It's been nearly six months since Alex and JoAnn Lieblong's homebred Reef Runner (g, 5, The Big Beast–Paradise Bay, by Blame) has competed on these shores (a win in the Janus Stakes at Gulfstream in December), but he hasn't been idle. He brought a G2 1351 Turf Sprint win home from Saudi Arabia and barely [...]

Classic Q (f, 4, Classic Empire–Lovely Em, by Scat Daddy) is proving classy “to a T.” Last seen securing her first graded win on Kentucky Derby Day in the GII Longines Churchill Distaff Turf Mile Stakes, the Gary Barber, Blue Crevalle Racing, and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners colorbearer doubled up on Belmont Stakes Day, capturing the [...]

If redemption was the name of the game in Saturday's GII Santa Margarita Stakes at Santa Anita, the first horse to come to mind likely would have been $2.5-million Fasig-Tipton November purchase Seismic Beauty (Uncle Mo) as the one with something to prove, but it was California-bred Om N Joy (f, 4, Om-Margie's Minute, by [...]

Pin Up Betty (Constitution) may have been looking for a repeat in the GIII Old Forester Mint Julep Stakes, but it was Full of Run Racing II LLC and Frank Silva's Sweet Treasure (f, 4, Twirling Candy–Stellium, by Empire Maker) who led every step of the way to capture the 1 1/16-mile turf contest on [...]

Mission accomplished. Three months ago, after Thought Process (f, 4, Collected–Creative Thinking, by Creative Cause) kickstarted her 4-year-old campaign with a win in the Feb. 28 GII Buena Vista Stakes at Santa Anita, Billy Koch of Little Red Feather Racing said, “Ultimately, our goal has always been the Gamely.” On Monday, that vision became reality [...]

Pop quiz: what do 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify and Atomic Blonde, dam of last week's GI Preakness Stakes winner Napoleon Solo (Liam's Map), have in common? Both are by Scat Daddy, both were bred by the Gunther family, and both were raised at Glennwood Farm near Versailles, Kentucky. Justify and Atomic Blonde also have [...]

That must have been a good sandwich. It was certainly a memorable one. Walker Hancock of Claiborne Farm distinctly remembers eating subs from Jersey Mike's one fall afternoon in 2021 with Daisy Phipps Pulito and Claiborne's farm manager Bradley Purcell in Claiborne's conference room. The three of them sat down over those sandwiches to hash [...]

Connections of Stark Contrast (c, 3, Caravaggio–Catch the Eye, by Quality Road), second in the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks Mar. 21 behind scratched GI Kentucky Derby contender Fulleffort (Liam's Map), could have entertained a Derby bid with the 50 points he earned at Turfway, but opted instead for the 35th running of the GI American [...]

'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Cy Fair (f, 3, Not This Time–Remarqued, by Arch) is a big fan of showing her best during the sport's biggest weeks. Following a scintillating win in last fall's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint over the boys, the bay filly signaled her return as a headliner with a [...]

Keeneland's spring meet has kicked off and the GI Kentucky Derby is less than a month away. Let's take a look back at the recently concluded first quarter of 2026, where we got to enjoy 78 (19%) of the 410 graded races scheduled domestically for this year. Thus far in 2026, the 78 graded races [...]

When So Happy (c, 3, Runhappy–So Cunning, by Blame) won his first two starts–both sprints–impressively, then yielded when stretched out to 1 1/16 miles in the GII San Felipe Stakes Mar. 7, it could be assumed he had distance limitations. After all, his sire was the 2015 champion sprinter and So Happy had kicked off [...]

Meaning (f, 3, Gun Runner–Figure of Speech, by Into Mischief), a Bridlewood Farm and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners colorbearer, proved her win over Eclipse champion 2-year-old filly Super Corredora (Gun Runner) in the Las Virgenes Stakes Feb. 8 was no fluke and asserted herself as California's division leader with a resounding victory in the GII Santa [...]