Frank Mitchell

The marquee events of the weekend at Parx produced the first Grade 1 winners for sires Always Dreaming (by Bodemeister) and Mr. Big (Dynaformer) in the Pennsylvania Derby and Cotillion, respectively. In the Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 23, the strongly favored Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming) broke alertly, held the lead at every call, and won […]

Tapit, the near-white son of Pulpit (by A.P. Indy), reaffirmed his position as one of the most significant sires and pervasively important grandsires in contemporary breeding with the results of racing for 2-year-olds over the weekend. The three-time leading national sire figured closely in the pedigrees of juvenile graded stakes winners V V’s Dream at […]

When I mention Alfred the Great to most people, they think of the 9th century king of the Saxons who created the concept of a united kingdom that became England. But when I mentioned that to a friend from Midway, Ky., he said, “Aye, he lives down the pike a bit.” This is Alfred Nuckols, […]

Was anyone cheering as hard for Nutella Fella in the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga as racing man and sports gambler “Mattress Mack” McIngvale? Jim McIngvale bought and raced the winner’s sire, champion sprinter Runhappy, a bay son of Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver (by Maria’s Mon). McIngvale had famously backed Runhappy at good […]

Seven years ago, a gray colt named Arrogate (by Unbridled’s Song) won the Grade 1 Travers Stakes in a galloping tour de force on his way to becoming the season’s champion 3-year-old colt, and on Aug. 26, a gray colt from the second crop by Arrogate followed suit by winning the Saratoga centerpiece. Arcangelo has […]

Through every fibre of my brain, Through every nerve, through every vein, I feel the electric thrill, the touch Of life, that seems almost too much. Thus, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow expressed the feelings of joy and youthful exuberance in his poem “A Day of Sunshine,” and the unbeaten 2-year-old colt named Henry Longfellow caught a […]

In the great race toward sire success, the first thing that a freshman sire needs is to get a stakes winner on the board, and the only thing better is getting the winner of a graded stakes. That’s exactly what has happened for Darby Dan stallion Flameaway (by Scat Daddy), whose his first-crop daughter Dreamfyre […]

Brightwork’s victory in the Grade 3 Adirondack Stakes at Saratoga made the daughter of Outwork (by Uncle Mo) a second graded stakes winner for her sire, who won the G1 Wood Memorial in a brief racing career, winning three of his five starts. A fourth-crop sire in the same group as freshman leader Nyquist (Uncle […]

Winning his eighth consecutive race in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Stakes at Saratoga, last season’s champion sprinter Elite Power (by Curlin) prompted a question to trainer Bill Mott from one of the television commentators about what it took to win eight races in a row. Mott wryly remarked that he knew how hard […]

When trainer Richard Mandella sent three-time starter Geaux Rocket Ride (by Candy Ride) all the way across the country to Monmouth Park for the Grade 1 Haskell Stakes, perceptive handicappers and racing fans took note. However, with Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) and the unbeaten Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo) headlining the race lineup, the […]