Kentucky Derby
There's little doubt that 3-year-olds Drain the Clock (Maclean's Music), Fire At Will (Declaration of War) and Prime Factor (Quality Road) are talented individuals. But whether or not they are legitimate contenders for the GI Kentucky Derby is a question each one will have to answer in Saturday's GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S. at Gulfstream Park. The mile-and-a-sixteenth Fountain of Youth, which drew a field of 10, has a clear favorite in Greatest Honour (Tapit), the Shug McGaughey-trained winner of the GIII Holy Bull S. But whether or not...
In the world's current state of affairs, a lot can change in a few months' time. Racing is no different. One only has to go back to November to remember when Kirk and Judy Robison's Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) was the undisputed leader of his age group. But an odds-on loss on the sport's biggest stage took the bloom off of his rose for some, and these days, despite being a multiple Grade I winner, one could argue he is a forgotten colt as the GI Kentucky Derby trail kicks...
Master Milliner and owner of Louisville-based Formé Millinery Jenny Pfanenstiel has been named a Featured Milliner of the 147th GI Kentucky Derby. Pfanenstiel is renowned for her one-of-a-kind creations. Her hats and fascinators for women and men are available at the Formé Millinery Hat Shop in downtown Louisville, specialty boutiques and at www.formemillinery.com.
Year after year, two-time Triple Crown-winning conditioner Bob Baffert has some of the country's top runners in his shedrow and 2021 is no exception. The Hall of Famer has a plethora of possible GI Kentucky Derby runners; a few possible GI Kentucky Oaks contenders; the reigning champion female sprinter; and several exciting unraced prospects. You never know when Baffert will unleash the next superstar or which of his horses will be on top by the first weekend in May, but you can count on him having a live contender in...
The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission has awarded $14.3 million to qualified breeders through the Thoroughbred Breeders' Incentive Fund for Kentucky Thoroughbreds' wins in 2020. The incentive fund requires owners to board mares in Kentucky from the time of breeding until the birth of the foal. Incentive payments are based on the foal's eventual winnings on the racetrack. Last year, nearly 3,500 races were won by a Kentucky-bred receiving a breeder award. Kentucky-breds won over 245 graded stakes in the United States and 18 group races in Canada, England, France and...
Greg Harbut's mission to make horse racing more diverse has taken take him back to the classroom. Starting in January, he began a lecture series as part of an entrepreneur residency program at Wilberforce University in which he delivers the message to the students at the historically Black university that getting involved in racing can be a terrific career opportunity. It's his latest attempt to help racing solve what is clearly a problem--its lack of diversity. "It's a wonderful industry, an industry I hold near to my heart and an...
Last summer, the TDN was first introduced to the Project to Preserve African American Turf History (PPAATH), a Louisville-based group that promotes the education of African American contributions to racing throughout history. In 'The First Steps Towards Inclusiveness in Racing,' we spoke with CEO and Founder Leon Nichols on the inception of their organization and how they hope to change the sport of racing for the better. A few months after our meeting, the group was featured on NBC's coverage of the 146th Running of the Kentucky Derby in a...
Derby dreams at this time of year can prove as ephemeral as the vapours rising into the glacial air of Hot Springs. But the owner of the champion juvenile knows perfectly well that plans, with Thoroughbreds, can only ever be provisional--and that the postponement of Monday's Oaklawn card is a relatively trivial inconvenience to Essential Quality (Tapit). To recall the graver vexations that can unravel a Derby colt, Sheikh Mohammed needs only rewind to the last cycle, and the last colt that offered to requite perhaps the greatest single ambition...
George Sharp had been repeatedly shut out in his attempts to add to his 14-horse racing stable in the claiming ranks, so he was bidding not to lose when he purchased recent stakes winner Hello Hot Rod (Mosler) (hip 672) for $335,000 during Tuesday's session of the Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed Sale. "My agent Charlie Allen, who was at Fasig-Tipton, picked him out," Sharp said Tuesday evening from his Scottsdale, Arizona, home. "He picked out a few horses and I watched Hot Rod's races and the horse has a lot of...
Early nominations for the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks and GI Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic, held annually on GI Kentucky Derby weekend at Churchill Downs, are due Saturday. Early nominations to the 1 1/8-mile Longines Kentucky Oaks Friday, Apr. 30, cost $200. A payment of $100 must be paid to become eligible for the May 1 Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic. Owners and trainers can nominate by calling the Churchill Downs Racing Office at (502) 636-3806. Stakes nomination forms are available online. A late nomination period, for both the Longines...
It's a philosophy that sustains a stable of Rockets--but it's not rocket science. Anything but, according to Frank Fletcher. "First, you really want to work hard," he says. "Number two, you got to have a stroke of luck. And, number three, when you get lucky and start being successful, you need to surround yourself with people a lot smarter than you are." Let's deal with those in reverse order. Because Fletcher says that the horse we want to discuss is all about the third rule; about the excellence of his...
B. Wayne Hughes's Spendthrift Farm has acquired a 50% ownership interest in graded stakes winner Keepmeinmind (Laoban). The 3-year-old colt was second behind Essential Quality (Tapit) in the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity and third behind that subsequent champion in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile before concluding his 2-year-old campaign with a win in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. He currently sits second on the GI Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 18 points. "We are delighted to be a part of such an exciting young racehorse as Keepmeinmind, and thankful to...