Martin Garcia

Citizen Bull (Into Mischief), last year's Eclipse champion juvenile, completed his major preparations for Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby with a bullet five-furlong work in :58.40 (1/15) Monday at Churchill Downs. Churchill Downs clockers caught Citizen Bull in fractions of :11.60, :23, :45.80, :58.40 and out six furlongs in 1:12.40 and seven-eighths in 1:27.20. "He worked really good out there," said jockey Martin Garcia, who was aboard for the work. "But he was just messin' around. He did it easy." Garcia also revealed that trainer Bob Baffert, who has radio contact...

Kentucky Derby morning-line favorite Journalism (Curlin) topped a work tab of six entrants for the GI Kentucky Derby by working five furlongs over a fast track in 1:01.40 Sunday morning at Churchill Downs. Trained by Michael McCarthy, Journalism put in his morning breeze during the 7:15-7:30 EST training window for Kentucky Derby and Oaks horses. Sunday morning the early favorite was reunited with rider Umberto Rispoli.  Journalism cut out splits of :13.60, :25.80 and :37.60, galloping out in 1:13.60 and 1:26.80. "I was very pleased with the work," said trainer...

Citizen Bull (Into Mischief), last year's champion juvenile, will give jockey Martin Garcia his first Derby mount since 2015. "It's a dream come true," said Garcia, a 40-year-old native of Veracruz, Mexico. "It's what every jockey wants." Garcia has ridden in the Kentucky Derby four times, all between 2010 and 2015. His best finish came in 2015 when Dortmund, also trained by Bob Baffert, finished third behind subsequent Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. "I'm excited to get back, most of all because I know I have a very good horse...

The first Saturdays in February, March and April are stacked with points-awarding prep races for the GI Kentucky Derby. It's unusual, though, for all of the coast-to-coast stakes on any one of those weekends to yield three emphatic or impactful performances. But the trio of preps on Feb. 1 produced three intriguing winners who all figure to be "horses of interest" moving forward. The victories Saturday by Citizen Bull (Into Mischief) in the GIII Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita, 'TDN Rising Star' Captain Cook (Practical Joke) in the...

DEL MAR, CA - Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert had three chances at a record-extending sixth winner of the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Del Mar Friday. And none of them were favored. Let go at odds of 15-1, Citizen Bull (Into Mischief) made every pole a winning one while leading home a one-two-four finish for Baffert's powerhouse stable. It was 1 1/2 lengths back to Gaming (Game Winner) in second. Irish raider Hill Road (Quality Road) rallied from last of 10 to tag 'TDN Rising Star' Getaway Car...

Rigney Racing homebred Buchu (f, 3, Justify--Flowering Peach {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}), winner of the GII Jessamine S. over this course last year at two, made her 3-year-old debut a winning one and kept her Keeneland record perfect with a late-closing score in the $400,000 GII Appalachian S. Saturday. California shipper Mo Fox Givin (Mo Town) and last-out GIII Florida Oaks third Dancing N Dixie (Neolithic) chased her home in second and third, respectively. Buchu broke smoothly from the nine hole and quickly settled into a midpack spot on the...

Every week, the TDN publishes a roundup of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky. Here's a primer on how each of these jurisdictions adjudicates different offenses, what they make public (or not) and where. The TDN also posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA)-related rulings from the same week. These include decisions from around the country. California Track: Santa Anita Date: 09/06/2023 Licensee: Edwin Maldonado, jockey Penalty: Three-day suspension Violation: Careless...

Like countless owners, Marshall Gramm has a race circled on the first Saturday in May. But it's not the "Greatest Two Minutes in Sports," aka the Kentucky Derby. Gramm's affection is for a race that lasts approximately three minutes, a 1 3/4-mile event at Oaklawn Park with a history, albeit, esoteric, of its own. The "Trail's End," a starter-allowance marathon, is traditionally the final race each season at Oaklawn, the Hot Springs, AR, venue that opened in 1905. The 1 3/4-mile race debuted in 1972 and has been won the...

Have saddle, will travel--a well-worn aphorism. But is it a wise one to emulate in this time of the coronavirus? Within the past week, Flavien Prat, Victor Espinoza, Eduard Rojas Fernandez, Luis Saez and Martin Garcia have all tested positive for the virus--a chain of events that can be traced back to Los Alamitos over the July 4 weekend, said Derek Lawson, Prat's agent. "There's no question that that's where it happened," he said, of Prat's infection occurring at the Southern California facility. But against a broader surge in coronavirus...

According to his agent, Derek Lawson, top California rider Flavien Prat has tested positive for the coronavirus. Because he left California to ride Saturday at Keeneland, Prat was required to take a test Sunday before being allowed to ride at Del Mar. The test results were positive and Prat had to take off all his mounts. "These athletes, they know their bodies," Lawson said. "When I picked him up at the airport, he said, 'I think I have it.'" Lawson said that Prat is feeling fine and will return to...

Triple Crown-winning jockey Victor Espinoza has tested positive for coronavirus and will be out of action for an undetermined period of time, Daily Racing Form reported late Friday. He is the third rider who competed at Los Alamitos Saturday, July 4, who has tested positive. Jockey Martin Garcia was en route to ride the Indiana Derby program at Indiana Grand Wednesday when he was informed of his positive, while Luis Saez, who was aboard Uncle Chuck in the GIII Los Alamitos Derby, rode two races at Keeneland Friday before his...

Jockey Martin Garcia has tested positive for COVID-19 and was forced to miss his scheduled ride aboard Miss T Too (Into Mischief) for trainer Bill Mott in Wednesday night's GIII Indiana Oaks. Daily Racing Form was first to report the news after speaking to Garcia's agent Jay Fedor. Garcia was replaced by Julien Leparoux. DRF said that Garcia, who had ridden at Ellis Park, Los Alamitos and Prairie Meadows in the last seven days, was tested Tuesday at Keeneland, a requirement to ride at the meeting which began Wednesday afternoon....