Kentucky Derby trail

The Spendthrift Farm team never wanted to run its pair of 3-year-old male 'TDN Rising Stars, presented by Hagyard', against one another during the lead-up to the GI Kentucky Derby. But that was no longer a problem when Ted Noffey (Into Mischief)--who was being pointed for the GII Fountain of Youth Stakes and the GI Florida Derby--was taken off the Trail due to bone bruising. So, that created a situation where Spendthrift's other 3-year-old star, Further Ado (Gun Runner), who is based in South Florida at Payson Park, might be...

'TDN Rising Star' Ferocious (Flatter), second in both the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity and the GI Hopeful Stakes last year, reportedly has a muscle tear and has been removed from consideration for the May 3 GI Kentucky Derby. Trainer Gustavo Delgado's son, Gustavo Delgado, Jr., told the Daily Racing Form that while the injury was minor, it would require time to heal. Owned by JR Ranch, Marquee Bloodstock, High Step Racing, and OGMA Investments, LLC, Ferocious has made one start in 2025, resulting in a fourth Feb. 1 in the...

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher is in the process of making plans for a trio of stable stars which includes the Florida-based River Thames (Maclean's Music), Gate to Wire (Munnings) and Locked (Gun Runner). WinStar Farm and CHC Inc.'s undefeated 3-year-old colt and 'TDN Rising Star' River Thames bounced out of his Feb. 1 optional claiming allowance victory in good order and will have plenty of options moving forward said Pletcher. The New York-bred bay romped by 6 1/2 lengths as the favorite going one mile in 1:36.34 on...

'TDN Rising Star' Signator (Tapit), eighth on this week's TDN Derby Top 12, has been taken out of training for 60 days and is off the GI Kentucky Derby trail, according to a tweet from co-owner West Point Thoroughbreds. A winner Oct. 14 at the Belmont at Aqueduct meet, Signator was a $1.7-million purchase at last spring's OBS April sale. His latest setback comes after three breezes following a wrenched ankle in the fall. Bred by Gainesway Thoroughbreds and trained by Shug McGaughey, Signator is also owned by the partnership...

There was a time when you would load as much experience and conditioning as possible into a Kentucky Derby horse, as a mere adolescent required to jostle with 19 others through 10 furlongs. Nowadays, however, trainers are trying to reach Churchill Downs across a highwire stretched to a thread by two diametrically opposed imperatives. One is their conviction, whether through perception or presumption, that the typical, commercial-bred Thoroughbred of today can only stand up to a much lighter schedule. The other is to secure enough gate points in the trials....

Led by last term's hard-fought GII Remsen S. winner Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo), a deep field of nine will line up for Saturday's GIII Holy Bull S. at Gulfstream Park. Owned by Donegal Racing and trained by Todd Pletcher, Mo Donegal outslugged Zandon (Upstart) by a nose after a roughly run stretch drive while making his stakes debut in that aforementioned 1 1/8-mile affair at Aqueduct last time Dec. 4. "We decided that the Holy Bull was the right starting point," Pletcher said. "It gives us plenty of options. If...