Todd Pletcher

2nd-Keeneland, $110,000, Msw, 4-19, 3yo, 7f, 1:28.47, ft, 7 1/4 lengths. CRUDO (c, 3, Justify--Blossomed, by Deputy Minister) was looking to atone for a debut fourth at odds-on at Gulfstream Feb. 8 in which he had some trouble at the break but was nevertheless there to win the race in upper stretch before weakening late. Favored this time at 44-100, the $350,000 Keeneland November weanling purchase was fastest of the sextet into stride and quickly opened up on his rivals, requiring just :24.02 to negotiate the first couple of furlongs...

Friday's GIII Baird Doubledogdare Stakes at Keeneland has all the trappings of a high-level race as a salty group of seven older fillies and mares have assembled to go a mile and a sixteenth on the main track. Made the 8-5 choice on Nick Tammaro's morning-line, Candied (Candy Ride {Arg}) makes her 4-year-old debut for trainer Todd Pletcher. In 2024, the filly finished off the board in only one Grade I race out of the five. She was last seen running third in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff at...

2nd-KEE, $90K, Msw, 2yo, 4 1/2f, 1:32 p.m. ET. Owned by Epic Horses, EPIC DESIRE (Uncle Mo) is ready for his unveiling. Out of Brooklynsway (Giant Gizmo)--who incidently won the GIII Doubledogdare Stakes which appears later on this card--the colt is trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher. Epic Desire's full-sister is MGISW Adare Manor. She was a $2.8-million purchase by Katsumi Yoshida at the Fasig-Tipton Fall Mixed Sale last year. Brooklynsway also claims current 3-year-old filly in-training Nosleeptilbrooklyn (Ghostzapper) and she foaled a filly by Curlin Feb. 9. TJCIS...

River Thames (Macleans's Music), who was most recently third in the GI Blue Grass Stakes, will not go in the GI Kentucky Derby and will instead use the extra two weeks off to prepare for the GI Preakness Stakes. The story was first reported by the Daily Racing Form's David Grening. "We just felt like the Preakness gave him a little more time and it felt like that was a better spot," said Elliott Walden, the president of WinStar Farm, which co-owns the colt along with the China Horse Club....

9th-Gulfstream, $43,000, Msw, 4-10, 3yo, f, 1mT, 1:35.60, fm, 2 1/4 lengths. OBEISSANTE (f, 3, Into Mischief--Lucky Folie {SW, $118,292}, by Distorted Humor) was unveiled on the Gulfstream turf in a sprint Feb. 15 and finished fifth. Drawn along the rail for her first two turn test and as a 7-2 shot here, the homebred settled midpack under a firm hold heading to the initial call. Obeissante bided her time up the backstretch, but around the far turn she began to get into gear by executing a sweeping move to...

Prep season is over, and now it's time to get down to business. A deep field will line up for the GI Kentucky Oaks, led by the undefeated Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro). In most years, she'd be 4-5 or lower, but there are enough quality fillies lining up for the race that you might see 2-1 on her. Since the last installment, La Cara (Street Sense) moved up the charts with a win in the GI Ashland S., Ballerina d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro) nosed out Early On (Union Rags) to win...

3rd-KEE, $120k, OC125k/NW1, 3yo, 6f, 2:04 p.m. ET. Jim Bakke and Gerry Isbister's Tip Top Thomas (Volatile), who was tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' following his debut win at Saratoga last August, returns to the races for the first time since finishing second behind Chancer McPatrick (McKinzie) in the GI Champagne Stakes last October. Trained by Todd Pletcher, the $160,000 FTKOCT yearling is a half-brother to multiple stakes winner Gray Attempt (Graydar) and to multiple graded placed Dua (Arrogate). CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm's Gunmetal (Gun Runner), who scratched out...

Jockey Kendrick Carmouche notched his 4,000th career victory on Saturday at Aqueduct Racetrack, guiding Whisper Hill Farm's Crimson Light (City of Light) to a half-length victory in the eighth race. Carmouche, a 41-year-old native of Vinton, Louisiana, engineered a pace-pressing trip for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. Crimson Light dropped back to third at the stretch call, but Carmouche persevered aboard the colt to overtake the leaders and deliver the signature score. A smiling Carmouche celebrated the win with the Big A faithful, who flocked to the apron to...

We're on the cusp of the one-month mark to the GI Kentucky Derby and this Saturday marks the most important weekend of nine-furlong preps on the Triple Crown calendar, with significant stakes at Santa Anita, Keeneland, and Aqueduct. Next week the Top 12 expands to the Top 20 as the actual field begins to take shape. 1) CITIZEN BULL (c, Into Mischief-No Joke, by Distorted Humor) O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Dianne Bashor, Determined Stables, Robert E. Masterson, Tom J. Ryan, Waves Edge Capital...

5th-GP, $94k, Msw, 3yo, 7f, 1:26p.m. ET Though not the most expensive in the field, TOTAL SENSATION (Speightstown) comes into this race with perhaps the best-known family as the son of Eblouissante (Bernardini), the half-sister to Hall of Famer Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire}). A $300,000 yearling from KEESEP in 2023, and racing for the partnership of Qatar Racing, CHC, Inc., and Trilogy USA, the colt is a half-brother to GSW Confidence Game (Candy Ride {Arg}) and GSP The Process (More Than Ready) from the family of the aforementioned Horse of...

Gulfstream Park's GI Curlin Florida Derby tips off one hour ahead of Oaklawn's GI Arkansas Derby on Saturday and, with 100 points on the 'Road to the Kentucky Derby' on offer in each spot, both races offer what amounts to a 'win and you're in' spot in the gate on the first Saturday in May. Between them, the two tracks host eight of the day's 10 graded stakes. Godolphin homebred Sovereignty (Into Mischief), one of two runners in the Florida Derby along with Madaket Road (Quality Road) facing a jockey...

Godolphin's Sovereignty (Into Mischief), a smashing winner of the GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth Stakes on seasonal debut Mar. 1, drew widest in a field of 10 and was made the 8-5 favorite on the morning line for the GI Curlin Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park on Mar. 29. Trained by Bill Mott, looking for his first victory in the Kentucky Derby stepping-stone, Sovereignty is a homebred son of Crowned (Bernardini), whose dam Mushka (Empire Maker) was a Grade II winner of the Demoiselle Stakes as a juvenile and added...