Understandable. I wasn’t sure if there was a specific reason beyond that or what.
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Just got back from a wonderful trip to Saratoga. One thing that is completely different in Saratoga than Baltimore is the entire community embraces horses. Every store and restaurant has something horse related in it. Horses are a source of pride there. Over the years here in Maryland I have seen what little pride the community had in our horse history has all but completely vanished.
I have been involved professionally with horse racing for three decades and have never seen a race cancelled before. The two cancellations on Saturday were surprising.
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Surely you’ve seen races taken off the turf before. Unlikely that any track would run and risk horses on the soggy turf they had at that point in time, and the two grade 1’s couldn’t fairly be moved to dirt as the G3T races were.
They ran the G1T Manhattan and the G1T Jaipur today. Deterministic won the Manhattan and Ag Bullet won the Jaipur.
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Just watched the rerun of the Jaipur. Announcer said, reasonably enough, “Ag Bullet”. I bet the namers meant Silver for Ag. Ag = chemical symbol for silver. She is gray.
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Didn’t get a chance to comment on Saturday but Sovereignty is the real deal. Wow.
I was a little worried coming into the final turn and he was boxed in still but he was patient and what a beast of a horse he is.
I know Mott has made comments about them being judged for skipping the Preakness and Journalisms camp is using the excuse that they got beat by a rested horse; but I don’t judge Mott’s camp any different for skipping the Preakness. The Derby took a lot out of horses on a track like that and if they thought their horse needed some recovery time; more power to them. Better to have a sound, healthy and happy horse than the other option.
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Also looking at Sovereignty’s dam who was named Crowned. She died in 2024 after having a Nyquist colt. Sovereignty has 2 full siblings, both fillies. The Nyquist colt hasn’t been names so not sure if he survived.
Jane Grey had 7 starts, 1 win as a maiden (At Saratoga!). She was also trained by Mott. She had a 2024 Medaglia D’Oro colt and was bred back to him.
Misintention- Was also trained by Mott. She raced 8 times, all in maiden special weights with no wins. She was retired and bred but came up barren to Midshipman
While Heart of Honor didn’t pan out just wanted to note how beautiful of a horse he is. Not just conformationally but he is a beautiful mover too. I didn’t realize that he is by Honor AP (By Honor Code) which is goes back to the Honor AP/Honor Code discussion on the type of sport horses they are producing. His jockey is also an eventer in europe so if he doesn’t pan out on the track in the long term; maybe he will find a second career with her, doubt it LOL
At the 40 second mark here you can see him moving out
Heart of Honor 5 15 25 AM
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yeah and he looks like he’s got a good brain on him too. He probably has more than enough good connections for a very happy post-track life but yeah would not be mad to see him end up in H/J life–IMO he’d make a beaut of a hunter.
Heck of a Belmont; I thought it was a great race. I stand by the fact this year has is oozing talent. Sovereignty definitely wow’ed but Journalism is absolutely nothing to snuff at. Baeza ran a good race. Sandman I think is still a very classy runner.
I’m going to hope we see some of these horses race a bit longer and build their records (and help bring more interest to racing) vs heading straight to the breeding shed.
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This is one of the reasons I don’t follow racing as much as I used to. I still watch the big ones, but I don’t follow as much. I barely know who is running.
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It’s a legit issue! Once I got an OTTB, my partner started taking a lot more interest in racing. This is someone who barely knew the front end of the horse from the back, but has grown more and more enthusiastic about the breed and the sport and the aftercare. He attends races, bets, and he likes the mini horsemanship lessons I can give him at the barn on care. This is the type of fan racing wants and quite frankly needs.
But he gets so exasperated that horses he followed or liked after Derby just disappear off the face of the earth after a year or go straight to the breeding shed. So it’s hard to hold that consistent interest. He likes following the journey. I’ve heard similar from other folks I’ve tried to bring into the fold.
Being able to buy small shares in racehorses I think is a great step in bringing more folks in but it’s not going to solve the whole problem.
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Unfortunately that’s not just happening on the racetrack, but also in the breeding shed. Potential stallions retire young, then get 3-4 years at stud to prove themselves. It seems now that only a fraction of those horses last longer than that in Kentucky. When we started breeding TBs 20+ years ago, I always knew all the current stallions, then looked at the new crop that was added each year. Now, the majority of stallions cycle in and out so quickly, it’s barely worth taking the time to get to know most of them.
