Armagnac

BALTIMORE, MD--In the continued lead up to Saturday's GI Preakness S., the intensity in the air, as well as the increasing media presence, grew noticeably denser Thursday morning at Pimlico. A couple of groups of fans could be seen milling around the Stakes Barn area, in addition to large clusters of media hoping to get in their final interviews in before a jam-packed weekend of racing. Drawing a gaggle of reporters and interested onlookers, morningline favorite Epicenter (Not This Time), who continued with his usual routine and went out for...

Two for three in one-turn tests on the main track, MyRacehorse and Spendthrift Farm's Forbidden Kingdom (American Pharoah) tries a distance of ground as the narrow 8-5 morning-line favorite for Saturday's GII San Felipe S. at Santa Anita. A $300,000 graduate of the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearling Showcase, the chestnut wired a field of Del Mar maidens on debut going 5 1/2 furlongs Aug. 21, but failed to transfer that form to the grass when third--albeit with some trouble--in the Oct. 1 Speakeasy S. at this venue. A pacesetting second...