Kentucky Derby
B. Wayne Hughes's Spendthrift Farm has acquired a majority ownership interest in 3-year-old colt Authentic (Into Mischief--Flawless, by Mr. Greeley), the undefeated GI Kentucky Derby contender who is set to go postward as the likely favorite in Saturday's GI Santa Anita Derby. Spendthrift joins forces with Starlight Racing and Madaket Stables, which have both retained an ownership interest in the undefeated colt. SF Racing, Fred Hertrich, John Fielding and Golconda Stables--all part of the original ownership group--have sold their respective interests in Authentic. "We are very excited to join an...
Larry Collmus, the voice of NBC's Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup broadcasts, will join Michael Wrona in the announcer's booth for Kentucky Downs's six-day live race meet, the track announced Tuesday. "I'm excited about calling the races at Kentucky Downs and looking forward to getting back in action," said Collmus, who was the New York Racing Association announcer from 2015 through last fall after spending a year calling the races at Churchill Downs. "The purses at Kentucky Downs are second to none and the unique layout is a fun challenge....
The GIII Ohio Derby has been added to the extension of the "Road to the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve." The $500,000 race will be held June 27 at Thistledown Racino. Points to the Top 4 finishers will be worth 20-8-4-2 on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. Also on the schedule are the June 6 GI Santa Anita Derby (100 points), the June 20 GI Belmont S. (150 points), the July 4 GIII Los Alamtios Derby (20 points), the July 8 GIII Indiana Derby (20 points), the July...
So that's why they had to split the GI Arkansas Derby. One division apiece for Kipling's "twin imposters,"--Triumph and Disaster. Though we've all felt otherwise, from time to time, Lady Luck is as proportionate as she is indiscriminate in her dealings with Thoroughbreds. If Bob Baffert is better placed to absorb the loss of a servant as talented as Nadal (Blame), only a barn of such depth could have achieved the level of Triumph, in the first place, to have meanwhile registered a commensurate sequel of Disaster. It's not the...
Del Mar will conduct its 81st summer racing season between July 10 and Sept. 7 featuring a 38-race stakes schedule offering more than $5.5 million in purses. The meet kicks off on a Friday and will feature the traditional Opening Day headliner, the $100,000 Runhappy Oceanside S. The overall stakes slate consists of 32 stakes that carry purses of no less than $100,000, along with six overnight stakes, each worth $65,000. Twenty-one of the stakes are graded--six at Grade I, 11 at Grade II and four at Grade III. The...
Unbeaten superstar sophomore and 'TDN Rising Star' Nadal (Blame) exited a breeze Thursday morning with a condylar fracture and has been retired. The Bob Baffert trainee was credited with a four-furlong drill in :48.80 (7/45) (XBTV Video) at his Santa Anita home base before X-rays revealed the injury and he underwent surgery, requiring two screws. "I always say to get my trophies--and I have three Eclipse Awards and one Cartier--you have to get massive scars along the way," co-owner George Bolton told the TDN. "You have to understand days like...
Patience is a virtue in racing, and trainer Brendan Walsh showed it in spades over the winter with his first Grade I winner, Godolphin's Maxfield (Street Sense). A blowout victor of the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity last fall, the homebred was slated to be one of the favorites in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, but had to be scratched with an ankle injury and was slowly brought along by Walsh to a triumphant sophomore debut in the GIII Matt Winn S. Saturday, almost eight months after his last start. The...
Trainer Brendan Walsh joins this week's TDN Writers' Room to talk about his Triple Crown hopeful Maxfield after last weekend's win in the Matt Winn S., as well as Godolphin's pursuit of the elusive Kentucky Derby.
The deadline for late nominations to the rescheduled 2020 Triple Crown will be Wednesday, June 3. Owners and trainers can make 3-year-old Thoroughbreds eligible for the three-race series with a payment of $3,000. Delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional order and dates for the Triple Crown were revised: the GI Belmont S. will be run first June 20 at 1 1/8 miles, followed by the GI Kentucky Derby Sept. 5 and GI Preakness S. Oct. 3. A total of 347 horses were made eligible to the Triple Crown during...
Sackatoga Stable's Tiz the Law (Constitution), last-out winner of the GI Florida Derby, tuned up for the June 20 GI Belmont S. with a five-furlong work in :59.75 (1/5) at Palm Meadows Sunday. "He's doing fine. He had a nice work," said trainer Barclay Tagg. "I sent a little filly here ahead of him so he had something to look at, and he caught her going down the stretch. I'll probably breeze him here next Sunday before we head back to New York." Tiz the Law won last year's GI...
Godolphin's Maxfield (Street Sense) exited his victory in Saturday's GIII Matt Winn S. in fine shape, according to trainer Brendan Walsh. Plans for the handsome colt's next start are still undecided. "I have just been thinking all along to go one race at a time with this colt," Walsh said. "We'll talk it over with the Godolphin team and plan for our next target, whatever that may be." Maxfield's win in the Matt Winn took his lifetime record to a perfect three-for-three and earned him 50 points on the Road...
Ed DeRosa of Brisnet.com takes on TDN's Steve Sherack and Brian DiDonato as they handicap Triple Crown prep races plus the big three races themselves. The three will make $100 Win/Place bets in the preps and $200 Win/Place bets in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont. Highest bankroll at the end wins. DeRosa - Arkansas Derby Results - Charlatan (+$270) scored at short odds, but Silver Prospector was seventh in the second division. Bankroll: $2545. GIII Matt Winn S. - Hoping the 10-1 price holds on Ny Traffic, who feels...