Kentucky Derby

Just a Touch (Justify), a fantastic second behind subsequent GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) in last spring's GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, is nearing a return to action. Last seen coming up just a head short for Qatar Racing, Resolute Racing and Marc Detampel in the Iowa Derby July 6, the 4-year-old has posted seven workouts at Brad Cox's Payson Park base this year, most recently breezing five furlongs in 1:01.80 (3/13) Feb. 15. "He's doing great," said Hunter Valley Farm's Fergus Galvin, who...

C R K Stable and Grandview Equine's Baeza (McKinzie--Puca, by Big Brown), the 3-year-old, half-brother to Classic winners Mage (Good Magic) and Dornoch (Good Magic), is joining the GI Kentucky Derby trail following an impressive maiden victory at Santa Anita Feb. 14. "We're looking forward--I would think 99%--that the (GI) Santa Anita Derby (Apr. 5) is where we belong running," C R K Stable's Lee Searing said. "Staying at home, no matter who we run against, we got a nice horse and he deserves the chance." The John Shirreffs-trained Baeza...

RIYADH, KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA -- At the age of six, Lucky Seven Stable and Sharaf Mohamad Alhairi's Rattle N Roll (Connect) is at the peak of his powers. The same can be said for his veteran trainer Ken McPeek, who is just this side of a series of achievements that anyone who does what he does for a living will have a hard time replicating anytime in the foreseeable future. For equine and human alike, Saturday's G1 Saudi Cup at King Abdulaziz Racecourse is a potential watershed moment. "It's...

A veteran Hall of Fame trainer, Mark Casse knows that sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. The Casse-trained Sandman (Tapit) turned in a remarkable effort in his last start, the GIII Southwest S. at Oaklawn, finishing second after breaking in a tangle and dropping far behind the leaders. Once straightened out, he rallied furiously and finished second, missing by just a length. To talk about the Southwest and Sandman's next start, Sunday's GII Rebel S. at Oaklawn, Casse joined the team on this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast...

A veteran Hall of Fame trainer, Mark Casse knows that sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. The Casse-trained Sandman (Tapit) turned in a remarkable effort in his last start, the GIII Southwest S. at Oaklawn, finishing second after breaking in a tangle and dropping far behind the leaders. Once straightened out, he rallied furiously and finished second, missing by just a length. To talk about the Southwest and Sandman's next start, Sunday's GII Rebel S. at Oaklawn, Casse joined the team on this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast...

A halter worn by champion Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) is available in the Bourbon & the Bayou silent auction, run by the non-profit child advocacy organization CASA of Lexington. Bidding on the halter, as well as hundreds of other items, including Kentucky bourbon, vacation packages and gift baskets, is open at https://bandb2025.givesmart.com through 9:45 p.m.  Feb. 28. To directly access the bidding page for the halter, visit https://bit.ly/thorpedoanna. CASA of Lexington's annual Bourbon and the Bayou fundraiser raises funds that provide advocacy for hundreds of abused and neglected children in...

Okay, so possibly Magnitude (Not This Time) won't ever do anything quite like that again. But let's enjoy the moment, at least, and relish the sheer theater of his GII Risen Star performance--much, for instance, as people did the astounding sophomore debut of Dr. Carter in 1984. He had won two of seven previous starts; Magnitude, two of six. But even though so unpressured that he won by 17 lengths, Dr. Carter equalled the Hialeah track record. Their trainer John Veitch declared him better than Alydar. The stage was set...

Winchell Thoroughbreds' Magnitude (Not This Time), who catapulted himself to the top of the list of GI Kentucky Derby contenders with a jaw-dropping 9 3/4-length victory in the GII Risen Star Stakes Saturday, has been forced off the Triple Crown trail by an ankle chip. Winchell Thoroughbreds' racing manager David Fiske confirmed the news first reported by Daily Racing Form's Marcus Hersh Tuesday. "He came out of the race Saturday good," Fiske said. "He ate up all his feed Saturday night. They took him out and gave him a bath...

In 'TDN Rising Star' Colloquial (Vekoma), George Weaver trains what looks like the fastest 3-year-old male in the U.S. Last week at Aqueduct he won a maiden race by seven lengths while earning a Beyer figure of 106. The 106 is easily the fastest number run so far this year by a 3-year-old. For some owners, a race that good would have afflicted them with Derby Fever and their horses would wind up in traditional Derby preps. But owners Jack Wolf, Curtis Harrell and their partners have said that all...

OGMA Investments, JR Ranch, Upland Flats Racing, Morplay Racing, High Step Racing, Lady Sheila Stable and Michael and Jules Iavarone's highly regarded Victory Avenue (Arrogate), unraced since his debut run last winter, returns to the races Sunday at Gulfstream Park. Trained by Gustavo Delgado, the colt was second after a troubled start in his debut at Gulfstream on the Pegasus undercard last January. He was entered in the GII Fountain of Youth Stakes off that maiden appearance, but was scratched. "He was just such a naturally fast talented colt that...

Needless to say, Dornoch didn't look as shocked as Jayson Werth had felt when someone once said much the same to him. But somehow he got the message, because next day he went out there as a longshot and came back the winner of the GI Belmont Stakes. It had just been the two of them, in his stall, Werth literally giving the horse a pep talk. So he wanted to be a stallion, a lot of pretty mares lining up? Wanted to be somebody in this game? Well, here's...

Our business already includes one John whose namesake signed the Declaration of Independence. (Good day to you, Mr. Penn.) But now we have another, this time on four legs, bidding to confirm that Constitution--if not a founding father--is certainly a patriarch in the making. Yet if the Sam F. Davis Stakes winner were to carve his "John Hancock" on the GI Kentucky Derby roll of honor, he would only be further magnifying two names whose Churchill achievements are already outsized. One is that of his dam Scribbling Sarah (Freud), who...