Jerome Stakes

The Pasco Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs doesn't exactly rank high up on anyone's list of races on the road to the GI Kentucky Derby. But the seven-furlong race for 3-year-olds does offer a purse of $125,000 and is a stepping stone to the $400,000 GIII Tampa Bay Derby, the track's signature race. Expectations for the Pasco are modest, but not so modest that anyone could have predicted that this year's race, scheduled to be run last Saturday, would not fill. Only two horses entered the race. If the start...

My World (Essential Quality), winner of the Nashua S. at Aqueduct Nov. 1, made it three straight wins in Saturday's $150,000 Jerome S. at the Big A, good for 10 points on the road to the Kentucky Derby. The gray, off at odds of 5-2 in this scratched-down field of four going a one-turn mile, trailed the quartet through an opening quarter in :23.58. He began to make his move on the far turn, set his sights on favored Balboa (Not This Time) at the quarter pole and kept on...

When Iowa-bred Cyclone State (McKinzie) breaks out of the starting gate for Saturday's $1.5-million G3 Saudi Derby, part of the Saudi Cup undercard at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh, odds are that the loudest cheers will be emanating from halfway across the world at the Iowa State University (ISU) Equine Farm. That is where the colt, bred by Allen Poindexter, was born on April 29, 2022. It's an evening foaling that Nikki Ferwerda, a faculty member of the ISU Animal Science department and manager of the university's equine facilities, still...

Prep season for the GI Kentucky Derby is still in its earliest stages, but a couple of races over the weekend gave us some things to get excited about. It appears, in GII San Vicente Stakes winner Barnes (Into Mischief), we have an early Derby favorite that could give Bob Baffert his first official Derby win since Authentic (Into Mischief) in 2020 in what would be his return to America's most famous race after the Churchill ban. Sold for $3.2 million at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga, this could be a special horse....

Gold Square, George Messina and Michael Lee's Cyclone State (McKinzie), winner of Saturday's Jerome Stakes at the Big A, may contest the one-mile G3 Saudi Derby on Feb. 22 at King Abdulaziz Racecourse or remain local for the one-mile GIII Gotham on Mar. 1--a 50-25-15-10-5 points race for the Kentucky Derby. "He's doing good. He stepped on my foot but otherwise he's doing good," trainer Chad Summers said, with a laugh. "He came out of it good." The Big A also offers the nine-furlong GIII Withers on Feb. 1, offering...

With plenty of tasty birthday cake in the offing, a cadre of newly-minted 3-year-old colts have blown out their candles and are ready for stakes action across four tracks on Saturday. Leading the charge at Santa Anita is the GII San Vicente Stakes, which is the annual renewal of the seven furlong dirt race. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has won 13 prior editions, including last year with Muth (Good Magic). In customary fashion, the Hall of Famer enters a pair of runners in Barnes (Into Mischief) and Romanesque...

Conditioner Linda Rice reports that Garland of Roses victress Hot Fudge (Liam's Map) has come out of her first stakes victory 'feeling great' after taking the listed eight days removed from visiting the winner's circle in an optional claimer. She is unbeaten since her return from a near six-month layoff, and her 2023 campaign has seen the filly take home five wins in seven starts. "That filly, we've had a few strange things happen with her when she was young, and then she had such a nice winter. We elected...

Courvoisier (Tapit), last-out winner of the Jan. 1 Jerome S., tuned up for Saturday's GIII Withers S. with a five-furlong work in 1:02.41 (2/15) over the Belmont training track Friday. "He's doing well," trainer Kelly Breen said. "He breezed Friday by himself. It was a maintenance workout and he's good to go." Owned by Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings and James Spry, Courvoisier is a son of 2014 champion 2-year-old filly Take Charge Brandi (Giant's Causeway). Jerome fourth-place finisher Unbridled Bomber (Upstart) was declared ready for the Withers following a...