Arkansas Derby

Blackout Time (Not This Time), most recently fourth in the GII Rebel Stakes, tuned up for an expected start in the Mar. 28 GI Arkansas Derby with a bullet four-furlong drill in :47.00 (1/90) at Oaklawn Park Saturday. Under retired jockey Robby Albarado, Blackout Time worked with stablemate Gould's Gold, a 5-year-old stakes winner who is entered in the Mar. 21 GIII Essex Handicap. Clockers caught Blackout Time in :24.20 for his opening quarter-mile and galloping out five furlongs in :59.60 and six furlongs in 1:13.40. "Everything is still on...

Last Sunday's GII Rebel Stakes third-place finisher Litmus Test (Nyquist) will stay in Hot Springs to contest the GI Arkansas Derby March 28 for trainer Bob Baffert. Speaking of his Arkansas runners from last weekend, Baffert said that while his GIII Honeybee Stakes winner Explora (Blame) had shipped back to California, Litmus Test would remain at Oaklawn through the end of the month. "I didn't want to bring him all the way back here and ship him back," Baffert said. "He's there. I want to give him another chance. I...

Silent Tactic (Tacitus), winner of the GIII Southwest S. Feb. 6 and narrow runner-up in Sunday's GII Rebel S., will be pointed to the $1.5-million GI Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Mar. 28, per trainer Mark Casse. "I thought Cristian (Torres) gave him a good trip," Casse said. "He was a little keener, which wasn't surprising to me because he's trained keener. He ended up settling for Cristian, but it took a little bit of doing. He was wanting to go. I think if you look at his numbers, especially if...

GI Arkansas Derby winner Angel of Empire (Classic Empire--Armony's Angel, by To Honor And Serve) sired his first reported foal Saturday, Jan. 17, when a filly bred by Brooks Taylor was born at Taylor Made, the farm announced Tuesday. She is out of Love Ava Love, a daughter of the stakes-winning Storm Cat mare Hidden Cat--her second dam is multiple Canadian champion and Horse of the Year Alywow--and she is a half-sister to stakes winners Global Power and Pegasusbystorm. Angel of Empire, racing for Albaugh Family Stables and trained by...

Sandman (Tapit) and La Cara (Street Sense), Grade I winners for dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse, each had five-furlong workouts over a fast track Saturday morning at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas. GI Arkansas Derby winner Sandman, under Cristian Torres, went in :59.60 (1/16). He covered his opening eighth of a mile in :12, a quarter-mile in :24 and three furlongs in :35.80 before galloping out six furlongs in 1:12.40. Unraced since late August, Sandman has had five published workouts in advance of his yet-to-be determined 4-year-old debut. "He's...

5. PUBLISHER, CD-2nd, 11/20, 6 1/2f (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure-84 (2nd) (c, 3, American Pharoah--Indian Pride, by Proud Citizen) O-Gus King and the Estate of Brereton Jones. B-Brereton Jones (Ky). T-Steve Asmussen. J-Irad Ortiz Jr. This spring he was perhaps America's best-known maiden, finishing second in the GI Arkansas Derby to earn a spot in the GI Kentucky Derby starting gate. Nearly seven months later, he's still a maiden. Last week he was an odds-on runner-up in his return to maiden company, and now has been second, third or fourth...

Last year's GI Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan (Goldencents--Ma'am, by Colonel John), who is expected to start next in the Nov. 1 GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, will begin his stud career next year at Airdrie Stud at an introductory fee of $15,000. In addition to the 2024 Derby, Mystik Dan also won this year's GII Lukas Classic Stakes and GIII Blame Stakes. He was runner-up in last year's GI Preakness Stakes and third in the GI Arkansas Derby, and heads to the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile as one of...

The GII Fantasy Stakes will be worth $1 million when it is run next year at Oaklawn Park, while the purse for the Arkansas track's GIII Honeybee Stakes will be increased for the second consecutive time, from $500,000 to $750,000 in 2026. "The increase to our Fantasy Stakes by itself makes a very strong statement," Oaklawn's President Louis A. Cella said. "This will be the first time in the history of North American racing that 3-year-old fillies will have an opportunity to run for a seven-figure purse prior to the...

I knew it was coming, but that doesn't dull the sadness. I posted online last week that I was sad about the news D. Wayne Lukas had been put in hospice care and retired from training, but it's complicated to explain why I feel so profoundly sad about the passing of a man that I'd only spoken with a few times briefly in my life. A lot of it has to do with a connection I had with my dad that he unknowingly helped fuel many times over more than...

It's the busiest time of the year for Len Green of the Green Group, a tax consulting service specializing in the horse racing industry. With Apr. 15 approaching, he probably should have stayed home in New Jersey to work. Then again, when you are the part-owner of a horse that looks to be bound for the GI Kentucky Derby, all bets are off. Green couldn't stay away as 3-year-old Sandman (Tapit) faced eight others in the GI Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park. The trip was worth it as Green was...

Gulfstream Park's GI Curlin Florida Derby tips off one hour ahead of Oaklawn's GI Arkansas Derby on Saturday and, with 100 points on the 'Road to the Kentucky Derby' on offer in each spot, both races offer what amounts to a 'win and you're in' spot in the gate on the first Saturday in May. Between them, the two tracks host eight of the day's 10 graded stakes. Godolphin homebred Sovereignty (Into Mischief), one of two runners in the Florida Derby along with Madaket Road (Quality Road) facing a jockey...

NBC Sports will present live coverage of the GII Louisiana Derby from Fair Grounds Saturday at 6 p.m. ET on CNBC and Peacock. The hour-long program will also feature coverage of the GII Fair Grounds Oaks and the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks from Turfway Park. Ahmed Fareed will host Saturday's coverage alongside analysts Jerry Bailey and Randy Moss. The Louisiana Derby begins three consecutive Saturday afternoons with Kentucky Derby prep coverage live on CNBC and Peacock, continuing with the GI Florida Derby and GI Arkansas Derby Mar. 29 and the...