Churchill Downs

Du Jour worked out a perfect trip under Flavien Prat to provide Bob Baffert with a rare graded stakes winner on the turf. A debut second on the Del Mar lawn last November behind next-out stakes winner Cathkin Peak (Ire) (Alhebayeb {Ire}), the bay was third when switched to the Santa Anita main track Jan. 3 behind subsequent GIII Robert B. Lewis S. runner-up Roman Centurian (Empire Maker). He broke through back on the lawn in Arcadia Feb. 19, and doubled up after setting pace in a Mar. 28 optional...

Jackie's Warrior showed his appreciation for the cutback to one-turn with a gutsy score in the Pat Day Mile Saturday beneath the Twin Spires. Breaking sharply, the favorite took up his preferred position at the head of affairs, zipping through an opening quarter in :21.75 with a trio of rivals hot on his heels. Traveling comfortably as he registered a :43.68 half-mile, the chestnut turned for home in front out in the three path. Confronted by 'TDN Rising Star' Dream Shake in the lane, Jackie's Warrior refused to be denied...

Maybe it wasn't the electric performance that everyone was expecting, but nonetheless, 'TDN Rising Star' Gamine (Into Mischief) added her fourth career top-level win in game fashion in Saturday's GI Derby City Distaff S. at Churchill Downs. Hammered into 1-5 favoritism, last year's champion female sprinter bobbled slightly beneath Johnny Velazquez at the start. Undeterred, she recovered quickly to show the way through surprisingly easy opening fractions of :23.15 and :46.08 while traveling several paths off the inside down the backstretch. Last year's GII Eight Belles S. heroine Sconsin (Include)...

After four straight tough beats, speedster Blowout opened up a big lead early and dug down late to belatedly make the grade. A two-time listed winner at three, Blowout was also either second or third that year--always beaten less than a length--in the GIII Florida Oaks, GIII Lake George S., GII Lake Placid S. and GIII Valley View S. Second again in a Saratoga allowance last August, the bay was beaten that margin by stablemate Viadera (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) in Belmont's GIII Noble Damsel S. Sept. 26, and by...

The runners from Friday's GI Kentucky Oaks appeared to exit the event in good order, with winner Malathaat (Curlin) "Excellent" Saturday morning according to trainer Todd Pletcher. Pletcher later added of Shadwell's five-for-five 'TDN Rising Star': "You'd like to think with a filly like her you can be thinking Breeders' Cup. But we've got a long way to go before we get there." Narrow runner-up Search Results (Flater) was also no worse for wear the morning after. "We checked her out this morning and she looks fine," conditioner Chad Brown...

Fan favorite Got Stormy (Get Stormy) is the 8-5 morning-line favorite while facing six rivals in the GII Longines Churchill Distaff Turf Mile S. at Churchill Downs Saturday. The chestnut mare concluded her 2020 campaign with a fifth-place effort in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland last November, just a day before selling for $2.75 million to Spendthrift at the Fasig-Tipton November sale. Now co-owned with Myracehorse.com, the 6-year-old returned to just get her nose on top of the reopposing Zofelle (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) in the one-mile GIII...

LOUISVILLE, KY - His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum is smiling somewhere tonight. Shadwell Stable's 'TDN Rising Star' Malathaat (Curlin) outslugged Search Results (Flatter) by a neck in a battle of unbeatens in a GI Kentucky Oaks for the ages Friday at Churchill Downs. It was another 2 3/4 lengths back to Will's Secret (Will Take Charge) in third. Sheikh Hamdan, who campaigned countless champions and Classic winners across the globe, passed away at 75 in late March. "A million things have been going through my mind," Shadwell...

Longshot Obligatory cut back and came flying to run down come-backing GISW Dayoutoftheoffice Friday. Fourth on debut after a rough start sprinting at Belmont in October, the Juddmonte homebred donned cap and gown over a one-turn mile at Gulfstream Feb. 7. She was last seen finishing a somewhat one-paced fourth in the Mar. 20 GII Fair Grounds Oaks behind Travel Column (Frosted), Clairiere (Curlin) and Souper Sensational (Curlin). Obligatory dropped straight to the back early as last year's GI Frizette S. heroine and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies runner-up Dayoutoftheoffice...

LOUISVILLE, KY - Beautiful spring weather, enthusiastic racing fans dressed to impress and the GI Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May. This, of course, wasn't the case last year, far from it, as the COVID-19 pandemic turned the world upside down and forced both the GI Kentucky Oaks and Derby to be held spectator-free over Labor Day weekend. Masks, temperature checks and social distancing are more of the norm these days as limited crowds of between 40,000-50,000 (40-50% reserved seating, 60% premium dining areas and...

You can't keep the Brad Cox barn down for long. One race after previously unbeaten heavy favorite Aunt Pearl (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) finished a head-scratching fifth in the GII Edgewood S., the Eclipse-winning conditioner sent out last year's GI Kentucky Oaks winner Shedaresthedevil to a convincing victory as the chalk. Three-for-three under the Twin Spires already, Shedaresthedevil was hard ridden to make the lead and was able to slow it down from there to post comfortable splits of :23.99, :47.94 and 1:11.74. They stacked up behind the leader...

Gift List scored her first Stateside victory in style with a dominant score in Churchill's GII Edgewood S. Friday. Previously undefeated favorite Aunt Pearl (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), last seen winning the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, faded to fifth. Sent off at 4-1, Gift List tracked from a ground-saving third as the chalk dictated terms, clocking early splits of :24.32 and :49.03. Biding her time on the backstretch run, Gift List dove between horses to overtake Aunt Pearl at the top of the stretch and powered clear...

Maxfield bounced back from his first-ever defeat to kick off Derby weekend's graded stakes action as a heavy favorite in Friday's GII Alysheba S. A head-turning winner of the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity as a juvenile, the Godolphin homebred was forced to miss the Breeders' Cup, but resurfaced a winner in the track-and-trip GIII Matt Winn S. last May and looked perfectly poised to take advantage of the pushed-back Triple Crown schedule last term. He was soon diagnosed with a condylar fracture, however, and eventually resurfaced to take the Dec....