Kentucky Oaks
Trainer Kenny McPeek doesn't know what happened to Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) in Sunday's GI Juddmonte Spinster Stakes at Keeneland, where she was a non-threatening fourth in one of the worst races of her career. He's checked her from head to toe and has not found anything wrong with her. Other than ruling out a start in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, McPeek isn't sure what is next for the 2024 Horse of the Year, but admitted that retirement is a possibility. "You have to consider retiring her," he said....
Trainer Ken McPeek picked up his fifth win in the GIII Pocahontas Stakes Saturday when Taken by the Wind (Rock Your World) blew home in style to earn the first available points on the 2026 Road to the Kentucky Oaks. Entered off a debut win on a rained-off main track at Saratoga in $75,000 maiden optional claiming company going seven furlongs Aug. 21, the 6-1 shot clearly relished the extra furlong Saturday. Speedy through the first yards but outrun out of the chute by a trio of rivals, Taken by...
Fasig-Tipton has catalogued 225 entries, led by the dam of GI Kentucky Oaks runner up Drexel Hill (Bolt d'Oro), for its August Digital Sale, which may be viewed online here. Bidding is now open and will close Tuesday, August 26, beginning at 2 PM ET. The catalogue offers horses of racing age, breeding stock (including mares with foals at foot), weanlings, yearlings, and a stallion prospect. A substantial portion of the catalogue is comprised of racing stock, including 85 horses of racing age and two-year-old racing prospects. These include recent...
Who's the current leader of the 3-year-old filly division? Featuring a rubber match between GI Kentucky Oaks heroine Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro) and two-time GISW La Cara (Street Sense), we'll have our answer following a fantastic renewal of Saturday's GI Alabama S. at Saratoga. Good Cheer made it a perfect seven-for-seven for trainer Brad Cox with a powerful win on the first Friday in May, but never factored as the 1-4 favorite, finishing a lackluster fifth in the GI Acorn S. in the Saratoga slop June 6. The Godolphin homebred,...
When I read the announcement from Churchill Downs that the post time for the Kentucky Oaks was being moved to allow the race to be televised in "prime time," my first thought was not of the importance of another race being run in "prime time" but of the disruption this would cause the local restaurant community. As a lover of the Thoroughbred industry, I applaud the track for the way it has grown interest, not just in the Oaks, but the Wednesday and Thursday cards that precede it. But, as...
NBC Sports will showcase the 2026 GI Longines Kentucky Oaks in prime time for the first time ever in 2026, Churchill Downs Incorporated announced Thursday. The 152nd Kentucky Oaks, featuring racing's best 3-year-old fillies, will be presented Friday, May 1, 2026, at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock. In addition to racing, Kentucky Oaks traditions centered around fashion and women's health advocacy will remain central pillars of the event pageantry--now culminating in a twilight finish. "We are excited to present the Kentucky Oaks in prime time for the first...
The GII Fantasy Stakes will be worth $1 million when it is run next year at Oaklawn Park, while the purse for the Arkansas track's GIII Honeybee Stakes will be increased for the second consecutive time, from $500,000 to $750,000 in 2026. "The increase to our Fantasy Stakes by itself makes a very strong statement," Oaklawn's President Louis A. Cella said. "This will be the first time in the history of North American racing that 3-year-old fillies will have an opportunity to run for a seven-figure purse prior to the...
2nd-ELP, 100K, Msw, 3yo/up, f, 6 1/2f, 1:19 p.m. BELLS OF MARANELLO (Nyquist), a daughter of GI Kentucky Oaks winner Believe You Can (Proud Citizen), was a $750,000 KEESEP grad back in 2023 for Cindy Heider. The mare, who RNA'd for $4.9m at FTKNOV in 2014 following her racing career, produced SW/GSP Believe In Royalty (Tapit) for her first foal and, more recently, MGSW Conclude (Collected). Steve Asmussen trains for Heider Family Stables with son Keith Asmussen aboard for the debut. Breaking mid-gate, Angelic Sense (Street Sense) is the full-sister...
Those who have been following racing for, oh, 10 years or less, they may not quite understand the impact Wayne Lukas had on horse racing or how much he changed what it meant to be a successful horse trainer. The Wayne Lukas who was still training when his 90th birthday was just around the corner transformed into your favorite uncle or grandfather. He became the sport's elder statesman. There was a sweet and gentle side to the man that everyone started calling "Coach" because he was once a high school...
It will be a hugely important weekend for trainer Kenny McPeek as Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) and Mystik Dan (Goldencents) will be in action Saturday at Churchill Downs. Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna will be heavy favorite in the GII Fleur De Lis Stakes, while 2024 GI Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan faces a tough assignment in a loaded GI Stephen Foster Stakes. To talk about the two biggest stars in his barn, his hiring of Jimmy Jerkens and even his new tattoo, McPeek was the Gainesway Guest of...
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The graveyard of champions strikes again. Tracy Farmer homebred La Cara (Street Sense) shot out to the front and never looked back, splashing home a three-length, wire-to-wire winner in Friday's GI DK Horse Acorn S. at rainy Saratoga. Look Forward (Bolt d'Oro) chased her around the track in second, finishing a neck better than third-place finisher Scottish Lassie (McKinzie). Previously unbeaten GI Kentucky Oaks heroine and 1-4 favorite Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro) suffered her first career defeat finishing fifth. Sent to the front by Dylan Davis,...
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Undefeated GI Kentucky Oaks heroine and Godolphin homebred Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro) will put her perfect seven-for-seven record on the line as she takes on six rivals in Friday's GI DK Horse Acorn S. at the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course. The Acorn is one of six graded stakes races on Friday's 14-race program, which also features three other Grade I events--the GI Ogden Phipps S., a 'Win and You're In' for the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff at Del Mar; the GI New...