Edited from The TDN (link)

Parchment Party kicked off his 2026 campaign in winning fashion on Saturday with a determined victory in the Temperence Hill Stakes at Oaklawn Park.

The veteran distance runner added another stakes triumph to an already accomplished résumé after a memorable 2025 season that included a victory in the Belmont Gold Cup (G3) at Saratoga. That performance earned the son of Constitution a coveted berth in the Melbourne Cup (G1) at Flemington Racecourse in Australia.

Before making the trip overseas, the Bill Mott trainee captured the Birdstone Stakes at Saratoga in August.

Returning stateside and equipped with blinkers for his seasonal debut, Parchment Party was installed as the even-money favorite in the Temperance Hill. He settled comfortably in third during the early stages while tracking Forged Steel and Jokestar around the sprawling Oaklawn oval.

Approaching the far turn, jockey John Velazquez and Parchment Party began to wind up together as they launched a three-wide bid. The bay ranged alongside his rivals inside the final furlong and dug in gamely down the stretch, pulling clear late to secure the victory with authority.

Bred on the same cross responsible for Tiz the Law and G3 winner We the People, Parchment Party boasts one of the deeper pedigrees in training.

He is out of Life Well Lived, a full-sister to Dubai World Cup hero Well Armed, and is a half-brother to multiple Graded stakes performer Muqtaser, G1-winning stallion American Patriot, and stakes winner Well Humored, the dam of multiple G1 winner Patch Adams.

The female family also includes Graded stakes winners Witty and Bombard, La Troienne S. (G1) heroine Played Hard, and two-time Japanese Horse of the Year Symboli Kris S.

Life Well Lived has continued to produce sought-after offspring commercially. She has a 3-year-old full brother to Parchment Party, produced another colt by Constitution last year, and is currently in foal to Practical Joke.