Taken by the Wind

HOT SPRINGS, Ark.--To quote the seemingly prim and proper Lady Mary of Downton Abbey fame, "Heavens!" When Counting Stars (Honor A. P.--Paynterbynumbers, by Paynter) was ready to take command up the backstretch, the filly was up to the task at hand and she rolled home a winner in the GII Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn--hence the use of such strong, genteel language. The chilly and overcast weather on Friday evening did nothing to dampen the spirits of owners West Point Thoroughbreds. On the twisty and winding 'Road to the Kentucky Oaks'...

HOT SPRINGS, Ark.--Bearing witness to Thoropedo Anna (Fast Anna) putting on a show down the stretch at Oaklawn Park in the 2024 edition of the GII Fantasy Stakes before she became a champion was a special moment in her career. The track will honor the now-retired mare on Friday with a bobblehead giveaway, which in no uncertain terms equals immortality. On Friday in Hot Springs, the latest batch of 3-year-old fillies will take to the track in the Fantasy and chase a cut of the $1 million purse, plus a...

The two new names on the GI Kentucky Derby trail each exemplify one of the principal alternatives to what nowadays feels like the ideal route, namely to exploit the imbalances of the commercial market with a breed-to-race program. Nobody having ever operated one of those on a scale as lavish as the one that produced Sovereignty (Into Mischief), the choice between these other models is strictly practical. If you can run to $2.4 million for a Saratoga yearling, as did Speedway Stable for the Into Mischief colt we now know...

There was only one graded stakes race on the road to the GI Kentucky Oaks this weekend, but it was a big one. The GII Fasig-Tipton Rachel Alexandra Stakes has produced 12 winners of the Oaks. The list includes last year's Oaks champion Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro) and 2023 winner Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief). So, it meant something when Bella Ballerina (Street Sense) scored a game victory to win the race by a half-length, especially when you consider that she is a half-sister to Pretty Mischievous. So, here goes, your...

Taken by the Wind (Rock Your World), still undefeated in three starts for trainer Ken McPeek, cemented her place in the top three on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks Saturday, gutting out a gate-to-wire win in the Fasig-Tipton Silverbulletday Stakes at Fair Grounds. Making her first start since a triumphant win in the Road to the Oaks opener in last year's GIII Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill Downs Sept, 13, the daughter from the first crop of Spendthrift Farm stallion Rock Your World began her career going a sloppy seven...

You probably know that Terry Bradshaw won four Super Bowls, has been inducted into the College and Pro Halls of Fame and was the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 1978. You probably know that Bradshaw has been a mainstay on Fox's coverage of the NFL since 1994. But you probably didn't know that Bradshaw owns a piece of a possible starter in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Along with Magdalena Racing and Graham Leveston, Bradshaw is the co-owner of the GIII Pocahontas Stakes winner Taken by the Wind (Rock...

His fans might not know that former NFL quarterback Terry Bradshaw is also a lifelong horse lover. This year, he's hoping to get to the Breeders' Cup with his filly Taken by the Wind, the winner of the GIII Pocahontas Stakes. The enthusiastic owner joined us on this week's TDN Writers' Room.  

Sponsored by Pedigrees360. How timely, that the first starting points for the 2026 Classics should be offered at Churchill even as the big spenders were driving each other to record heights up the road at Keeneland in their quest for a horse for 2027. Admittedly Saturday's initial rehearsals offered alternatives to those who cannot spend millions at the September Sale. One winner was out of a homebred Cowboy Cal mare, admittedly using a stallion who banked 12 seven-figure sales at Keeneland; while the other was a $20,000 discovery, inevitably by...

Beyond the headline-worthy feat that Taken by the Wind (Rock Your World) provided trainer Ken McPeek with his record fifth win in Saturday's GIII Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill Downs are several beneath-the-radar nuggets. For starters, even though McPeek has recently dominated a stakes that has a 56-year history, his victories in that fixture for 2-year-old fillies have all come since 2015, meaning that Taken by the Wind's 5 ¼-length score was the fifth by a McPeek trainee in the last 11 editions of that race. And it's not like all...

Trainer Ken McPeek picked up his fifth win in the GIII Pocahontas Stakes Saturday when Taken by the Wind (Rock Your World) blew home in style to earn the first available points on the 2026 Road to the Kentucky Oaks. Entered off a debut win on a rained-off main track at Saratoga in $75,000 maiden optional claiming company going seven furlongs Aug. 21, the 6-1 shot clearly relished the extra furlong Saturday. Speedy through the first yards but outrun out of the chute by a trio of rivals, Taken by...