made $590,000 from Regis Farms at the same event and would go on to become the dam of $1.25-million Keeneland September purchase GISW Cambier Parc (Medaglia d'Oro). A further sale of Melnyk racemares and weanlings was held at Fasig-Tipton in the summer of 2014, where Mahogany Lane (A.P. Indy), a daughter of Marley Vale, topped the offerings on a bid of $315,000 from Calumet Farm. According to Equibase, Melnyk made just 22 starts in 2015, eight in 2016 and ran his last horse in 2017. In addition to Pletcher, Melnyk employed the services of trainers Josie Carroll, Mark Casse and Tom Albertrani.

“I've already won a Breeders' Cup,” he said. “I've won each leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, both female and male. I've won Eclipse Awards. At one point, you've reached the peak and you've done it all and you've won it all.” He was also quoted as saying, “I bred the best to the best and some worked out, but 98% don't work out.”

Melnyk  is a former trustee of the New York Racing Association, a co-recipient of the National Turf Writers Association's Joe Palmer Award and was also named Owner of the Year in 2005 by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.

According to Wikipedia, Melnyk was the founder, chairman, and CEO of Biovail Corporation, once Canada's largest publicly traded pharmaceutical company with more than C$1-billion in annual revenue. He sold almost all of his holdings of the company by 2010. Canadian Business magazine ranked Melnyk 79th on its 2017 list of Canada's 100 wealthiest people, with a net worth of $1.21 billion.

In 2003, Melnyk purchased the Senators along with their arena, then known as the Corel Centre, for US$92 million. The Senators played in the Stanley Cup Finals in 2007, losing in five games to the Anaheim Ducks.

“The National Hockey League mourns the passing of Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “The words 'passion' and 'commitment' define the man who has owned the Ottawa Senators since 2003. While successful in business, it was our game and his Senators that he was most passionate about. Eugene was often outspoken, but he maintained an unwavering commitment to the game and his roots and he loved nothing more than donning a Senators sweater and cheering on his beloved team. On behalf of the entire National Hockey League, I extend my deepest sympathies to Eugene's daughters, Anna and Olivia, his extended family, and all those who benefited from his generosity.”

Melnyk was also known for his philanthropy and concentrated his efforts on charities that helped children and the elderly. According to Wikipedia, Melnyk donated $1 million to the Belmont Child Care Association for the construction of the child care center now known as Anna House. The facility was named after his daughter.

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Although he has the use of only one eye, the over-achieving colt has persevered to become a multiple graded-stakes winner with purse earnings over $1 million. The homebred colt, whose left eye had to be removed following a paddock accident when he was only two-weeks old, reached the pinnacle of Canadian racing when he won the 2020 Queen's Plate, the first leg of the Triple Crown for Ontario-bred 3-year-olds. The homebred colt also won the Prince of Wales at Fort Erie on his way to being honored as the 2020 Canadian Horse of the Year.

“He has been a lot of fun for us. He was the underdog in the Queen's Plate and he ran the race of his life,” trainer Jose Carroll said. “He always shows up. I call him a scrappy little horse. He loves to go head-and-head. He's a trying little horse.”

Mighty Heart will carry highweight of 126 pounds in the Harlan's Holiday, a 1 1/16-mile prep for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational [(G1), Jan. 29], on Saturday's 11-race program with five stakes, four graded, including the $200,000 Fort Lauderdale, a 1 1/8-mile prep for the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1).

The ultra-consistent Mighty Heart, who is coming off a victory in the Autumn Stakes (G2) on Woodbine's Tapeta surface over which he won the Queen's Plate. The resilient colt captured the Prince of Wales, the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown on dirt but failed to pull off a series sweep, finishing far back in the Breeders' Stakes over Woodbine's turf.

“I don't think the turf was the reason. He broke sharply and was headed by a longshot, and he never came off the bridle. He galloped right along early and got tired,” Carroll said.

Mighty Heart is rated second in the morning-line at 9-5 behind Todd Pletcher-trained Fearless, the 8-5 favorite who captured the Gulfstream Park Mile (G2) last season.

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