Doug O'Neill

With a combined 273 workouts on the main and training track Sunday morning at Santa Anita, the noteworthy moves came from some of the biggest runners, namely 'TDN Rising Star' GSW & GISP Getaway Car (Curlin), GISW Raging Torrent (Maximus Mischief), and 'TDN Rising Star' MGSW Nysos (Nyquist). Entered in Saturday's Virginia Derby at Colonial Downs, Getaway Car worked three furlongs in :36.60 for Bob Baffert, and was the 13th fastest of 17 at the distance. His stablemates Nysos and GSW Fort Bragg (Tapit) also took to the main track,...

With less than five weeks remaining to Dubai World Cup night at the sprawling Meydan Racecourse Apr. 5, the American challenge for the $12-million main event is coming together, with at least two U.S.-based middle-distance gallopers targeting the 2000-meter contest. Wathnan Racing's Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) has come out of his distant third-place effort to 'TDN Rising Star' Locked (Gun Runner) in Saturday's GI Santa Anita Handicap in good order and connections have accepted an invitation to the World Cup, Case Clay, Wathnan's U.S. advisor, confirmed Sunday. "Will pow-wow...

With training on the main track remaining limited to joggers Saturday morning at Santa Anita due to the rainstorms during the week, the synthetic training track saw 76 horses record timed workouts over the course. Most notable on the list was SW & GSP Miss Lizzy (Classic Empire), who worked five panels in 1:00.80 (11/32), and who was one of nine workers for trainer Doug O'Neill. The filly was most recently seen running fourth in the GIII Las Cienegas Stakes Jan. 19 and who had claimed her first stakes victory...

The Ken McPeek-trained Rattle N Roll (Connect) had just one horse beaten for the opening six furlongs of Saturday's $400,000 Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup (King's Cup), a race carrying international Group 3 status for the first time and earning the winner a guaranteed spot in the field for the $20-million G1 Saudi Cup four weeks down the road. Quietly ridden by Joel Rosario, who had earlier won the Riyadh Dirt Sprint qualifier for Jimmy Jerkens aboard Ancestral Land (GB) (Sioux Nation), Rattle N Roll was felt for...

Firming into 13-5 favoritism in the final few clicks of the tote, Raging Torrent (Maximus Mischief) found his best stride well off the inside entering the final eighth of a mile and staved off a late challenge from 2024 GI Santa Anita Derby winner Stronghold (Ghostzapper) to win Thursday's GI Malibu Stakes, the traditional opening-day feature at the Great Race Place. Drawn widest in a field reduced to six with the early scratchings of Senior Officer (Into Mischief) and GI Breeders' Cup Sprint runner-up Bentornato (Valiant Minister) due to a...

Longshot J B Strikes Back (Goldencents) upset the inaugural running of the GII Laffit Pincay, Jr. Stakes (previously run as the San Antonio Stakes) Thursday in his first try facing stakes company for trainer Doug O'Neill. The 3-year-old gelding, understandably one of the least experienced runners in the field and the second longest wagering price, broke his maiden in his third start in a $20,000 claimer at Del Mar and was claimed out of that start from these same connections who promptly bought him right back in a $25,000 conditioned...

Racing returns to Santa Anita Park Thursday with a stakes-packed card that includes three Grade I races interspersed with three Grade II events. The Arcadia track's traditional Boxing Day feature, the GI Malibu Stakes has attracted a field of eight, with returning GI Kentucky Derby hero Mystik Dan (Goldencents) garnering most of the pre-race headlines. Off since finishing eighth in the GI Belmont Stakes in June, the bay colt is 5-2 on the morning line and breaks from post six. He is cutting back to seven furlongs and makes his...

GI Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan (Goldencents) worked three furlongs in :37.80 (20/25) Sunday at Santa Anita in preparation for his return to the races in the GI Malibu Stakes Thursday. Mystik Dan was backed up to the seven-eighths pole before breaking into a gallop. He sped things up near the quarter pole, where he found company from a pair of horses to his inside, then continued to accelerate through the lane. After winning the Derby, Mystik Dan was second in the GI Preakness Stakes and has been unraced since...

6th-Del Mar, $56,500, Msw, 11-17, 2yo, 1m, 1:36.49, ft, 2 1/2 lengths. JOURNALISM (c, 2, Curlin--Mopotism {GSW & MGISP, $876,090}, by Uncle Mo), an $825,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga grad, wrote his own headline as he made the papers at the seaside oval on Sunday. The bay showed signs that he could rally in such a fashion when he was up for third on debut at Santa Anita Oct. 27. Allowed to go off as a 9-2 shot here, the 2-year-old burst out of the stall, but was content to settle in...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. This week's rulings include three lengthy suspensions. Trainer Francisco Ramos has been banned for two years and fined $25,000 after his trainee You're a Dandy (Mizzen Mast) who finished second at Hawthorne Feb. 14, tested positive for the bronchodilator Clenbuterol. According to a final decision by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), Ramos apparently requested a B sample analysis but did not pay for it, which meant...

The E J Won the Cup Flash Sale on Fasig-Tipton Digital closed just after 2 p.m. ET on Monday and at its conclusion, multiple stakes winner E J Won the Cup (Omaha Beach-Firsthand Report, by Blame) brought $870,000 from Narvick International, acting agent for NAJD Stud. The single-horse digital sale began on Thursday, Oct. 24. The 3-year-old colt was consigned by trainer Doug O'Neill, agent. "It was a lot of fun watching 'E J' sell on Fasig-Tipton Digital," said O'Neill. "It's bittersweet to lose a horse like that out of...

Bidding opened Thursday for MSW E J Won the Cup (Omaha Beach), who is being offered in a one-horse flash sale on Fasig-Tipton Digital, which will close Monday, Oct. 28 at 2 p.m. ET, according to a press release from the company midday on Thursday. As a 3-year-old this year, E J Won the Cup is a multiple stakes winner, two-time graded stakes placed and his latest Beyer Speed Figures are the highest of his career. In his most recent start in the GIII Oklahoma Derby, the colt was the...