Balboa

When a field of 10 enters the starting gate for Saturday's GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park, they'll sure have some big shoes to fill. Twelve months ago, Sovereignty (Into Mischief) embarked on what would become a Horse of the Year campaign with a narrow victory in his seasonal debut and a little more than two months later, joined Spectacular Bid (1979), Thunder Gulch (1995) and Orb (2013) as horses to add the GI Kentucky Derby in the last half-century. Horses such as Union Rags (2012) and...

My World (Essential Quality), winner of the Nashua S. at Aqueduct Nov. 1, made it three straight wins in Saturday's $150,000 Jerome S. at the Big A, good for 10 points on the road to the Kentucky Derby. The gray, off at odds of 5-2 in this scratched-down field of four going a one-turn mile, trailed the quartet through an opening quarter in :23.58. He began to make his move on the far turn, set his sights on favored Balboa (Not This Time) at the quarter pole and kept on...

It was round two of their first match-up, and this time Paladin (Gun Runner--Secret Sigh, by Tapit) came home best over Renegade (Into Mischief) to score not just his first black-type, but also secure 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby in the 112th running of the GII Remsen Stakes. The pair was last seen Oct. 17 at this venue when they brought their battle down to the wire in a maiden special weight contest, and Renegade officially crossed the line first by a head. He was later...

by TDN Editorial Staff Buckle up, race fans, it's going to be a wild ride on Saturday, as no fewer than 16 graded stakes from New York to Lexington, from Los Angeles to Toronto are scheduled, with horse racing's championship weekend now officially less than four weeks down the road. Without further ado, let's jump into the always-productive card at Aqueduct. Champagne, Frizette Share Spotlight at Belmont at the Big A A quartet of graded stakes, headed by the 'Win and You're In' GI Champagne S. and GI Frizette S.,...

Bob Baffert will send out a capable quartet in Sunday's closing-day GI Del Mar Futurity, a race he has won the last four years and a remarkable 18 times overall. After sending out future GI Kentucky Derby winner Silver Charm (Silver Buck) to scoop the event for the first time back in 1996, he added the next six renewals. His personal honor roll is a veritable Hall of Fame, including champions Midshipman (1998), Lookin At Lucky (1999) and American Pharoah (2014) among the champions to have succeeded at the seaside....

After running headlong into 'TDN Rising Star' Brant (Gun Runner) in their mutual unveiling July 26, Balboa (Not This Time--Tap of War, by War Front) had his time in the California rays in Sunday's opener at Del Mar and earned his own 'Rising Star' honors while he was at it. A distant third in the aforementioned debut as the $3-million OBSMAR grad rolled away from that field, his stablemate earned a gaudy 101 Beyer for that victory while Balboa was still given an 80 despite being almost 10 lengths behind....