Chief Wallabee

1) We still have one more Saturday of nine-furlong qualifying stakes for the GI Kentucky Derby, but it's a safe bet the GI Florida Derby will be the odds-on choice for being the prep race most likely to yield the winner on the first Saturday in May. Commandment (Into Mischief), The Puma (Essential Quality), and 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Chief Wallabee (Constitution) each overcame different aspects of in-race adversity to arrive at the Gulfstream finish wire separated by one nose and half a length. All three will be...

Seven GI Kentucky Derby winners in the last 20 years--including last year's winner and Horse of the Year Sovereignty (Into Mischief)--have used the GI Curlin Florida Derby as a launching pad to success on the first Saturday in May. Could we see another one emerge from Saturday's loaded renewal at Gulfstream Park? Chief Wallabee (Constitution) will look to punch his ticket to the big dance following a too-good-to-lose second to Commandment (Into Mischief) in a heart-stopping renewal of the GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth S. at Gulfstream Park Feb. 28....

Seven years ago, New River Equine signed the seven-figure ticket on a yearling filly by Medaglia d'Oro at the 2019 Keeneland September Sale. That combination, revealed to be trainer Ben Colebrook and owner/breeder Michael Ball, went to a final bid of $1,100,000 that afternoon and, while that filly never made the track herself, her son has picked up the mantle as 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Chief Wallabee (Constitution) lines up in Saturday's GI Curlin Florida Derby. "The mare was a really nice-looking, well-bred filly that we ended up...

It's what keeps everyone going: the chance that somewhere out there may be a single horse capable of transforming your whole career. For most, of course, the quest yields no more than near-misses: horses that don't quite work out, for one reason or another, but that hopefully show enough to get you noticed, keep you in the game. Every now and then, however, somebody turns up a real game-changer. Every now and then, along comes Mage. Before turning up the 2023 GI Kentucky Derby winner, Ramiro Restrepo's eligibility to describe...

'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Chief Wallabee (Constitution), the GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth runner-up last month in his second start, was named the narrow 2-1 morning-line favorite and will break from post 2 over eight rivals for next Saturday's $1-million GI Curlin Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park. Wathnan Racing's Commandment (Into Mischief), the Fountain of Youth winner trained by Brad Cox, is second on the morning line at 5-2 from post 4. Like Commandment, Centennial Farms entry Nearly (Not This Time) takes a three-race win streak into the...

Riley Mott, the son of Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, has come a long way in the 3 1/2 years he has been training on his own. He's already won more than 100 races and collected a pair of Grade I wins, including World Beater (Oscar Performance)'s score in last year's GI Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes. And now it looks like he'll have a starter in this year's GI Kentucky Derby. In winning the Virginia Derby, the Mott-trained Incredibolt (Bolt d'Oro) earned enough points to guarantee himself a spot in...

Paladin (Gun Runner), most recently winner of the GII Risen Star Stakes, and GII Fountain of Youth Stakes runner-up Chief Wallabee (Constitution) were 8-1 co-favorites when the Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 5 closed Sunday evening. The Chad Brown-trained Paladin, who runs next in the Apr. 4 GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, had $25,772 in Win bets, while the Bill Mott-trained Chief Wallabee, scheduled to make his next start in the Feb. 28 GI Curlin Florida Derby, handled $24,790--a difference of just $982. Next in the wagering was...

Fresh off an action-packed Saturday at Gulfstream Park, Bill Mott wasted no time returning to the routine at his Payson Park base. The Hall of Fame trainer was back on the track the following morning to oversee Horse of the Year Sovereignty (Into Mischief) progressing toward his 4-year-old debut. The Godolphin homebred worked four furlongs in company in :49.80. Mott described the breeze as "workmanlike," noting that it was exactly the type of effort he has come to expect from the three-time Grade I winner. "He's not a spectacular workhorse...

On May 22, the HISA Board of Directors will take a vote that could result in the ban of Lasix in all races. Any decision made by the Board, whether to keep the rules as they are, or to enact a full ban, must be unanimous. In response, five trainers and Eric Hamelback, the CEO of the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, signed a letter imploring HISA to continue to allow the use of the medication in most races. Trainer Ron Moquett was among those signing the letter. To...

We edge inside the two-month mark to the GI Kentucky Derby with a well-bunched Top 12 hurtling toward more lucrative qualifying points races at longer distances. 1) PALADIN (c, Gun Runner--Secret Sigh, by Tapit) O-Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Peter M. Brant, Brook T. Smith, and Summer Wind Equine, LLC; B-Summer Wind Equine LLC (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. Sales history: $1,900,000 Ylg '24 FTSAUG. Lifetime record: MGSW, 3-3-0-0, $848,250. Last start: WON Feb. 14 GII Risen Star Stakes. The 3-for-3 Paladin has racked up two wins in nine-furlong...

It was a good battle on the tote and it carried over to the racetrack, as Wathnan Racing's Commandment (Into Mischief), sent away the 12-5 favorite, and 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard Chief Wallabee (Constitution)--the 29-10 second choice--locked horns in the final furlong of Saturday's GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park, with the slightly more experienced Commandment taking advantage of a superior trip to prevail narrowly. The victory was good for 50 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. A two-time Fasig-Tipton buyback and sold...

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...