GI Kentucky Oaks

Bless the Broken Straight and Strong in Fair Grounds Seasonal Bow

BLESS THE BROKEN (f, 4, Laoban--The Nightingale, by Tapit) missed the board once last year in a campaign that included a gutsy third-place finished in th GI Kentucky Oaks, and finishing fourth in the GI Acorn Stakes June 6 at Saratoga in what turned out to be the last race of her season. Sold for $950,000 to Qatar Racing and Mountmellick Farm during the Fasig-Tipton November sale last year, she was moved from the barn of Will Walden to Brad Cox, and made her return to the races here with...

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Not Just the Queen of the Lawn: Nitrogen Claims First Elite Level Victory in Alabama

In the 145th running of the GI Alabama Stakes, it was Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) who took home the elite level glory at Saratoga. Entering the race, it was largely billed as a showdown between the 'big three' and it more or less went that way during the running. Nitrogen entered the historic contest fresh off a heartbreaker in the July 5 GI Belmont Oaks Invitational over the course next door where a nose denied her a first Grade I victory. Her tour de force two back June 7 in a...

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Excellent Truth after her Diana score
Saratoga Updates: Saturday's Big Winners in Good Form, Hopefuls Tune Up for Coming Targets

Saturday at Saratoga, while stuck in Mother Nature's crosshairs, provided trainer Chad Brown a tenth GI Diana Stakes victory with Excellent Truth (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}) and saw 'TDN Rising Star' Far Bridge (English Channel) dominate the GII Bowling Green Stakes. With their charges emerging from the efforts in good shape, the connections are tentatively looking to the future. In the Brown camp, Excellent Truth's effort only served to strengthen what the conditioner already believed going into the contest--that his mare was one of the best in the country. After...

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Regaled, 1/2 to Kentucky Oaks Runner-up Drexel Hill, Tops Inglis Digital USA May Sale

The 2025 Inglis Digital USA May Sale closed Wednesday with a pair of six-figure fillies leading the way with close relations to the top two finishers in this year's GI Kentucky Oaks. Topping Wednesday's session with a $300,000 final bid, Regaled (Mohaymen--Ascot Walk, by Daaher), a Grade III-placed half-sister to Oaks runner-up Drexel Hill (Bolt d'Oro), sold to Legion Bloodstock, the same operation that campaigns Drexel Hill. A three-time winner, the dark bay was third in last year's GIII Delaware Oaks. She entered the sale off a runner-up finish in...

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May 17 Insights: German G1 Class, Half to Shedaresthedevil Star as Supporting Acts on Preakness Day

6th-CD, $127k, Aoc, 3yo/up, f, 1 1/8mT, 8:30p.m. ET Sold for a price befitting royalty on the back of a 3-year-old season where she was Group 1-placed in Germany, SPANISH EYES (GER) (Zarak {Fr}) will debut here under the lights at Churchill Downs for her new connections. Purchased at ARQDEC last year for €1.3-million by David Redvers Bloodstock for the partnership of Qatar Racing and Michaela Faust, the filly is out of Sortilege (Ire) (Tiger Hill {Ire}), herself a multiple highweight mare in Germany and Italy as well as being...

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CDI Reports Rainy Oaks Wagering Up Despite Overall Handle Down

With more than 100,000 in attendance on what became a wet Oaks Day, Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) reported that all-sources wagering on the GI Kentucky Oaks was $22.7 million, which was up four percent from last year, but betting from all-sources on the full race day card was $73.9 million, which was down 1.9% from last year's record $75.3 million, the company said in a release late on Friday. TwinSpires, the official betting partner of the Kentucky Oaks, handled a new record of $20.9 million in wagering on Churchill Downs...

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The Jones Legacy Lives On Beneath The Twin Spires

As you review the entries for the marquee races this weekend at Churchill Downs, namely the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks on Friday and the GI Kentucky Derby on Saturday, you'll notice a common name listed among the connections: Brereton C. Jones. Though many outside of the Thoroughbred industry will recognize the name as that of the former governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, for those within it, it's one that evokes immense pride and gratitude for a man who was a true stalwart of the sport. Sadly, Brereton--the founder and...

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Five G Scratched From Kentucky Oaks

GII Gulfstream Park Oaks winner Five G (Vekoma) will not contest Friday's GI Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs, according to Daily Racing Form. Trainer George Weaver told DRF's Dave Grening, "This is the type of race where you've got to be 110% and we don't feel like she is." A four-length winner in her second career start while facing New York breds at the Big A last fall, the Gatsas Stables-owned filly won this season's Cash Run Stakes in addition to finishing second behind fellow Oaks contender Quietside (Malibu Moon)...

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Quietside, Grande Drill at Keeneland; Unbeaten Good Cheer Breezes for Kentucky Oaks at Churchill

Kentucky Oaks hopeful and 'TDN Rising Star' Quietside (Malibu Moon), winner of the GII Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn, and the Kentucky Derby-bound Grande (Curlin), runner-up in the GII Wood Memorial Stakes at the Big A, worked at Keeneland on Friday. Quietside was clocked in :48.20 for a half-mile with her Oaks jockey, Jose Ortiz, in the saddle. "Jose and I had a plan to give her just a half-mile and easy gallop out just to keep her on her toes from here on out," trainer John Ortiz said. "She worked...

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Ballerina d'Oro Works For Oaks Start, Brown Also Offers Plans For Hill Road, Sierra Leone

Rodeo Creek Racing's GIII Gazelle-winner Ballerina d'Oro worked a half-mile on Saturday over the Belmont Park training track in preparation for the GI Kentucky Oaks, NYRA said in Saturday press release. Trained by Chad Brown, the daughter of Medaglia d'Oro breezed under jockey Dylan Davis and was caught by NYRA clockers covering the distance in 48 seconds flat outside of 'TDN Rising Star' & GISP Hill Road (Quality Road), who the conditioner said is pointing to the GIII Peter Pan Stakes during the Belmont at the Big A meet May...

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1/ST TV: 'Triple Crown Trail' Portal Has Array Of Derby Works

1/ST TV has curated the workouts by contenders for the 151st Kentucky Derby in one location on their website under the heading "Triple Crown Trail," the platform said via a release on Saturday. With the Kentucky Derby just 14 days out, fans, horsemen and horseplayers alike will have free access to not just the penultimate workouts of those looking for a spot in the starting gate, but previous drills for the contenders as well. The "Triple Crown Trail" portal is part of the thousands of workouts that the 1/ST TV...

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Burnham Square Among Multiple Derby Hopefuls Drilling on Busy Churchill Saturday; Derby Favorite Journalism Works at Santa Anita

Under what was described as "perfect conditions" by analyst Kaitlin Free, a busy Saturday morning at Churchill Downs ensued as seven GI Kentucky Derby contenders logged published workouts for the "Run for the Roses" and a pair of GI Kentucky Oaks contenders also drilled for their connections, according to a press release from the track on Saturday morning. The tab included top Derby point getter Burnham Square (Liam's Map), who went a half-mile in :49.40 under pilot Brian Hernandez Jr. Trained by Ian Wilkes, the GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes...

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