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I was gifted about 20 years of the Maryland Horse magazine in the late 70’s early 80’s. Back then, I could’ve recited the 3 gen pedigree of every stallion in the Mid-Atlantic. I would’ve been around 8-12 in those years. Heck, my cousin and I used to read those magazines and the stallion issue and plan matings with our ‘broodmare band’ culled from the issues. Good memories, maybe a little weird? Well, I say memories, but I haven’t retained much of that 
Now even regional sires seem to have such short shelf-lives.
@Ponyplusaninch, see if he can get interested in mares. They do generally have much longer careers.
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Surely you understand the difference between taking a race off the turf and not running it at all no?
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UGH, that’s frustrating to hear.
@axl that’s a good call; I should get him more interested in Oaks. Plenty of fillies (now mares) that I’ve adored following over the years.
(edited to attribute the right person!)
Maybe @Laurierace can help me out for a second, because my favorite stallion in those days were Shelter Half, Star de Naskra, and something like Kris S but I know it wasn’t Kris S. It’s kind of driving me crazy.
Oh, obviously we loved Northern Dancer, but our “stable” had a budget 
So do you think that is a good thing or a bad thing. Those running stud farms might say it’s a good thing (Profit $ or money turnaround) but those actually breeding horses; might say its a bad thing. For starters; say you invested in a young sire to breed to with the intentions of marketing the offspring and the stud farm sold him overseas within 2 years because demand was low and the offer was there. Kind of inflicts a black eye on the marketability of some offspring.
Also, does the quick turnover of stallions hamper the breed. Is there actual progress being made in longevity and soundness and ability or is it all just a game of how quick money can change hands at the greatest amount?
A little off topic but with these horses going to stud relatively soon; it is a topic that hits home for a lot of people.
Look at Into Mischief. One of the most highly sought after stallions right now with the list of graded winners piling up. But if you ignore his current accolades; how close was he from being passed over? He was an 80k yearling and a 180k two year old. Modest.
he raced six times with earnings of $597,000. significant, but not eye opening. He never finished worse than second with his 3 wins being his maiden special weight, the listed Damscus stakes, and the G1 Cashcall Futurity. He was 2nd in the G1 Malibu, 2nd in the G2 San Vincente, and 2nd in the G3 Hollywood. He never left California.
His dam was broodmare of the year producing Beholder and Mendelssohn(Mendelssohn born well after Into Mischeif started his stud career) while the rest of her offspring were mediocre at best or unraced and used as broodmares producing the likes of Scotland Yard, Tamara, Remedyand Classic Moments
But had Into Mischeif not been owned by B. Wayne Hughes; would he have stayed here? Beholder wasn’t born until 5 years after him and while his first crop produced Goldencents, MIss Mischief, Can The Man and Vyjack, his second crop was quite a small group (about 26 foals??) and this third crop being just shy of 40 foals. His most notable offpsring didnt come until several years into his stud career, past the point of when most in the business would’ve entertained offers; especially with Beholder making a name
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Love to hear from @LaurieB, but let’s consider Malibu Moon.
Started as a regional sire at Country Life in MD, but had great support from Spendthrift and moved to KY. Without the Spendthrift connection, would he have succeeded? Are any young sires still getting that kind of opportunity today?
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And great correlation with Malibu Moon. Hughes really must have/had some excellent insights into his colts.
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Quick correction - Beholder is Tamara’s dam, not one of the other less well-known Leslie’s Lady offspring.
Disclaimer - I haven’t looked at the stats for Into Mischief’s first crop, so they may or may not bear out the rest of what I say here.
What Into Mischief did with his first few crops was “move his mares up” significantly. A stallion “improves”, or “moves up” mares by getting foals who perform at a level higher than what might have been expected given the pedigree/quality of the dams. That’s not to say those first mares bred to Into Mischief were fair-circuit quality, but they were nothing like the blue blooded stakes winners/stakes producers who fill his book now.
People sit up and take notice when a stallion starts consistently throwing stakes winners. It’s part of owning a breeding operation. Mr. Prospector started at $5000 in Florida but was promptly acquired by Claiborne after he showed he could improve his mares consistently. That might not be the best comparison, as Mr. P did have a somewhat more noteworthy pedigree, but he did start with less than proven mares.
The current market also demands early performers, fast two-year-olds. At most they want one that can break his maiden and start winning early in his 3yo career. Into Mischief also had that going for him with his first crop.
That’s my 2 cents; do with it what you will. 
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Not sure exactly what you’re asking. There definitely was a lovely stallion named Kris S however, he was one of my favorites and was the foundation of my breeding program
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