Kentucky Derby
There's been a mid-season reshuffling at the back of the pack within this week's rankings. The next significant target date on the GI Kentucky Derby trail that could shake up the Top 12 leaders will be the trio of preps in Florida, California and New York Mar. 4. 1) ARABIAN KNIGHT (c, Uncle Mo--Borealis Night, by Astrology) 'TDN Rising Star'. O-Zedan Racing Stables, Inc.; B-Corser Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert. Sales history: $250,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP; $2,300,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR. Lifetime Record: GSW, 2-2-0-0, $544.275 Last start: 1st GIII Southwest...
GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity runner up Loggins (Ghostzapper), who hasn't had a recorded work since before the Breeders' Futurity, was officially removed from Kentucky Derby consideration by trainer Brad Cox Monday. "He's not here," said Cox in reference to where the colt is currently training. "He's off the Derby trail. He's in light training. At this point, it's too late in the season to bring him here (Fair Grounds). We will get more serious with him when we get back to Kentucky."
The nominees for the Mar. 4 GIII Gotham S. at Aqueduct include four horses that have been under the care of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, but were nominated under the names of new trainers. Baffert is banned from running in this year's GI Kentucky Derby and any horse under the care of a trainer suspended by Churchill Downs must be moved to a new barn by Feb. 28 in order to earn Derby qualifying points. On Friday, a U.S. District Judge ruled against Baffert as he sought a...
Saturday's running of the GII Risen Star S. at Fair Grounds seems unlikely to produce a colt of the caliber of the race's namesake. In 1988, Risen Star captivated New Orleans as the hometown horse owned by charismatic connections, parlaying a win in the then-GIII Louisiana Derby to Grade I scores in both the Preakness S. and Belmont S. before being voted 3-year-old champion colt at year's end. But $29.40 upset winner Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) at least fits the bill as a hard-trying underdog you can root for....
With soon-to-be-retired jockey Yuichi Fukunaga at the controls, Perriere (Jpn) (Henny Hughes) came to life entering the final furlong of Sunday's Listed Hyacinth S. at Tokyo Racecourse and proved far too strong for his rivals in picking up 30 points on the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby. Winner of his first two trips to the races, Perriere was made the 11-10 favorite for the Hyacinth in his first start since a third to G3 Saudi Derby hopeful Derma Sotogake (Jpn) (Mind Your Biscuits) in the second leg of the...
Ten Strike Racing's Eyeing Clover (Lookin at Lucky), unbeaten in two lifetime starts, could make his stakes debut in the Mar. 4 GIII Gotham S. at Aqueduct. The Brad Cox trainee opened his career with a 1 1/2-length victory going six furlongs at Oaklawn Park Dec. 31 and aired by 9 3/4 lengths going that same distance in a Fair Grounds allowance Jan. 28 (video). A win in the one-mile Gotham could earn Eyeing Clover a trip back to Oaklawn for the Apr. 1 GI Arkansas Derby, according to Ten...
Tokyo Racecourse is the site of the third leg of this year's Japan Road to the Triple Crown, the $273,301 Listed Hyacinth S. going the one turn mile. A field of 14, including a pair of expensive American-bred sons of Into Mischief, look to capitalize on the fact that the winners of the first two legs of the four-race series--Continuar (Jpn) (Drefong) and Derma Sotogake (Jpn) (Mind Your Biscuits), have hit the road for a significantly more valuable test in next Saturday's G3 Saudi Derby in Riyadh. Great Sand Sea...
A federal judge on Friday denied Bob Baffert a preliminary injunction that the Hall of Fame trainer had sought to be eligible to race in this year's GI Kentucky Derby. Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), the defendant in Baffert's year-old lawsuit, also scored a legal victory when Judge Rebecca Jennings of United States District Court (Western District of Kentucky) granted the gaming corporation's motion to dismiss the case on five of the six counts that CDI had argued. Baffert was attempting to reverse the second year of a two-year ban by...
The road to the Triple Crown heats up in New Orleans Saturday with the GII Risen Star S. and GII Rachel Alexandra S. A full field of 14 will line up in the former, led by unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Victory Formation (Tapwrit). One of three entered for Brad Cox, the 3-1 morning-line favorite heads to the post off a front-running tally over stablemate Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) in the Smarty Jones S. going a mile at Oaklawn Jan. 1. Drawn on the outside in post 13, Victory Formation...
The road to the Kentucky Derby runs through Louisiana Saturday, Feb. 18 and FanDuel TV will be live on-site at Fair Grounds with exclusive coverage of the $400,000 GII Risen Star S. as undefeated Victory Formation (Tapwrit) takes on a field of 12 rivals. There are 50-20-15-10-5 Kentucky Derby qualifying points on the line for the top five finishers. In addition to the Kentucky Derby prep race, a Kentucky Oaks prep race on Saturday--the $300,000 GII Rachel Alexandra S.--will feature the 3-year-old seasonal bow of GSW Hoosier Philly (Into Mischief).
The world we share with these amazing animals may be an ever-changing one, but its mysteries abide. We consider ourselves ever more knowledgeable, ever more certain, riding the slipstream of science. Yet how much do we truly know, when Afternoon Deelites holds out for all those years and then waits just six days before following his owner to whatever shore may (or may not) lie beyond the horizon of life? The same journey was made this week by the trainer of Alydar. John Veitch laid the ground for the greatest...
Trainer Tom Amoss has never been shy about sharing his feelings about his filly Hoosier Philly (Into Mischief), saying she's the best horse he has ever trained. With Hoosier Philly ready to make her 3-year-old debut in Saturday's GII Rachel Alexandra S. at the Fair Grounds, the TDN team called upon Amoss to join them for this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland to get his latest thoughts on a filly who could be a superstar. Amoss was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week. It didn't...