Florida Derby

How innocent we all were, in hindsight. Maybe you, like me, were in town from colder climes; feeling your whole soul opening, flower-like, to the unaccustomed warmth of the Miami springtime. From the upper arcade I gazed superciliously at Maximum Security (New Year's Day) as he strolled round the parade ring. The hometown upstart had won three sprints by an aggregate 35 lengths, but you could have claimed him for $16,000 on his debut. Yes, everyone cautioned that Jason Servis, at a 45% clip through the meet, could do unexpected...

Ed DeRosa of Brisnet.com takes on TDN's Steve Sherack and Brian DiDonato as they handicap Triple Crown prep races plus the big three races themselves. The three will make $100 Win/Place bets in the preps and $200 Win/Place bets in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont. Highest bankroll at the end wins. DeRosa - Last Week's Results - Wells Bayou (+$710) kept on finding as the 3-1 favorite to wire the GII TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby. Bankroll: $2275. GI Curlin Florida Derby - The cliche goes "willing to forgive" a horse's...

Since its inaugural running in 1952, the GI Curlin Florida Derby has always been a stop along the journey for GI Kentucky Derby hopefuls--a chance for fine-tuning and finishing touches before horses take their best shots to Louisville. But this year, due to the postponement of the Run for the Roses and general uncertainty about what the rest of the racing calendar will look like as the world grapples with the coronavirus crisis, the Florida Derby is now a point of disembarkation for 3-year-olds, and it fittingly drew a stacked...

As the overseer of two of the biggest tracks still running races in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, The Stronach Group's CEO Craig Fravel has a lot of responsibility right now. As Saturday's GI Curlin Florida Derby at Gulfstream nears and the GI Santa Anita Derby follows next weekend, Fravel stopped by the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland to talk with Bill Finley about this tumultuous time. "Things seem to change on an hourly basis," Fravel said. "I think I was in Florida a week and a...

'TDN Rising Star' Gouverneur Morris (Constitution) was confirmed to start next in the Mar. 28 GI Curlin Florida Derby after breezing five-eighths in 1:01.65 (3/12) Saturday at Palm Beach Downs. "He worked as well as he ever has this morning," trainer Todd Pletcher said in an email forwarded by owner Barry Irwin of Team Valor. "I think we should take what's in front of us [the Florida Derby], assuming they keep running at Gulfstream." Citing revenue losses from casino closings and the lack of on-track handle in the wake of...

Owing to the closure of all casinos and the elimination of on-track handle, officials at Gulfstream Park have announced reductions in stakes purses for the GI Curln Florida Derby and supporting undercard stakes Mar. 28. The Derby, which offers 170 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, has seen its purse slashed to $750,000 from $1 million, while the GII Kitten's Joy Pan American S. and GII Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Oaks will run for $200,000, down from $250,000. The Cutler Bay S. and Sanibel Island S., originally $125,000 events, will...

NBC Sports will partner with TVG to present racing beginning this weekend as NBCSN simulcasts TVG's Trackside Live Saturday, Mar. 21 and Sunday, Mar. 22 from 4-8 p.m. ET. Anchored by TVG host and NBC Sports reporter Britney Eurton, TVG's Trackside Live offers live horse racing from various tracks across the country. The biggest race of the weekend--the GII Louisiana Derby from Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans--will air on NBCSN Saturday at 5 p.m. ET, and will be part of the Trackside Live coverage. NBCSN will also simulcast...

When Saffie Joseph, Jr. arrived in the U.S. from Barbados in 2011, the then 24-year-old didn't come here to be just another trainer. He wanted what racing in Barbados could never offer him, a chance to prosper on a big stage and to become one of the top trainers in the sport. Some nine years later, he's on his way, capturing training titles at Gulfstream and Gulfstream Park West and winning graded stakes with horses like GI Pennsylvania Derby winner Math Wizard (Algorithms). This year alone, he's won six stakes,...

Tiz the Law (Constitution), an impressive return winner of the GIII Holy Bull S. last Saturday, will remain in Florida leading up to the GI Kentucky Derby and will next contest the GI Florida Derby at Gulfstream Mar. 28, owner Sackatoga Stable announced Friday. The Barclay Tagg trainee, who won last year's GI Champagne S. before finishing a close third in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S., was also being considered for the GII Louisiana Derby. "There really are a number of factors, starting with how well he ran in...

The older filly and mare division could be sensational this year. Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lure) is coming off a stellar 4-year-old campaign and will be seen next battling the world's best horses in the Feb. 29 Saudi Cup. Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) is set to return to the races after a layoff of more than a year and will try to duplicate her 2018 form, when she was an Eclipse Award winner and the winner of the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. And now you can add Jolie Olimpica (Brz) (Drosselmeyer) to...

Global Thoroughbred and Top Racing LLC's Caracaro (Uncle Mo) flashed signs of talent when a front-running, but green, second going seven furlongs at Gulfstream Dec. 8. He put it all together Saturday, however, stalking and pouncing his way to a six-length tally that earned him the day's second 'TDN Rising Star' nod. Bet down late and off as the 2-1 chalk, the $95,000 KEENOV weanling broke well and was reined in to press a longshot from out in the clear through a :23.70 opening split. He kept after that rival...

Buck Thornburg, who won the 1980 GI Florida Derby and GI Wood Memorial with Plugged Nickle and a division of the 1977 Florida Derby with Coined Silver, passed away earlier this week at age 86. A native of Muncie, Indiana, where he rode his horse to school, Thornburg rode 3,433 winners from 27,258 mounts. He rode his first winner July 29, 1950 at Scarborough Downs in Maine. Thornburg rode into his late 50s before retiring. He also rode the gray mare Luminaire to victories in the 1983 GII Matchmaker and...