This week’s racing foreshadowed success for rising stars in 2025. The $595,000 Clark Stakes, presented by Norton Healthcare (G2), was held at Churchill Downs on Black Friday. And though the winner, Magnitude, cost six figures, he’s proven to be a bargain.

Magnitude Becomes First 3-Year-Old Since Gun Runner to Win the Clark

Favored at odds of 2.18-1, Magnitude fended off Hit Show’s advances at the wire by a half-length. Magnitude continually ran behind the best three-year-olds of his crop this year; given a chance to emerge from their shadow, he’s shined brightly. He is the first three-year-old to win the Clark since Gun Runner in 2016.

$450,000 Keeneland Buy Magnitude Surges to $1.3 Million in Earnings

At the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling sale, Winchell Thoroughbreds (the team behind Tap the Champagne’s sire Tapit) purchased Magnitude for $450,000; he previously went through the ring as a weanling for $310,000. Fans may recognize the name of his second dam, Breeders’ Cup-placed multiple grade 1 winner Octave. In his career, Magnitude has earned nearly $1.3 million.

Truly Quality Repeats in Hollywood Turf Cup, Showcasing Blue Hen Pedigree

Elsewhere in racing, Truly Quality delivered his second consecutive win in Del Mar’s Hollywood Turf Cup (G2T) on Nov. 29. A half-brother to Canadian grade 2 winner Mouffy (by Uncle Mo), the five-year-old gelding served up a 1 ¾-length victory. He hails from the female family of blue hen Strike a Pose, a foundation mare for the late Josephine Abercrombie’s Pin Oak Stud; other female-line descendants of Strike a Pose include champion Forever Together, grade 1 winner Peaks and Valleys, and useful sire Broken Vow.

68-1 Shock: Call Sign Seven Stuns in Seabiscuit Handicap as Del Mar’s Rising Stars Shine

Also at Del Mar, Call Sign Seven annexed the Seabiscuit Handicap (G2T) at odds of 68.5-1. His fourth dam is the remarkable Missy Baba, ancestress of Horses of the Year A.P. Indy and Havre de Grace. Two-year-old filly Just Aloof proved herself a rising star for sire Justify in the Jimmy Durante Stakes (G3T); the promising youngster is out of group 3 stakes winner Aloof (by Galileo out of speedster Airwave); Aloof is a half-sister to the dam of English and Irish classic winner Churchill.Topping that day’s card at Del Mar was the Hollywood Derby (G1T), won by Salamis; the sophomore colt is a trainee for Chad Brown, making this that trainer’s fifth triumph in the race.

Bella Ballerina and Further Ado Shine in Churchill Downs’ Key 2-Year-Old Stakes

At Churchill Downs, two promising two-year-olds earned their first graded stakes victories Nov. 29. Godolphin’s homebred filly Bella Ballerina, a son of champion Street Sense out of 2016 Spinaway Stakes (G1) winner Pretty City Dancer, won the Golden Rod Stakes (G2); she outlasted runner-up Atropa by a half-length. Bella Ballerina’s Into Mischief half-sister, Pretty Mischievous, captured the 2023 Kentucky Oaks (G1) en route to being named champion three-year-old filly.

The colts’ counterpart to the Golden Rod is the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2). This edition was won by Further Ado, a son of leading sire Gun Runner (also sire of a promising yearling colt recently purchased by Tropical Racing). Further Ado is a half-brother to Kimbear, a group stakes winner in the United Arab Emirates; their dam, Sky Dreamer, is a half-sister to grade 1 winner Dream Dancing. Longtime racing fans will recognize the name of Further Ado’s third dam, 1999 champion older filly Beautiful Pleasure. And in global news, the recent Cartier Horse of the Year (measuring the best horse in Europe), Calandagan, headed to Japan from Europe to win the Japan Cup (G1).