Flavien Prat

Jockey Flavien Prat, who has been riding in the United States full time since 2015, scored the 2,000th North American victory of his career Friday afternoon aboard the Brad Cox-trained Iron Max (Caravaggio) in Race 7 on the inner turf at Belmont at the Big A. Prat didn't stop there, as he also added victory 2,001 as part of a five-win day. "Honestly, when I started riding, I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would be here in New York and celebrating 2,000 wins, so I'm very grateful,"...

Ballydoyle's Los Angeles (Camelot) will face eight rivals in Wednesday's G1 Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot, with his chief G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup rival Anmaat (Awtaad) set to renew rivalry. Also in the 10-furlong feature are the progressive Map Of Stars (Sea The Stars), Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder) and See The Fire (Sea The Stars), with White Birch the only withdrawal. In the supporting races, Luis Saez will partner Lennilu (Leinster) in the G2 Queen Mary Stakes and Flavien Prat is on Tough Critic (Caravaggio) in the Listed Windsor Castle...

Keeping his run of strong form going, heavily-favored 'TDN Rising Star' Bishops Bay (Uncle Mo) justified his 1-5 odds with a strong effort in the GIII Salvatore Mile at Monmouth Saturday. Never out of the exacta in ten lifetime starts, the son of Uncle Mo missed nearly his entire 4-year-old season but has come back just as good as a 5-year-old, racking up three straight wins including a last-out score on a muddy track at Aqueduct in the GIII Westchester Stakes May 4 which resulted in a career-best 102 Beyer...

One of the pieces to the handicapping puzzle that was this year's GI Kentucky Derby was just how Juddmonte Farm's Final Gambit (Not This Time) would handle a conventional dirt surface, having raced only on turf and synthetic tracks in his four starts prior to that. The homebred had punched his ticket to the Run for the Roses when exploding through the lane to dominate the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks Mar. 22, and he answered the surface question when making up a stack of ground--albeit behind a strong tempo--to round...

When last seen at Saratoga some 10 months ago, Asbury Park (GB) (c, 3, Frankel {GB}--Limonar {Ire}, by Street Cry {Ire}) took unsurprising action as the 8-5 favorite, passed several rivals in the lane but fell short in fifth and had been missing since. Returning Friday as the 7-5 favorite and bearing the silks of his breeder St Elias Stable, the fashionably bred colt was void of early speed from his middle draw and was dragged back to the latter third of the red-hot Flavien Prat through a driving rainstorm....

C R K Stable and Grandview Equine's Baeza (McKinzie) worked over Saratoga's Oklahoma track Monday morning in advance of a start in Saturday's GI Belmont Stakes. With Flavien Prat aboard, the half-brother to Classic winners Mage (Good Magic) and Dornoch (Good Magic) reeled off splits of :24.89, :48.93 and galloped out six furlongs in 1:16.41, according to NYRA clockers. "I thought the work was very good, especially the way he moved over the racetrack," said Shirreffs Monday. "He is light on his feet. Everything he does is effortless." A winner...

King of Gosford (GB) (Zoustar {Aus}) sailed to the lead in the shadow of the wire to win the GI Shoemaker Mile Stakes at Santa Anita Monday. The 4-1 shot settled well off the pace in a strung-out field as longshot Goliad (War Front) opened a clear advantage through fractions of :22.92 and :45.68. King of Gosford began picking off foes on the far turn, but was still some eight lengths back approaching the stretch where Cabo Spirit (Pioneerof the Nile) was first to overtake the tiring pacesetter. King of...

Neither jockey Flavien Prat or Umberto Rispoli will be sanctioned for their rides in a roughly run renewal of last Saturday's GI Preakness Stakes at Pimlico. Prat was aboard Goal Oriented (Not This Time) while Rispoli guided home the dramatic winner Journalism (Curlin). The two banged into each other in a much-discussed incident in upper stretch and impeded Clever Again (American Pharaoh). Journalism went on to run down longshot Gosger (Nyquist) in improbable fashion by a half-length. Goal Oriented finished fourth, while the pacesetting Clever Again tired to finish last...

After he crossed the wire first aboard Journalism (Curlin) in the GI Preakness Stakes, jockey Umberto Rispoli planned to take a few days off and bask in what was the biggest win of his career. Instead, he has found himself in the middle of an ugly controversy involving his ride and the bumping incident with Flavien Prat, who was aboard 'TDN Rising Star' Goal Oriented (Not This Time). The two banged into each other in upper stretch and impeded the Steve Asmussen-trained Clever Again (American Pharaoh). While some people have...

The debate will continue to rage on. Should a horse run back in the GI Preakness, just two weeks after the GI Kentucky Derby, or should they skip the Preakness and wait for the GI Belmont? What's best for the horse? What's best for the sport? This year it was Sovereignty (Into Mischief). He was a comfortable 1 1/2 length winner over Journalism (Curlin) in the Derby. But instead of running back in two weeks, his connections announced that his next start will be in the June 7 Belmont. He...

3rd-Pimlico, $50,960, Msw, 5-17, 3, 4, 5/6yo, 1 1/16m, 1:43.80, gd, 5 1/2 lengths. VARNEY (c, 3, Vekoma--Summer of Fun {SW & GISP, $306,671}, by Include), who cost a whopping $775,000 at the 2023 Keeneland September Sale, got the Preakness program off to a winning start for the Bob Baffert barn, leading every step of the way to break his maiden at career start number four late Saturday morning at Pimlico. Favored at 4-5 at post time stretching out to two turns off a fourth to his 'TDN Rising Star'...

Baltimore, MD--At approximately the time that the GII George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan Stakes was scheduled to run, a severe storm was rolling through the Baltimore area, blackening the sky and kicking up wind and rain that gave those running for cover the impression of an approaching apocalypse. With a steady stream of people dutifully filing out of the infield tents and into the safety of Pimlico's main structure, the rapidly-moving storm made enough of a fuss to have spectators wondering if racing would go on with two races remaining...