Kentucky Derby

No matter how talented a horse might be, going from a maiden win into a race like the GI Curlin Florida Derby is supposed to be too much to ask. You're not seasoned, experienced or battle tested, and those things matter. That's why I thought 3-1 was a ridiculous price on Charge It (Tapit) in Saturday's Florida Derby. Was I ever wrong. After finishing second in his debut in January, the Todd Pletcher-trained colt returned Feb. 12 to win a Gulfstream maiden by 8 1/2 lengths. It was a big...

Gold Square LLC's Cyberknife (Gun Runner) exited his win in Saturday's GI Arkansas Derby in fine shape and is expected to ship to Louisville Tuesday to continue preparations for the May 7 GI Kentucky Derby. The colt, who was making his second stakes appearance after a sixth-place effort in the Jan. 22 GIII Lecomte S., continued a trend of frisky behavior Saturday at Oaklawn when dumping jockey Florent Geroux in the post parade. "I was too far away to do anything about it, but Florent was able to jump up...

White Abarrio (Race Day) came out of his victory in Saturday's GI Curlin Florida Derby in fine shape and will now be aimed at the GI Kentucky Derby, trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. confirmed Sunday. "He was further back than we envisioned and to see him be able to sit back that far off the pace and make his move, it gives you a lot of confidence, because you know he can run close to the pace and now sit back and be as effective," Joseph said of his charge's Florida...

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL--With no heavy favorite, the GI Curlin Florida Derby looked like it would likely go one of four ways on paper. The three winners of the four Florida-based GI Kentucky Derby preps--Simplification (Not This Time), White Abarrio (Race Day) and Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway)--were 2-1, 5-2 and 7-2, respectively, and 'TDN Rising Star' Charge It (Tapit), a flashy maiden winner hailing from the Todd Pletcher barn, was dispatched at 3-1. While all four of those runners were a factor in this event, it was C2 Racing Stable's White...

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL--The three winners of Florida's four previous GI Kentucky Derby prep races meet Saturday as they make their final starts ahead of the First Saturday in May in Gulfstream's GI Curlin Florida Derby. Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway) ruled the Tampa Bay Downs preps, scoring decisive victories in both the GIII Sam F. Davis S. Feb. 12 and the GII Tampa Bay Derby Mar. 12. He hit the board in all three of his juvenile races, starting with a dominant debut at Saratoga Sept. 4. Finishing third after setting...

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL--Brian Lynch has already proven he is a talented trainer, conditioning the likes of Grade I winners Oscar Performance, Heart to Heart, Grand Arch and Coffee Clique. While he has won several graded events on dirt, all of his top-level scorers were on turf and the main thing missing from his resume is a Triple Crown contender. Lynch finally has that this year in Saturday's GI Curlin Florida Derby contender Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway), who already has enough points to be his trainer's first GI Kentucky Derby starter....

There was a time when you would load as much experience and conditioning as possible into a Kentucky Derby horse, as a mere adolescent required to jostle with 19 others through 10 furlongs. Nowadays, however, trainers are trying to reach Churchill Downs across a highwire stretched to a thread by two diametrically opposed imperatives. One is their conviction, whether through perception or presumption, that the typical, commercial-bred Thoroughbred of today can only stand up to a much lighter schedule. The other is to secure enough gate points in the trials.

A federal judge on Thursday granted Bob Baffert the expedited preliminary injunction hearing the trainer is seeking in his fight to overturn a private-property ban by Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI). But getting that hearing on the docket is only one step in a complicated, deadline-driven legal process in the Hall-of-Famer's long-shot quest to try to be able to saddle horses in the GI Kentucky Derby. The just-assigned Apr. 15 date for the hearing in United States District Court (Western District of Kentucky, LouisvilleDivision) will come 22 days before the Derby....

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL--While C2 Racing Stable is in its infancy, its founders, brothers Clint and Mark Cornett are not new on the racing scene. In fact, Mark Cornett has worked as a racing manager and bloodstock agent for over 25 years and even put together the partnerships that owned champions Blind Luck and Dubai Majesty. He and Clint campaigned horses a decade ago under a different banner. The Cornett brothers returned to the game just last year under their new moniker with the goal of running in the GI Kentucky...

The fifth and final pool of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager (KDFW), which was scheduled for Mar. 31-Apr. 2, will be delayed one week and now will run Thursday, Apr. 7 through Saturday, Apr. 9. "Our future wager selection committee met Monday and wanted to use a few key horses within the top 23 betting interests, specifically the filly Secret Oath, who runs in Saturday's Arkansas Derby, and the runner-up in last weekend's UAE Derby, Summer Is Tomorrow," said Darren Rogers, Churchill Downs' Senior Director of Communications and Media Services....

Though Secret Oath (Arrogate) will meet males Saturday in the GI Arkansas Derby, Hall of Fame trainer Wayne Lukas has been saying all along that the main goal for her remains the GI Kentucky Oaks. That's starting to change. "First of all, we have to assume she is going to run a top race in the Arkansas Derby," Lukas said. "(Owner-breeder) Rob Mitchell and I were talking three weeks ago and he said he wanted to go in the Oaks. Since then, he's brought up the Derby two or three...

Seven 3-year-olds, headed by recent G2 UAE Derby runner-up Summer Is Tomorrow (Summer Front), have been supplemented to the 2022 Triple Crown series for a fee of $6,000 prior to the late closing date this past Monday, Mar. 28. Owned by Michael and Negar Burke, Summer Is Tomorrow is a two-time winner from seven starts in Dubai, having won a Feb. 25 allowance by 8 1/4 lengths going seven furlongs prior to his effort in the UAE Derby, in which he set the pace and was run down late by...