Dustin Dugas

A two-horse race in the wagering played out exactly as the public saw it going with Sacrosanct (Honest Mischief) getting the best of his GSW/GISP rival Mo Plex (Complexity) in Sunday's Sleepy Hollow Stakes to kick off the stakes action for Empire Showcase Day at Belmont's Aqueduct meet. A debut winner at Saratoga, Sacrosanct unleashed on the field in the Bertram F. Bongard Stakes last out Sept. 22, wiring an over-matched group by 12 lengths to set up Sunday's showdown in a step up in distance facing Mo Plex who...

There was a time, not that long ago, when the Mother Goose Stakes was one of the most prestigious Grade I summer targets for sophomore fillies in North America. It may be a Grade II now late in the season while the division leaders wait another week for the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, but Godolphin homebred and 'TDN Rising Star' Tarifa (f, 3 Bernardini--Kite Beach, by Awesome Again) did her part to honor that former glory at the Belmont at Aqueduct meet with an extremely game and tenacious victory as...

With a pair entered from his shedrow, Brad Cox's barn celebrated as Bergen (Liam's Map) took home the Jimmy Winkfield S. and stablemate Air Cav (Mitole) finished third. The winner broke his maiden at first asking by 3/4 length at Keeneland Oct. 7, but could not keep the streak going when he was late getting to the wire as the runner-up at Churchill Downs Nov. 25. Facing only four others as the well-backed 4-5 choice here, the grey took up a spot to the outside in the second flight up...

It was a good day at the office Saturday for the Brad Cox barn, as it swept the two added-money features on the card at Aqueduct. Gold Square LLC's Drum Roll Please (Hard Spun) stamped his authority on the $150,000 Jerome S., scoring by 3 3/4 lengths over a track that produced very slow times all afternoon. The $250,000 Fasig-Tipton October yearling was awarded a Beyer Speed Figure of 80 after stopping the clock in 1:41.91 and plans call for the chestnut, a latest third to Dornoch (Good Magic) and...

Gold Square LLC's Slip Mahoney (Arrogate) tuned up for the Mar. 4 GIII Gotham S. with a four-furlong work in :48.87 (6/54) over the Belmont training track Saturday. The gray colt worked in company with unraced stablemate Global Image (Liam's Map). "It wasn't as quick to watch it, but they moved pretty well," said Dustin Dugas, trainer Brad Cox's Belmont-based assistant. "It was really good and he came out of it in great shape and we're all systems go. Trevor [McCarthy] was happy with him and he's going to ride...

Knicks Go (Paynter) and Charlatan (Speightstown), a pair of major forces headlining the American racing scene in 2020, take on 12 others in Saturday's $20-million Saudi World Cup at King Abdulaziz Racecourse outside Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Both Grade I winners in their latest starts, the pair represent two of America's leading trainers, Brad Cox, who took home his first Eclipse Award last season, and Bob Baffert, a 2020 finalist who had previously annexed four training titles. Knicks Go, winner of the 2018 GI Breeders' Futurity S. while under the care...