Kentucky Derby

TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack provides his analysis for Saturday's quartet of GI Kentucky Derby prep races. GIII Holy Bull S. - Last year's jaw-dropping GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light) finds a perfect landing spot to launch his sophomore season versus seven overmatched rivals. Not worth trying to beat him here, even if he's closer to 1-9 than his 3-5 morning-line quote. I can't see him defeating the recently crowned 2023 champion 2-year-old, but how about Domestic Product (Practical Joke) to...

Ocala Stud celebrated a significant achievement when Fierceness (City of Light) became the second GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner in a row to graduate from their breaking and training program, following hot on the heels of fellow Repole Stable standout Forte (Violence) in 2022. Newly crowned as champion 2-year-old male, Fierceness makes his much-anticipated sophomore debut on Saturday in the GIII Holy Bull S., but he won't be the only starter representing Ocala Stud. Hades (Awesome Slew), who is two for two for trainer Joe Orseno, was bred and raised...

Tickets for the 150th GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks, along with the entire Spring meet at Churchill Downs, are available as of 12 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 1. The meet, which runs April 27 to June 30, features events such as Opening Night, Dawn at the Downs Dining, 502's Day, Champions Day, Thurby and Taste of Derby. The Spring meet will also see the debut of the new paddock redesign project. Tickets for all events, including Derby weekend, are available to purchase here.

   Amr Zedan, who owns several top 3-year-old colts, has informed TDN that his horses are staying with trainer Bob Baffert, which means they will be ineligible to run in the GI Kentucky Derby, barring any change in policy from Churchill Downs. Churchill set Monday as a deadline for owners to take their horses away from Baffert. Any horse remaining in his barn after the deadline will not be permitted to race at Churchill Downs. "No move," Zedan said in a text message. "Mr. Baffert (is) our man." Tuesday morning,...

When the IEAH stable partnership closed down in 2013, it seemed like the sport had seen the last of its founder, Michael Iavarone. But after four years on the sidelines Iavarone returned as the solo owner of a small group of horses in 2017. Since, he has built his stable into a top outfit, as evidenced by the fact that he will have a starter in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational in O'Connor (Chi) (Boboman) and in the GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational in Master Piece (Chi) (Mastercraftsman...

The Grade II, $750,000 Wood Memorial Presented by Resorts World Casino is the richest of 12 added-money events scheduled worth a combined $2.675 million for the Aqueduct spring meeting, to be held Apr. 4 through Apr. 28. NYRA has increased the purse of six stakes to be contested during the Aqueduct spring meet. Four listed events have received a $50,000 boost, including the Top Flight S., Danger's Hour S., Plenty of Grace S. and Memories of Silver S. The GIII Distaff H. and the Woodhaven S. have each been increased...

Nadine Seckman, a junior at Atherton High School, has been named the grand prize winner of the 38th annual Horsing Around With Art competition, presented by WinStar Farm. The HAWA Grand Prize is awarded to the artist whose work best captures the spirit of the Kentucky Derby. Churchill Downs Racetrack President, Mike Anderson, said Seckman's piece embodied the emotion of Derby. "For 149 years, it's been about the horse. And for Derby 150, this portrait of the horse in front of the Twin Spires captures the very spirit of the...

Second Stride, which rehabs, retrains and rehomes retired Thoroughbred racehorses, will open its 2024 fundraising efforts with twin raffles for third-floor boxes for six people, one box each for Kentucky Derby and Oaks Day donated by Churchill Downs. In the spirit of May 3-4 being the 150th runnings of America's favorite race and its filly counterpart, only 150 tickets will be sold at $150 apiece for the Derby and for $125 apiece for the Oaks. Buy raffle tickets for the all-inclusive boxes (including food and alcoholic beverage) here. The drawings...

Trainer Bob Baffert took to X late Monday afternoon to report that he has told his legal team to drop the appeal to the result of the 2021 GI Kentucky Derby, from which Zedan Racing Stable's Medina Spirit (Protonico) was disqualified for a betamethasone positive. The post read: "I have instructed my attorneys to dismiss the appeal related to the disqualification of Medina Spirit in the 2021 Kentucky Derby. Zedan Racing owner, Amr Zedan, and I have decided that it is best to positively focus on the present and future...

The pari-mutuel field of "All Other Colts and Geldings from the 2021 Foal Crop" closed as the 2-1 favorite in Pool 3 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, while GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Fierceness (City of Light) was the 8-1 second choice. Other horses who attracted mild interest from bettors: GII Remsen S. runner-up Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) (13-1); GII Remsen S. winner and the full-brother to GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage, Dornoch (Good Magic) (15-1); Breeders' Cup Juvenile third Locked (Gun Runner) (18-1); recent Gulfstream Park maiden winner...

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...