Flavien Prat

Last year's Rags to Riches Stakes winner, Life of Joy (Gun Runner) booked herself a return trip to Churchill Downs Saturday, taking down the GII Fasig-Tipton Fair Grounds Oaks and with it, 100 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks. Debuted late in her 2-year-old season by trainer Brad Cox, the $375,000 Keeneland September grad was a bit under the radar initially when making her first start at Horseshoe Indianapolis. But, after putting up a devastating 14 3/4-length win going one mile Oct. 2, was anonymous no more and...

Last year, no one could have foreseen Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) would use the GIII Florida Oaks--a turf race for sophomore fillies that offers no GI Kentucky Oaks points--as an unlikely springboard to the 3-year-old filly championship. This year, it was Tagermeen Racing's Dandona (f, 3, Tiz the Law--Tulsa Queen, by Cactus Ridge) who captured the 1 1/16-mile event at Tampa Bay Downs and, if her $1.05-million purchase price when bloodstock agent Mahmud Mouni picked her up from Raul Reyes's Kings Equine consignment at the 2025 OBS Spring sale of 2-year-olds...

Facing down a heavy favorite, Disruptor (Gun Runner) was extremely game down the lane in the GIII Michelob Ultra Challenger Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on Saturday. Named a 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard', at second asking a little over a year ago when he graduated by 9 1/4 lengths at Gulfstream Park, Disruptor tried deeper waters in the GI Curlin Florida Derby and finished a well-beaten fifth. The chestnut took a break for the rest of the year and returned to training in early December at Todd Pletcher's...

Calumet Farm homebred She Be Smooth (Lexitonian) raced well out of the range of the cameraman for the opening 5 1/2 furlongs of Saturday's GII Davona Dale Stakes, but she entered the picture in an instant and finished full of run to become the first graded winner for her sire (by Speightstown) while picking up 50 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks. Allowed to jump at juicy odds of 28-5 off an impressive debut over the Davona Dale course and distance Jan. 23 that came at the expense...

Klaravich Stables' Tariff Mindset (Tiz the Law) never truly looked like validating favoritism until the final jump, when Flavien Prat threw him across the line for a highly improbable debut victory. A $250,000 Keeneland September graduate, the Mar. 22 foal traded at odds-on for a large portion of the wagering, but he drifted all the way out to just shy of 8-5 at the off, and he was immediately on the back foot when breaking slowly and pinched back a stride or two thereafter. Clearly resenting the kickback and climbing...

In the week leading up to the Saudi Cup meeting, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert lamented to anyone who would listen about just how taxing those final 100 meters at King Abdulaziz Racecourse can be on the equine athletes. And he's certainly got the right to take that position, given that the likes of Mucho Gusto and Charlatan couldn't quite see it out in the G1 Saudi Cup, while Havnameltdown was just tagged after a long stretch duel in the G3 Saudi Derby a few years back. Pinehurst did...

A daughter of Gun Runner won Sunday's Las Virgenes Stakes at Santa Anita going one mile on the dirt, but it wasn't the one everyone expected. Bridlewood Farm and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners maiden winner Meaning (f, 3, Gun Runner--Figure of Speech, by Into Mischief), fourth behind Eclipse champion 2-year-old filly Super Corredora (Gun Runner) in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, bested not only Super Corredora, but also GII Oak Leaf Stakes winner and Juvenile Fillies runner-up Explora (Blame), the lone 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' in the field,...

Sent off as the 16-5 third betting choice in what appeared to be a promising maiden allowance Saturday afternoon at Tampa, Klaravich Stables' Emerging Market (c, 3, Candy Ride {Arg}--Wild Empress, by Empire Maker) made a pair of eye-catching moves in the deciding stages of an extended-mile contest and outslugged hot favorite Powershift (Constitution) to become a new 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard. Off to an uneventful break from the two hole, the $185,000 Keeneland September acquisition was content to drop back and sit in the slipstream of Powershift,...

Doug O'Neill is among a relatively small group of American-based trainers that readily seeks opportunities to travel horses to major overseas meetings. As recently as 2025, the California-based conditioner won the G2 Godolphin Mile for a third time with Raging Torrent (Maximus Mischief), and the barn is set to be represented in two of the six group-level contests on Saudi Cup night Feb. 14. Purple Rein Racing and Mark Davis's Acknowledgemeplz (Bucchero) has been invited to the G3 Saudi Derby and the Florida-bred tuned up for the 1600-meter contest with...

Sovereignty (Into Mischief) capped off yet another massive evening at the Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards for Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum's far-flung Godolphin operation, capping the festivities at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida, by being named America's Horse of the Year for 2025 by a wide margin. It marks the second time in three years that a horse bred and raced by Godolphin stole the show, following on from Cody's Wish (Curlin), who took down top honors in 2023. Godolphin was also named outstanding owner and breeder Thursday...

Already an Eclipse Award winner from last year, Flavien Prat has gone back to back and has once again been named Best Jockey. His 2025 campaign of 1,256 starts earned a record of 309-234-188 with earnings of over $40,460,428. His picked up wins aboard Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) in the GI Whitney Stakes and was named the Leading Rider for Keeneland's Spring meet. He also set a new NYRA record for wins on a single card, earning seven wins on the final day of the Belmont the Big A meet...

The 14 participants for the 2026 International Jockeys' Challenge in Riyadh during the Saudi Cup meeting, were revealed on Wednesday. Featuring 14 jockeys, seven men and seven women, the four-race contest sees the return of last year's champion, local rider Mohammed Aldaham. Mickael Barzalona, the regular rider of the Longines World's Highest Rated Racehorse Calandagan (Gleneagles) is signed on, as is 2025 Irish Champion Jockey Dylan Browne McMonagle. Panama's Luis Morales is based in Saudi Arabia alongside Aldaham. Other male jockeys set to mark their mark on the contest include:...