Antonio Fresu

For the second year in a row, jockey Juan Hernandez has won both the summer and fall riding titles at Del Mar. However, unlike past title runs, he had to rally from behind late in the season to win the Bing Crosby Season title with 21 wins. Hernandez trailed both Antonio Fresu and Umberto Rispoli through much of the fall. But he got hot in the second-to-last week, winning five races and grabbing the lead. He then secured the title with another eight victories in the final week including five...

One Magic Philly came into Saturday's GIII Chillingworth Stakes having displayed marked improvement with each of her last three races and her return to Santa Anita gave her yet another notch in her belt after she crossed the wire on top in the 6 1/2-furlong test, earning her first taste of black-type in the process. Quickly up to press heavy favorite Sweet Azteca (Sharp Azteca), winner of the GI Beholder Mile last March, the 7-2 chance continued to put the screws to the favorite through :21.76 and :44.10 splits. Inching...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. NEW HISA/HIWU STEWARDS RULINGS The following rulings were reported on HISA's "rulings" portal and through the HIWU "pending" and "resolved" cases portals. Resolved ADMC Violations Date: 09/10/2024 Licensee: Joe Tye, trainer Penalty: A written Reprimand (per 9/26/23 HISA Guidance). Final decision by HIWU. Explainer: Vets' list medication violation for the presence of Omeprazole (GastroGard)-controlled Medication (Class C)--in a sample taken from Wear the Crown on 7/26/24. Date: 09/10/2024...

Saturday's GII Pat O'Brien Stakes at Del Mar was billed as a showdown between the top sprinter in the West, two-time GI Bing Crosby Stakes winner The Chosen Vron (Vronsky), and Senor Buscador (Mineshaft), winner of the world's richest race, the $20-million G1 Saudi Cup. The Chosen Vron toted a gaudy six-race win steak, while Senor Buscador was returning from a break after finishing third in the G1 Dubai World Cup. Despite the headlines, apparently Mark Davis and Great Friends Stable's Raging Torrent (c, 3, Maximus Mischief-Violent Wave, by Violence),...

'TDN Rising Star' Mindframe (Constitution), who led into the final furlong of last month's GI Belmont Stakes before his inexperience cost him the final leg of the Triple Crown, rates the marquee in Saturday's GI NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park, a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar in early November. A $600,000 Keeneland September purchase campaigned by the formidable team of Mike Repole's Repole Stable and Vinnie Viola's St Elias Stable, the Maryland-bred won his seven-furlong Gulfstream debut by a...

Chatalas (Gun Runner), all-the-way winner of last year's GII Chandelier Stakes prior to a down-the-field finish in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies while under the care of Mark Glatt, was sent to trainer Grant Forster this term with an eye on the age-restricted dirt stakes east of the Mississippi. The plan was off to an auspicious beginning Saturday when the bay, having her first start of 2024, fought back tenaciously at the fence to take Saturday's GIII Indiana Oaks. Sent straight into the lead from the inside post by...

Jockey Juan Hernandez, trainer Phil D'Amato and owner Paul and Zilla Reddam's Reddam Racing emerged victorious in their respective divisions during the 29-day Hollywood Meet at Santa Anita, which closed Sunday, June 16. Hernandez, a native of Veracruz, Mexico, was celebrating a sixth riding title at Santa Anita, having ridden 36 winners from 176 mounts (20.5%), one clear of Antonio Fresu, who joined the local riding colony just over 14 months ago. The Italian had one last chance to dead-heat with Hernandez, but fell just short in Sunday's 12th and...

Is there room for still another European rider in the Santa Anita jockey colony, which includes Italians Frankie Dettori, Antonio Fresu and Umberto Rispoli? Adrie de Vries thinks there just might be. The 54-year-old Dutch jockey spent last weekend visiting friend Carlos Arias in California and decided to ride a couple of horses at Santa Anita. Though he had just two mounts and finished off the board with both he said riding in California was among the most exciting moments of his career. "It was absolutely a thrill," he said....

Jockey Antonio Fresu watched the 2023 GI Kentucky Derby on television. Though from Italy, he understood the importance of the race and knew that everybody, be it a jockey, trainer, owner, aspires to win it. But he had no reason to believe that he'd ever win the Derby, let alone ride in it. In late April of last year, just eight days before the Derby, he had started riding in the U.S. at Santa Anita. He was unknown and unproven to the trainers in the U.S. "I came here to...

With less than two weeks to the first weekend in May, a gaggle of contenders for the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks took to racetracks across the country for some critical breezes Saturday morning. 'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) has remained at Keeneland since his slashing victory in the Apr. 6 GI Toyota Blue Grass S. and returned to the worktab for the first time on a chilly morning, breezing a half-mile in the company inside of recent Keeneland maiden winner White Palomino (Kitten's Joy) in...

Sent off as the 11-5 second choice, Rick and Sharon Waller's Stronghold (Ghostzapper) outbattled even-money favorite Imagination (Into Mischief) through the final eighth of a mile to take Saturday's GI Santa Anita Derby, earning 100 points towards the GI Kentucky Derby. The last-out winner of the GIII Sunland Derby, the homebred was beaten for speed and settled just off the pace in fourth as Tapalo (Tapiture) set the pace from Imagination and E J Won the Cup (Omaha Beach). Content to allow those up front to do the dirty work...

Medoro's first stakes race looked eerily similar to her Del Mar debut Dec. 1 with both resulting in narrow, hard-closing wins. Stretching out from five furlongs to one mile Friday, the Peter Eutron trainee broke from an outside gate and was content to settle off the speed while kept wide and in the clear by Antonio Fresu. Racing in the back half of the field of nine, the 2-1 favorite began to make up ground into leader Chatalas and drew alongside that rival at the head of the lane. Unleashed...