Epicenter

With exercise rider Gabriel Lagunes in the irons, GI Kentucky Derby upsetter Rich Strike (Keen Ice) breezed five-eighths of a mile in :59.82 (3/34) over the Saratoga main track Friday morning in advance of his appearance in the $1.25-million GI Runhappy Travers S. at the Spa Aug. 27. "He worked really good. He worked faster than we thought he would, but he did it easily," trainer Eric Reed said. "I think my question on him liking the track was answered this morning. He came home well. It is probably as...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - It's not your imagination that jockey Joel Rosario is having a big summer at Saratoga. Rosario, 37, is very much in the hunt for the overall title, a competition led by Irad Ortiz, Jr. Through Thursday's program, Ortiz had 37 wins, eight more than Rosario. However, in graded stakes races, Rosario is far and away the leader with 10 victories from 19 starts, a remarkable 53% win rate. Ortiz is next with five. With the 10, Rosario is in position to smash the current record of...

Undefeated Flightline closed as the favorite following the completion of betting on Sunday in Pool 1 of the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Future Wager. Life Is Good follows at 6-1 ($15.56), GII Jim Dandy S. winner Epicenter was next at 7-1 ($17.42), and Country Grammar is the fourth betting choice at 12-1 ($27.14). The pool generated $205,249 in total handle, which was a 138% increase from the first pool of the Classic Future Wager in 2018, the last time this wager was offered. The second will be offered over Labor...

While all eyes were on returning champion Corniche (Quality Road) who faded to last, Gunite (Gun Runner) completed a big weekend at Saratoga for Winchell Thoroughbreds and trainer Steve Asmussen with a gritty victory in the GII Amsterdam S. in upstate New York Sunday. Sent off at 7-1, last year's GI Hopeful S. winner battled Pinehurst (Twirling Candy) through fractions of :21.78 and :44.60, while Corniche sat in stalking position behind the dueling leaders. As the champ backed up on the turn, Gunite strode to the lead into the lane...

Epicenter (Not This Time), a too-good-to-be-second as the favorite in both the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness S., stamped himself as the horse to beat in the 'Mid-Summer Derby' with a powerful, last-to-first victory in Saturday's GII Jim Dandy S. at Saratoga. Zandon (Upstart), making his first start since a third-place finish in the Kentucky Derby, was 1 1/2 lengths back in second after racing prominently. Tawny Port (Pioneerof the Nile), a last out winner of the GIII Ohio Derby, was another half-length back in third. The GI Preakness...

Male sprinters take their shot at Grade I glory on both coasts Saturday with the GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt S. at Saratoga and the GI Bing Crosby S. at Del Mar, which is a "Win and You're In" for the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint. Champion Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) is four-for-four at Saratoga and three-for-three this year. The GII True North S. romper is the heavy favorite at 1-5 on the morning-line against five quite overmatched foes. The next closest on the morning-line is 6-1 shot Ny Traffic (Cross Traffic),...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - Two standouts. Two high-profile graded stakes. Two different scenarios Saturday for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. In the Grade I portion of his afternoon at Saratoga Race Course, Asmussen will saddle champion Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music), who just might go off as the shortest-priced favorite in the history of the $350,000 GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H., which has been run since 1985. One race later, in the $600,000 GII Jim Dandy S., Asmussen will send out Epicenter (Not This Time), runner-up as the favorite in...

Top sophomore colt Epicenter (Not This Time) and Eclipse Award-winning sprinter Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) highlighted the Saratoga worktab over the last few mornings as each prepares for big-race engagements July 30. Winchell Thorougbreds' GI Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness S. runner-up Epicenter makes his first start of the second half of the season in the GII Jim Dandy S. and went five furlongs over the Oklahoma training track Monday in 1:01.13 in the company of the 3-year-old maiden Flute Master (Gun Runner) (1:03.12). "Visually impressive is what he is,"...

Epicenter (Not This Time), a too-good-to-be-second as the favorite in both the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness S., has begun gearing up for a summer campaign at Saratoga. The Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC colorbearer worked four furlongs in an easy :50.60 (31/37) at Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen's Churchill Downs base June 20, just his second move since rallying for runner-up honors in the middle leg of the Triple Crown. "He's like a machine," said David Fiske, longtime advisor to the Winchell family. "He took a few weeks off after...

The Classic season is over. A surface reading shows that Arrogate (Unbridled's Song), Keen Ice (Curlin), and Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}) got the GI Kentucky Oaks, GI Kentucky Derby, and GI Preakness S. winners, respectively, from their first crops, and proven star sire Uncle Mo (Indian Charlie), who had a Derby winner from his first crop in 2016, sired the GI Belmont S. winner. Sometimes, however, what's between the lines is as important as what's on the page, and Taylor Made's Not This Time (Giant's Causeway), whose second-crop sons...

Two weeks ago, when I wrote the column "First Crops Yield Derby and Oaks Winners," I'd expected to write about Taiba (Gun Runner) and Secret Oath (Arrogate), the two I'd liked the most in the Gl Kentucky Derby and Gl Kentucky Oaks, respectively. I'd spoken mainly about those two on Steve Byk's popular SiriusXM program "At the Races," and my feeling was that Gun Runner in particular was on a trajectory to get a first-crop Classic winner. His start at stud had been exceptional with his first juveniles, and the...

For the second year in a row, the GI Preakness S. was won by a fresh horse who didn't run in the GI Kentucky Derby. Since both of Saturday's top two Preakness finishers--Early Voting (Gun Runner) and Epicenter (Not This Time)--were publicly declared out of the GI Belmont S. even before the last of the crab cakes cooled at Pimlico, it will be up to another relatively rested horse to step up and snag the third jewel of the Triple Crown. That's not an unfamiliar scenario, and recent history tells...