Kentucky Derby

It's the busiest time of the year for Len Green of the Green Group, a tax consulting service specializing in the horse racing industry. With Apr. 15 approaching, he probably should have stayed home in New Jersey to work. Then again, when you are the part-owner of a horse that looks to be bound for the GI Kentucky Derby, all bets are off. Green couldn't stay away as 3-year-old Sandman (Tapit) faced eight others in the GI Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park. The trip was worth it as Green was...

The aftercare rehabilitation and retraining organization Second Stride will hold "Champions Night" at Louisville's Valhalla Golf Club Monday, Apr. 28 at 6:30 p.m. ET. The evening will feature a Derby/Oaks handicapping panel, a silent auction, a Derby contenders halter pull, and appearances by Triple Crown-winning jockeys, as well as Kentucky-inspired food and beverage, heavy hors d'oeuvres, and a dessert bar. Tickets are $150 per person. For more information or to purchase tickets for Second Stride's biggest fundraiser of the year, click here.

The final pool of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which begins its three-day run Thursday and continues through Saturday, is led by 4-1 favorite Journalism (Curlin), who heads a field of 39 individual horses, in addition to "All Other 3-Year-Olds" not listed. Unlike the first five Future Wager pools, Pool 6 will close Saturday at approximately 4 p.m. ET, prior to the GII Wood Memorial, GI Blue Grass and GI Santa Anita Derby. Wagering for Pool 6 opens Thursday at noon through www.TwinSpires.com, as well as simulcast and ADW outlets...

Mark Stanley had a fair idea what must have happened when hearing a sudden cascade of message alerts as they drove along. "Based on, nobody calls to tell you a horse ran bad," he says wryly. "We were out with our grandkids, so I'd taped the race. And then my phone just starts exploding. So I knew he must have won, even before we got back and watched it. Obviously I have nothing to do with him, now, but we've enjoyed following him a lot more than I thought I...

We're on the cusp of the one-month mark to the GI Kentucky Derby and this Saturday marks the most important weekend of nine-furlong preps on the Triple Crown calendar, with significant stakes at Santa Anita, Keeneland, and Aqueduct. Next week the Top 12 expands to the Top 20 as the actual field begins to take shape. 1) CITIZEN BULL (c, Into Mischief-No Joke, by Distorted Humor) O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Dianne Bashor, Determined Stables, Robert E. Masterson, Tom J. Ryan, Waves Edge Capital...

Kentucky Derby contender Journalism (Curlin--Mopotism, by Uncle Mo) will stand at Coolmore America's Ashford Stud following his racing career, the operation announced Monday evening. In addition, Coolmore partners Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith will participate with the colt's current ownership group of Bridlewood Farm, Don Alberto Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Elayne Stables 5 LLC and Robert LaPenta. Trained by Michael McCarthy, Journalism ended his juvenile campaign with a win in the GII Los Alamitos Futurity in December and returned at three with an eye-catching victory in the Mar....

Tappan Street (Into Mischief), making just his third lifetime start and first since a runner-up effort in the Feb. 1 GIII Holy Bull Stakes, punched his ticket to the GI Kentucky Derby with a stylish victory over favored Sovereignty (Into Mischief) in the GI Curlin Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park Saturday. "He really ran like we thought he would," said Elliott Walden of WinStar Farm, which owns the colt in partnership with CHC, Inc. and Cold Press Racing. "We've given him the time after the Holy Bull because we thought...

A quartet of contenders for next weekend's GI Santa Anita Derby took to the track in Arcadia to work Saturday morning: Journalism (Curlin), Citizen Bull (Into Mischief), Rodriguez (Authentic) and Baeza (McKinzie). Journalism, last-out winner of the GII San Felipe Stakes, went five furlongs in 1:01.40 (26/42) for trainer Michael McCarthy. "I let him run a little bit down the lane with a solid gallop-out," McCarthy said of the work. "He did everything we asked of him." Journalism's eye-catching victory in the San Felipe earned a 108 Beyer Speed Figure,...

Godolphin's East Avenue (Medaglia d'Oro), winner of last year's GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity, tuned up for next Saturday's GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes with a four-furlong work in :47.00 (7/106) at Keeneland Saturday. With Stephen Dolan aboard for trainer Brendan Walsh, East Avenue started two lengths in front of workmate Gosger (Nyquist), a 3-year-old maiden winner, and was three lengths in front at the wire. He galloped out five furlongs in 1:00.40. "It was just a maintenance work; he did all of his major work at Fair Grounds," said Paul...

A very impressive winner of the Listed Hyacinth Stakes going Tokyo's one-turn mile on Feb. 23, Koichi Nishikawa's Luxor Cafe (American Pharoah) was even more eyecatching when taking out Saturday's $228,217 Fukuryu Stakes (allowance) at Nakayama by five dominating lengths over the metric nine furlongs. The 40 points earned for the victory took his Kentucky Derby points total to 70, good for the automatic berth on the first Saturday in May, should connections opt to take up the assignment. Favored at 3-10 with Joao Moreira taking over from the record-setting...

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas told the Oaklawn media team Friday morning that Caldera (Liam's Map) and American Promise (Justify) will make their next starts in Kentucky Derby prep races at Keeneland over the coming weeks. A $500,000 OBS March purchase by MyRacehorse, Caldera earned 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby when finishing the narrow runner-up in the Sunland Park Derby Feb. 16, but he effectively lost all chance at the break of the Mar. 22 GII Louisiana Derby, stumbling and checking early before finishing...

   The following continues a look at how long-term economic developments shape today's Thoroughbred sport. To read part I, click here. Defining Development #5--Real Estate Realities Has there ever been a time when rising real estate values have not heavily influenced the physical locations of Thoroughbred breeding farms and racetracks? This economic maxim has been especially dominant in the U.S. in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. As for breeding farms, anyone who has driven over the past four decades along Harrodsburg Road south of New Circle Road  in...