Ashland Stakes

The GI Kentucky Derby picture may seem polarized by two more charismatic talents, but any neutral who ekes a living from bloodstock now has an alternative rooting interest. For among the colts entering those 20 coveted gates, the first Saturday in May, there will be no better symbol than Stronghold (Ghostzapper) of what it takes to last the course in the appallingly expensive, demoralizing, perplexing, maddening and addictive vocation of Thoroughbred breeding. The GI Santa Anita Derby winner carries the silks of Eric and Sharon Waller, who bred his third...

Prep season for the GI Kentucky Oaks is over and we have a pretty good idea of who is going to be in the race and which ones are the horses to beat. With three major preps--the GI Ashland S., the GII Santa Anita Oaks and the GIII Gazelle S.--all run over the weekend, there was plenty of movement in our Top 10. But the very solid Tarifa (Bernardini) maintains the top spot for Brad Cox. Here's a look at the latest installment of our Kentucky Oaks Top Ten: 1)...

It's come down to the last few preps. An outstanding field will meet Friday at Keeneland in the GI Ashland S. Four horses on our Top 10 list will take part in that race. At Aqueduct, they'll be vying for a spot in the field for the GI Kentucky Oaks in the GIII Gazelle S. At Santa Anita, fillies will contest the GII Santa Anita Oaks, but the horse expected to be he heavy favorite, Kinza (Carpe Diem), is trained by Bob Baffert and is therefore ineligible to run in...

It continues to be a strange year on the road to the GI Kentucky Oaks. It's been a division where no one seemed ready to step to the front and become a clear leader of the group. That, sort of, changed Sunday in the GIII Santa Ysabel S. Sunday at Santa Anita. Faiza (Girvin) stayed undefeated in four starts with a 2 1/4-length win and, under normal circumstances, would have gone to No. 1 on this list. But the filly, who is trained by Bob Baffert and owned by Michael...

After the busiest weekend of the year for 3-year-old fillies eyeing the GI Kentucky Oaks, the field is pretty much set for the race. There were four preps over the weekend, which was a problem. There are not enough top horses to go around to fill that many races, so the fields were six, six, six and four. It looks like the Oaks will be highly competitive. There is no one standout. Instead, you will have a number of horses in with a chance and a favorite who should be...

For Gail Rice, the way luck and judgement play out with Thoroughbreds is sooner a matter of faith than mere fate. "God tries to make you make the right decisions," she declares. But then she gives a delighted, self-deprecating laugh and adds: "Apparently for once I listened properly!" Yes she did. Because you would have had to strain your ears pretty hard to catch the hint, the time Rice saw a young New York-bred mare by Freud in the back ring at the 2015 Fasig-Tipton February Sale. Scribbling Sarah had...

Bruce Lunsford's GII Toyota Blue Grass S. winner Art Collector (Bernardini) returned to trainer Tom Drury's Skylight Training Center base in Goshen, Kentucky Saturday night and options for the colt's next start are still open. "I am going to get with Bruce in the next couple of days and figure out what we will do," Drury said. "Art Collector will stay at Skylight for a little while because it is quieter there and then like we have done before, two weeks or so before he runs we will bring him...

Speech (Mr Speaker) became her young sire's first Grade I winner and earned enough points to land her a spot in the Sept. 4 GI Kentucky Oaks with a decisive score in the GI Central Bank Ashland S. at Keeneland Saturday afternoon. Speedy GII Las Virgenes S. romper Venetian Harbor (Munnings) shot out to the early lead, loping through an opening quarter in :24.04 with Speech stalking from second off the fence. Envoutante (Uncle Mo) slipped up the fence inside of Speech as the half went up in :47.14, but...

The filly Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) will be out to make history Saturday when she takes on males in the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland. No filly has ever won the prestigious race. Trainer Kenny McPeek had nominated Swiss Skydiver for both the Blue Grass and the GI Ashland S. for fillies. He waited until Wednesday morning, shortly before the draw, to make his decision. He said a major factor was that he has another filly for the Ashland in Envoutante (Uncle Mo). "In any other year, this would...

A pair of sophomores from trainer Saffie Joseph's barn tuned up for graded stakes engagements with five-furlong works at Gulfstream Park Sunday. Ny Traffic (Cross Traffic), currently seventh in the Sept. 5 GI Kentucky Derby qualifying-points standings, breezed five furlongs in :58.64 (1/12) in preparation for a likely start in the July 18 GI Haskell S. at Monmouth Park. "I worked him Monday last week, so he came back in six days. I wanted to get a good work into him and he worked super. He finished up really good....