Manny Franco

Amerman homebred Test Score (c, 3, Lookin At Lucky--Joy of Learning, by Kitten's Joy), second to Zulu Kingdom (Ire) (Ten Sovereigns {Ire}) in the GI American Turf Stakes at Churchill Downs May 3, got his own Grade I day in the sun Friday, winning Saratoga's $750,000 Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes in convincing style. For his part, Zulu Kingdom won the GIII Manila Stakes at the Spa one race prior to Test Score's Belmont Derby win. The Amermans won the Belmont Derby for the second consecutive year---they had Trikari (Oscar Performance)...

A pair of fillies pulled up during races at Saratoga last Friday were sent to Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital for diagnosis of injuries and are both now resting, according to updates issued by the New York Racing Association Monday. Mystifying (Curlin), who was pulled up in the stretch run by jockey Jose Ortiz after sustaining an injury to her left front during Friday's seventh race, was immediately attended to by on-track veterinarians, who stabilized the injury and transported the 4-year-old filly to Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital for further...

Godolphin's undefeated champion 2-year-old filly Immersive (Nyquist), off since winning last year's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, tuned up for her seasonal debut in next Saturday's Monomoy Girl Overnight Stakes with a four-furlong work in :49.20 (23/53) at Churchill Downs Sunday. The filly returned to the work tab at Churchill Downs in early May after being sidelined with bone bruising. Leading into the Monomoy Girl, she has posted six published workouts, including her latest move Sunday morning. "We're looking forward to getting her started again," trainer Brad Cox said. "She's...

Yes, Bill Mott was loyal to Junior Alvarado, letting him ride Sovereignty (Into Mischief) in the GI Kentucky Derby after he missed the main prep in the GI Florida Derby. Alvarado fractured his shoulder blade in a Mar. 23 spill at Gulfstream and was sent to the sidelines. Manny Franco filled in for the Florida Derby and rode a fine race, guiding Sovereignty to a second-place finish. That opened the door to a number of possibilities. Mott could have kept Franco on the horse or he easily could have enticed...

From his nine previous rides on the veteran New York-bred Spirit of St Louis (Medaglia d'Oro), jockey Manny Franco had amassed an enviable record of seven wins and two second-place efforts, one of those defeats coming by a flared nostril. With Tyler Gaffalione--who rode the gelding to victory in the GI Pegasus World Cup Turf two starts back--sidelined via injury,  Franco rekindled his relationship with the Chad Brown galloper in Saturday's GI Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic and the partnership's 10th trip to the races resulted in their biggest score...

In the first race of the Keeneland meet to stay on the grass after torrential rains throughout Kentucky, Amerman homebred Test Score (c, 3, Lookin At Lucky--Joy of Learning, by Kitten's Joy) captured Monday's rescheduled $600,000 GIII Transylvania Stakes and gave rider Manny Franco two consecutive black-type victories on the day after winning the Lafayette Stakes one race prior with 'TDN Rising Star' Colloquial (Vekoma). Test Score broke forwardly in the Transylvania, settling into an unbothered fifth on the outside as three-straight stakes winner Mi Bago (Vekoma) showed the way...

Linda Rice led all trainers and owners at the Aqueduct winter meet, which began Jan. 1, and Manny Franco topped the leading riders list as the circuit swaps over to the spring meeting starting Thursday, NYRA announced Sunday afternoon. Rice claimed 51 wins as a trainer to capture the title for the third consecutive year since the 2023 meet, and secured her fifth winter title overall. Her record of 217-51-38-29 was good for a win rate of 23.5% and an in-the-money strike rate of 54.38%. Meet highlights included Sand Devil...

Manny Franco will accompany Godolphin's Sovereignty (Into Mischief) in Saturday's $1-million GI Curlin Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park. The New York-based jockey will fill in for regular rider Junior Alvarado, who sustained a shoulder injury in a racing mishap Sunday. Alvarado has been aboard the bay for all four starts, including a last-to-first victory in the Mar. 1 GII Fountain of Youth. Franco is currently atop the jockey standings at the current Aqueduct meet. "I can rarely get him. He's never been easy to get to ride, but I think...

Looking to make a statement after a more-than-solid start to his career at the Big A last summer when he ran a game second to GSW Mentee (City of Light), Colloquial (Vekoma-- Terminology, by Bernardini) graduated over the same strip on Friday afternoon and earned himself a 'TDN Rising Star' in the process. TDN's Racing Editor Steve Sherack highlighted the initial effort by Colloquial in his 'Second Chances' series in December. In the seventh race at Aqueduct June 15, Mentee looked in firm control at the quarter pole, but the...

Sacrosanct (Honest Mischief) maintained his flawless record by the closest margin of his career when winning the New York Stallion Series Great White Way Stakes. A winner at first-asking Aug. 21 at Saratoga, he parlayed that unveiling into a 12-length tour-de-force in the Sept. 22 New York-bred restricted Bertram F. Bongard Stakes and secured his third victory in a row last out Oct. 27 at this venue in the Sleepy Hollow Stakes. Stalking the early pace and pressing from the outside behind :22.30 and :45.01 early splits, he made his...

It's the end of an era for the Virginia Derby. After 21 editions dating back to 1998 at Colonial Downs, the 1 1/8-mile turf event that historically anchors the Closing Day card will move to the main track and be conducted in March as part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby. And so it seems only fitting that a pair of horses who took on the Triple Crown trail just this season brought this race down to the wire with GIII Gotham Stakes winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Deterministic...

The 2024 GI Spinaway Stakes was a tale of the haves and the have-nots. On one hand, there was just a single stakes winner in the field. But that runner, The Queens M G (Thousand Words), was looking to sweep the 2-year-old stakes on offer at Saratoga this season--a feat not commonly accomplished. Lined up to oppose her was a talented group of maiden winners led by 'TDN Rising Star' Quietside (Malibu Moon) and Godolphin homebred Immersive (Nyquist). And of the 11 fillies lined up seeking Grade I glory, only...