Time To Dazzle

After packing in so many rehearsals the previous week, as close to the Breeders' Cup as modern trainers might dare run a horse, the stakes schedule slackened off steeply last weekend. But that didn't mean the stallion of the moment had to do the same. Not This Time duly came up with a 1-2 in the GII Franklin Stakes at Keeneland, maintaining his momentum after five stakes winners the previous weekend were crowned by a 1-2-3 in the GIII Jessamine Stakes. It was not just because of this hot streak,...

Tracy Farmer's Time To Dazzle, last seen finishing second behind In Our Time  in a 6 1/2-furlong optional claimer over the Kentucky Downs turf Sept. 10, turned the tables on that rival with a powerful last-to-first rally to win the GII Franklin Stakes at Keeneland Sunday. The 3-1 shot settled at the back of the field as In Our Time battled favored Luna Louska (Complexity) on the front end through a blistering opening quarter in :20.65. In Our Time skipped away entering the straight and was clear as the half...

Laurel Park staged the Maryland Million program on Saturday, and arguably the best Maryland-bred filly in training, The Estate of the Late R. Larry Johnson's Future Is Now (Great Notion), will have every chance to surpass the $1-million mark in career earnings when she defends her title in Sunday's $400,000 GII Franklin Stakes at Keeneland. Since she is bred outside of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the 5-year-old races for just a $300,000 pot, and she'll jump favored to win for the fourth time in five starts this season. The fresh-up...

Long live the classy mares. A fan favorite and honest as the day is long, Future Is Now (Great Notion) was ultra game in the lane to take home the GIII Caress Stakes at Saratoga. Off the board just once in her last 10 starts, the Michael Trombetta-trained star has won six of them including the GII Intercontinental Stakes and GII Franklin Stakes last year, and she kicked off her 2025 season Apr. 13 at Keeneland with a nose victory in the GIII Giant's Causeway Stakes over multiple Group/Graded stakes-placed...

The fall isn't really, The Fall, until Keeneland arrives. Well, get your steaming pot of burgoo ready, because it's here. Scheduled for Friday, Oct. 6, the meet's opening day at the Old Keene Farm is upon us and the 10-race card includes a trio of graded stakes which all have Breeders' Cup 'Win and You're In' implications. Leading off is the GII Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix S. for 3-year-olds and up going six furlongs on the Main Track. Suitors for the GI Breeders' Cup Qatar Racing Sprint include MSW Bango...