Lovesick Blues

With the $30.5-million Dubai World Cup meeting now less than a week away, a quartet of American-based gallopers took to the Meydan main track Saturday morning to post their final major preparations. Defending G1 Dubai World Cup champion Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) is one of two in the main event for Wathan Racing  (and one of an impressive six runners across the evening) and the 6-year-old tuned up for the 2000-meter feature Saturday, covering a half-mile in :48 2/5, per trainer Brad Cox. "Cooled out great, he's handled the...

Iranian attacks continued on Friday in Dubai, with nearby activity forcing officials at Meydan Racecourse to put a temporary hold on racing during the final meeting of the Dubai Racing Carnival. The day's opening event, a Group 3 contest on the turf for the Purebred Arabians, went off as scheduled at 5:30 p.m. local time and the horses were on their way through the tunnel that connects the pre-parade ring/saddling enclosure for the second race, which was scheduled to jump at 6:05 p.m. local time. As horses continued to filter...

As the dust settles on the 2025 racing season, the TDN Writers' Room team is gathering for one last round of conversation. In this festive finale, presented as always by Keeneland, Bill Finley, Randy Moss and Zoe Cadman pull up a chair to celebrate and unpack the moments that defined the year. The team takes a deep dive into the top horses and races of 2025. It's no secret that Book'em Danno (Bucchero) was Bill's favorite horse, but Randy and Zoe shared "Top Race of the Year" picks that might...

Many involved with the sport probably know little about trainer Librado Barocio. But that could be about to change. His small stable has been on fire as of late and it recorded a milestone when Lovesick Blues (Grazen) upset his better known rivals to win the GI Bing Crosby Stakes Saturday at Del Mar. For the trainer who has been training off and on since 1999, it was his first Grade I win. How did it feel? That was among the questions our team asked Barocio when he joined us...

The 2025 GI Bing Crosby marked the race of a lifetime for trainer Librado Barocio when he earned his first Grade I victory with Lovesick Blues. Barocio was still over the moon with the upset win at Del Mar when he joined us on this week's TDN Writers' Room.

The two headline acts last weekend hardly required us to hold the front page to reveal Bernardini as a pretty good broodmare sire. Obviously their late damsire is not the only reason why Sovereignty (Into Mischief) and 'TDN Rising Star' Nysos (Nyquist) have achieved elite caliber, but we've previously explored the antecedents of both. And besides, both having won Grade IIs, top billing should strictly be reserved for a prize contested the same day at a higher tier. Actually the GI Bing Crosby Stakes had the potential to enrich Bernardini's...

It was bomb's away Saturday at Del Mar as Lovesick Blues (Grazen) surged past pacesetter Hejazi (Bernardini) in the final sixteenth to spring the upset in the GI Bing Crosby Stakes and secure himself a spot in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint in November. The true war horse of the field (his 40 starts are more than several other runners combined), the 7-year-old gelding began his career all the way back in 2020, earning wins at nearly every California track and banking over $500,000. And while his career began at...