Zoe Cadman

Watch out for the "Little Guy." Sold for just $70,000 at a yearling sale in Texas, owned by a grocery store owner from Alabama who has had just a few horses and trained by a veteran who had never won a graded stakes race before last weekend, Coal Battle (Coal Front) isn't exactly your typical GI Kentucky Derby horse. But the son Coal Front did it again last week, winning the GII Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn. Having also won the Smarty Jones Stakes, he is obviously for real. To talk...

Norman Stables' Coal Battle scored one for the little guy Sunday at Oaklawn Park, overtaking pacesetting California invader Madaket Road in upper stretch and leaving favored Sandman in his wake while striding home a 1 1/4-length winner of the GII Rebel Stakes. His owner, Robby Norman, joins this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast to talk about the race, his Kentucky Derby aspirations, and the offers he has had to buy the horse.

A veteran Hall of Fame trainer, Mark Casse knows that sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. The Casse-trained Sandman (Tapit) turned in a remarkable effort in his last start, the GIII Southwest S. at Oaklawn, finishing second after breaking in a tangle and dropping far behind the leaders. Once straightened out, he rallied furiously and finished second, missing by just a length. To talk about the Southwest and Sandman's next start, Sunday's GII Rebel S. at Oaklawn, Casse joined the team on this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast...

Brad Cox joins this week's TDN Writers' Room after his trainee John Hancock took an impressive step forward on the road to the Kentucky Derby this past weekend. Cox also has a loaded group of runners heading into Risen Star weekend at Fair Grounds.

It sometimes seems that not a weekend goes by where Brad Cox isn't making news and visiting the winner's circle somewhere after winning another important race. That was the case last weekend as Cox won the Sam F. Davis S. at Tampa Bay Downs with John Hancock (Constitution). This coming weekend he'll send out one of his top threats for the GI Kentucky Oaks when the filly Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro) makes her 2025 debut in the GII Rachel Alexandra S. at the Fair Grounds. To talk about past successes...

Eoin Harty's world is chock full right now. For starters, his home is situated in the midst of one of the worst wildfires in California history, but somehow it has survived the nightmarish ordeal. Then, there is his role as the president of the California Thoroughbred Trainers, a position he has held since 2019. What that means is he is at the forefront of trying to turn around the declining fortunes of racing in the state, which he admits is no easy task. The good news is that he has...

Eoin Harty joins this week's TDN Writers' Room to discuss the tragic fires in California and how they have affected racing at Santa Anita. In happier news, the trainer also gave an update on his two Kentucky Derby hopefuls.

In racing circles, trainer Jose D'Angelo might not yet be a "household name," but that's not going to last much longer. In this country for about five years, the native of Venezuela is coming off a stellar 2024 in which he won 140 races, including his first Grade I with Howard Wolowitz (Munnings) in the Aristocrat Franklin-Simpson Stakes. And it looks like 2025 might be even better. He has a stable full of potential stars that includes 'TDN Rising Star' Guns Loaded (Gun Runner), the winner of last Saturday's Mucho...

Trainer Jose D'Angelo joined the TDN Writers' Room as this week's Gainesway Guest of the Week to talk about Mucho Macho Man Stakes victor Guns Loaded and discuss the growth of his stable in recent years.

The TDN Writers' Room team was feeling festive as we closed out 2024 with a special year-end episode. Presented as always by Keeneland and hosted by Bill Finley, Zoe Cadman and Randy Moss, this week's show features a variety of write-in questions from viewers and some other questions for our hosts ranging from light-hearted topics that gave the trio the opportunity to reminisce on their many years in racing to a few more thought-provoking subjects regarding the current state of racing and what they are most looking forward to seeing...

In this special year-end edition of the TDN Writers' Room, the team of Zoe Cadman, Bill Finley and Randy Moss answered write-in questions from viewers and discussed a few other racing related questions, from how they got started in the racing industry to which horse they are most looking forward to watching in 2025.

Eddie Truman, a trainer as renowned for his patience with the Thoroughbred as for a perennially genial disposition, has passed at the age of 77. "A great horseman and an even greater individual," said veteran trainer Gary Stute. "I never heard him say a bad word about anybody--anybody--and on the racetrack, that's few and far," Stute added. "Once you met him, you stayed friends with him. The ultimate honest good person." Over a career spanning nearly 50 years, Truman trained 763 winners and collected $15.7 million in earnings. He had...