Kentucky Oaks

John Greathouse, Jr., for years an integral part of the family-run Glencrest Farm, passed away Wednesday. He was 82. According to his son, John Greathouse III, he died after problems resulting from a blood ulcer. Glencrest was established in the middle of the twentieth century by John W. Greathouse and has thrived under the leadership of several generations of the family. According to his son, Greathouse, Jr. stepped down from his day-to-day role running Glencrest about 10 years ago, but remained a sounding board for the team. "My father was...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - And it's only Belmont Stakes eve. Highlighted by a fantastic renewal of the GI DraftKings Acorn S. featuring four out of the top five finishers from the GI Kentucky Oaks, a stacked 14-race program awaits on day three of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Friday. Three Chimneys Farm and Douglas Scharbauer's 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Always a Runner (Gun Runner) made it a perfect three-for-three with a powerful, come-from-behind victory beneath the lights on the first Friday in May at Churchill Downs....

Doug Cauthen still vividly remembers watching from the tunnel at Del Mar as the field reached the starting gate for the 2017 GI Breeders' Cup Classic. When Gun Runner seized the lead and zipped through an opening quarter of :22.50, Cauthen retreated a little further back into the shadows. "I was sweating bullets," Cauthen admitted, laughing at the memory. "They were flying on a track that wasn't really providing a lot of opportunities for horses on the lead. That race was loaded and it was his only other time that...

The TDN Writers' Room team had so much to say and so many people to talk to when it came to this year's GI Kentucky Derby, that we decided that one podcast was not enough. Our traditional podcast features winning trainer Cherie DeVaux (watch that here), but how could we overlook jockey Jose Ortiz or co-owner Daisy Phipps Pulito? We couldn't, so we gave each of them a podcast of their own. It was a memorable couple of days for Ortiz, who won both the Derby on Golden Tempo (Curlin)...

An average of 19.6 million viewers on NBC and Peacock made NBC Sports broadcast the most-watched GI Kentucky Derby on record, according to a Sunday release from the network. The broadcast topped by 11% last year's Derby audience (17.7 million viewers), which was the event's largest in 36 years (18.5 million viewers in 1989), according to preliminary data from Nielsen and digital data from Adobe Analytics. Viewership peaked at 24.4 million viewers from 7-7:15 p.m. ET, as jockey Jose Ortiz guided Golden Tempo around the final turn to win by...

So that's now 41 straight runnings of the GI Kentucky Derby in which the horse breaking from the one post has lost. Take nothing away from Golden Tempo (Curlin), who ran the race of his life for rising star trainer Cherie DeVaux and was a deserving winner after breaking from post 16. He beat Renegade (Into Mischief), who was saddled with the one post. But had the post positions been reversed, would Renegade have won? It's a fair question. Renegade was roughed up at the start, bumping repeatedly with other...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - On one of the morning works shows leading up to the GI Kentucky Oaks, trainer Chad Brown was asked if his unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Always a Runner (Gun Runner) was, perhaps, flying into the race under the radar. "When I work her tomorrow, they'll be talking about her," he said confidently. Everybody will still be talking about her after the first Friday in May now, too. Always a Runner made it a perfect three-for-three with a powerful, come-from-behind, 1 1/4-length victory in the...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Welcome to primetime, ladies. A fantastic renewal of the GI Kentucky Oaks is on tap, and, for the first time, will be held beneath the lights with an 8:40 p.m. ET post time at Churchill Downs Friday evening. Trainer Brad Cox will be shooting for a fourth Kentucky Oaks trophy with the very promising GII Gulfstream Park Oaks heroine and 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Prom Queen (Quality Road). The legendary and much-missed duo of Woody Stephens and D. Wayne Lukas share the record for most...

'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Bella Ballerina (Street Sense) will miss Friday's GI Kentucky Oaks because of a minor injury, according to trainer Brendan Walsh Thursday morning. The news was first reported by Horse Racing Nation. The homebred, who was listed as 12-1 on the morning line, was scheduled to be ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, who also lost his mount in the Kentucky Derby when Fulleffort (Liam's Map) was confirmed out on Thursday. The winner of her first three starts, including last season's GII Golden Rod Stakes and GII...

TDN's Chief Correspondent Bill Finley is joined by Senior Contributing Editor Alan Carasso and Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack to handicap Friday's GI Longines Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs. FINLEY: As a whole, this is not a particularly fast group, which is why the focus here is on horses who have cracked the 90 Beyer level. Note that the Beyer par for the Kentucky Oaks is a 94. 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Prom Queen (Quality Road) earned a 90 Beyer when winning the GII Gulfstream Park Oaks and...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A 7:22 a.m. announcement over the PA system on the Churchill Downs backstretch welcomed Kentucky Oaks/Derby runners as well as Kentucky Derby winners to the track for a special 15-minute training window on a humid and overcast Tuesday morning. With the surface in terrific condition and officially listed as fast despite torrential, late-night thunderstorms, last year's Kentucky Derby winner and physically imposing Horse of the Year Sovereignty (Into Mischief) showed this year's class how it's done with a powerful gallop to get things started. His Bill Mott-trained...

NBC Sports' live coverage from Churchill Downs begins with five hours on GI Kentucky Oaks day Friday and continues Saturday with 7 1/2 hours on GI Kentucky Derby day. NBC Sports' Derby day coverage features 10 races, with five hours on NBC and Peacock on Saturday (beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET), following the opening 2 1/2 hours beginning at noon ET on Peacock and NBCSN. Kentucky Oaks day coverage begins at 4 p.m. ET on Peacock and NBCSN, leading into the first-ever Kentucky Oaks broadcast in prime time at 8...