Brad Cox

GI Florida Derby hero Tappan Street (Into Mischief) has emerged from his Saturday exploits in good order, but his trainer revealed that a travel itinerary has not yet been decided for the trip north to the Twin Spires. The son of Into Mischief got the best of GII Fountain of Youth victor Sovereignty (Into Mischief) to claim his 100 points to the first Saturday in May, and the aforementioned runner-up also secured a berth into the race with 50. Tappan Street currently sits in third with 110 and is tied...

Tappan Street (Into Mischief), making just his third lifetime start and first since a runner-up effort in the Feb. 1 GIII Holy Bull Stakes, punched his ticket to the GI Kentucky Derby with a stylish victory over favored Sovereignty (Into Mischief) in the GI Curlin Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park Saturday. "He really ran like we thought he would," said Elliott Walden of WinStar Farm, which owns the colt in partnership with CHC, Inc. and Cold Press Racing. "We've given him the time after the Holy Bull because we thought...

In his second consecutive victory of the year, 'TDN Rising Star' Bishops Bay (Uncle Mo) survived a rider's objection to claim the Listed American Pharoah Stakes at Oaklawn. No worse than first or second in his career, the son of the late Uncle Mo was a winner last out Jan. 25 by 3 3/4 lengths against optional claimers at this venue and earned a 92 Beyer that matched his seasonal bow Jan. 5 when he lost the bob to Black Powder (Gun Runner), who also returned here. Two years ago,...

9th-Oaklawn, $110,000, Msw, 3-28, 3yo/up, 1 1/16m, 1:44.75, gd, 1 length. MONEY GAME (c, 3, Candy Ride {Arg}--Miss Bling Bling, by Tapit) debuted with Lasix as a 7-1 shot here. The homebred was in no hurry out of the blocks and he trailed the field heading into the first turn. With a half-mile clocked at :47.03, the colt began to engage and he started a sweeping attack run around the the far turn. The chestnut's power was evident as he collared fellow firster and Triple Crown nominated Super Cruise (Uncle...

In his first season in New Orleans, jockey Jose Ortiz was the runaway winner of the jockeys' premiership at the Fair Grounds, while Joe Sharp and Godolphin took home honors as leading trainer and owner, respectively. Ortiz rode the winners of 98 races during the meet, the most recorded by any jockey since Florent Geroux accumulated the same number of winners during the 2016-2017 season. Ortiz finished some 43 winner clear of Jareth Loveberry, with Ben Curtis in third on 49 winners. "I've had huge support from the trainers and...

For much of his career, Touchuponastar (Star Guitar) was regarded as a good Louisiana-bred. Nothing more. Coming into Saturday's GII New Orleans Classic, he had won 14 races from 20 starts, but 13 of those wins had come in Louisiana-bred company. He beat open company in the 2023 Delta Mile S., but had never won a graded stakes race. Nothing figured to change in the Classic as Touchuponastar, a $15,000 yearling purchase, was set to face Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), last year's 3-year-old male champion who cost $2.3-million at the...

Juddmonte homebred Final Gambit (c, 3, Not This Time--Pachinko, by Tapit), an impressive last-to-first maiden winner at third asking at Turfway Park Feb. 15, ran by them all once again to pull off a 15-1 upset in Saturday's GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks in Florence, good for 100 points on the road to the GI Kentucky Derby. Flying Mohawk (Karakontie {Jpn}), a winner of two straight on grass, was a good second. Maximum Promise (Maximum Security) was third. Final Gambit was bumped at the start and broke in a tangle and...

A year after recording a GII TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby-GII Fasig-Tipton Fair Grounds Oaks double with Catching Freedom and Tarifa, trainer Brad Cox will saddle the morning-line favorites in both races Saturday. The rail-drawn John Hancock (Constitution), a game wire-to-wire winner over next-out GIII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby winner Owen Almighty (Speightstown) in the Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs Feb. 8, will put his two-for-two record on the line in the Louisiana Derby. The WinStar Farm and CHC, Inc. colorbearer is the 7-2 program favorite. The stretch-running...

11th-GP, $94K, Msw, 3yo, 1 1/16m, T, 5:52 p.m. ET. A $650,000 Keeneland September grad, WEAPONIZED (Gun Runner) makes his first start for N Theory Racing and trainer Brad Cox. The colt is out of Lady Tapit (Tapit), who went for a cool $1.8-million to Whisper Hill Farm & Gainesway during last year's Keeneland November Sale while in foal to Good Magic. This productive mare is also responsible for GII Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby hero and current sire Kingsbarns (Uncle Mo), and her filly Irresistible (Munnings) was purchased for $700,000 by...

For all the incredible experiences Blane Servis remembers from when his father John campaigned champion Smarty Jones, there were a few less-than-comfortable memories too. Take, for instance, the time during Smarty Jones's run for the Triple Crown when Servis's school hosted a pep rally and made a teenaged Servis the guest of honor. As a self-described socially awkward kid, stepping into the spotlight felt a bit more like a nightmare than a celebration. In high school, Servis discovered that drinking was the easiest solution to overcoming his social anxiety. Later,...

Added to the Kentucky Derby Trail for the first time, the Virginia Derby entered a new era over the dirt at Colonial Downs on Saturday and it was American Promise (Justify--Tapella, by Tapit) who deposited 50 points into his 'Run for the Roses' account. It took him six starts to graduate from the maiden ranks, but a patient progression has never dissuaded D. Wayne Lukas before, and once the chestnut got his first win, he was tasked with stepping up into graded company. Crossing the line in sixth, but disqualified...

Nearly seven months ago to the day, it was announced by Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin to the crowd on hand at Colonial Downs for the running of the Arlington Million that for the first time in 2025, the Virginia Derby and Virginia Oaks--heretofore grass races held during the traditional summer meeting in New Kent--would be switched to the spring and to the main track to position themselves as prep races for the main events in May. That day arrives Saturday, as a field of nine sophomore males heads to the...