SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – A year ago, trainer Chad Brown thought he had his best chance ever when he ran 'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) in the $1.25-million GI Travers Stakes. The best he could do as the 8-5 favorite was a third-place finish. Brown accepted the verdict and vowed that he would [...]

Saffie Joseph Jr. is easy to pick out. It's got to be the hair. He talks about the long locks he has on his head and what it would take for him to cut it off. He talks about Skippylongstocking going for his third straight win in the Charles Town Classic. He compares the weather [...]

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – As expected, the field for Saturday's 156th running of the $1.25-million GI Travers Stakes will be a small one. That is because the best 3-year-old in the country, Sovereignty (Into Mischief) is running. Only four others will challenge Godolphin's Sovereignty, who is trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott and ridden [...]

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – If In Her Glory (Constitution), a 2-year-old filly, were a boxer, she would be in the flyweight division. Not big enough for the varsity; start her out on the JV. Ok, you get the idea. In Her Glory is not a big-robust looking young horse. In Saturday's sixth race at Saratoga [...]

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Jockey Junior Alvarado, the race day partner of Sovereignty (Into Mischief), the leading 3-year-old in the country, knows how everyone feels now. That's because he saw up close just how powerful Sovereignty is. Sovereignty had his final work before next weekend's $1.25 million GI Travers Stakes Saturday morning at the Oklahoma [...]

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – When the horse who became known as Barnes (Into Mischief) came into the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert a couple years ago, there was hype. That happens when the price tag he brought at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Select Yearling Sale read $3.2 million. And to make things even [...]

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — She would have been the likely favorite in next Saturday's $500,000 GI Ballerina Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. But that point is moot now. 'TDN Rising Star' Ways and Means (Practical Joke) won't run. Trainer Chad Brown delivered the news Thursday morning at his barn on the Oklahoma Training Track. “Unfortunately, [...]

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert is sending a strong contingent to Saratoga Race Course for Travers Day next Saturday. But he won't have a runner in the marquee event, the GI DraftKings Travers Stakes. Baffert said Wednesday that he is keeping 'TDN Rising Star' Goal Oriented (Not This Time) in [...]

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott says he is not all that interesting. We disagree. Mott, who got his first winner when he was still in high school, has never stopped. Through the years, he has had a barn full of high-caliber horses. He talks about some of them; he talks about Sovereignty, who is [...]

SARATOGA SPRINGS – Trainer Kenny McPeek wanted 2024 Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) to work during her work on Sunday morning. And that is what she did. Maybe a little bit more The charismatic 4-year-old, ridden by Luis Rivera Jr., stepped onto the Oklahoma Training Track just after 7:30 a.m. and did [...]

SARATOGA SPRINGS – About 15 minutes after Final Score (Not This Time) won Saratoga's fourth race–a $100,000 maiden special weight–Avery Johnson, who made his bones in another sport, cackled up in the clubhouse. He had just been part of the entourage of owner Mike Repole, who owns Final Score, a 1 3/4-length winner in the [...]

SARATOGA SPRINGS – As Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott watched Sovereignty (Into Mischief) gobble up ground on the Oklahoma Training Track from afar Saturday morning, his mind drifted back to maybe the best horse he ever trained. Sovereignty, working for the first time since winning the GII Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga on July [...]