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A record 170,513 fans packed Churchill Downs to watch American Pharoah win Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby, according to figures released by the track Sunday. The previous record was the 165,307 who witnessed the 2012 Derby win of I'll Have Another. All-sources handle for the day was $194.3 million, an increase of 4% over the 2014 total of $186.6 million. That figure bested the previous record of $187.0 million set in 2012. All-sources wagering on the Derby itself was $137.9 million, up 7% from a year and a 4% increase over...

American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile), Firing Line (Line of David) and Dortmund (Big Brown), the top three finishers from Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby, are all now targeting a rematch in the May 16 GI Preakness S. Still savoring a fourth Derby win Sunday morning, trainer Bob Baffert admitted Saturday's win by American Pharoah was different from his previous victories. “It's fun to come here, but I think this win was different than my other ones,” Baffert said. “I needed to get it done. I needed to win it. Something was building that something good was...

Having sidestepped Sunday's G1 1000 Guineas, 'TDN Rising Star' Found (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) takes a more sedate route to the remaining fillies' Classics as she is unveiled in The Curragh's G3 Canford Cliffs EBF Athasi S. The form of her last-out success in Longchamp's G1 Prix Marcel Boussac has already received a boost as the runner-up, Ervedya (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), registered an easy win in the G3 Prix Imprudence, and while she is clear-best on ratings here, she is unlikely to be asked a demanding question. “She had a little setback and...

by Dan Liebman  My first day of employment for Daily Racing Form was the Monday after the 1984 Kentucky Derby.  I was hired by Logan Bailey, who will be laid to rest on the Monday after the 2015 Derby.  I took his passing hard, tears flowing several times the night after learning the news from another person Logan hired, Tammy Curlin.  I didn't have to think long to figure out how old Logan was. He used to always say he was from the same crop as Count Fleet.  When Logan...

Saturday's G1 2000 Guineas victor Gleneagles (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) will likely resurface in the May 23 G1 Irish 2000 Guineas at The Curragh, trainer Aidan O'Brien re-confirmed Sunday on At the Races. Gleneagles, who has crossed the wire first in all but one of his seven starts, earned his second Group 1 when besting Godolphin's French shipper Territories (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) by 2 1/4 lengths Saturday.  "He traveled well and he has the ability to quicken-- that's what he showed us last year,” O'Brien said of the Michael Tabor colorbearer. O'Brien...

The four-day Inglis Australian Broodmare and Weanling sale kicked off yesterday in Sydney with figures largely comparable to 12 months ago. The platinum weanling session--which offered 103 weanlings with x-rays on site--and select weanling session kicked off proceedings, and combined saw 169 youngsters change hands for A$5,773,350, compared to 128 sold for A$4,388,500 last year. The average dipped fractionally, down 0.4% to A$34,162, and the median was down 6% to A$16,000. The top price of A$230,000 was paid for a colt by Medaglia d'Oro, sire of this year's G1 Golden...

by T.D. Thornton For the past decade or so, the images conjured up by the phrase "Maryland racing" have been anything but optimistic. The once-proud circuit had bet big and lost on its on-site casino gamble, and outside of the tradition-rich GI Preakness S., Maryland Jockey Club (MJC) tracks Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course were losing money.  So when parent company The Stronach Group (TSG) announced it was attempting a major rebranding and spiffing-up initiative some six months ago, past performances dictated there were reasons to be skeptical the changes...

By Kelsey Riley Kia Ora Stud, situated in Australia's Hunter Valley, has been selling yearlings at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale since 1917, and the farm's relationship with Inglis has been both storied and prolific; recent Kia Ora graduates of Inglis sales include South African champion and multiple Grade 1 winner Igugu (Aus) (Galileo {Ire}) and Zululand (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), winner of the G2 VRC Sires' Produce S. Such a long history of presenting yearlings for sale naturally requires regular refreshing of one's breeding stock, and one recent...

Trainer Bob Baffert has won the GI Santa Anita Derby a half-dozen times since Cavonnier (Batonnier) gave him his first back in 1996. That's the good news. The negative side of that coin is that, with a certain amount of frustration, none of the six winners has managed to go on to GI Kentucky Derby success, though Cavonnier and Pioneerof the Nile (Empire Maker) were second while Point Given was the beaten favorite behind in 2001.  The silver-haired conditioner has two very legitimate chances in Saturday's race, including the 3-5...

A couple of years ago, Normandy Invasion (Tapit) entered the GI TwinSpires.com Wood Memorial S. in need of a runner-up effort or better to secure a spot in the field for the GI Kentucky Derby under the new points structure and got his nose down right on the wire to punch his ticket. Back in 2004, when earnings in graded stakes was the criteria for a Derby berth, Eddington was just touched out of second in the Wood by Master David (Grand Slam), and was shut out of the Run...

The status of GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile romper Texas Red (Afleet Alex) is relatively unchanged, but he will get an ultra sound Saturday to decide whether he will remain at Santa Anita or go back to the farm.  "He'll have a thorough examination and then we'll decide if we're going to send him off to the farm again, but I don't think that's going to happen," trainer Keith Desormeaux said. "He's doing great, his legs look great. We're going to do an ultra sound tomorrow to make sure things are progressing nicely,...

Oaklawn Park's series of races for 3-year-old fillies culminates Saturday afternoon with a contentious renewal of the GIII Fantasy S. over 1 1/16 miles. Joe Ragsdale's Sarah Sis (Sharp Humor) proved that her narrow loss to reigning champion Take Charge Brandi (Giant's Causeway) in the Jan. 31 Martha Washington S. was no fluke, recently returning to annex the trip-and-track GIII Honeybee S. by 1 1/2 lengths Mar. 7. The Ingrid Mason trainee has been first or second in all six of her previous starts, and breaks from the rail in this event....