Ladies Turf Sprint

The American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association presented its listing of U.S. Graded and Listed Stakes Races for calendar year 2026, the results of its annual grading session conducted Dec. 17 and 18. The committee reviewed 942 U.S. stakes races with a purse of at least $75,000, and assigned Graded status to 410 of them, five fewer than were graded in 2025, and Listed status to 211 races. Eleven Graded races were upgraded; one new Grade I and 10 new Grade II races were named;...

When 'TDN Rising Star' Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo) went wire-to-wire to take out the 2023 GI Pacific Classic, it made trainer Bob Baffert the winningest trainer in the relatively short history of the event with seven winners, surpassing the late Bobby Frankel. The Hall of Fame conditioner will have every chance to extend that record when he sends out fellow 'Rising Star' Nysos (Nyquist) in a compelling renewal of the 10-furlong feature Saturday afternoon, with an all-expenses-paid trip to the GI Breeders' Cup Classic over the same course and distance...

It doesn't take long for the Kentucky Downs meeting to hit full gear, as Saturday's program features three graded contests, including the GIII DK Horse Nashville Derby Invitational Stakes, with prize money that could reach $3.1 million. The purse remains intact should one of the 10 Kentucky-breds--eight in the main body of the field and two also-eligibles--is home first over the mile and five-sixteenths journey along the Kentucky/Tennessee border. The four foreign raiders are ineligible for the KTDF money, but the base purse of $2.5 million already makes it one...

This year, she was on the winning side of the photo. After coming up just a nose short to MG1SW Campanelle (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) in this race just last year, Bay Storm (Kantharos) parlayed a victory in Ellis Park's KY Downs Preview Mint Ladies Turf Sprint S. into a win in the real thing as she held off a closing Wakanaka (Ire) (Power {GB}) right on the wire. After making her first two starts of 2023 at Santa Anita, the 5-year-old came east and checked in a valiant second to...