Oaklawn Park

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. The following rulings were reported on HISA's "rulings" portal and through the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) "pending" and "resolved" cases portals. Resolved ADMC Violations Dates: 04/21/2026 Licensee: Anthony F. Cunningham, trainer Penalty: A written Reprimand (per 9/26/23 HISA Guidance). Explainer: Vets' list medication violation for the presence of Omeprazole (Gastrogard)--a class C controlled substance--in a sample taken from Sound Doctrine on 3/20/26. Dates: 04/21/2026 Licensee: Scott E. Young,...

Five runaway winners top this week's rankings: their average margin of victory was 8 1/2 lengths. 5) HELEN'S REVENGE, AQU, 4/18-9th, 6f VIDEO Beyer Speed Figure-81 (f, 4, Solomini--Sign Off, by Distorted Humor) O-Les Blake. B-McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds & Spruce Lane Farm (NY). T-Linda Rice. J-Jose Lezcano. Already this year she had dominated in two starter races, for which she qualified by virtue of her December 2024 maiden win for $35,000 claiming and her 0-for-3 record in allowances and stakes. And now she delivers a career-best effort in dominating...

Red White and Blue Racing's Pashmina (Constitution), second in the Apr. 4 GIII Gazelle Stakes, will now take a shot in the May 1 GI Kentucky Oaks. The bay filly worked four furlongs over Belmont's dirt training track in :47.97 (19/88) Friday. It was her first breeze back since her pacesetting 1 1/4-length defeat to Always a Runner in the nine-furlong Gazelle. "She worked really good on Friday," trainer Rob Atras said. "The track was a little quick, the clocker said. I didn't think she was moving that fast, but...

White Abarrio (Race Day) and Sovereignty (Into Mischief) both exited their one-two finish in the GII Oaklawn Handicap Saturday in fine shape and connections were considering next steps Sunday morning. White Abarrio, the 2023 GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner, beat reigning Horse of the Year Sovereignty by two lengths, with Journalism (Curlin), the 2025 GI Preakness Stakes winner, finishing 1 1/4 lengths farther back in third. "It's rare you get to see something like that," White Abarrio's co-owner Mark Cornett said as the 7-year-old veteran was munching hay in his...

Taj Mahal (Nyquist) is on target for the May 16 GI Preakness Stakes following his romping victory in the Federico Tesio Stakes Saturday at Laurel Park. "It was really impressive," trainer Brittany Russell said Sunday. "You see a lot of these horses at home win the Tesio and go on to the Preakness and I thought to myself before the race, I hope he runs like 'wow.' You want to see a really big run from him to give you confidence that he should go on to the Preakness, and...

While there isn't a definitive path yet, next-race plans are pending for GI Apple Blossom Handicap victress Claret Beret (Not This Time), according to trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. The Florida-based mare has since returned to the Sunshine State. She posted a 105 Beyer figure in her upset over champion Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) Apr. 11 and her final time of 1:42.21 was the fastest running of the race since Horse of the Year Havre De Grace in 2011. Her speed figure is the highest in the country this year for a...

Maybe a touch earlier than expected, the rematch that the horse racing world pined for has arrived as reigning Horse of the Year Sovereignty (Into Mischief) will once again square off against the 2025 GI Preakness Stakes winner Journalism (Curlin) in the GII Oaklawn Handicap on Saturday. Both colts will be making their much-anticipated 4-year-old debuts in Hot Springs. Sovereignty turned in a spectacular season last year when he won the GI Kentucky Derby, GI Belmont Stakes and GI DK Travers Stakes. The Bill Mott trainee came down with a...

With two weeks remaining until the first Saturday in May, trainer Brad Cox's Barn 22 was active Friday morning at Churchill Downs where his trio of contenders recorded their penultimate works for the GI Kentucky Derby. Meanwhile down in Florida on Thursday, Renegade (Into Mischief) got his preparations for the big day underway with his first move since winning the GI Arkansas Derby for trainer Todd Pletcher last month. In Louisville at 5:15 a.m. (all times Eastern), Wathnan Racing's GI Curlin Florida Derby winner Commandment (Into Mischief) breezed five furlongs...

Edited Press Release Reigning Horse of the Year Sovereignty (Into Mischief) got his first feel of the Oaklawn racing surface Wednesday morning, galloping a mile in advance of his 2026 debut in Saturday's $1.2-million GII Oaklawn Handicap. Escorted to the track by his Hall of Fame trainer, Bill Mott, Sovereignty visited the indoor paddock and galloped after the first surface renovation break. "Easy day," Mott said. "He was ready to do something. He was happy that he was able to do something." The Oaklawn Handicap will mark the 4-year-old debut...

So this week it was Not This Time who landed two big punches: a 13th career Grade I scorer, Claret Beret, in the Apple Blossom Handicap; plus the Grade II prize named for his own sire Giant's Causeway, through In Our Time. If Not This Time and Into Mischief are going to slug it out all year long, they will of course be drawing on the same well--each extending a different branch of Storm Cat. How do you trademark that horse's legacy? Well, a couple of years ago we tapped...

A pair of 'TDN Rising Stars, presented by Hagyard', are part of this week's fastest maidens hit parade. 5) LA RASCASSE, KEE, 4/11-8th, 7f VIDEO Beyer Speed Figure- 84 (f, 3, by Authentic-Hallawallah, by Candy Ride (Arg)) O-Resolute Racing. B-Bill Klisit (Ky). T-Will Walden. J-Axel Concepcion. Champion Maryfield (Elusive Quality), who won the 2007 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, was disappointing as a producer, but her top earner Hallawallah (Candy Ride {Arg}) has a chance to burnish the family resume. Hallawallah earned $188,789 with no black type and Beyer...

The biggest news about the GI Kentucky Derby trail last week had nothing to do with the current crop of contenders, because with all of the points-awarding, nine-furlong preps having been run four weeks before America's most historic and important horse race, the lead-up to the Triple Crown season essentially goes into "sleep mode" for the middle part of April. But that could change for 2027. According to news first reported Apr. 7 by Mary Rampellini of Daily Racing Form (DRF), Oaklawn Park management is considering a schedule tweak that...