My Boy Prince

The Brad Cox barn captured three of the five graded stakes on Saturday's program, highlighted by the 11-length victory by Spendthrift Farm's 'Tdn Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Further Ado (Gun Runner) in the GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes. (video courtesy HBPA) "They are all doing good this morning and will most likely ship to Churchill Downs [Monday Apr. 6]," Cox a assistant Trace Messina said of Further Ado, GI Resolute Racing Madison winner Eclatant (Into Mischief) and GIII Commonwealth winner Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming). The three victories moved Cox's...

The Jockey Club of Canada named the finalists for the 2025 Sovereign Awards and the winners, along with Canada's Horse of the Year, will be revealed during the 51st annual ceremony to be held on Thursday, Apr. 23 at Paramount Eventspace in Woodbridge, Ontario, the club said via a press release on Friday. The nominees for this year's Sovereign Awards include a pair of past King's Plate winners in Canadian MGSW Caitlinhergrtness (Omaha Beach)--a finalist for Older Main Track Female--and last year's hero Mansetti (Collected), who was named in the...

Litigation (Twirling Candy) posted four victories last season, with three in a row at one point, and he got right back to winning ways in his 2026 bow. Breaking his maiden in the middle of his campaign last year, he picked up two additional wins in succession against allowance company sprinting on the grass, defeating GISW Troubleshooting (Not This Time) while he was at it, and rallied belatedly at Keeneland in October to miss collecting his fourth in a row. He redeemed himself two back Oct. 31 when he defeated...

Silawi (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) continued a big day internationally for Wathnan Racing Saturday, giving the ownership group a second top-level win on the day in the GI Pattison Canadian International Stakes at Woodbine. Making his North American debut, the Irish-bred gelded son of Dubawi has racked up plenty of air miles through the years, though perhaps not as many as race favorite Nations Pride (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}). Silawi spent much of his formative years in France, breaking his maiden in his fifth start at Saint-Cloud in April 2023. Second in...

It's not often considered a head-scratching race when a reigning Canadian Horse of the Year wins over a strong field that includes two other Canadian champions, but that's exactly what happened Saturday in the GII Bet365 Highlander Stakes at Woodbine. Sure, 4-5 choice Patches O'Houlihan (Reload) won, just like he was supposed to, but it was the manner in which he won--veering out badly--that left perhaps more questions than answers. As a precaution after pulling up, he was vanned back to his barn and examined by veterinarians. It was quickly...

In a study of perseverance, Lagynos (c, 3, Kantharos--Steamy, by Speightstown), who has now run in 10 consecutive black-type events this year, finally got one to call his own when capturing the $300,000 GIII Commonwealth Turf Stakes Saturday at Churchill Downs. Last seen fifth in a troubled trip Oct. 26 in the GIII Bryan Station Stakes at Keeneland and seventh in the GIII Nashville Derby Aug. 31 at Kentucky Downs, Lagynos races for HRH Prince Sultan Bin Mishal Al Saud. "He deserved this win," said Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen....

With less than a week until the Breeders' Cup World Championships, you can pregame with a bevy of graded stakes races across three tracks and two types of surfaces on Saturday. Heading up to the Belmont At The Big A meet, the New York Racing Association has carded a trio of graded contests. Chief among them is the GII Mother Goose Stakes for 3-year-old fillies going nine furlongs on the dirt. At first glance, this appears to be a street fight between the pair that ran second and third to...

Leading the graded stakes action on Saturday, there is something gruff and boomy about the barbaric 'yalp' of the European invaders who are set to swarm Woodbine's gates on Turf Champions Day. One can understand this hoard's verve as the booty is worth pillaging since three out of the four Grade I races on the docket are connected to some highly-prized Breeders' Cup 'Win and You're In' tickets.   Euros Wind Trebuchets Out of this auspicious Canadian slate, first up is the GI Natalma Stakes which offers entry into the...

SARATOGA SPRINGS - When one of Bob Baffert's horses is doing well, the Hall of Fame trainer expects a big effort. That's why 'TDN Rising Star' Prince of Monaco (Speightstown) has made his second cross-country trip in the last two months. That's why he is right here, in Saratoga, getting ready to run in the $500,000 GI Allen Jerkens Memorial on Saturday. "It's a tough race, there are no easy spots," Baffert said by phone from his summer base at Del Mar in California. "Anytime you have a Grade I,...

The absence of the 'Grizzly Bear' has not put a damper on Saturday's GI Alabama Stakes, neither for the connections in it nor likely for the betting public, but despite Candied (Candy Ride {Arg}) being the class of the field, it's not as cut and dry of an affair. Currently sitting cosy at 7-5 on the morning line, Candied is deservedly the one to beat as victory in the GI Darley Alcibiades Stakes, a third in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, and a gutsy second to 'TDN Rising Star'...

Mark Casse has only won the Queen's Plate/King's Plate three times, which is a little surprising when you consider how he dominates racing at Woodbine. But when 13 Canadian-breds line up for Saturday's first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown Casse will hold a clear upper hand. Among his three horses are 7-5 morning line favorite My Boy Prince (Cairo Prince) and 2-1 second choice Essex Serpent (Honor Code). He will also send out long shot Midnight Mascot (Army Mule), who is 10-1 in the line. He believes this year's...

Despite rearing at the jump, it was My Boy Prince (Cairo Prince) who got up in good order to take the Plate Trial Stakes at Woodbine on Saturday afternoon. This effort was the third stakes win in a row for the grey, who has proven nearly unbeatable at his hometrack--having not won just twice in seven jumps at Woodbine, on debut in May 2023, when he ran second and last September in the GI Summer Stakes on the grass when he again played bridesmaid. He ran a respectable third in...