Minutes after Ethical Diamond (Awtaad) shattered the Del Mar clock in the 2025 GI Breeders' Cup Turf, on-site analysts declared it to be one of the most remarkable wins in the World Championship's 42-year history. The 5-year-old gelding had not just defied his 27-1 odds; he had completely rewritten a cross-disciplinary rulebook. Seven months later, [...]

Mohammad Alkhairat is a big believer in the idea of going back to hand that opened itself to you when you had nothing. At just 20 years old, Alkhairat is already working to return the favor to the people who helped him get his foot in the door in horse racing. After being turned down [...]

Michael Iavarone builds his stable with one primary objective: to compete on racing's biggest days. With Bentornato (Valiant Minister), that mission has already been accomplished and there are still bigger goals on the horizon. In the seven months since he bought a 25% share in the talented sprinter for $1 million at the Keeneland Championship [...]

Donnacha O'Brien can't recall the exact details of his earliest Breeders' Cup memories, but he does have a vague recollection of parading around the racecourse sporting a cowboy hat. That presumably would have been during the 2004 World Championship meet held at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas, when O'Brien was just six years [...]

Doug Cauthen still vividly remembers watching from the tunnel at Del Mar as the field reached the starting gate for the 2017 GI Breeders' Cup Classic. When Gun Runner seized the lead and zipped through an opening quarter of :22.50, Cauthen retreated a little further back into the shadows. “I was sweating bullets,” Cauthen admitted, [...]

The leaders of Maryland's Thoroughbred industry are not resigned to the fact that racing in their state has reached a watershed moment. They see it as the catalyst that will mark the beginning of a large-scale resurgence in the coming years. Churchill Downs Incorporated's acquisition of the intellectual property rights for the Preakness Stakes and [...]

For as long as he can remember, Nick Brawner has always had someone in his corner. It began with his father–his best friend and the man who taught him the true meaning of empathy. Years later, it was Josh Bryan, who helped him through his early stages of recovery and showed him how a profound [...]

As the industry-wide debate over the Triple Crown's spacing grows increasingly loud, Whit Beckman is choosing to listen to his horse. Ocelli (Connect), the gutsy colt who defied 70-1 odds to finish third in the GI Kentucky Derby after drawing into the big event just two days beforehand, is one of three Derby contenders preparing [...]

When Alvin Haynes passed away in 2014, his son Mitch wasn't exactly sure what to do with the handful of mares and foals his family had inherited. While Haynes had accompanied his father to the races over the years, he had never taken a real interest in the sport. But as he began to oversee [...]

Cody's Wish: A Boy, a Racehorse, and a Fight for Life by Paul Halloran officially goes on sale this Tuesday, May 5th. A veteran journalist with four decades of experience in the industry, Halloran first learned about the story of Cody's Wish (Curlin) and his connection with a young boy facing significant medical challenges while [...]

For Leah and Aidan O'Meara, the path to producing the first Kentucky Oaks starter bred by Stonehaven Steadings has been a six-year masterclass in persistence and prowess in the face of high-stakes decisions. By trusting their instincts and taking one leap of faith after the next, the O'Mearas have seen a long-term vision come to [...]

Kentucky Derby contenders Commandment and Renegade share more than just the top two spots on T.D. Thornton's TDN's Derby Top 20. Both Grade I winners are sons of supersire Into Mischief, both are out of graded stakes-winning mares and both were foaled and raised at Taylor Made Farm. Taylor Made's Frank Taylor noted that their [...]