Bill Finley

Marathon specialist Next (Not This Time) worked five furlongs in 1:00.60 Wednesday morning at Turfway Park and, as long as things stay on track, he will start in a Breeders' Cup race, reports trainer Doug Cowans. It was Next's first work since his 10-length romp in the Sept. 21 Greenwood Cup at Parx. "The update is that he breezed well this morning," Cowans said. "We'll see how he comes out of the work and if all goes well he'll be nominated to both the [GI Longines Breeders' Cup] Turf and...

It was another banner weekend for Godolphin as the stable swept the two Grade I races for 2-year-olds at Keeneland. The filly Immersive (Nyquist) won Friday's GI Darley Alcibiades Stakes and finished things off with a very impressive win by the colt East Avenue (Medaglia d'Oro) in the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity. Both will appear next in the Breeders' Cup where they could garner favoritism in their respective races. Leading the cheering section for Godolphin was its Director of Bloodstock, Michael Banahan, whose duties include overseeing the U.S.-based Godolphin runners....

After Godolphin scored an Alcibiades-Breeders' Futurity double at Keeneland, the operation's Director of Bloodstock joined this week's TDN Writers' Room to recap the weekend and look ahead to the Breeders' Cup.

At 76 and with none of his children particularly interested in racing, Stuart Janney, III had to make some decisions about the future of his racing and breeding operations. He didn't want to get out of the sport entirely and he also didn't want to breed mares whose foals won't get to the races for years. So he has decided to disperse his band at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. There, he will sell 13 broodmares and two broodmare prospects. Among others, they are in foal to Good Magic,...

As recently as 2015, it looked like Dylan Davis's career was stuck in neutral. He won just 57 races that year with earnings of $1,859,318. He was, at best, a middle-of-the-pack rider on the NYRA circuit. Fast forward to 2024 and a new Davis has emerged. With three months to go on the year he's already won 147 races and earned $11,318,656 and is on schedule to have the best year of his career. His win aboard Todd Pletcher trainee Tapit Trice (Tapit) in last Saturday's GII Woodward Stakes was...

Jockey Dylan Davis joined this week's TDN Writers' Room to discuss his win aboard Tapit Trice in the GII Woodward Stakes and recap his memorable Saratoga season.

Peter Rotondo picked a good time to go to work for 1/ST Racing. The company's new Senior Vice President of Racing and Wagering joined a team who is ready to put on an extravaganza this weekend at Santa Anita. It's called the California Crown and consists of three races, the GII $750,000 John Henry Turf Cup, the Grade II $750,000 Eddie D. Stakes and the $1 million GI California Crown Stakes. Meant to be Santa Anita's version of the Pegasus World Cup, the day will also include entertainment meant for...

It's early, but maybe not too early to start dreaming of the GI Kentucky Derby. At least it's not for owner Richard Rigney. Rigney is the owner of 'TDN Rising Star' Jonathan's Way (Vekoma), the winner of last Saturday's GIII Iroquois Stakes at Churchill Downs, the first of many races that award Derby points to the top five finishers. Making his second career start after overcoming trouble to win a maiden at Saratoga, Jonathan's Way was an impressive winner, suggesting there could be bigger and better triumphs in his future....

Richard Rigney joins this week's TDN Writers' Room to discuss the win by Jonathan's Way in the Iroquois and talk all things Rigney Racing.

I read with interest the TDN article about Jorge Duarte, which is the latest in a pattern of stories about trainers (George Weaver, Rusty Arnold, etc.) with positive tests that have seemingly come from contamination. Glen Hill Farm has been racing and breeding horses since 1967. We are an American-based operation but have been building in Europe and Australia for the last decade. Having served on many industry boards, I always understood the goal for medication reform was for American racing to first have uniformity between states and then hopefully...

In most barns, after winning a $500,000 handicap at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 1 the 7-year-old gelding Goliad (War Front) would have gone to the sidelines, the trainer not daring to run him back in less than six weeks or so. Not Goliad. Hall of Fame conditioner Richard Mandella brought him back in six days. With so much money available at Kentucky Downs, a number of trainers ignored conventional wisdom and gave their horses two starts at the seven-day meet. That meant layoffs of no more than 13 days, with...

Aidan O'Brien has never won the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. But it hasn't been from a lack of effort. He's had 13 starters in the race and has run some very good horses, including Galileo (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) and Giant's Causeway (Storm Cat). But his luck could very well change this year as he will take aim at the Classic with one of the best horses of this generation. The O'Brien trained City of Troy (Justify) has had an outstanding campaign in Europe, winning six of seven starts, including four...