Bob Baffert

Norman Stables' Coal Battle (Coal Front) scored one for the little guy Sunday at Oaklawn Park, overtaking pacesetting California invader Madaket Road (Quality Road) in upper stretch and leaving favored Sandman (Tapit) in his wake while striding home a 1 1/4-length winner of the GII Rebel Stakes. Sandman, who famously broke in a tangle before finishing a valiant second in the GIII Southwest Stakes a month ago, had most of the eyes on him as he broke professionally Sunday, but was unhurried and settled well off the pace as Madaket...

Cornucopian (c, 3, Into Mischief--Magical World, by Distorted Humor) left his backers in little doubt on this unveiling, running his competition off their feet and on to 'TDN Rising Stardom'. Away quickly from the gates, the son of the venerable Into Mischief flashed good early foot as the 3-5 favorite and sailed along through :21.86 and :45.50 splits while 34-1 longshot Oil Capital (Maclean's Music) tried to make a race of it. Hounded relentlessly by that one going into the bend, he was well in control coming into the home...

Tiz Secure (c, 3, Maximum Security--Tough Tiz's Sis, by Tiznow) became the first 'TDN Rising Star' for his sophomore sire with an ultra-impressive debut victory at Santa Anita Saturday evening. Off as the 7-2 second-choice with his Bob Baffert-trained stablemate Voldemort (Good Magic) taking the bulk of the action at 8-5, Tiz Secure broke like a shot from his outside draw, but was content to drop back to fourth as they sped through an opening quarter in :22.34. The Karl Watson and Paul Weitman homebred began to roll while three...

2nd-GP, $94k, Msw, 3yo, f, 7 1/2fT, 1:20p.m. ET Debuting on the Gulfstream grass for Bregman Family Racing, Athaliah (Gun Runner) will go to post from the George Weaver barn. The $480,000 KEESEP grad is out of graded-placed Divine Elegance (Uncle Mo), a half-sister to the dam of multiple Grade I-placed Standard Deviation (Curlin). This is the extended female family of GI Kentucky Oaks victress Believe You Can (Proud Citizen). To her outside is Uncommon (Quality Road), a half-sister to MGSW Fast Boat (City Zip), who hails from a busy,...

Debuting Friday for Mark Glatt and Muir Hut Stables, Formula Rossa (Vekoma) stalked off a heavily-wagered Bob Baffert runner Brilliantly (Uncle Mo), surged to the front at the quarter pole and put that rival away to cruise home a new 'TDN Rising Star'. Breaking just a touch behind the favorite and settling into the second flight, the 4-1 shot ran third as stablemates Brilliantly and second-time starter Cooey (Girvin) put up an opening quarter in :21.89. As Cooey faded on the run into the far turn, Brilliantly pushed on and...

8th-SA, 60K, Msw, 3yo, 6f, 7:02 p.m. Drawn side by side are a pair of Baffert stablemates led by $700,000 KEESEP grad VOLDEMORT (Good Magic) who counts MGISW and late leading sire Pioneerof the Nile (Empire Maker) as an extended family member. The Triple Crown-nominated colt comes in off an extended work tab including a last-out four furlong drill in :47 2/5 (11/87). He draws inside of Tiz Secure (Maximum Security), a Watson/Weitman homebred out of MGISW Tough Tiz's Sis who has already produced GSW/GISP Tiz Midnight, herself responsible for...

The GIII Honeybee Stakes, rescheduled for Sunday at Oaklawn, looks like the toughest GI Kentucky Oaks prep race run so far this year. Led by 'TDN Rising Star' Muhimma (Munnings), the field of 12 includes five horses that are in our Top 10. In last week's action, the GII Fasig-Tipton Rachel Alexandra Stakes, expected to have a powerhouse field of seven, was decimated by scratches. The defectors included the highly regarded Simply Joking (Practical Joke), who was scratched because her white blood cell count was below normal. Though she still...

In the lone GI Kentucky Oaks points race on Sunday, Runnin N Gunnin (Gun Runner) deposited into her account the top prize of 20 points as she took home the Sunland Park Oaks. Breaking out of the maiden special weight ranks at third asking when the filly owned by Valor Farm's Douglas Scharbauer won by a head at Horseshoe Indy at the end of October, Runnin N Gunnin was well-beaten against optional claimers at Churchill Downs a month later. In her prep for this spot, the Keeneland September grad cleared...

'TDN Rising Star' Casalu (Caracaro) broke from the gate with winning in mind, and took the Listed Sweet Life Stakes nearly gate to wire in her downhill debut at Santa Anita. Coming into the race with a victory going a mile over this course Dec. 28 in the Blue Norther Stakes, she'd run second two back Nov. 30 to Will Then (War of Will) in the GIII Jimmy Durante Stakes at Del Mar. It was her third graded black type behind placings in the GIII Sorrento Stakes on the main...

Wynstock (Solomini), winner of the 2023 GII Los Alamitos Futurity, as well as last year's Los Alamitos Derby, has joined the barn of trainer Linda Rice. Bob Baffert had previously trained the 4-year-old on behalf of Edward Allred and Jack Liebau, who purchased him for $700,000 at the 2023 OBS April sale. "He looks beautiful," Rice said. "He shipped to the East Coast, and we sent him to Dr. Hogan and gave him a three-month break. He'd probably been in training for a year-and-a-half or better and I thought he...

Ian Wilkes doesn't rush his young horses. You won't seem them running in 4 1/2-furlong races at Keeneland in the spring and they may not peak until late in their 3-year-old year or even early in their 4-year-old year. That's probably why he's had only one starter in the GI Kentucky Derby, McCraken (Ghostzapper), who finished eighth in the 2017 GI Kentucky Derby. But this time it's different. Wilkes has come up with a horse that has forced his way into the Derby picture. That was evident when the Wilkes-trained...

Three Grade I winners off the farm in 2024, out of a broodmare band of no more than 28--with dams respectively by Giant Gizmo, Majestic Warrior and Silent Name (Jpn). How do you pull off something like that? Well, Kiki Courtelis makes the customary acknowledgement of luck, and further professes a trust in divine dispensation. She also enthuses about her team at Town and Country. But just as the farm's name reconciles polarities, so its success reflects an inherited ability to turn a question inside out until it becomes an...