GI Santa Anita Derby

Journalism (Curlin) has emerged from Saturday's GI Santa Anita Derby victory in good form and as the 2025 GI Kentucky Derby favorite. Having recovered from trouble near the eighth pole and checking near the three-eighths, the son of Classic sire Curlin rallied down the lane to overhaul Baeza (McKinzie) and collect the coveted 100 points to the Derby. The effort garnered a 102 Beyer speed figure. "I thought he showed a lot of poise being down inside," trainer Michael McCarthy said. "He had to kind of bide his time and...

The goal of the Kentucky Derby points system should be to make sure the 20 best 3-year olds in the sport make it into the field. Churchill Downs has tweaked the system a couple of times over the years and the changes, for the most part, have been well received. It's a different story this year. Churchill has tweaked the system so that in any race with five horses or fewer the horses receive fewer points than races with six or more horses. The rule is clearly aimed at Santa...

Tradition since 1995, Santa Anita Park's Derby Day 5K Run & Walk is set for Saturday, Apr. 5 for the 30th running of the event, the track announced Saturday afternoon. The race will kick off at 8 a.m. with participants encouraged to arrive early between 6:30 a.m. and 7:15 a.m. and horsemen as well as locals are reminded that Baldwin Avenue will be closed from 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. to all but foot track. The closing extends between the 210 Freeway and Huntington Drive. The race begins from South...

MGSW/GISP 'TDN Rising Star' Messier (Empire Maker--Checkered Past, by Smart Strike) will stand stud in 2025 at New York's Rockridge Stud for $5,000 LFSN in a deal brokered by Matt Bowling of Bowling Bloodstock, the farm announced Friday. The Sam-Son Farm homebred was purchased at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Sale by Donato Lanni on behalf of SF Bloodstock, Madaket Stables, and Starlight Racing for $470,000 and broke his maiden in his 2nd start to become a 'Rising Star', winning by 6 1/2 lengths. He bested Forbidden Kingdom (American Pharoah)...

Bidding opened Thursday for MSW E J Won the Cup (Omaha Beach), who is being offered in a one-horse flash sale on Fasig-Tipton Digital, which will close Monday, Oct. 28 at 2 p.m. ET, according to a press release from the company midday on Thursday. As a 3-year-old this year, E J Won the Cup is a multiple stakes winner, two-time graded stakes placed and his latest Beyer Speed Figures are the highest of his career. In his most recent start in the GIII Oklahoma Derby, the colt was the...

5th-Turf Paradise, $30,000, Msw, 4-25, 2yo, 5f, :59.17, ft, 1 1/4 lengths. DANCING PORKY (c, 2, Honor A. P.--Morning Dance, by Broken Vow) recorded the first worldwide winner for his Lane's End freshman sire Honor A.P. (by Honor Code), who has 80 foals of racing age to his credit. The juvenile, who debuted at Turf Paradise and finished third Apr. 11, was sent off as the 1-2 choice here. Though the colt started slowly, around the far turn he got into gear. Driving down the lane, Dancing Porky crossed the...

In the latest detour in the exhaustive legal saga stemming from Justify's 2018 GI Santa Anita Derby win, the connections of the horse during his racing career filed a notice last week with the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) requesting that the agency entertain an appeal of a recent board of stewards decision disqualifying the horse from the race and to stay the purse distribution. In response, the CHRB have denied a stay of the stewards' decision but stated that it will "assign a Hearing Officer in this matter where...

8th-Santa Anita, $63,700, Alw (C)/Opt. Clm ($80,000), 10-6, 3yo/up, 1m, 1:35.14, ft, 4 lengths. PRACTICAL MOVE (c, 3, Practical Joke--Ack Naughty {MSP, $310,450}, by Afleet Alex) has never been off the board in his career and after almost six months away since winning the GI Santa Anita Derby by the slimmest of noses over Mandarin Hero (Jpn) (Shanghai Bobby), he returned to the races here like he never left. Enthusiastically hammered down to 2-5 favoritism at the windows and on Lasix for the first time in his career, he left...

Leslie and Pierre Amestoy, the co-owners of Practical Move, share their journey to this year's Kentucky Derby.

A new kingpin graces the No. 1 slot after a wild, final weekend of 100-point preps. The rankings below are independent from the "Road to the Derby" leaderboard Churchill Downs uses to determine starting berths, with several horses included here who are currently below the cut.   1) PRACTICAL MOVE (c, Practical Joke--Ack Naughty, by Afleet Alex) O-Leslie & Pierre Jean Amestoy & Roger Beasley; B-Chad Brown & Head of Plains Partners (KY); T-Tim Yakteen. Sales history: $90,000 RNA yrl '21 KEESEP; $230,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR. Lifetime Record: GISW, 7-4-1-2,...

Edited Press Release Both National Treasure (Quality Road) and Skinner (Curlin) worked five furlongs Sunday in preparation for the GI Santa Anita Derby that also serves as a final west coast prep for the GI Kentucky Derby. A day earlier, Geaux Rocket Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}) had his first work since finishing second in the GII San Felipe S. National Treasure, the morning-line favorite in the San Felipe before scratching due to a bruised foot, worked five furlongs in 1:00 for trainer Tim Yakteen. Stablemates Practical Move (Practical Joke) and...

1/ST will expand its partnership with NBC Sports to broadcast the 1/ST Racing Tour on NBC, CNBC and Peacock, they said in a Thursday press release. A series of connected coast-to-coast races that kicked off with the 2023 Pegasus World Cup, the tour will take place on the first Saturday over the next three months, and will also include the GI Preakness Stakes in May. "While these legendary races are familiar to many, the 1/ST Racing Tour format brings a fresh and innovative approach to bi-coastal racing," said Gregg Colvin, Chief Executive...