Churchill Downs

This year's Breeders' Cup had a touch of deja vu all over again thanks to a series of veterinary scratches in the lead up to the event, some of which didn't exactly sit well with connections. The one that perhaps garnered the most attention is Californian flag-bearer The Chosen Vron's (Vronsky) removal from the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint on official veterinary advice. The horse's connections initially disputed the scratch, arguing he was 100% sound. It later transpired The Chosen Vron had a small ankle problem that necessitated a few months...

First Resort (Uncle Mo) sat a perfect, stalking trip beneath Luis Saez and held off a late rally from the odds-on 'TDN Rising Star' Jonathan's Way (Vekoma) to give Godolphin a sweep of Saturday's graded races for 2-year-olds in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs. With the victory, First Resort collected 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. Off to a good start from his outside draw racing beneath the lights, the homebred was placed in a fantastic spot in second by Saez to press...

WinStar Farm's 'TDN Rising Star' Impulse Buy (Speightstown) took advantage of wicked fractions for the opening half-mile of Saturday's Fern Creek Stakes at Churchill Downs and raced past her rivals in the final furlong to record a comfortable victory. Off as the 9-4 third betting choice, the homebred was away only fairly from her outside draw and was second last early on as favored 'TDN Rising Star' Shisospicy (Mitole) was pressed through a quarter in 21.70. Impulse Bay made eye-catching progress at the rail leaving the 3 1/2-furlong pole and...

WinStar Farm, CHC Inc and Siena Farm's Patch Adams (c, 2, Into Mischief--Well Humored, by Distorted Humor) tore away from his rivals in the final furlong to become the day's second 'TDN Rising Star' for his sire, trainer Brad Cox and jockey Florent Geroux with a jaw-dropping performance. He becomes the 47th 'Rising Star' for the Spendthrift super-stallion. Looking to atone for a debut third--albeit a highly rated one--when odds-on at Keeneland Oct. 11, the homebred colt was 58 cents on the dollar this time around and made absolutely no...

How did we get hooked on this sport? We all have stories about how our love affair developed and blossomed. The TDN will be reaching out to numerous notable people in the industry to get their stories to find out how they got hooked and stayed hooked on the sport. Travis White, Stallion Nomination Manager, Taylor Made I grew up in Louisville, fairly close to Churchill Downs. My earliest connection to racing would have been going to Derby parties in the area. A friend of my father's was a horseplayer,...

Saturday's program at Churchill Downs is meant to showcase the 'Stars of Tomorrow' and Juddmonte's bred-in-the-purple Chasten (f, 2, Into Mischief--Lockdown, by First Defence) shaped as just that, as she did her best work through the line to score by a widening margin and earn the 'TDN Rising Star' badge. The half-sister to champion Idiomatic (Curlin), MGISW, $3,944,190, appeared to get bounced around at the break of the seven-furlong contest and was clearly last early before making progress and improving a spot or two down the backstretch. Asked to come...

In a season highlighted by victories in the GI Kentucky Derby, GI Kentucky Oaks and GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, the training job Ken McPeek has done with the overachieving Rattle N Roll (Connect) is equally deserving of plaudits. Making his second start off a 363-day absence and having shipped to the West Coast and back when failing to draw into the GI Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 2, Rattle N Roll returned to something approaching his best under the Friday night lights at Churchill, rallying wide into the stretch before...

Sent off at just over even money to stretch her current winning streak to three, Kehoe Beach (Omaha Beach) was allowed a very soft time of things on the front end in a race which appeared to have plenty of speed on paper and made every pole a winning one in Friday's GII Mrs. Revere Stakes at Churchill Downs. Having won allowance races at Kentucky Downs--over seven furlongs in September--and going a mile at Keeneland last month by a combined 13 1/2 lengths in her two most recent trips to...

Julien Leparoux, a two-time Eclipse Award winning rider, collected his 3,000th career win aboard Pike Place (Street Boss) in the third race at Churchill Downs on Thursday, the track said in a press release that same day. Leparoux, 41, launched his career in 2005. Raised in Chantilly, France, Leparoux's passion for horses led him to Southern California in 2003, where he began as an exercise rider for trainer Patrick Biancone. He transitioned to race riding and earned the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey in 2006. Three years later he...

Horse racing and bourbon intersect in so many ways, but they really form a nexus around the themes of time and patience. Without either in the breeding shed or in the rickhouse, your chances at success will be severely hampered. There is nothing quite so powerful as a statement of age in the racing form or an age statement out of the barrel. When it comes to Thoroughbreds and specifically placing a strong emphasis on homebreds, John Ed Anthony's Shortleaf Stable personifies what many in the industry think a great...

Zedan Racing Stables' Barnes (c, 2, Into Mischief--All American Dream, by American Pharoah), a $3.2-million FTSAUG yearling, made trainer Bob Baffert's return to Churchill Downs a winning one Wednesday when just getting his head in front of Innovator (Authentic) on the line. The 1-5 favorite was hustled out of the gate, but was taken in hand and settled off the pace when Luis Saez, aboard Innovator, proved intent on gaining the early lead. Innovator was in front through the quarter in :21.90 with the heavy favorite buried in traffic along...

Trainer Brad Cox sends out the top two chances on the morning line for Friday's GII Clark Stakes at Churchill Downs, and those who support the duo from a pari-mutuel perspective will be looking for some positive cashflow to get a head start on their holiday shopping. Since being acquired privately by Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani's Wathnan Racing earlier this season, Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) has yet to taste defeat in three starts, including the GIII West Virginia Governor's Stakes in August, a neck defeat of Cooke...