Angel of Empire

Cody's Wish (Curlin) worked five furlongs in 1:00 (1/15) Saturday over the Oklahoma training track in preparation for the $1-million GI Whitney Aug. 5. The Godolphin homebred is currently on a six-race winning streak topped by a powerful 3 1/4-length score last out in the GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. June 10 at Belmont Park. "He was very good. He went five eighths and went well and appeared to be well within himself," Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said. "We're uncertain about the nine furlongs (in the Whitney),...

The GI Belmont S. entrants are listed in "likeliest winner" order. 1) NATIONAL TREASURE (c, Quality Road--Treasure, by Medaglia d'Oro) O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Robert E. Masterson, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Jay A. Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital LLC and Catherine Donovan; B-Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert. Sales history: $500,000 ylg '21 FTSAUG. Lifetime Record: GISW, 6-2-1-2, $1,335,000. Last Start: 1st GI Preakness S. at Pimlico May 20. National Treasure drew post one, added blinkers, and looked on paper to be the controlling speed in...

ELMONT, NY - With the rising sun attempting to make its way through hazy skies as air quality health advisories remain in effect throughout the New York City area due to the Canadian wildfires, eight of the nine GI Belmont Stakes runners were in action during the first hour of training on a cool Wednesday morning. Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) and Tapit Shoes (Tapit), both equipped with white bridles and NYRA's commemorative 50th Anniversary Secretariat Belmont S. saddle towels, made a favorable impression in their first day of training...

ELMONT, NY -- Last year's champion 2-year-old colt and 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence), scratched on the morning of the GI Kentucky Derby with an untimely foot bruise, was tabbed as the 5-2 morning-line favorite for the 155th running of the GI Belmont Stakes at Tuesday's post-position draw held in the Triple Crown Lounge at Belmont Park. The Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable colorbearer, last seen defeating subsequent Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) in dramatic fashion in the GI Curlin Florida Derby Apr. 1, will exit from post...

With one week out until the GI Belmont S., a trio of Brad Cox trainees put in their final works ahead of the last leg of the Triple Crown on Saturday at Churchill Downs. Angel of Empire (Classic Empire), Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) and Tapit Shoes (Tapit) each put in five-furlong works while a handful of additional Cox stable stars completed their final tune-ups in preparation for bids in a jam-packed Belmont undercard. The Churchill Downs-based Cox contingent is set to head to Belmont Park on Monday. Angel of...

Trainer Brad Cox has added a third GI Belmont S. contender to his lineup with Tapit Shoes, a stakes-placed son of Tapit who was last seen running second to Red Route One (Gun Runner) in the Bath House Row S. at Oaklawn Park on April 22. "He's a pretty consistent workhorse, steady, and always gallops out well," Cox said Thursday morning at Churchill Downs. "He gives us some confidence that he could like the mile and a half." Owned in partnership by Spendthrift Farm, Steve Landers Racing, Martin Schwartz, Michael...

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher gave a "thumbs up" following a Saturday morning breeze from Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's reigning champion 2-Year-Old Forte (Violence), who worked five-eighths over the Belmont Park main track in preparation for the GI Belmont S. NYRA clockers caught Forte through three-eighths in :35 before completing five furlongs in 1:00.44 and galloping out six furlongs in 1:13 over the fast main track. "I was really, really happy. I thought he was moving great. He got into a good rhythm, finished up great and...

The prospective field for the GI Belmont S. picked up a pair of top contenders Monday when trainer Brad Cox confirmed that he is pointing Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) and Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) to the final leg of the Triple Crown. Neither has run since the GI Kentucky Derby, where Angel of Empire, the favorite in the race, finished third and Hit Show was fifth. "They both had their first works back after the Derby on Sunday and we're getting them ready to go for the Belmont,"...

Sunday morning's work tab at Churchill Downs featured a trio of trainer Brad Cox's GI Kentucky Derby runners who recorded their first breezes since running on the first Saturday in May. At 5:30 a.m., third-place finisher Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) recorded a half-mile move in :49. The colt, owned by Albaugh Family Stables, is possible to run in the GI Belmont S. June 10. Shortly after, Verifying (Justify), who finished 16th in the Derby, worked a half-mile in :49.60. At 7:45 a.m., Gary and Mary West's Hit Show (Candy...

This week's Triple Crown feature examines the trips of GI Kentucky Derby runners in detail from first to last: 1) Mage (No. 12 in TDN pre-race rankings) Mage, the little horse who could, was a characteristic beat slow out of the starting gate. Javier Castellano let him roll with the flow as the field sorted itself out through the first furlong, then darted to secure the rail while fourth-last the first time under the wire. Unhurried through the turn, this son of Good Magic ($235,000 KEESEP; $290,000 EASMAY) raced several...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The late B. Wayne Hughes will be smiling somewhere on this first Saturday in May. Unbeaten GII Louisiana Derby winner Kingsbarns (Uncle Mo), an $800,000 Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream breezer, will carry the famed orange-and-purple colors of Spendthrift Farm while making just his fourth career start in the 149th GI Kentucky Derby. "Our primary business really is standing stallions, but when we can go to a sale and get a horse that has a shot to make it to the stud barn, that's what we're trying to do," Spendthrift's...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - One of the more buzzed about workouts leading up to the first Saturday in May has been Confidence Game (Candy Ride {Arg})'s eye-catching, five-furlong bullet in :59 for trainer Keith Desormeaux at Churchill Downs last weekend. The steam behind the last-out Feb. 25 GII Rebel S. winner continued to build on a very lively backstretch as he led out the GI Kentucky Derby and Oaks horses with authority at 7:30 a.m. on another chilly and breezy Wednesday morning. 'TDN Rising Star' Tapit Trice (Tapit) is certainly another...