GI Apple Blossom Handicap

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Michael McCarthy would like nothing more than to have the wildly popular Journalism (Curlin) return to Saratoga Race Course this summer. "It would be awfully nice if he could," McCarthy said just outside Journalism's stall at the Oklahoma Training Track Thursday morning. "Saratoga, as I keep on saying, is a magical place for horses and people alike. We would be more than happy to bring him back here if the opportunity presented itself." First things first. Journalism, owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Bridlewood Farm, Don...

When Alvin Haynes passed away in 2014, his son Mitch wasn't exactly sure what to do with the handful of mares and foals his family had inherited. While Haynes had accompanied his father to the races over the years, he had never taken a real interest in the sport. But as he began to oversee the family's equine holdings, a genuine curiosity took hold. By the following year, he was at Keeneland purchasing a mare of his own. That single acquisition has elevated Haynes to the rank of Grade I-winning...

While there isn't a definitive path yet, next-race plans are pending for GI Apple Blossom Handicap victress Claret Beret (Not This Time), according to trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. The Florida-based mare has since returned to the Sunshine State. She posted a 105 Beyer figure in her upset over champion Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) Apr. 11 and her final time of 1:42.21 was the fastest running of the race since Horse of the Year Havre De Grace in 2011. Her speed figure is the highest in the country this year for a...

Predictably, last week's Grade I stakes for fillies and mares generated the week's highest Beyer Speed Figures. 6 - KAPOOR, KEE, 4/8/26, Allowance, about 7 furlongs (Video) Beyer Speed Figure - 94 (f, 4, by Uncle Mo--Kareena, by Medaglia d'Oro) O/B-Godolphin. T-Bill Mott. J-Junior Alvarado. Mott is exercising his trademark patience with the Godolphin filly, shepherding her through her conditions (maiden, allowance, allowance, allowance) and a resulting four-race win streak by a combined margin of 20 3/4 lengths. But now we'll almost certainly see Kapoor show up next in stakes...

So this week it was Not This Time who landed two big punches: a 13th career Grade I scorer, Claret Beret, in the Apple Blossom Handicap; plus the Grade II prize named for his own sire Giant's Causeway, through In Our Time. If Not This Time and Into Mischief are going to slug it out all year long, they will of course be drawing on the same well--each extending a different branch of Storm Cat. How do you trademark that horse's legacy? Well, a couple of years ago we tapped...

Champion Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) returned to the work tab Sunday morning at Oaklawn with a bullet half-mile work over a fast track for dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse. Nitrogen, under two-time Oaklawn riding champion Cristian Torres, was clocked in :46.40, fastest of 56 published works at the distance. Nitrogen was breezing for the first time since finishing third in Mar. 7 GII Azeri Stakes. Last year's champion 3-year-old filly remains on target for the Apr. 11 Apple Blossom Handicap. "Nitrogen looked like the old Nitrogen," said assistant trainer...

Champion Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) still has her sights set on her major spring objective, the GI Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park, despite a hiccup last weekend in Hot Springs, the track said via a press release on Wednesday. Dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse said Nitrogen will make her next start in the Apr. 11 Apple Blossom following a third-place finish in Saturday's GII Azeri Stakes. Tabbed as the 3-10 favorite under regular rider Jose Ortiz, the filly was beaten 1 3/4 lengths by Majestic Oops (Majestic Harbor)...

This wasn't the plan. Jon Green, the general manager of D.J. Stable, and trainer Mark Casse were ready to give 3-year-old filly champion Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) a nice break after her second-place finish in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff. But just 67 days after her last race, she will go in Saturday's GIII Bayakoa Stakes at Oaklawn, where she is the 4-5 morning-line favorite. Why? Because Nitrogen was telling Casse that she had had enough of taking it easy. "The game plan, initially, was that when she was done...

The $1.25 million GI Apple Blossom Handicap has joined the roster of prestigious North American races for the 2026 Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In, Breeders' Cup Limited and Oaklawn Park said in a joint release on Thursday. The Breeders' Cup Challenge Series is an international series of stakes races, the winners of which receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race at the 2026 Breeders' Cup World Championships, scheduled to be held Oct. 30-31 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. Offering an automatic...

The dual Louisiana-bred Horse of the Year from 2022 and 2024, Free Like a Girl (El Deal--Flashy Prize, by Flashy Bull), was euthanized after a recent trailer accident. The story was first reported on Tuesday, Jan. 13 by the Daily Racing Form. The all-time highest earner in the Pelican state's history with over $2.5-million, Free Like a Girl made 55 starts and got her picture taken on 21 occasions. The $5,500 Equine Sales of Louisiana Yearling Sale grad was owned by Gerald Bruno, Carl Deville, Jerry Caroom and Chasey Deville...