Kentucky Oaks

After winning Saturday's Letellier Memorial Stakes with first-time starter Simply Joking (Practical Joke), trainer Whit Beckman struck again with another daughter of Practical Joke in the Untapable Stakes at Fair Grounds. Scratched out of that six-furlong affair on the undercard in favor of the two-turn Untapable, it was Her Laugh (Practical Joke) who got the job done for Beckman in front-running fashion at odds of 9-2, good for 10 points on the Road to the GI Kentucky Oaks. It was 2 1/2 lengths back to favored 'TDN Rising Star' Golden...

Prominent owner and pioneering human heart surgeon Mark DeDomenico passed away Saturday aged 87, leaving behind a storied legacy in human and equine health. "The first thing he taught me when I went to work for him was that the word 'can't' isn't in the vocabulary," said Mike Puhich, trainer and director of horse operations at the Pegasus Training and Rehabilitation Center in Redmond, Washington, owned by DeDomenico. "He'd say 'I want this, this, and this.' And I'd say, 'Doctor Mark, I can't do that.' And he'd say, 'I know,...

New investors at the elite level of our sport are clearly being well briefed in the odds they need to overcome. But if nobody can have failed to notice one operation pronouncing itself "Resolute," only gradually are people becoming as aware of another that had already been branded as "Determined." As we'll see, a certain staunchness is not only innate to Matt Dorman of Determined Stud but has also been fortified by experience, some of it as challenging as life can throw at us. The upshot is a conspicuous sense...

With the road to the 2025 GI Kentucky Oaks officially underway, Brad Cox already trains arguably the top two juvenile fillies in the country. After this weekend, he may even have the third. 'TDN Rising Star' Muhimma (Munnings), a press-and-pounce winner of her first two starts by a combined margin of 13 jaw-dropping lengths at Churchill Downs, will make her two-turn and stakes debut for Cox in Saturday's GII Demoiselle Stakes going 1 1/8 miles at Aqueduct. A $700,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by Shadwell Stable, the rail-drawn gray has...

Colonial Downs will host an expanded 44 days of live racing in 2025, led off by a special three-day Virginia Derby meet from Mar. 13 through Mar. 15, followed by the track's traditional summer meet from July 9 through Sept. 13. The $500,000 Virginia Derby, a points race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, will transition to the dirt and be held Mar. 15, anchoring a new three-day spring meet which will also include the $250,000 Virginia Oaks, a Kentucky Oaks points race. The winning horse in each race...

Godolphin homebred Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro) unleashed a powerful run on the far turn and made it a perfect four-for-four with an off-the-pace victory in Saturday's GII Golden Rod Stakes at Churchill Downs, good for 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks. 'TDN Rising Star' Quietside (Malibu Moon) was 2 1/2 lengths back in second. Eclatant (Into Mischief) was third. Favored at 3-5 off a 4 3/4-length success in the track-and-trip Rags To Riches Stakes Oct. 27, the bay filly bumped with a rival shortly after the start...

Trainer Ken McPeek, who campaigned GI Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan (Goldencents) and GI Kentucky Oaks winner Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna), will be awarded the 2024 Big Sport of Turfdom award, the Turf Publicists of America announced Monday. The award, which recognizes a person who enhances coverage of Thoroughbred racing through cooperation with media, will be presented at the University of Arizona Race Track Program's annual awards luncheon held Dec. 10. "Ken and his team have had an outstanding year with multiple triumphs on not only our sport's biggest stage...

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...