Road to the Kentucky Derby

Nearly (Not This Time), an impressive winner of two straight by a combined 14 1/4 lengths, will make his two-turn debut in Saturday's GIII Holy Bull S. at Gulfstream Park. The Centennial Farms colorbearer earned a field-best 97 Beyer Speed Figure defeating three rivals in an optional claimer going seven furlongs at Gulfstream most recently Jan. 2. Produced by a winning Mineshaft mare, Nearly worked a bullet four furlongs in :48.59 (1/25) at Palm Beach Downs Jan. 24. He is the 9-5 morning-line favorite in the 1 1/16-mile Holy Bull,...

Brunetti Dugan Stables, Black Type Thoroughbreds, Steve Adkisson and Swinbank Stables' Six Speed (Not This Time), last-out winner of the UAE 2000 Guineas Trial, a conditions event over 1400 meters at Meydan Jan. 2, proved that an extra furlong was no bother whatsoever when striding out a comprehensive winner of Friday's G3 2000 Guineas going the metric mile. With Jake Ballis's Black Type Thoroughbreds and Reagan Swinbank's Swinbank Stables having bought into the 3-year-old colt this past week and with 20 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby at...

Golden Tempo (c, 3, Curlin--Carrumba, by Bernardini), tabbed as a 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' in a last-to-first debut victory sprinting at Fair Grounds Dec. 20, ran by them all once again to stay perfect with a 3/4-length victory in Saturday's GIII Lecomte S. at Fair Grounds, good for 20 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. Mesquite (Union Rags) rounded out the Cherie DeVaux-trained exacta. Longshot Carson Street (Street Sense), forwardly placed throughout, held on for third. The 5-2 favorite raced toward the rear through fractions of...

MGISW, 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' and Eclipse Award-finalist Ted Noffey (Into Mischief) had his first work on the year when he breezed three furlongs in :37.01 Friday morning at Palm Beach Downs. "It went super," said trainer Todd Pletcher. "Everything went great. He did it well in hand with good enthusiasm. It seems like he's maintained his fitness level fairly well, so we're very pleased. He's put on some weight and filled out, but he was a pretty mature 2-year-old, physically. He was a good-sized colt to begin...

A field of 11, led by Gun Runner S. winner Chip Honcho (Connect), will line up in Saturday's GIII Lecomte S. at Fair Grounds, good for 20-10-6-4-2 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. The Gun Runner was Chip Honcho's first try around two turns and third career start for Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen. The Leland Ackerley Racing colorbearer is drawn widest of all in post 11. The re-opposing Ohio-bred Crown the Buckeye (Yaupon), favored at 4-1 on the Lecomte morning-line, set the pace and tired late to...

Bidding is now open for the flash sale of recent Springboard Mile Stakes victor Express Kid (Bodexpress), announced Fasig-Tipton Digital Monday via press release. Consigned by Paramount Sales as agent, the California-bred son of Bodexpress was most recently seen winning the aforementioned Remington Park marquee and collecting 10 points toward the Road to the Kentucky Derby series. The 6 1/4-length win earned him a career-best Beyer figure of 85. Express Kid has been on the board in four of five lifetime starts and claims earnings of $236,902 with one of...

When the GII Los Alamitos Futurity--formerly the Hollywood Futurity, which was also known for a time as the CashCall Futurity--was renamed in 2014, perhaps it should have been labeled as the Bob Baffert Futurity, as the Hall of Famer has now won the race a record 15 times since 1997, including seven straight from 2014 to 2020. To put an exclamation point on his domination in the race, the silver-haired trainer finished one-two-three Saturday, with 3-5 choice Litmus Test (c, 2, Nyquist--Study Hard, by Malibu Moon) bringing home a Baffert...

It was round two of their first match-up, and this time Paladin (Gun Runner--Secret Sigh, by Tapit) came home best over Renegade (Into Mischief) to score not just his first black-type, but also secure 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby in the 112th running of the GII Remsen Stakes. The pair was last seen Oct. 17 at this venue when they brought their battle down to the wire in a maiden special weight contest, and Renegade officially crossed the line first by a head. He was later...

Trainer Rick Dutrow, Jr. had the spot picked out immediately following Igniter (Volatile)'s impressive maiden win going a one-turn mile at Aqueduct Sept. 27. "Right away I said, 'Man, we got to sit on him and run him in the Remsen,'" Dutrow said. "'If he's looking for two turns, he's gonna be one of the ones.'" Igniter is one of 12 set for a fantastic renewal of the GII Remsen Stakes going 1 1/8 miles at the Big A Saturday. Drawn in post seven with Manny Franco in the irons,...

A total of 20 stakes worth $3.977-million will highlight Turfway's Winter/Spring meeting and is anchored by the 55th running of the GIII Jeff Ruby Stakes--with Kentucky Derby points on the line--Saturday, Mar. 21, the track announced Monday morning. Racing at the Northern Kentucky institution will be kicked off by the Holiday Meet Dec. 3-27 and will feature seven stakes led by Synthetic Championships Night Saturday, Dec. 13--which offers $1-million across four of those black-type contests. All stakes purses at both meets include contributions from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund. Combined,...

The 2025-2026 Road to the Kentucky Derby kicks off this weekend with the running of the GIII Iroquois Stakes going the one-turn mile at Churchill Downs on Sept. 13. The Road to the Kentucky Derby, launched in 2013, awards a scale of points to the top five finishers in selected qualifying races between September and April. The leaderboard determines the preference list for entry into the GI Kentucky Derby, limited to 20 runners. Up to three horses from overseas may qualify for the Derby. In addition to the 36-race Road...

The 2025-26 stakes schedule for Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots will be headed $1-million GII TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby on Mar. 21, according to a track release Wednesday. After an increase last season, Fair Grounds' Road to the Derby remains valued at $1.875 million. The track's 154th racing season will offer 56 stakes worth $8.65 million. Louisiana Derby Day will feature eight stakes totaling $2.65 million, headlined by the 113th Louisiana Derby at 1 3/16 miles. The race awards 100-50-25-15-10 points on the Road to the GI Kentucky Derby. The...