Tim Wilkin
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Michael McCarthy would like nothing more than to have the wildly popular Journalism (Curlin) return to Saratoga Race Course this summer. "It would be awfully nice if he could," McCarthy said just outside Journalism's stall at the Oklahoma Training Track Thursday morning. "Saratoga, as I keep on saying, is a magical place for horses and people alike. We would be more than happy to bring him back here if the opportunity presented itself." First things first. Journalism, owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Bridlewood Farm, Don...
Trainer Aggie Ordonez had a glittering prognosis for Om N Joy (Om) the day after her upset victory in the GII Santa Margarita Stakes where she collected a second graded win, and added that her stable star will now point to the GI Clement L. Hirsch at Del Mar. "She's wonderful." Short and sweet, but words all connections want to hear. Ordonez reported the filly was no worse for wear Sunday morning, and that she would have an 'easy 30 days' of training before focus shifted to Del Mar. The...
The GI Spendthrift Farm Hopeful Stakes is carded as the anchor for Monday's Labor Day festivities, which marks the last set of races for the season upstate. A scan through the past winners of the top-level affair over the past 25 years include a strong list of future sires. How about for starters Sky Mesa (2002), First Samurai (2005), Shanghai Bobby (2012) and Competitive Edge (2014)? More recently Practical Joke (2016), Mind Control (2018), Basin (2019), Jackie's Warrior (2020), Gunite (2021) and Forte (2022) got their picture taken before heading...
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The photo had just been taken in the winner's circle after the second race at Saratoga Race Course Thursday afternoon and before Cadenza (Charlatan) even left, Blake Cox was on the phone. It was his dad, Brad Cox, checking in from Kentucky. Brad Cox is the trainer of record for the stable, but it's 24-year-old son Blake, his top assistant, who runs the show in Saratoga. "I told him she ran good," Blake Cox said after walking out of the winner's circle and making his way...
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert is sending a strong contingent to Saratoga Race Course for Travers Day next Saturday. But he won't have a runner in the marquee event, the GI DraftKings Travers Stakes. Baffert said Wednesday that he is keeping 'TDN Rising Star' Goal Oriented (Not This Time) in California. He had originally been planning on shipping the lightly raced colt East but nixed that idea after Goal Oriented worked at Del Mar on Friday. He went seven furlongs in a 1:23.80 (1/2). "He...
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Two years ago, the GI Whitney Stakes was a whiteout. As in White Abarrio (Race Day), who crushed the field by 6 1/4 lengths. Fast forward to now and White Abarrio is back for another run in Saturday's $1 million Whitney, the premier race for older horses at the 40-day meet at Saratoga Race Course. The 6-year-old horse will look to shrug off a disappointing fourth place finish in the GI Met Mile last month and prove to his trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. that he deserves...
SARATOGA SPRINGS - The first six days of Saratoga have been hot. As in really hot. Blast furnace type hot. Trainers have felt it. Jockeys. Patrons. New York Racing Association executives. Parking attendants. Everybody. And, of course, the horses. But the stars of the show have been watched very carefully by those entrusted to take care of them. Some horses, like people, can't stand the heat. "Some horses can be extreme sweaters," trainer Gary Contessa said on yet another steamy Saratoga morning on Thursday outside his barn at the Oklahoma...
SARATOGA SPRINGS - Sometimes, you just know. When Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse breezed 2-year-old Curtain Call (Tiz the Law) at his training center in Ocala, Fla., he shipped owner Terry Finley a simple, yet powerful text message. It was a photo of a Porsche. Fast car. Translation, in case you needed it: Curtain Call, Casse believed, was going to be a swift one. His confidence was rewarded in Saturday's first race at Saratoga when Curtain Call dominated a six-furlong $100,000 maiden special weight and earned a 'TDN Rising...
SARATOGA SPRINGS - The best thing trainer George Weaver did at the 2025 OBS Spring Sale of 2-year-olds in-training was give a filly named Cy Fair (Not This Time) a second glance. On Thursday, opening day of the 40-day race meet at Saratoga, Weaver was sure glad he did. Cy Fair stamped herself as a keeper as she rolled to a 3 1/4-length win in a $100,000 Maiden race for 2-year-old fillies at 5 1/2 furlongs on the Mellon turf and earned a 'TDN Rising Star' in the process. Ridden...
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - From her office at Barn 83 on the Oklahoma Training Track, all trainer Cherie DeVaux has to do to get a glimpse of the horse is look out the window. And she sees him, across the way, standing in his stall. "He has this big, white face looking at you," DeVaux said, and she smiles. Gets her every time. 'He' is a 2-year-old colt who goes by the name of Dr. Agne (Into Mischief). He has never run but will on Friday when he starts his...
SARATOGA SPRINGS--When Neil Poznansky, sitting on the back of GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont Stakes champion Sovereignty (Into Mischief), saw jockey Junior Alvarado early Friday morning, he wore a wide smile. "How'd I do?" Poznansky said. Alvarado grinned back. No answer necessary. Sovereignty did what Poznansky, Alvarado and Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott wanted to see as he had his second work since winning the Belmont last month. Working in company with 4-year-old stablemate Jefferson Street (Street Sense), Sovereignty and Poznansky, Mott's assistant, covered four furlongs in :48.99...
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--The sting of missing the GI Kentucky Derby has faded. Ditto for the GI Preakness Stakes. Rodriguez (Authentic) is well rested, healthy and a ready to roll 'TDN Rising Star.' The colt, trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, will make his Triple Crown debut in Saturday's GI $2 million Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. Owned by SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Dianne Bashor, Determined Stables, Robert Masterson, Tom Ryan, Waves Edge Capital LLC and Catherine Donovan, Rodriguez turned heads earlier...