Kentucky Oaks

There are no rules or even guidelines when it comes to choosing horses or humans for Eclipse Awards. There is though, at least in the human categories, conventional wisdom. Just pick the person whose stable earned the most money. That's what most voters do. If you base your vote on that criteria, Chad Brown is the obvious pick for trainer of the year. Through Nov. 9, his stable has earned $29,707,240. Steve Asmussen is second at $25,736,730. Brown leads all trainers in graded stakes wins (46) and Grade I wins...

Tuning up for next Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Distaff at Del Mar, four-time Grade I winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) breezed five furlongs beneath regular exercise rider Danny Ramsey in 1:01.24 (1/3) over Saratoga's Oklahoma training track Saturday morning. The move was recorded in company with her multiple stakes-placed Ken McPeek-trained stablemate and 4-year-old gelding Denington (Gun Runner). After purchasing a total of 21 yearlings earlier this month--five at the Tattersalls October Yearling sale and 16 at the Fasig-Tipton October Yearling sale--McPeek was back in town...

Bill Carstanjen, the chief executive officer of Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), said during a quarterly earnings conference call Thursday that the gaming company will embark upon a series of frontside and infield projects at Churchill Downs that will increase premium seating by 20% at the corporation's flagship racetrack in Louisville, representing "the largest expansion we have done to date." The frontside redevelopment will be centered on the area starting 180 feet past the finish line through to the First Turn Club, and will require the demolition of the existing Skye...

Tickets for the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve on Saturday, May 3 will go on sale to the public Thursday, Oct. 3 at noon ET. Two-day all-inclusive reserved tickets to the 151st Longines Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby available for purchase include the new $80-$90 million Starting Gate Courtyard renovation project that will feature new stadium-style seats, permanent upgraded concessions and wagering windows. Limited premium and luxury dining experiences in select areas --the Woodford Reserve Paddock Club and Club SI by Sports Illustrated which both...

The Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale, with a catalogue of 1,614 head, brings the curtain down on what has been a record-setting yearling sales season with its four-day run beginning Monday in Lexington. Bidding for each session begins at 10 a.m. Consignors are optimistic that the competitive market that has been prevalent from the season's beginning at the Fasig-Tipton July Sale, to the company's Saratoga sales, and to the Keeneland September Yearling Sale last month, will continue through its conclusion this week. "Coming off the way the prices were and...

Unraced since filling the trifecta in the Bourbonette Oaks in March, Alpine Princess (Classic Empire) made a triumphant return to the track Sunday night with a romp in the Remington Park Oaks. The daughter of Classic Empire seemed on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks late last year with back to back wins including a two-length score in the Untapable Stakes at Fair Grounds to end her juvenile campaign. Fourth on a sloppy track to start 2024 in the GII Rachel Alexandra Stakes, Alpine Princess switched to the Tapeta for...

Blind Luck (Pollard's Vision--Lucky One, by Best of Luck), champion 3-year-old filly of 2010 and a finalist for the Eclipse Award during her freshman campaign, passed away in April in Japan two days after foaling a colt by Kitasan Black (Jpn), according to Japanese studbook records. Bred in Kentucky by Bill and Terry Baker's Fairlawn Farm, the chestnut filly with a white blaze was consigned by that operation to the 2008 Fasig-Tipton July Sale, where she was hammered down to Juvenal Diaz's Omega Farm for $11,000 and was bought back...

by Tim Wilkin, courtesy Wednesday's Pennsylvania Derby & Cotillion News The echoes that bounced off the rafters at Saratoga Race Course last month are still fresh in the mind of Brian Hernandez, Jr. The 38-year-old jockey can still hear the noise as he rode Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) to a heart-pounding second--beaten by a head--behind Fierceness (City of Light) in the GI Travers Stakes. Thorpedo Anna's bid to become the first filly to win the Travers in 109 years came up just short. Now, the page has turned to Parx...

Godolphin took to X to announce 2023 Eclipse champion 3-year-old filly Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief--Pretty City Dancer, by Tapit) has been retired from racing. The social media post said, "Kentucky Oaks winner #PrettyMischievous arriving at her new home at #GainsboroughFarm today. Next stop, motherhood!" Last seen finishing fifth in the GI Clement L. Hirsch Stakes Aug. 3 at Del Mar, the Godolphin homebred had an abbreviated 4-year-old campaign after a return from her championship season. The 'TDN Rising Star' was spectacular at three, capturing the GI Kentucky Oaks, GI Acorn...

It's been a magical year for jockey Brian Hernandez, Jr., who rides the best 3-year-old filly in the country in Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) and one of the best 3-year-old males in Mystik Dan (Goldencents). For the veteran rider that has meant wins in the GI Kentucky Oaks, the GI Kentucky Derby, the GI Acorn S. and the GI Coaching Club American Oaks. Thorpedo Anna will take on the boys in her next scheduled start, the GI DraftKings Travers S. Appearing on the TDN Writers' Room Podcast, presented by Keeneland,...

The GIII Southwest Stakes, won by subsequent GI Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan (Goldencents) this year, will be worth $1 million in 2025, Oaklawn Park announced Tuesday. The race was worth $800,000 this year. The second of four Kentucky Derby points races to be contested at Oaklawn, the Southwest will be run Jan. 25 and joins the $1.25-million GII Rebel Stakes and the $1.5-million GI Arkansas Derby as Oaklawn's seven-figure preps for the first race of the Triple Crown. Oaklawn's Derby prep series begins with the Jan. 4 $250,000 Smarty...

The Kentucky Derby Museum has completed updates to its Winner's Circle Exhibit to include Mystik Dan (Goldencents)'s victory in this year's 150th running of the race. Mike Prather, a local artist who was first commissioned by the Museum to airbrush a replica Derby horse in 1999, captured all of Mystik Dan's unique markings and details to match how he looked crossing the finish line at Churchill Downs May 4. The replica jockey was also given a makeover with the team's silks. The new addition to the exhibit includes items on...