Mystik Dan

Reigning GI Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan (Goldencents) breezed five furlongs in :59.98 on his own over a 'good' Gulfstream Park main track Saturday morning, his final serious piece of work ahead of next Saturday's GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes. Robby Albarado was aboard for the move. "What I'd call a happy five-eighths," trainer Ken McPeek said. "It was just a maintenance breeze. I didn't have a horse I really felt good about him being in company with, and I don't think he needed the company. But he took...

Leading Horse of the Year candidate Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) has an early 2025 racing schedule that could include two races at Oaklawn or a trip to Dubai, trainer Kenny McPeek said Wednesday afternoon via a press release from the Hot Springs track. Thorpedo Anna's conditioner said the filly--nicknamed the 'Grizzly Bear' last season--is under consideration for the GII Azeri Stakes Mar. 8 and the GI Apple Blossom Handicap April 12. The Azeri is Oaklawn's final major prep for the Apple Blossom. McPeek said Thorpedo Anna might take on males...

GI Kentucky Derby hero Mystik Dan (Goldencents) and GISW Power Squeeze (Union Rags) went through their preparations Saturday morning at Gulfstream Park for the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational. The Ken McPeek trainee was out to breeze five furlongs Saturday morning, covering the distance in a bullet move of :59.48 (1/35). Depending on how he does during the week, and after one more work next week, the conditioner says a decision will be made at that point as to whether or not Mystik Dan will be entered in Gulfstream's marquee...

Firming into 13-5 favoritism in the final few clicks of the tote, Raging Torrent (Maximus Mischief) found his best stride well off the inside entering the final eighth of a mile and staved off a late challenge from 2024 GI Santa Anita Derby winner Stronghold (Ghostzapper) to win Thursday's GI Malibu Stakes, the traditional opening-day feature at the Great Race Place. Drawn widest in a field reduced to six with the early scratchings of Senior Officer (Into Mischief) and GI Breeders' Cup Sprint runner-up Bentornato (Valiant Minister) due to a...

Racing returns to Santa Anita Park Thursday with a stakes-packed card that includes three Grade I races interspersed with three Grade II events. The Arcadia track's traditional Boxing Day feature, the GI Malibu Stakes has attracted a field of eight, with returning GI Kentucky Derby hero Mystik Dan (Goldencents) garnering most of the pre-race headlines. Off since finishing eighth in the GI Belmont Stakes in June, the bay colt is 5-2 on the morning line and breaks from post six. He is cutting back to seven furlongs and makes his...

GI Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan (Goldencents) worked three furlongs in :37.80 (20/25) Sunday at Santa Anita in preparation for his return to the races in the GI Malibu Stakes Thursday. Mystik Dan was backed up to the seven-eighths pole before breaking into a gallop. He sped things up near the quarter pole, where he found company from a pair of horses to his inside, then continued to accelerate through the lane. After winning the Derby, Mystik Dan was second in the GI Preakness Stakes and has been unraced since...

After vanning nearly 1,900 miles from Fair Grounds in New Orleans, GI Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan (Goldencents) arrived at Santa Anita in good order Wednesday night, got a rest day on Thursday, and stretched his legs on California soil for the first time Friday morning. Backed up to the seven-eighths pole around 8:15 a.m. local time under exercise rider Tony Gutierrez, Mystik Dan galloped about nine furlongs, then took two turns around the paddock before heading back to Barn 54, where he is staying. Trainer Kenny McPeek was not...

It's great to see Kenny McPeek heading to California for the GI Malibu Stakes with (GI) Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan. However, it's disappointing that he doesn't have a flight to catch. Instead, he has to travel by van from Louisiana to California. Our industry needs to improve connectivity between the East and West Coasts and the South if we want our racing to survive and thrive. We need to simplify the logistics so that trainers feel more comfortable shipping their horses nationwide. Graded stakes need to be coordinated around...

Mystik Dan (Goldencents) will be paraded in the Fair Grounds paddock Saturday. Four G Racing, Lance Gasaway, Daniel Hamby, III, and Valley View Farm's GI Kentucky Derby winner will join the field for the $150,000 Louisiana Champions Day Classic during the walkover to the paddock and will remain there throughout the race, between approximately 1:25 p.m. and 1:45 p.m. CT. Mystik Dan is expected to winter at Fair Grounds as trainer Ken McPeek plans out his 4-year-old campaign.

Trainer Ken McPeek, who campaigned GI Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan (Goldencents) and GI Kentucky Oaks winner Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna), will be awarded the 2024 Big Sport of Turfdom award, the Turf Publicists of America announced Monday. The award, which recognizes a person who enhances coverage of Thoroughbred racing through cooperation with media, will be presented at the University of Arizona Race Track Program's annual awards luncheon held Dec. 10. "Ken and his team have had an outstanding year with multiple triumphs on not only our sport's biggest stage...

There are no rules or even guidelines when it comes to choosing horses or humans for Eclipse Awards. There is though, at least in the human categories, conventional wisdom. Just pick the person whose stable earned the most money. That's what most voters do. If you base your vote on that criteria, Chad Brown is the obvious pick for trainer of the year. Through Nov. 9, his stable has earned $29,707,240. Steve Asmussen is second at $25,736,730. Brown leads all trainers in graded stakes wins (46) and Grade I wins...

The number that best sums up this year's Breeders' Cup is :44.96. That's the sizzling opening half-mile split for the GI Classic, and 'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) utilized it to the utmost advantage on Saturday, propelling himself to the winner's circle with one of his customary, locomotive-like late kicks that had come up just shy of victory in three previous attempts at 10 furlongs. As a relentless long-strider with a penchant for leaning in and being a magnet for trip trouble during his stretch runs, Sierra Leone...