Carbone

Staton Flurry wanted to park that trophy on his shelf. He wanted to win the Oaklawn Park owner's title so badly he could taste it. The hometown product who calls Hot Springs his backyard and sports that wide grin, knew the race was going to be a good old-fashioned Arkansas throwdown. Flurry sweated it, stayed up late strategizing and for months did everything humanly within the rules to secure the prize. Let's put it this way, if he had a jockey's license he might have donned his distinctive black and...

Track Phantom (Quality Road) continued his preparation for the GI Kentucky Derby with a five-furlong work in 1:00.80 (6/32) at Churchill Downs Sunday morning. With jockey Tyler Gaffalione in the saddle, Track Phantom worked outside 'TDN Rising Star' and GII Pat Day Mile contender Carbone (Mitole) as the duo cruised an opening quarter-mile in a modest :26.20, but galloped out six furlongs in a solid 1:13.60, according to Churchill Downs clocker John Nichols. Track Phantom's final three furlongs was a sharp :34.60. Track Phantom worked in blinkers Sunday and he...

When considering the speculative nature of America's financial future, President Harry S. Truman famously exhorted his aides to bring him a one-handed economist. "All of my economists say 'on the one hand'..., then 'but on the other hand'...," the plain-talking Missourian from Independence famously quipped. To put it another way, convictions matter, not the pros and cons. You are either in or you're not. Horse racing, or more specifically preparing for the 150th Kentucky Derby is no different. It's about possessing sterner stuff. Another Harry Truman, Harry Truman Rosenblum that...

One of four Kentucky Derby preps run Saturday, the $800,000 GIII Southwest S. at Oaklawn Park was the richest. It also promised to be the most wide-open betting contest and it didn't disappoint as a mud-splattered 11-1 MYSTIK DAN (c, 3, Goldencents--Ma'am, by Colonel John) pulled the upset for trainer Kenny McPeek. Last fall's Ed Brown S. winner Just Steel (Justify) got up for second while GIII Street Sense S. winner Liberal Arts (Arrogate) secured third. The Southwest offers points on a 20-10-6-4-2 scale for the Road to the Kentucky...

We're inside the 120-day mark for the 150th GI Kentucky Derby, and the pecking order is hazily taking shape. There's a speculative, forward-thinking element (read: lots of guesswork) built into the equation, with the goal of projecting how these still-developing horses will blossom over the next four months. Get tied on and enjoy the ride. 1) NYSOS (c, Nyquist--Zetta Z, by Bernardini) 'TDN Rising Star' O-Baoma Corp; B-Susie Atkins (KY); T-Bob Baffert. Sales history: $130,000 Wlg '21 KEENOV; $150,000 Ylg '22 FTKOCT; $550,000 2yo '23 OBSAPR. Lifetime Record: GSW, 2-2-0-0,...

8th-Oaklawn, $140,000, Alw (NW2L)/Opt. Clm ($80,000), 12-31, 2yo, 1m, 1:38.63, ft, 4 lengths. CARBONE (c, 2, Mitole--Treasure in Heaven, by Street Sense) was tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' following a front-running eight-length debut romp going six furlongs at Churchill Downs Nov. 19. Stretching out to a mile for this second start, the 3-5 favorite sprinted right out to the early lead and was unchallenged while loping along through fractions of :23.40 and :47.76. He was let loose approaching the stretch and bound clear to score by four lengths. Lightline (City...

Everybody understands the deal with new stallions. Most will never again command so high a fee, nor so potent a book, and many will complete their principal service to commercial breeders long before any of their stock has actually entered a starting gate. Once they reach that point, you need only browse the freshman tables of years past to get a chastening sense of how many "exciting" newcomers will establish a lasting eligibility to keep seeding the breed. On the other hand, their window of opportunity is ruthlessly brief. If...

A first-time starter for Steve Asmussen, Carbone (Mitole) put in a professional debut effort to earn a 'TDN Rising Star' tag Sunday under the Twinspires. Facing a mixed field of runners, including a pair of rivals exiting a key race from Keeneland in October, the William and Corinne Heiligbrodt homebred caught a flyer from his outside gate and quickly got the jump on his rivals, opening up a length on Goldbrick (Goldencents). Paced through fractions of :22.13 and :45.77, Carbone turned back Goldbrick around the far turn and drew off...