Kentucky Derby

GI Kentucky Derby favorite and runner-up Epicenter (Not This Time) drew post eight in a nine-horse renewal of the GI Preakness S. at Monday's pill pull for the second leg of the Triple Crown, while GI Longines Kentucky Oaks victress Secret Oath (Arrogate) got the four post for trainer D. Wayne Lukas as she attempts to become the second filly to win the Preakness in the last three years and give Lukas a seventh Preakness victory. The chestnut was installed as the 9-2 third choice on the morning line behind Epicenter and...

It was a relatively quiet week in the U.S. as everyone drew breath between Derby and Preakness, but the action came thick and fast in Europe. Here's what grabbed our attention over the last seven days. From San Antonio to Longchamp... Tony Parker, former San Antonio Spurs icon, was in the headlines Sunday as part-owner of Mangoustine (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}), winner of the G1 Emirates Poule d'Essai des Pouliches. Parker, who joins a growing list of sports stars involved in horse ownership in France, won four NBA championships (2003,...

Edited Ontario Racing press release Susan Foreman got outbid in a hot market at the Keeneland January sale earlier this year, but found a mare to bring home to her Ontario farm from among the sale's RNAs, purchasing Unostrike (Macho Uno) privately for $25,000 after the 12-year-old failed to meet her reserve in the sales ring the previous day. While half of the mare's purchase price was paid for by Ontario Racing's Mare Purchase Program, the acquisition was made even better when Unostrike's half-brother Rich Strike (Keen Ice) upset the...

Michael Slezak may have been watching the Kentucky Derby alongside his 11-year-old twin boys from his living room in Jersey City, but he celebrated like he was about to receive the trophy himself when Rich Strike (Keen Ice) scored the second-largest upset in the race's 148-year history. A former TVLine and Entertainment Weekly journalist, Slezak is now a full-time bloodstock agent who also dabbles in TV pilot script writing. One month and a day before Rich Strike made Derby history, Slezak claimed the colt's half-sister My Blonde Mary (Oxbow) for...

Winchell Thoroughbreds' Epicenter (Not This Time) remained on target for Saturday's GI Preakness S. after a 1 1/2-mile gallop at Churchill Downs Sunday morning. "He seems to be pretty sharp," Scott Blasi, who oversees trainer Steve Asmussen's Churchill division, said of the GI Kentucky Derby runner-up and likely Preakness favorite. "I love how he's doing. He galloped today like that was nothing; walked off the track with good energy. We'll put a little work in him and go. Not much to do from here on out.... [but] win." Epicenter had...

Juddmonte Farms' Mandaloun (Into Mischief) turned in his second work since a ninth-place finish in the Feb. 28 G1 Saudi Cup when going four furlongs in :49.20 (19/50) at Churchill Downs Sunday. "He worked an easy three-eighths last week and we came back with just an easy half-mile [Sunday]," trainer Brad Cox said of last year's GI Kentucky Derby winner. "He got delayed coming back to Churchill from Saudi, so we just wanted to be easy on him for a little while and get him back going. We'll start to...

It was back to business as ususal for jockey Sonny Leon on Friday afternoon as he returned to Belterra Park six days after his ride of a lifetime aboard Rich Strike (Keen Ice) in an unforgettable edition of the GI Kentucky Derby. Coming off his first-ever graded stakes win in the Run for the Roses, Leon ran second in race one, third in race two, and won going away in race three. Fittingly, the 3 3/4-length victory aboard Runway Rosie (Tonalist) in the $18,800 allowance contest was for trainer Eric...

Well, I guess it's precisely because the protagonists aren't used to the limelight that everybody has so enjoyed their arrival at center stage. But they have quickly learned that once there, with everyone hanging on your every word, you had better know your script. In the excitement of his success, under one of the most remarkable rides in GI Kentucky Derby history, connections of Rich Strike (Keen Ice) told everyone that they had the previous morning been reconciled to instead contesting the GIII Peter Pan S. at Belmont this weekend....

I suppose it wasn't a complete surprise that the connections of Rich Strike (Keen Ice) announced Thursday that their GI Kentucky Derby winner will not run in the GI Preakness S. and will instead point for the GI Belmont S., forgoing any chance he might have had to win the Triple Crown. Owners and trainers have grown so frightened by the idea of running their horses back on two-weeks' rest that something like this was inevitable. So this year's Preakness, missing the feel-good 80-1 winner of the Derby will not...

Rich Strike (Keen Ice), who sensationally upended last Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby as the 80-1 longest shot in the field of 20, will bypass the GI Preakness S. at Pimlico May 21, owner Rick Dawson said Thursday afternoon. "Our original plan for Rich Strike was contingent on the Kentucky Derby--should we not run in the Derby, we would point toward the Preakness, should we run in the Derby, subject to the race outcome and the condition of our horse, we would give him more recovery time and rest and run...

Larry Collmus has been calling races at the highest level for a long time, but even his vast experience and expertise could hardly prepare him for what happened in Saturday's stunning GI Kentucky Derby, as 80-1 bomb Rich Strike (Keen Ice) came seemingly from nowhere to surge past the short-priced pair of Epicenter (Not This Time) and Zandon (Upstart) and score the second-largest upset in the 148-year history of the Run for the Roses. Tuesday, Collmus joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland as the Green Group Guest of...