Mystic Guide

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency GUARANA RETURNS AT CHURCHILL 8th-CD, $85K, Opt. Clm. ($80K), 3yo/up, f/m, 7f, 4:46p.m. Dual Grade I winner and 'TDN Rising Star' GUARANA (Ghostzapper) makes her seasonal bow Thursday beneath the Twin Spires. Demolishing the field in her debut by 14 3/4 lengths in the slop at Keeneland last April, the bay followed suit with another dominant win in Belmont's GI Acorn S. in June. Capturing the GI CCA Oaks at Saratoga next out July 21, she was second when last seen in the GI Cotillion...

A few weeks ago, the GIII Matt Winn S. was added as a points race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, reconstituted when Churchill Downs relocated the 2020 'Run for the Roses' to Sept. 5. The race took on added importance earlier this week, when officials at Belmont Park announced that its marquee race, the GI Belmont S., would be the first of this year's Triple Crown races and take place June 20. Saturday's first graded stakes of the season beneath the Twin Spires therefore takes on added importance...

When Sheikh Mohammed purchased Stonerside back in 2008, trainers previously employed by Bob McNair's massive operation, such as Mike Stidham, were kept on board provisionally as the acquired stable of runners transitioned to carry the famed maroon-and-white silks of Darley. "The deal was that we were able to stay in with the horses that we had at the time," said Stidham, who saddled the Stonerside-bred Tizaqueena (Tiznow) to a pair of graded tallies as well as Grade I placing at Keeneland for Darley. "And once those horses were retired, we...

Mystic Guide romped to 'TDN Rising Star'-dom in his second attempt at Fair Grounds Saturday after finishing a troubled third sprinting on debut here Feb. 15. Saving ground in fifth through a :24.07 opening quarter, the flashy chestnut moved off the fence through a :48.59 half-mile. Creeping up two wide on the backstretch, he was four wide turning for home and rolled clear in the lane to win as he pleased. Amani's Eagle (American Pharoah) completed the exacta. Five-time Grade I winner Music Note is also responsible for a juvenile...