Triple Crown

Stalk, pounce, and draw away. Verifying made it look easy Saturday at Oaklawn, rolling to a 5 ¼-length entry-level allowance victory in his 3-year-old debut for trainer Brad Cox. Verifying, a Justify half brother to champion Midnight Bisou, was making his first start since finishing sixth in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) at […]

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher saddled a pair of promising 3-year-old debut winners Saturday at Gulfstream Park, where he and jockey Luis Saez teamed with three sophomore winners on an 11-race program. Spendthrift Farm LLC’s Kingsbarns, a son of Uncle Mo who brought $800,000 at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Select 2-Year-Olds-in-Training Sale, where Tom McCrocklin […]

Verifying, a Kentucky Derby (G1) prospect for trainer Brad Cox, turned in a strong performance in allowance company Saturday at Oaklawn, kicking away to a 5 1/4-length triumph. Ridden by Martin Garcia, the Justify colt pressed the early pace set by Gun Pilot into the far turn before taking a narrow lead soon after. Dueling […]

The most lucrative race Saturday at Oaklawn is the $150,000 Fifth Season for older horses at one mile, but perhaps the most intriguing race is the fourth, a $104,000 entry-level allowance for 3-year-olds at one mile that has lured a field of eight, including 6-5 program favorite Verifying for his 2023 debut. From the first […]

A winner of his lone start last fall by 9 1/2 lengths, the promising 3-year-old Extra Anejo has been cleared to resume training. According to the Daily Racing Form, the Into Mischief colt underwent surgery to remove a bone chip in a hind ankle, and after undergoing a PET scan on Monday, noted equine surgeon Dr. Larry […]

Churchill Downs Incorporated (“CDI” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: CHDN) announced today that Churchill Downs Racetrack (“Churchill Downs”) has entered an agreement with Woodford Reserve® Kentucky Bourbon (“Woodford Reserve”) that will solidify the renewal of Woodford Reserve as the presenting sponsor of the Kentucky Derby through 2027. Woodford Reserve has been the “Official Bourbon of the […]

Lugan Knight registered a career-best 85 Beyer Speed Figure for his game half-length score in Saturday’s $150,000 Jerome, a one-turn mile for sophomores, at Aqueduct Racetrack. In victory, he secured the maximum allotment in the Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifying race which offered 10-4-3-2-1 points to the top-five finishers. Trained by Michael McCarthy for […]

Although he was pressed through swift fractions to the top of the lane, longshot Reincarnate, one of three Bob Baffert entrants, was smooth as silk as he fended off all challengers to prevail by a neck in Sunday’s $100,000 Sham Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita. Ridden by Juan Hernandez, Reincarnate got a flat mile in […]

Albaugh Family Stables LLC’s Cyclone Mischief swept to a 5 ¾-length victory in Sunday’s Race 9 feature at Gulfstream Park, where the Dale Romans-trained son of Into Mischief ‘probably’ will return in the $250,000 Holy Bull (G3) Feb. 4. Sunday’s one-turn mile optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds served as a prep for the 1 1/16-mile […]

Undefeated stakes winners Post Time and Recruiter and Grade 3-placed Prove Right top 24 nominations to the $100,000 Spectacular Bid for newly turned 3-year-olds Saturday, Jan. 21 at Laurel Park. The seven-furlong Spectacular Bid, named for the Maryland-based Hall of Famer whose 26 career wins included the 1979 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness (G1), is […]