Tejano Twist

Rome was not built in a day. So at a time when Derby dreams can only be maintained by one horse dashing those of several others, let's celebrate a revival that should give hope to any now finding themselves obliged to retreat and regroup. This time last year Built (Hard Spun) was slithering down the sophomore pyramid. He had started out thrashing a smart horse in the Gun Runner Stakes, but each of the three subsequent Fair Grounds trials went worse. He did make Churchill on the first Saturday in...

His contentious prohibition from Churchill penalizes many others besides Bob Baffert and his loyal patrons. A shot at the GI Kentucky Derby, once-in-a-lifetime for most, is also being denied to everyone else with a stake in his horses' development, from those on duty at the foaling shed to the pre-trainer to the feed company. And, of course, there's nothing like a Derby winner to market a stallion. As things have turned out, a setback means that Nyquist would have lost the services of Nysos even had he moved to another...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 4th-KEE, $60K, Msw, 2yo, 4 1/2f, post time: 2:45 p.m. ET Tom Durant's TEJANO TWIST becomes the first starter for the much-hyped freshman sire Practical Joke for the potent 2-year-old barn of Bret Calhoun. A son of the Grade III-placed Haley's Lolipop (Cuvee), the homebred is a half-brother to Game Day Play (Violence), a second-out maiden winner last August and two starts later victorious in the Clevor Trevor S. at Remington Park. Second dam Two Foxie (Fair Skies) produced the fleet GSW & GISP Maddalena...