Triple Crown

What will racing look like in 10 years? We asked some of racing's best and brightest to give us their predictions. Corey Johnsen, Longtime track executive, Thoroughbred owner/breeder Anyone who reads this publication understands that our sport has plenty of problems. Issues such as aftercare, ADW/CAW, decoupling, shrinking foal crops and the regulation of safety and integrity dominate the landscape and need to be solved. There have been some recent success stories in working together, so, I am going to focus on some developments which will positively affect our industry...

The $1 million GI BetParx Pennsylvania Derby, set for Saturday, September 19, will headline the 2026 live racing schedule at Parx Racing which released its calendar for next year Thursday. The track, which  typically operates a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday schedule throughout the year with select Friday and weekend dates, will play host to 149 days of live racing throughout the year. In 2026, there will be racing held on all three Triple Crown Saturdays (May 2, May 16 and June 6) as well as on Kentucky Oaks Friday (May...

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, which will play host to the fourth annual Countdown to the Triple Crown fundraising event on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, is in need of auction items for the event. This winter fundraiser, scheduled exactly three months prior to the 152nd Kentucky Derby, will look to feature both silent auction items and an online auction of unique items and experience packages to all benefit the Museum. Businesses are encouraged to donate an item, experience, or gift card and contributing businesses will be...

Live racing returns to Santa Anita with the traditional Dec. 26 opening card of the 48-day Classic meet featuring the GI Malibu Stakes, and continues through the close of the 30-day Hollywood meet June 14. The two meets will feature 81 stakes worth $11.75 million, including the newly named GII D. Wayne Lukas Stakes Feb. 7, the GI Santa Anita Handicap Mar. 7, and the GI Santa Anita Derby Apr. 4. Overnight race purses are slated to increase from the start of last year. "The overall 5% purse increase for...

Bill Knauf is the president and general manager of the non-profit Maryland Jockey Club Inc., (MJC), which took over the management of Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course this year. It's a time of tremendous transition in that state, with Pimlico currently being demolished and rebuilt with the goal of all commercial-track Thoroughbred racing in Maryland moving to the new Baltimore venue by 2027. Laurel will then close for racing and training, and a new training facility at Shamrock Farm in Carroll County will be built. Knauf updated TDN on...

The 2025-2026 Road to the Kentucky Derby kicks off this weekend with the running of the GIII Iroquois Stakes going the one-turn mile at Churchill Downs on Sept. 13. The Road to the Kentucky Derby, launched in 2013, awards a scale of points to the top five finishers in selected qualifying races between September and April. The leaderboard determines the preference list for entry into the GI Kentucky Derby, limited to 20 runners. Up to three horses from overseas may qualify for the Derby. In addition to the 36-race Road...

In fairness, an authentic Triple Crown was never available to Sovereignty even if his connections had deigned to seek one. We must still wait and see, then, whether Into Mischief can someday crown his evolution into a Classic influence with the winner of a 12-furlong Belmont Stakes. As and when that happens, it will feel much as when Justify-representing another Storm Cat speed brand, Scat Daddy-set off fast and just kept going. That ability to carry speed is the dirt grail and perhaps we can give some credit for the...

On the day before the win in the GI Forego Stakes by Book 'em Danno (Bucchero), trainer Derek Ryan had already made up his mind about the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint. He had no plans to go. "I'm really not that interested in the Breeders' Cup," Ryan said. "I have no desire to go there. I'm sure I'll be pressured into it, but the Breeders' Cup is not on my radar. I'm not keen to run him on a track that I don't think will suit him. The stretch is...

Secretariat's jockey, Ron Turcotte, passed away Friday at the age of 84. The news was confirmed by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in a statement reading: "Ron was a legendary rider and also an inspiration for all he achieved and overcame during his incredible life. Although best known for sweeping the Triple Crown with Secretariat--culminating with a 31-length victory in the 1973 Belmont Stakes--Turcotte's Hall of Fame career spanned 18 years and more than 3,000 wins. As an ambassador for both the sport and the legacy of...

Even though Nysos (Nyquist) was 1-10 on the board, Saturday's GII San Diego Handicap was a race he didn't have to win. He sprinted in his last two starts and had never been the distance of a mile-and-a-sixteenth. He also has a couple of large gaps in his form, suggesting that trainer Bob Baffert was having a hard time keeping him together. None of that mattered in the San Diego. Flavin Prat, who flew in from Saratoga for the ride, rode a patient race and saved ground into the second...

Forced to miss the Triple Crown series after exiting his sensational GII Fasig-Tipton Risen Star S. victory with an ankle chip, Magnitude (Not This Time) makes his highly anticipated return in Saturday evening's $250,000 Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows. He is the 9-5 morning-line favorite. The Winchell Thoroughbreds colorbearer was a 9 3/4-length, front-running winner of the Risen Star at odds of 43-1 Feb. 15, good for a 108 Beyer Speed Figure. His final time of 1:48.85 was the fastest Risen Star in seven runnings (including one year with split...

NYRA CEO David O'Rourke has a lot on his plate these days. There's the rebuild of the Belmont stands, the shuffling back and forth between Long Island and Saratoga for the GI Belmont Stakes and the preparation for the return of the Breeders' Cup in 2027. That meant there was a lot to cover when O'Rourke joined our team for this week's TDN Writers' Room Podcast presented by Keeneland. O'Rourke was the Gainesway Guest of the Week. On the subject of moving the GI Belmont Stakes a few weeks back...