Preakness Stakes

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - It was a low-key celebration for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott Saturday night after Sovereignty (Into Mischief) continued his stampede through the 3-year-old male division. "Put a couple hamburgers on the grill," Mott said, sitting at his desk in his office at the Oklahoma Training Track on a soggy Sunday morning at Saratoga. "Good hamburgers, by the way. They were from Fresh Market. That was it. Then early to bed." When Mott got his barn Sunday morning, he looked down his shedrow and saw the...

Even though Nysos (Nyquist) was 1-10 on the board, Saturday's GII San Diego Handicap was a race he didn't have to win. He sprinted in his last two starts and had never been the distance of a mile-and-a-sixteenth. He also has a couple of large gaps in his form, suggesting that trainer Bob Baffert was having a hard time keeping him together. None of that mattered in the San Diego. Flavin Prat, who flew in from Saratoga for the ride, rode a patient race and saved ground into the second...

Fasig-Tipton has catalogued 222 selected yearlings for the 104th Saratoga Sale, to be held on Monday and Tuesday, Aug. 4 and 5, in Saratoga Springs, New York, it was announced Wednesday morning. Sessions will begin each evening at 6:30 pm in the Humphrey S. Finney Sales Pavilion. "We have assembled another outstanding group of yearlings for Saratoga, the type of quality that buyers expect to find at the number one ranked yearling sale by percentage of Grade I winners," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. The Saratoga Sale is once again...

I knew it was coming, but that doesn't dull the sadness. I posted online last week that I was sad about the news D. Wayne Lukas had been put in hospice care and retired from training, but it's complicated to explain why I feel so profoundly sad about the passing of a man that I'd only spoken with a few times briefly in my life. A lot of it has to do with a connection I had with my dad that he unknowingly helped fuel many times over more than...

Those who have been following racing for, oh, 10 years or less, they may not quite understand the impact Wayne Lukas had on horse racing or how much he changed what it meant to be a successful horse trainer. The Wayne Lukas who was still training when his 90th birthday was just around the corner transformed into your favorite uncle or grandfather. He became the sport's elder statesman. There was a sweet and gentle side to the man that everyone started calling "Coach" because he was once a high school...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - After a post-race visit for a beer and some hors d'oeuvres at the downtown Whitman Brewing Company, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott was home, conked out on the recliner. "I must have slept in the chair for an hour," Mott said. "I turned the TV on and, at the count of three, I was gone. I woke up at midnight and went to bed." And that is how Mott spent his night after his talented 3-year-old colt Sovereignty (Into Mischief) turned the 157th running of...

The 2025 Triple Crown season delivered something even more elusive than a sweep of the series by a single horse--a legitimately intriguing rivalry between two talented colts that could end up on par with the likes of Affirmed vs. Alydar or Sunday Silence vs. Easy Goer. The afterglow of the GI Belmont Stakes at Saratoga includes plenty of anticipation and speculation about when one-two finishers Sovereignty (Into Mischief) and Journalism (Curlin) might meet again. In the meantime, here are seven takeaways from Saturday's card at the Spa. 1) The Preakness...

The field for the GI Belmont Stakes, ranked in "likeliest winner" order. 1) JOURNALISM (c, Curlin--Mopotism, by Uncle Mo) O-Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Bridlewood Farm, Don Alberto Stable, Robert LaPenta, Elayne Stables 5 LLC, Mrs John Magnier, Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith; B-Don Alberto Corporation (KY); T-Michael W. McCarthy. Sales history: $825,000 Ylg '23 FTSAUG. Lifetime Record: MGISW, 7-5-1-1, $2,838,880. Last start: WON May 17 GI Preakness Stakes. For most handicappers, the decision to bet on or against Journalism will come down to whether you think he's still riding an upward...

Sandman (Tapit), coming off a third-place effort in the GI Preakness Stakes, shipped from Belmont Park to Saratoga Race Course Monday morning and he is expected to make his next start in the July 26 GII Jim Dandy Stakes. "I wanted to give him a little bit of time," trainer Mark Casse said. "He ran all winter long and I knew when we decided to run him back in the Preakness that the Belmont was going to be out of the question." Sandman earned a spot in the GI Kentucky...

Neither jockey Flavien Prat or Umberto Rispoli will be sanctioned for their rides in a roughly run renewal of last Saturday's GI Preakness Stakes at Pimlico. Prat was aboard Goal Oriented (Not This Time) while Rispoli guided home the dramatic winner Journalism (Curlin). The two banged into each other in a much-discussed incident in upper stretch and impeded Clever Again (American Pharaoh). Journalism went on to run down longshot Gosger (Nyquist) in improbable fashion by a half-length. Goal Oriented finished fourth, while the pacesetting Clever Again tired to finish last...

Harvey A. Clarke Racing Stables' Gosger (Nyquist), who opened a five-length lead in the May 17 GI Preakness Stakes into the final furlong before being run down in the final strides by Journalism (Curlin), will reportedly not contest the final leg of this year's Triple Crown, the GI Belmont Stakes at Saratoga June 7 trainer Brendan Walsh told Daily Racing Form Wednesday. The conditioner first mentioned the decision on At the Races With Steve Byk in the immediate aftermath of the Preakness Monday morning. Trained by Brendan Walsh, the homebred...

Chef and racehorse owner Bobby Flay joined this week's TDN Writers' Room to discuss Crudo, a colt that he co-owns and that ran away with the Sir Barton Stakes on Preakness weekend. Will Crudo head to the Belmont next? Flay addresses this topic and much more.