Better Talk Now

Thoroughbred racehorse infobox
horsename = Better Talk Now


caption = Better Talk Now in the paddock prior to the 2008 Manhattan Handicap
sire = Talkin Man
grandsire = With Approval
dam = Bendita
damsire = Baldski
sex = Gelding
foaled = 1999
country = United States
colour = Dark Bay
breeder = Wimborne Farm, Inc.
owner = Bushwood Racing Partners LLC
trainer = H. Graham Motion
record = 41: 14-6-3 (ongoing)
earnings = $4,052,788 (ongoing)
race = Knickerbocker Handicap (2003)
Sword Dancer Invitational Handicap (2004)
Fort Marcy Handicap (2005)
United Nations Handicap (2005)
Man o' War Stakes (2005)
Dixie Stakes (2006)
Sky Classic Stakes (2006)
Manhattan Handicap (2007)

Breeders' Cup wins:"'
Breeders' Cup Turf (2004)
awards=
honours =
updated = CURRENTTIME, CURRENTDAYNAME CURRENTMONTHNAME CURRENTDAY CURRENTYEAR (UTC)

Better Talk Now (foaled February 25, 1999 in Kentucky) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Out of the mare Bendita, his damsire Baldski is a son of English Triple Crown Champion, Nijinsky. Better Talk Now's sire was Talkin Man, the 1994 Canadian Champion Two-Year-Old Colt who in turn is a son of With Approval, the 1989 Canadian Triple Crown Champion and a Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee.

Racing from a base at Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland, Better Talk Now's conditioning was handled by Graham Motion. He made one start at age two but finished off the board. As a three-year-old in 2002 he made nine starts, winning three times and finishing second twice. A come-from-behind horse, it would be at age four that Better Talk Now began to win Graded stakes races, capturing the Knickerbocker Handicap at New York's Aqueduct Racetrack.

By age five, Better Talk Now developed into a top turf horse in the United States, especially in races run at 1½ miles. He won the Grade I Sword Dancer Invitational Handicap and in the biggest win of his career, defeated a field that included the heavy betting favorite Kitten's Joy and third-place finisher Powerscourt to win the 2004 Breeders' Cup Turf. The win was the first in a Breeders' Cup race for both jockey Ramon Dominguez and trainer Graham Motion.

In 2005, the six-year-old Better Talk Now continued to win Grade I races, taking the United Nations Stakes and Man o' War Stakes then finished seventh in the Breeders' Cup Turf and twelfth in the Japan Cup. Back on the track in 2006, Better Talk Now won the Dixie Stakes at Pimlico Race Course and the Sky Classic Stakes in a three-way photo finish at Woodbine Racetrack before finishing a very close second in his third Breeders' Cup Turf appearance.

In 2007, the eight-year-old gelding won the Grade 1 Manhattan Handicap by a head over arch rival English Channel. In the ensuing Grade I United Nations Stakes in July, a race Better Talk Now won in 2005, English Channel came out on top with Better Talk Now taking third place. An injury to his left front ankle became infected and resulting soreness kept him out of racing until he ran fourth in October's Breeders' Cup Turf race. Shortly after, "The Blood-Horse magazine" reported that Better Talk Now would remain in training for a 9-year-old campaign in 2008 and is being considered for a March trip to Dubai to compete in the Dubai Sheema Classic.

References

* [http://www.pedigreequery.com/better+talk+now Better Talk Now's pedigree and partial racing stats]
* [http://www.ntra.com/content.aspx?type=news&id=29359 11/5/2007 NTRA report by Karen M. Johnson of "The Blood-Horse" on the 2008 plans for Better Talk Now]
* [http://alexbrownracing.com/wiki/index.php/Better_Talk_Now Better Talk Now AlexBrownRacing]