Churchill Downs

Mensa (Complexity), the first 2-year-old winner for his freshman sire, sold on a final bid of $740,000 April 29 in the one-horse Mensa Flash Sale, a record-setting sum for the Fasig-Tipton Digital platform, the company announced Monday. Offered by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent for D.J. Stables LLC Graduate, the colt went the way of John Stewart's Resolute Bloodstock. Mensa is entered in Thursday's Kentucky Juvenile S. at Churchill Downs, where he has been installed as the morning-line second choice. "We are always looking to add talented runners to our...

After a busy weekend of works, it was a relatively quiet morning for the 20 contenders for Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs Monday. Only two Derby horses are expected to have published workouts this week, with Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) and T O Password (Jpn) (Copano Rickey {Jpn}) scheduled to work Tuesday morning. A day before those works, both Japanese runners followed similar routines Monday, warming up in the mile chute for a half-hour before galloping a mile and a half and then returning to the...

Five contenders took advantage of a mild, dry Sunday morning in Louisville to put in final works at Churchill Downs ahead of next weekend's GI Kentucky Derby. First of the group to work was BC Stable's Just Steel (Justify), who went out just as the track opened at 5:15 a.m. Sunday. The bay colt worked four furlongs in :50.40 (52/60), registering splits of :13.40 and :25.20 before being eased up on the gallop out. "Just a slow maintenance work. We're close to the race, we didn't want to do much,"...

Featuring $200-million worth of improvements in its new paddock area, Churchill Downs hosted the draw ceremony for next weekend's GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks during its opening night card Saturday. As usual, the proceedings drew some cheers, and jeers, from the crowd. Possibly numbered among the latter, the connections of the 5-2 morning line favorite 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light) couldn't have been overly thrilled with drawing post 17 for Saturday's Run for the Roses. Campaigned by his breeder Mike Repole, the reigning juvenile champ comes...

Edited Press Release Churchill Downs Incorporated established the "Safety from Start to Finish" program in March 2009 to formalize its comprehensive approach to continual improvement of the health and safety protocols and policies for horses and humans who work, train, compete and attend racing events at Churchill Downs Racetrack. Following a comprehensive evaluation of existing safety protocols and a thorough assessment of industry best practices in June 2023, Churchill Downs has implemented several key enhancements to the Safety from Start to Finish Program for 2024, including: -Investment in Surface Management:...

A Kentucky Court of Appeals judge on Wednesday denied a motion by Amr Zedan's incorporated racing stable that would have conferred "emergency" status on his legal quest to get 'TDN Rising Star' Muth (Good Magic) into the GI Kentucky Derby despite a ban by Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI) against the colt's trainer, Bob Baffert. Technically, the Apr. 24 order by Judge Jeff Taylor didn't decide Zedan's appeal of a lower court's denial of a temporary injunction in full. But from a practical standpoint, it appears that time has all but...

Ribble Farms, Michael Eiserman, Earl Silver and Kenneth and Dave Fishbein's Honor Marie (Honor Code) worked five furlongs in company with his stakes-placed stablemate Agoo (Munnings) in a bullet :59.20 (1/11) over a fast track on a chilly Thursday morning at Churchill Downs. With jockey Ben Curtis aboard for trainer Whit Beckman, the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. winner and GII Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby runner-up clicked off fractions of :12, :23.80, :35.60, :47.40 and :59.20. He galloped out six furlongs in 1:12.60 and seven-eighths in 1:27.60. "We can take one breath...

A new HISA computer model to identify at-risk horses is being used by Churchill Downs officials to complement existing track safety nets, representatives from the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) announced during Tuesday's press conference on equine safety protocols in place for this year's GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks. "It's essentially a model that looks at 44 potential risk factors that might cause a horse to be at risk for injury," said HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus, who added that the...

Frankie Dettori, who hasn't ridden in the GI Kentucky Derby since an off-the-board finish in 2000 aboard Godolphin's UAE Derby winner China Visit (Red Ransom), has picked up a mount in this year's Derby in West Paces Racing LLC, Danny Gargan, and GMP Stables LLC's Society Man (Good Magic). The news was first reported by Daily Racing Form Tuesday. Trained by Danny Gargan, who also has MGSW Dornoch (Good Magic) pointing to the big race, Society Man was last seen finishing second Apr. 6 in the GII Wood Memorial S....

Repole Stable's Fierceness (City of Light) made his first appearance over the Churchill Downs main track on a sun-splashed Tuesday morning. Under regular exercise rider Danny Wright, Fierceness galloped a mile during the 7:30-7:45 training window for Kentucky Derby and Oaks runners. Wright has been the regular morning partner for the defending juvenile champion since last summer at Saratoga. "He looked smooth and handled it well," trainer Todd Pletcher said of the morning's activity. Winner of the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile and GI Curlin Florida Derby, Fierceness is scheduled to...

Beginning Thursday and continuing through May 1, fans can visit Churchill Downs free of charge from 7-10 a.m. to watch horses preparing for the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks. Horses train on Churchill Downs' main track daily from 5:15-10 a.m. There will be an exclusive training window only for Derby and Oaks participants from 7:30-7:45 a.m. following the 7-7:30 a.m. renovation break. Those horses will be identified by special saddle towels which include their names: yellow saddle towels for Derby horses and pink saddle towels for Oaks contenders....

Track Phantom (Quality Road) continued his preparation for the GI Kentucky Derby with a five-furlong work in 1:00.80 (6/32) at Churchill Downs Sunday morning. With jockey Tyler Gaffalione in the saddle, Track Phantom worked outside 'TDN Rising Star' and GII Pat Day Mile contender Carbone (Mitole) as the duo cruised an opening quarter-mile in a modest :26.20, but galloped out six furlongs in a solid 1:13.60, according to Churchill Downs clocker John Nichols. Track Phantom's final three furlongs was a sharp :34.60. Track Phantom worked in blinkers Sunday and he...