Fair Grounds

After vanning nearly 1,900 miles from Fair Grounds in New Orleans, GI Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan (Goldencents) arrived at Santa Anita in good order Wednesday night, got a rest day on Thursday, and stretched his legs on California soil for the first time Friday morning. Backed up to the seven-eighths pole around 8:15 a.m. local time under exercise rider Tony Gutierrez, Mystik Dan galloped about nine furlongs, then took two turns around the paddock before heading back to Barn 54, where he is staying. Trainer Kenny McPeek was not...

If it's Louisiana Champions Day, that means it's Touchuponastar (Star Guitar) day and the 5-year-old did not disappoint in winning the Champions Day Classic for the third consecutive season. Drawn widest while facing four others, the gelding poked his head in front with a circuit to travel and lobbed them along through a half-mile in :49.48 while tracked along by Benoit (Closing Argument). Held together on the turn by Tim Thornton, he remained under a double hammerlock while opening at will into the final furlong and cruised home untouched. The...

5th-FG, $58K, Msw, 2yo, f, 5 1/2fT, 3:45 p.m. ET. TANTI AUGURI (Quality Road) makes her debut for an ownership group which includes breeders Anthony Manganaro and Iapetus Racing. Trained by Cherie DeVaux, the homebred's dam is On My Way (Giant's Causeway), who has nine foals to her credit and four winners out of five to race. The first-time starter hails from an extended female family which includes Hong Kong hegemonic hero and recent retiree Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro). Also slated for the starting gate is Twin Creeks Racing's...

Godolphin homebred Maycocks Bay (Speightstown), forced to scratch from the GIII Southwest Stakes as the morning-line favorite in February, returned from 11 months on the sidelines to win a 1 1/16-mile allowance at Fair Grounds Saturday. "We're delighted to have him back," trainer Mike Stidham said. "He had been training so well coming up to this that anything short of that would have been a disappointment. Hopefully he comes out of it well and we can start looking for some bigger and better things." In his first race since a...

Mystik Dan (Goldencents) will be paraded in the Fair Grounds paddock Saturday. Four G Racing, Lance Gasaway, Daniel Hamby, III, and Valley View Farm's GI Kentucky Derby winner will join the field for the $150,000 Louisiana Champions Day Classic during the walkover to the paddock and will remain there throughout the race, between approximately 1:25 p.m. and 1:45 p.m. CT. Mystik Dan is expected to winter at Fair Grounds as trainer Ken McPeek plans out his 4-year-old campaign.

In this series, the TDN takes a look at notable successes of European-based sires in North America. This week's column is highlighted by the victory of Duvet Day at Grade III level beneath the Twin Spires.   Duvet Day Breaks Graded Duck In Cardinal Stakes Jane Bacharach, William DeBurgh and Richard Schatz's Duvet Day (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) won the GIII Cardinal Stakes at Churchill Downs on November 28 (video). It was the first graded win for the five-year-old mare and first victory since January of 2023 in the Listed Astra...

The outside post at Fair Grounds proved no issue for first-time starter Deep Manhattan (Justify) who put in a powerful stretch drive to become a Thanksgiving 'TDN Rising Star' for super-sire Justify. Away smartly from post 12, the 3-1 second choice had plenty of early pace past the wire the first time but was outrun by a handful of rivals along the fence into the first turn and opted to take back to rate off longshot frontrunner Sand Cast (The Factor). Shifting down to be three, then two wide into...

   In this series, the TDN takes a look at notable successes of European-based sires in North America. This column is highlighted by the victory of Serving Time at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans. Third Time's The Charm For Serving Time Breeders' Cup-winning trainer Cherie DeVaux saddled Serving Time (GB) (Without Parole {GB}) to win at third asking at the Fair Grounds on Nov. 23 (chart). Owned by John Gunther, Eurowest Bloostock and Borders Racing Stable, the 2-year-old filly became the 12th winner for her first-season sire (by Frankel...

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. Dr. Barry Eisaman, Eisaman Equine I've been in the horse world my entire life. So, I think it started just with horses and a love for them in general. That quickly transferred to love of horse racing because in my...

5th-Fair Grounds, $58,000, Msw, 11-24, 2yo, 1 1/16m, 1:45.27, ft, 3 3/4 lengths. HOT PROPERTY (c, 2, Medaglia d'Oro--Milwaukee Appeal {Ch. 3-year-old Filly-Can, MSW & GSP-Can, MGISP-USA, $1,198,674}, by Milwaukee Brew), sent off at 4-1, bounced out to the early lead and had favored So Sandy (Omaha Beach) racing just to his outside through an opening quarter in :24.89 and a half in :49.65. He shrugged off that foe at the top of the lane and skipped clear to the wire to graduate by 3 3/4 lengths. Seattle Road (Quality...

7th-CD, 120K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6 1/2f, 3:55 p.m. The half-sister to Eclipse winner and GI Longines Kentucky Oaks winner Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief), PRETTY SASSY (Medaglia d'Oro) debuts as a homebred for Godolphin Sunday. The third foal out of GI Spinaway Stakes winner Pretty City Dancer, who sold to Stroud Coleman Bloodstock for $3,500,000 at FTKNOV in 2018 and is a half to GISW Lear's Princess (Lear Fan), Pretty Sassy gets jockey Tyler Gaffalione aboard for trainer Brendan Walsh. Lined up just inside of that runner is Brown Sugar...

The owners of seven Thoroughbreds killed or injured in a Mar. 25, 2024, accident on the Bluegrass Parkway when a trailer driver allegedly fell asleep at the wheel and careened off the road while en route from Fair Grounds to Keeneland are suing the equine transport company and the driver in federal court, seeking "not less than" $3 million in compensatory damages and a separate amount in punitive damages that the plaintiffs want decided at a trial. The collective owners of the three horses that perished and the four that...