Kentucky Derby

As 2023 draws to a close, the TDN is asking industry members to name their favorite moment of the year. Send yours to suefinley@thetdn.com It was an exciting year at the Horse Park in 2023 at the Hall of Champions. It was a bit sad during the summer that we lost two great Thoroughbreds in Hall of Famer Point Given and dual Classic-winning Kentucky Derby winner Funny Cide, but we were recently able to add two Breeders' Cup winners in Roy H--a two-time Breeders' Cup Sprint winner and two-time Eclipse...

The New Jersey-based lawsuit in which a group of bettors are alleging they were cheated out of their property by Bob Baffert when his betamethasone-positive trainee, Medina Spirit, crossed the finish wire first in the 2021 GI Kentucky Derby and purportedly prevented the plaintiffs from cashing winning tickets on the runner-up is on the cusp of being transferred back to a federal court in California where it was first initiated 2 1/2 years ago. In a Dec. 22 filing in United States District Court (District of New Jersey), the judge...

A pair of runners competing during Kentucky Derby week at Churchill Downs, the home of the Kentucky Derby, will be offered wild card entries for Epsom's 3-year-old Classics contested four weeks later. The winner of Churchill's $500,000 GII Edgewood S., contested on the Kentucky Oaks undercard May 3, will receive an entry and travel incentive to run in the G1 Betfred Oaks at Epsom May 31. In the colt's division, a runner from the $500,000 GII American Turf S., scheduled for Kentucky Derby Day May 4, will receive an entry...

Churchill Downs on Tuesday announced a new partnership with the British Jockey Club and Ascot Racecourse to offer a program where horses competing during GI Kentucky Derby week could receive an entry and travel incentive for races at Epsom Downs and the Royal Ascot meeting. "This is a really special partnership that will give owners and trainers a great opportunity to run in some of our marquee races during Kentucky Derby week and, in exchange, they could receive entries into some of Europe's most prestigious turf races," Gary Palmisano Jr.,...

Angel of Empire (Classic Empire), a powerful winner of this spring's GI Arkansas Derby and a rallying third as the favorite in the GI Kentucky Derby, has returned to training at WinStar Training Center and is expected to rejoin trainer Brad Cox at either Fair Grounds or Oaklawn Park within the next month. The Albaugh Family Stables colorbearer was given a freshening after concluding his six-race sophomore campaign with a dead-heat fourth-place finish in the GI Belmont S. June 10 and a close third-place finish in a roughly run renewal...

Trainer Thomas L. "Lou" Rondinello, winner of the 1974 GI Belmont S., passed away Nov. 27 at the age of 95 according to a release issued Friday by the NYRA Communications Office. Among Rondinello's leading runners was Eclipse champion 3-year-old colt Little Current (Sea-Bird) who took the last two of the three legs of the 1974 Triple Crown series after coming fifth in the GI Kentucky Derby. He also trained 1978 Eclipse champion 3-year-old filly Tempest Queen (Graustark). In training for Darby Dan Farm, Rondinello topped over $8.6m in earnings...

Turfway Park will offer 19 stakes races  worth $3.725 million during its upcoming Winter/Spring Meet. The 52-day meeting is headlined by the $700,000 GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks, which will be run Mar. 23. Supporting races on the card include the $300,000 TwinSpires Kentucky Cup Classic, the $300,000 Bourbonette Oaks--a Road to the Kentucky Oaks Championship Series Race--the $250,000 Animal Kingdom S., the $250,000 Latonia S., and the $250,000 Rushaway S. The Road to the Kentucky Derby's first stop at the Florence oval will be Mar. 2 for the $150,000 John...

The long-running battle to decide whether or not Justify (Scat Daddy) should have been disqualified from his win in the 2018 GI Santa Anita Derby seems to have come to a conclusion last week when the team representing Mick Ruis, the owner and trainer of runner-up Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro), obtained an order from Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff, directing the California Horse Racing Board Stewards to set aside their Dec. 9, 2020 decision and issue a new ruling disqualifying Justify from the 2018 Santa Anita...

Dornoch (Good Magic)'s determined victory in the GII Remsen S. Saturday at Aqueduct has Danny Gargan mapping out possible paths to next year's GI Kentucky Derby, but the trainer admitted his charge has plenty of growing up to do if he is to make it to Churchill Downs on the First Saturday of next May. Dornoch, who set swift fractions in the nine-furlong race Saturday, appeared defeated with a furlong to run when he bumped the rail and allowed Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) to surge past him. But Dornoch battled...

Owner Rick Dawson has changed his mind a few times regarding the career of his GI Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike (Keen Ice). One day he's coming back to the races, another day he's to be sold as a stallion prospect, the next day it's back to trying to get him back to the races. It's not that Dawson is indecisive, it's more a matter of him reacting to what is a constantly changing situation. "A few weeks before the sale we had made plans to ship him to Gulfstream...

December 6, 2023 will mark 150 days until the 150th Kentucky Derby, and Kentucky Derby Museum is kicking off the Race to 150 with a free all-day celebration. The Kentucky Derby Museum will offer free admission from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Dec. 6, and the first 150 guests will receive a commemorative Race To 150 gift. The day will include a fashion contest, prizes, time capsule, kid-friendly activities, complimentary Derby treats and more. "If Kentucky can party for two weeks ahead of Derby, then we can certainly find...

The pari-mutuel field of "All Other Colts and Geldings from the 2021 Foal Crop" closed as the 6-5 favorite in Pool 2 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: Breeders' Cup Juvenile third Locked (Gun Runner) (14-1); 10 1/4-length maiden winner Nash (Medaglia d'Oro) (18-1); 10 1/2-length debut winner Knightsbridge (Nyquist) (19-1); and maiden special weight winner and full-brother to 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage, Dornoch (Good Magic)...