Horse Racing

GI Kentucky Oaks victress Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil) made her seasonal bow a successful win with a gritty victory in Oaklawn's GII Azeri S. Saturday. Dispatched as the 9-5 second-choice behind MGSW Letruska in this five-horse affair, the bay caught a flyer from the outside stall and was unchallenged on the front end through a :23.93 first quarter. Still on cruise control under Florent Geroux through a :47.79 half-mile, she was confronted by Letruska and Envoutante (Uncle Mo) to her outside with five-sixteenths left to run. Edging clear of her pursuers exiting...

Gary and Mary West bred last weekend's hugely impressive Gll San Felipe S. winner Life Is Good (Into Mischief) and Saturday's leading Gll Rebel S. contender Concert Tour (Street Sense), both 'TDN Rising Stars', both trained by Bob Baffert and probably the two leading Classics aspirants in his barn, with five wins, three graded triumphs and no losses between them. That's quite a feat for the Wests and their racing manager Ben Glass--clients of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants--because the Baffert barn is loaded with expensive and well-bred auction purchases for a...

The $1-million GI Preakness S. returns to its normal position as the second leg of racing's Triple Crown and is the marquee event of a $3.25-million stakes schedule at Pimlico Race Course this spring. The Preakness, repositioned as the last of the three Triple Crown events due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, was won by Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil), who became just the sixth filly in history to win the race. She defeated GI Kentucky Derby winner Authentic (Into Mischief), who would return to win the GI Breeders' Cup Classic...

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend, with all the focus on Chukyo Racecourse: Saturday, March 13, 2021 6th-CKO, ¥14,360,000 ($132k), Allowance, 4yo/up, 1400m VALKYRJA (JPN) (f, 4, Tapit--Peace and War, by War Front) makes her first appearance in 13 months, having broken her maiden in her lone trip...

Longtime Thoroughbred horseman John Fernung, 79, passed away Mar. 5, 2020, in Ocala, Florida. In the early 1970s, Fernung was the racing manager for the powerful Dan Lasater Racing Stable. Lasater Stable was the leading money winning stable in the country five years in a row and won three Eclipse Awards during that time. During Fernung's tenure as Lasater's racing manager, the stable raced Grade I winners, Hot N Nasty, Honky Star and Royal Glint among others. In the late 1970s, Fernung relocated from the racetrack to become Lasater's Farm...

Calvin Nguyen's Idol (Curlin) seemed to relish the 10 furlongs of Saturday's GI Santa Anita H. as he turned the tables on Express Train (Union Rags) to post a mild 5-1 upset. Even-money invader Maxfield (Street Sense) could only manage third with no obvious excuse. Last seen finishing third as the favorite behind Express Train when trapped behind a slow pace in the Jan. 30 GII San Pasqual S., the bay was kept off the inside and unhurried as he sat second last. Last year's GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay...

Hit the Road (More Than Ready) struck a blow for the locals, parlaying a perfect trip into a stirring short-neck victory in Saturday's GI Frank E. Kilroe Mile S. at Santa Anita. Drawn in gate two with the visiting Florent Geroux in the irons, Hit the Road found the perfect spot in the box seat, as Flying Scotsman (English Channel) sped across from his outside barrier to supplant favored Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute). The pace was sensible through the middle stages, with positions largely unchanged, and Hit the Road...

Will's Secret added her third consecutive victory, while adding 50 qualifying points to the GI Kentucky Oaks, in Saturday's GIII Honeybee S. at Oaklawn Park. Sent off the 2-1 choice, the dark bay rushed up to contend with the Ken McPeek-trained duo of Tabor Hall (Candy Ride {Arg}), breaking from the inside, and Oliviaofthedesert (Bernardini), who settled in the three path around the first turn, while 'TDN Rising Star' Sun Path drafted behind the leading trio. Eagerly taking the advantage following a half in :24.25, Will's Secret was again headed...

D J Stable LLC's Helium (Ironicus) overcame an impossibly wide trip and gamely fended off a late charge from the well-backed Hidden Stash (Constitution) to upset Saturday's GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby by three-quarters of a length while making his dirt and two-turn debuts. Perfect in two starts going seven furlongs over the Woodbine synthetic last year, including a 4 1/4-length success in the Display S. when last seen Oct. 18, the $55,000 Fasig-Tipton October yearling graduate's worktab included a bullet five furlongs in 1:00 2/5 (1/8) at Palm...

Search Results (Flatter) gave her sire a second 3-year-old stakes winner Saturday, outgaming pacesetting Miss Brazil (Palace Malice) in the final furlong to take Saturday's $250,000 Busher S. at Aqueduct and earning 50 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks in the process. Sent off an easy-in-the market 2-1 second favorite after touching 3-2 early on, Search Results was put into the race by Javier Castellano and took up pace-pressing duties from second as Miss Brazil led them along through controlled splits of :24.53 and :49.64. The duo raced...

The Ken McPeek shedrow is flush with fillies, two of which--Tabor Hall (Candy Ride {Arg}) and Trapeze S. winner Oliviaofthedesert (Bernardini)--are set to represent the stable in this weekend's GIII Honeybee S. at Oaklawn Park. "They're both two-turn fillies," McPeek told the Oaklawn notes team. "I think it's ideal timing for both of them to see where they fit in the scheme of the Oaks and the 3-year-old filly division. Olivia won a nice little race out at Remington and Tabor Hall's shown quality. They're both doing well and the...

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running at Hanshin and Nakayama Racecourses: Saturday, March 6, 2021 4th-NKY, ¥13,830,000 ($129k), Allowance, 3yo, 1200m LINCOLN TESORO (c, 3, Carpe Diem--Santa Vindi, by Vindication), a half-brother to GSW Flexibility (Bluegrass Cat), graduated first off a five-month absence over track and distance...