GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes

The 'TDN Rising Stars, presented by Hagyard' were neck-and-neck late, but East Avenue (Medaglia d'Oro) had just enough to produce a final jump and narrowly catch ultra-game Bishops Bay (Uncle Mo) in the final strides to win the GIII Salvator Mile. Winless since June 2025 when he took home the GIII Matt Winn Stakes beneath the Twin Spires, the Godolphin homebred went onto the shelf after his fifth-place finish last August in the GIII West Virginia Derby. He returned Mar. 28 at Oaklawn Park in the GIII Oaklawn Mile, and...

There might be a touch of malaise come Sunday, but the GIII Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs for 3-year-olds is the way to revive any Belmont Stakes reveler with the proper racing tonic. Add in a pair of competitive graded grass races at the Spa for good measure and Sunday's higher level slate should make things right as rain. In the Matt Winn, a trio of GI Kentucky Derby entrants will get another crack at the surface that was less than kind to them on the first Saturday in...

The 2026 Fasig-Tipton April Digital Sale closed Tuesday evening with gross sales of $2,056,000 for 94 horses sold and a clearance rate of 83%. The auction topper was the half-sister to GISW Percy's Bar (Upstart), Fasig-Tipton said in a press release Tuesday evening. The online sale opened Thursday, Apr. 16. Offerings included horses of racing age, racing/broodmare prospects, broodmares--including mares with foals at foot--2-year-olds in training, and 'short' yearlings. Citizen Judy (hip 15), a half-sister to recent GI Central Bank Ashland Stakes winner and GI Kentucky Oaks hopeful Percy's Bar,...

Currently 16th on the 'Road To The Kentucky Derby' Leaderboard, the GIII Gotham Stakes winner Iron Honor (Nyquist) will bypass the 'Run for the Roses' and instead point to the 151st Preakness Stakes on Saturday, May 16 at Laurel Park, trainer Chad Brown told 1/ST Racing via a press release on Tuesday. "He's going to go to the Preakness," Brown, a two-time winner of the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown, said Tuesday morning at Churchill Downs. "The only thing is if something weird changes with the [Derby] field, a...

Fasig-Tipton has catalogued 143 offerings for its April Digital Sale, which includes a pair of broodmares closely related to Derby and Oaks contenders. Bidding is now open through Tuesday, Apr. 21, when the online event begins to close at 2 p.m. ET., the auction company said in a press release on Thursday. "With more than 140 catalogued, up more than a third from last year's catalogue, the April Digital Sale catalogue shows the continued strength and popularity of our digital platform," Fasig-Tipton Director of Digital Sales Leif Aaron said. "Offerings...

There may not be a harder-working man in racing journalism that Nick Luck. In addition to his work on NBC's racing broadcasts, he hosts the podcasts Nick Luck Daily and Nick Luck on Sunday, and has covered major racing events for networks in the U.K. Australia, Hong Kong, and throughout the Middle East. In 2017, he became the BBC Equestrian commentator, and has since covered the Olympia Horse Show, Badminton Horse Trials, Burghley Horse Trials, and the Olympic Games for the BBC. Luck has been named Horserace Writers' & Photographers'...

He was named in honor of a legend and Keeneland has become the latest stepping stone to creating his own. Remember Mamba (Kitten's Joy) showed all the telltale signs of inexperience late, but his turn of foot was more than enough to run down the leaders and claim the GIII UK Healthcare Transylvania Stakes on opening Friday at Keeneland. Debuted at this venue last October going long on the grass, he produced an eye-catching rally where he sailed home by 4 1/2 lengths best and earned 'TDN Rising Star, presented...

There was some good news and some bad news this week for rising star trainer Cherie DeVaux. On Saturday, she will send out Reagan's Honor (Honor A.P). in the GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes. The horse is coming off a sizzling performance at the allowance level in New Orleans and is expected to run a big race at Keeneland--one that could make him eligible for a start in the GI Kentucky Derby. DeVaux also has 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard', Golden Tempo (Curlin) in her barn and he has...

'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard', Further Ado (Gun Runner) was tabbed by track oddsmaker Nick Tammaro as the 8-5 morning line favorite in a field of nine 3-year-olds for Saturday's 102nd running of the $1.25 million GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes, Keeneland said via a press release on Tuesday. Contested at 1 1/8 miles on the main track, the Blue Grass offers 200 qualifying points for the GI Kentucky Derby. The winner receives 100 points with a sliding scale of 50-25-15-10 points to the second- through fifth-place finishers. The...

Multiple Grade I-placed Percy's Bar (Upstart), unraced since running third in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies behind juvenile champion Super Corredora (Gun Runner) and one of the likely favorites in the Kentucky Oaks in Explora (Blame), will make her return to the races Friday in the GI Central Bank Ashland Stakes at Keeneland. The Ben Colebrook trainee has been something of an enigma on the work tab, with an initial breeze Jan. 6 marked as her first since her troubled Breeders' Cup start, but nothing publicly listed after that...