Florida Derby

The older filly and mare division could be sensational this year. Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lure) is coming off a stellar 4-year-old campaign and will be seen next battling the world's best horses in the Feb. 29 Saudi Cup. Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) is set to return to the races after a layoff of more than a year and will try to duplicate her 2018 form, when she was an Eclipse Award winner and the winner of the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. And now you can add Jolie Olimpica (Brz) (Drosselmeyer) to...

Global Thoroughbred and Top Racing LLC's Caracaro (Uncle Mo) flashed signs of talent when a front-running, but green, second going seven furlongs at Gulfstream Dec. 8. He put it all together Saturday, however, stalking and pouncing his way to a six-length tally that earned him the day's second 'TDN Rising Star' nod. Bet down late and off as the 2-1 chalk, the $95,000 KEENOV weanling broke well and was reined in to press a longshot from out in the clear through a :23.70 opening split. He kept after that rival...

Buck Thornburg, who won the 1980 GI Florida Derby and GI Wood Memorial with Plugged Nickle and a division of the 1977 Florida Derby with Coined Silver, passed away earlier this week at age 86. A native of Muncie, Indiana, where he rode his horse to school, Thornburg rode 3,433 winners from 27,258 mounts. He rode his first winner July 29, 1950 at Scarborough Downs in Maine. Thornburg rode into his late 50s before retiring. He also rode the gray mare Luminaire to victories in the 1983 GII Matchmaker and...

As the TDN Rising Star Amalfi Sunrise drew off for an easy six-length success in the GII Sorrento S., I was reminded of a commission I received in the fall of 2015. With the Breeders' Cup bandwagon due to roll into Lexington and Keeneland, WinStar wanted to promote its extensive team of stallions. I was asked to write 250-word summaries for each of them, including three which were scheduled to be added to the roster in 2016. Strangely, those three--Constitution, Commissioner and Daredevil--were respectively responsible for Amalfi Sunrise, Powerfulattraction and...

Amalfi Sunrise (Constitution) flattered her 'TDN Rising Star' status even further by collecting another facile win in Saturday's GII Sorrento S. at Del Mar. Sent off the well-supported favorite following an ultra-impressive 6 1/4-length score in her Santa Anita debut June 23, the dark bay was part of a three-way tussle up front with 'TDN Rising Star' and last-out GIII Schuylerville S. winner Comical (Into Mischief) and Princess Mo (Uncle Mo), carving out an opening quarter in :22.50. Looking ready to dispense of those rivals at any moment, Amalfi Sunrise...