John Velazquez

7th-Gulfstream, $70,000, Msw, 1-11, 3yo, 1m, 1:36.83, ft, 2 1/2 lengths. GRANDE (c, 3, Curlin--Journey Home {GSW, $225,997}, by War Front) was off at a modest 9-1 in the face of Camp Hale (Mo Town), who was crunched into 1-2 favoritism on the back of a pair of big-figure runner-up efforts, including to 'TDN Rising Star' and recent Mucho Macho Man Stakes winner Guns Loaded (Gun Runner) when last seen over six furlongs at Churchill Downs back on Nov. 16. Given a positive ride from John Velazquez from the inside...

Vanderbilt (Into Mischief) took the lion's share of the pari-mutuel action in Saturday's fourth race from Gulfstream Park and jumped as the 4-5 chalk, but New York-bred River Thames (c, 3, Maclean's Music--Proportionality, by Discreet Cat) proved the fly in the ointment, turning in a flawless debut performance to be named the newest 'TDN Rising Star' The clearest betting alternative to Vanderbilt at odds of 29-10, the $200,000 Fasig-Tipton NY-Bred Sale graduate was under a busy ride early from John Velazquez, but had gained a forward position three-wide from third...

Runner-up in the grassy Tepin Stakes when last seen at Aqueduct Nov. 17, Gatsas Stables' Five G ran away from her overmatched rivals to easily take out Wednesday's Fasig-Tipton Cash Run Stakes at Gulfstream Park. Let go at better than 5-1 returning to the main track for the first time since finishing unplaced behind the talented MSW 'TDN Rising Star' With the Angels (Omaha Beach) at Saratoga last summer, the homebred filly bounced away well enough from the inside gate beneath John Velazquez and railed through to contest the early...

A victory in the GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup can lead even the most disciplined connections to call an audible, deviating from a more conservative approach in favor of a start in a race as alluring as the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf just weeks later. But trainer Cherie DeVaux and the Lael Stables of Roy and Gretchen stuck to their guns and sent the enormously talented She Feels Pretty (Karakontie {Jpn}) to California for the American Oaks, another chance at age-restricted Grade I glory while putting...

by J.N. Campbell and Alan Carasso Champion 2-year-old colt and leading sire Uncle Mo (Indian Charlie--Playa Maya, by Arch) was euthanized at Ashford Stud on Thursday morning after suffering a left foreleg injury, according to a tweet by Mike Repole on X and post on the Coolmore America website. Surgery was performed on Wednesday. He was 16-years-old. "I am devastated and saddened to share with you that Uncle Mo was euthanized earlier today following a left foreleg injury," said Repole. "He had surgery yesterday. Unfortunately, this morning the recovery process...

Fitriani Hay's Clock Tower (Not This Time), the 4-5 favorite, glided up and over from his outside post to take the early lead and never looked back in a wire-to-wire victory in the GIII Cecil B. DeMille Stakes at Del Mar Sunday. The dark bay gelding was in control through an opening quarter in :23.62 and was under a strong hold while getting a breather down the backstretch as the half went up in :48.75. Second choice Scipio (Caravaggio) made eye-catching progress on the turn and loomed a threat while...

GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner 'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) has come out of the marquee race in good order, according to Chad Brown, and will return to Kentucky Monday morning. "Everything's all good," said assistant trainer Baldo Hernandez Sunday morning after showing the horse to the media. "He will ship tomorrow to Kentucky and maybe Florida after that. I don't know for sure, it's up to the boss." The connections are expected to announce future plans for the colt soon. Sean Flanagan of Flanagan Racing confirmed that...

There was a time, not that long ago, when the Mother Goose Stakes was one of the most prestigious Grade I summer targets for sophomore fillies in North America. It may be a Grade II now late in the season while the division leaders wait another week for the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, but Godolphin homebred and 'TDN Rising Star' Tarifa (f, 3 Bernardini--Kite Beach, by Awesome Again) did her part to honor that former glory at the Belmont at Aqueduct meet with an extremely game and tenacious victory as...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY--Even though Incurable Optimist (Cure the Blues) does not appear anywhere in Edict's (Arg) (Il Campione (Chi)) pedigree, think of her as a direct descendent of the precocious 1998 New York-bred Horse of the Year, who became a top sire in Argentina. Family ties notwithstanding, there is a straight line between Incurable Optimist and Edict, who will make her first start in the U.S. in the listed $150,000 Athenia Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack on Saturday. Their connections, stretching across decades, are rock solid: from owner John Behrendt, through...

When it comes to winning Breeders' Cup races, no rider does it better than "Big Money" Mike Smith. His 27 wins leads all jockeys and is seven wins better than runner-up John Velazquez. With the Breeders' Cup quickly approaching, Smith sat down with the team at the TDN Writers' Room Podcast presented by Keeneland and took us on a trip down memory lane. The Hall of Famer was the Guest of the Week. Of the 27 wins, is one his favorite? "It would have to be Zenyatta [in the 2009...

For most of the sport's history the mental well-being of jockeys was not something that anybody talked about or even thought about. But the problem could no longer be ignored when, in 2023, two jockeys, Alex Canchari and Avery Whisman, took their own lives. They were otherwise young and healthy, but the pressures of being a jockey was a burden both, apparently, could not handle. They were not alone. Jockeys' Guild President and CEO Terry Meyocks said that 230 jockeys were surveyed last year and asked about their mental health....

When 'TDN Rising Star' Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) enters the gate for Saturday's $1.25-million GI Travers Stakes at Saratoga, it'll be more than a sporting gesture on the part of the ownership group and trainer Ken McPeek. The conditioner is rolling the dice against a field that includes three other Grade I winners--an oft-brilliant, but sometimes unpredictable reigning Eclipse Award champion, a Classic winner over the course and distance and a seven-figure yearling whose full potential has yet to be realized. Sure, Thorpedo Anna could have faced her peers in...