Epic Ride

From high to low and then back to a high, Luan Machado and Brunacini (Dortmund) sprung a 28-1 shocker over Book'em Danno (Bucchero) Saturday afternoon at Keeneland in the GIII Perryville Stakes. Brunacini came into the race as an also-eligible with two starts to his name. The chestnut son of Dortmund was a first-out winner July 28 at Ellis Park, but faded to fifth late in the lane Sept. 19 at Churchill Downs when attempting to take a first-level allowance field gate-to-wire. The Matthew Sims-trainee was also making his stakes...

Jockey Sophie Doyle, who has been serving as the regular exercise rider for 14th-place GI Kentucky Derby finisher Epic Ride (Blame), returned to riding in the afternoon at Churchill Downs Sunday with an eighth-place finish aboard Sweet Mo B (Complexity) in Race 2, a maiden special weight. It was her first Churchill mount since having her first child, a daughter named Emilie, almost two years ago. Doyle began breezing horses for trainer Chris Davis, her fiancé, three months after her daughter's birth and returned to professional afternoon riding earlier this...

The field for the GI Kentucky Derby, ranked in "likeliest winner" order. 1) FOREVER YOUNG (JPN) (c, Real Steel {Jpn}--Forever Darling, by Congrats). O-Susumu Fujita; B-Northern Racing (Jpn); T-Yoshito Yahagi. Sales History: ¥98,000,000 Ylg '22 JRHAJUL. Lifetime Record: 5-5-0-0, $2,049,451. Last start: WON Mar. 30 G2 UAE Derby. The 5-for-5 Forever Young resonates as the most legitimate threat a foreign-based horse has had to win the Derby since the internationalization of the race over the past several decades. I'd hesitate to compare this colt's presence to the electrifying pre-race aura...

LOUISVILLE, KY--Having not attended the Kentucky Derby since American Pharoah won in 2015, I was reminded of why it's really worth the trip. Yes, one has to deal with the logistics. Limited parking, long walks to get to your destination, excessively priced hotels and car rentals, in addition to the singular hope that a Kentucky Derby Day ticket might miraculously have fallen into your hands. It's probably hard for some to understand just how many people converge in Louisville at the same time, creating something of a controlled chaos. The...

Godolphin homebred Encino (Nyquist), winner of the GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. at Keeneland Apr. 13, has been scratched from Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby. Trainer Brad Cox said that Encino will not run in the Kentucky Derby after being off after training Tuesday morning. Also-eligible Epic Ride (Blame), a longshot third for trainer John Ennis while making his dirt debut in the GI Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland Apr. 6, will draw into the field. Encino will not run in the @KentuckyDerby per trainer Brad Cox. Also-eligible Epic Ride draws...

Opening an occasional series focused on Irish expatriates in Kentucky, TDN meets a son of Co. Meath testing the GI Kentucky Derby water with his impressive Leonatus S. winner. As migrations go, one is rather less surprising than the other. On the one hand, over the past two years the synthetic circuit at Turfway has consecutively delivered the winner and runner-up in the definitive test of a dirt Thoroughbred. On the other, the trainer hoping to produce another GI Kentucky Derby horse from the same unlikely platform is only the...