Fair Grounds

TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack provides analysis for Saturday's pair of GI Kentucky Derby preps--the GII TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds and GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park. Results (Weekend of Feb. 28) - Commandment (Into Mischief) ($6.80 winner of GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth) and Class President (Uncle Mo) ($19.00 winner of GII Rebel) made it a profitable weekend at the windows for this column, both delivering wins in dramatic fashion. Hammond (Charlatan), meanwhile, was a disappointing sixth at 8-1 in the GIII Gotham. GII TwinSpires.com...

The GII Pat Day Mile S. on Kentucky Derby day will be next for unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Englishman (Maxfield), who romped in his highly anticipated return at Fair Grounds Thursday evening. The 1-9 favorite cleared from his outside draw and it was pretty much game over from there. He powered into the turn following a quarter in :21.33 and opened a five-length advantage approaching the quarter pole. With Jose Ortiz completely motionless in the saddle, Englishman was on cruise control down the stretch and reported home...

Buyers looking for both domestic and international-quality talent need look no further than the Fasig-Tipton March Digital Sale which opened for bidding Thursday. Maximum Bourbon (Maximum Security) (hip 5) will look to become the next Grade I winner to exit the platform. A 4-year-old gelded son of MGISW Maximum Security under the tutelage of trainer Joe Sharp, he broke his maiden by 7 1/2 lengths as the only first-time starter in a $50,000 maiden claimer at Churchill Downs in late November of last year. In his four starts since, he's...

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...

   In this series, the TDN takes a look at notable successes of European-based sires in North America. This week's column is highlighted by the victory of Take A Breath in California. Santa Ana Glory For Bated Breath Filly Take A Breath (Bated Breath) dropped her nose on the line to capture the GIII Santa Ana Stakes at Santa Anita Park on March 15 (video). Bred by Highgate Stud, the four-year-old filly is raced by Chivalry Thoroughbred Racing and Rancho Temescal Thoroughbred Partners. A 135,000gns buy-back out of the Tattersalls...

10th-FG, 125K, O/C, 3yo, 6f, 6:15 p.m. Thursday marks the return of 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' ENGLISHMAN (Maxfield) for Cherie DeVaux and C R K Stable. It will be the Triple Crown-nominated colt's first start since a 7 1/4-length romp in his first and only race which came six months ago in September under the Twin Spires. That gate-to-wire win over seven furlongs was just a hair off the track record and resulted in a 97 Beyer Speed Figure. "The target race for him is the [GII] Pat...

Tom Amoss, a fixture of the American racing circuit for more than four decades, has announced that he will step down from his career as a trainer. After a storied 39-year career that saw him rise from the local ranks in Louisiana to the pinnacle of the sport with Grade I wins at Churchill Downs, Saratoga and Oaklawn Park, Amoss will officially hand over the management of his stable to head assistant Kinnon LaRose effective April 1. LaRose, who joined the operation in 2020, has served as Amoss's head assistant...

5th-FG, $54K, Msw, 3yo, f, 6f, 3:45 p.m. ET. SHE'S OUR TEN (Constitution) will carry the colors for Lee Searing and C R K when she is unveiled under trainer Peter Eurton at Fair Grounds on Friday. The dark bay initially went to Hidden Brook for $215,000 at the Fasig-Tipton October Yearling Sale before being purchased by C R K for $675,000 during OBS April last year. Out of MSP Quality Heat (Quality Road), the filly's lone siblings are an older half-brother by Nyquist and a younger half-sister by Not...

   In this series, the TDN takes a look at notable successes of European-based sires in North America. This week's column is highlighted by the victory of Indigo Woods at Fair Grounds. Blue Is the Colour Larry Rodgers and Coast Racing's Indigo Woods (Blue Point) prevailed by a half-length and maintained her perfect record in the Allen Black Cat LaCombe Memorial Stakes at Fair Grounds on March 7 (video). A winner of a Churchill maiden in October, the Brendan Walsh trainee was bred by Tinnakill House. The 10th foal out...

A Baffert longshot in a Santa Anita maiden race (that isn't a misprint) tops this week's list. 5). MAYKOMOTION, TAM, 3/7, 7 furlongs (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure- 84 (c, 3, by Vekoma--Maymont, by Unbridled's Song) O-Bona Venture Stables and Bianco Stable. B-Dominique Damico (Fla). T-George Weaver. J-John Velazquez. He couldn't match strides with the likes of Jackson Hole in his first start in December, but outran these from the start and was drawing away through the final quarter. His five half-siblings to race have been predominantly cheap claimers, but this...

For the second time the accomplished Touchuponastar (Star Guitar) was named by the Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders Association as the LA-bred Horse of the Year, the organization said in a letter that was sent to its members on Friday. The gelding, who secured the same honor in 2023, turned in a stellar 2025 which included a handful of wins against black-type state bred company and also a victory in the GII New Orleans Classic at Fair Grounds. Bred by Coteau Grove Farms, Touchuponastar is owned by former NFL quarterback Jake Delhomme's...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. The following rulings were reported on HISA's "rulings" portal and through the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) "pending" and "resolved" cases portals. Among this week's rulings, registered outrider Sydney Fried has been suspended for 90 days and fined $2,500 for failing to give investigators access to her personal bag during a routine barn search for fear, she argued, about the ramifications from marijuana possession. According to an...