Hall of Fame

Toby Sheets, a longtime assistant trainer to Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, was found dead Sunday on a beach on the Greek Island of Mathraki, Sheets's family has confirmed to the TDN. Sheets's death is the most recent in a series of foreign tourists to disappear or be found dead on the Greek islands in the past week, according to the Associated Press. According to Reuters, Sheets was 55 years old. The confirmation was provided by Greg Sheets, who said he was Sheets's cousin. "He did pass away in...

Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux rode for the first time in a decade at Gulfstream Park on Friday, and made the trip worth his while when piloting Lady Cha Cha (Vino Rosso) to a victory for trainer Laura Cazares in the afternoon's featured seventh race. "All credit to the horse. What a nice filly," the three-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey told the Gulfstream notes team. "Thank you to Laura. I've never met her, but she put me on her horses today. I appreciate the opportunity." The 54-year-old rode two horses...

Aidan O'Brien is to be inducted into the QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame during the QIPCO Guineas Festival at Newmarket on Saturday.  The 54-year-old Irishman follows his Ballydoyle predecessor Vincent O'Brien, along with Sir Michael Stoute and Sir Henry Cecil, as the fourth trainer to be nominated for inclusion in the official Hall of Fame for British Flat racing, which was launched in 2021. He said, "It is incredible, and a privilege for us, as it is something we would never have expected. "The people, and horses, that...

GII Risen Star S. runner up Track Phantom (Quality Road) headlines the field for Saturday's GII Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds. The race draw also named the GIII Lecomte S. winner, who will break widest of the field in gate 12, as the 3-1 morning-line favorite. The field listed with their morning-line odds from the rail out include: Triple Espresso (Omaha Beach) (20-1), 'TDN Rising Star' Hall of Fame (Gun Runner) (8-1), Antiquarian (Preservationist) (12-1), 'TDN Rising Star' Agate Road (Quality Road) (8-1), Catching Freedom (Constitution) (4-1), Awesome Ruta...

Hall of Fame jockey and long-time Florida steward Walter Blum died early Thursday, Mar. 14 due to complications of lung disease, announced his son Walter Blum Jr. on social media. He was 89. The story was first reported by the Daily Racing Form (DRF). The Brooklyn, N.Y. native started his racing career young as a hotwalker before launching into riding in 1953 at 19, and leading the country in wins in both 1963 and 1964. While largely riding in New York and New Jersey, Blum did travel for high-profile rides....

Secretariat's birthday will be celebrated Saturday, March 30 with a special children's event hosted by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, NY. The afternoon, which will run concurrently with the final day of the Museum's exhibit celebrating the 50th anniversary of Secretariat's Triple Crown, will feature a showing of the 2010 Disney film starring Diane Lane along with a variety of children's activities. Fans are welcome to an Easter egg hunt and will have the opportunity to color silks and design a birthday card....

The GI Beholder Mile is being renamed the B. Wayne Hughes Beholder Mile in honor of the multiple champion's late owner, who passed away in August 2021. Hughes, the founder of the Public Storage company and whose silks carried the same purple-and-orange color scheme, owned horses for five decades and was the proprietor of Spendthrift Farm from 2004. Beholder, a daughter of Henny Hughes, was purchased for $180,000 at the 2011 Keeneland September sale and won a record 13 stakes races at Santa Anita, including the 2012 GI Breeders' Cup...

Brook Smith, the co-owner of GII Risen Star winner Sierra Leone and fellow Kentucky Derby hopeful Hall of Fame, joined the TDN Writers' Room to discuss an exciting weekend.

The Road to the Kentucky Derby heats up further still on Saturday, as the $400,000 GII Risen Star S. is the first of six prep races that will offer the winner 50 points, virtually locking up a berth in the field for the Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs on May 4. Track Phantom (Quality Road) will look to continue his domination among the local 3-year-olds as he looks to remain unbeaten around two turns in trying to add to his victories in the Dec. 23 Gun Runner S....

The TDN's popular annual series 'Mating Plans, presented by Spendthrift,' continues today in a conversation with Denali Stud's Conrad Bandoroff. FLAG DAY (8, Giant's Causeway--Sense  to Compete, by Street Sense) to be bred to Good Magic. This mare's first foal, Hall of Fame, broke his maiden in very impressive fashion and was tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' for his effort. The son of Gun Runner and Flag Day's first foal has been a special horse from the day he was born. He was just one of those foals that, when...

When Perry Ouzts wired the field aboard an 8-1 maiden filly named Caberneigh (Munnings) at Turfway Park last Wednesday night, the 69-year-old jockey established a milestone that garnered little notice in the racing world. The victory extended Ouzts's remarkable streak of having ridden at least one winner in a calendar year to 52 consecutive seasons. Think about the scope of that accomplishment for a moment. On Apr. 2, 1973, Ouzts, then 18, rode his first lifetime winner on just his second day as a licensed apprentice, guiding home an Ohio-bred...

A day after Track Phantom (Quality Road)'s win in the GIII Lecomte S. at Fair Grounds Saturday, trainer Steve Asmussen was already looking forward to starting the 3-year-old colt in the Feb. 17 GII Risen Star S. The sophomore, who ended 2023 with a win in the Gun Runner S., will be following the same New Orleans path to the GI Kentucky Derby that Asmussen used for Epicenter (Not This Time) two years ago. Epicenter won the Gun Runner in 2021 and finished second in the Lecomte to begin his...