Kentucky Oaks

With three weeks remaining until the GI Kentucky Derby, the trio of Crown Pride (Jpn) (Reach the Crown {Jpn}) (six furlongs, 1:18.60), Cyberknife (Gun Runner) (five furlongs, 1:00) and Tiz the Bomb (Hit It a Bomb) (four furlongs, :48.40) worked at Churchill Downs Saturday. Gold Square's GI Arkansas Derby winner Cyberknife worked at 9 a.m. outside of multiple stakes-placed stablemate Tommy Bee (Medaglia d'Oro). Cyberknife started two lengths behind Tommy Bee and completed fractions of :12.20, :23.80 and :47.20. Cyberknife finished even with Tommy Bee around the seven eighths pole...

With the GI Ashland S., the GII Santa Anita Oaks and the GIII Gazelle S. topping last week's action, all the preps have been run and the field for the GI Kentucky Oaks is all but set. Who will be the favorite? Who is the filly to beat? In a year where the division is overrun with quality, those aren't easy questions to answer. It should be a heck of a race. 1) SECRET OATH (Arrogate--Absinthe Minded, by Quiet American) O-Briland Farm; B-Briland Farm, Robert & Stacy Mitchell (KY); T-D....

Led by Three Chimneys's Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}), young stallions with either first- or second-crop representatives account for 11 of the 20 leading point getters for the GI Kentucky Derby, and quite a few of these stallions, Gun Runner included, have the top 12 leading points earners for the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks as well. First-Crop 3-year-olds Gun Runner, whose first crop is three, has, incredibly, sired four individual Grade I winners so far, the latest of which is Zedan Racing's remarkable Taiba, who won the GI Runhappy Santa...

With less than four weeks remaining until the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Longines Kentucky Oaks, Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen's duo of top contenders Epicenter (Not This Time) and Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) returned to the worktab Sunday at Churchill Downs for the first time since their respective victories two weeks ago in the GII Louisiana Derby and GII Fair Grounds Oaks. Winchell Thoroughbreds' Epicenter, the potential favorite in the Kentucky Derby, worked five furlongs in 1:01 flat (7/22) Sunday at 5:50 a.m. while his stablemate, L and...

Nostalgic (Medaglia d'Oro) added to a banner day for Godolphin with an upset score over even-money favorite and Busher Invitational S. romper Venti Valentine (Firing Line) in Aqueduct's GIII Gazelle S. Saturday. Godolphin and Nostalgic's trainer Bill Mott also teamed up to win the GI Carter H. one race earlier with Speaker's Corner (Street Sense). Additionally, Sheikh Mohammed's operation won Keeneland's GIII Commonwealth S. with homebred 'TDN Rising Star' Prevalence (Medaglia d'Oro). Venti Valentine broke alertly and went straight to the front with fellow NY-bred, 9-5 second-choice and 'TDN Rising...

While Saturday's GII Santa Anita Oaks seemed all but a procession for 13-length GIII Las Virgenes S. romper Adare Manor (Uncle Mo) in her first start since being transferred from Bob Baffert to Tim Yakteen, Desert Dawn (Cupid)--the longest shot in the field of five at higher than 14-1 odds--had other ideas. Desert Dawn broke well from the fence before tucking in to sit third as her seemingly much more formidable stablemate Ain't Easy (Into Mischief) set off to show the way with the imposing presence of Adare Manor looming...

If you think you've heard this story before, it's because you have. On the opening weekend of the 2021 spring meeting at historic Keeneland, trainer Todd Pletcher led over a filly by leading sire Curlin out of an A.P. Indy mare in the GI Central Bank Ashland S. A little more than 102 seconds later, 'TDN Rising Star' Malathaat was being unsaddled and 27 days later, was getting her picture taken after the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks. The high-profile connections of Nest (Curlin) will certainly be hoping that lightning strikes...

They call it "pilot error." It's just that you have all the correction of perspective, right there, that anyone could possibly require. If a jockey makes a mistake, the consequences obviously tend to be a good deal less drastic than for a guy flying a plane. Besides, I have never liked the kind of blame culture that unites handicappers and horsemen in casting jockeys as the villains of their woulda-coulda-shoulda world. To be fair, perhaps that's rather more common in my native environment, racing on turf in Europe, where the...

Having her first start for trainer Tim Yakteen, Michael Lund Petersen's Adare Manor (Uncle Mo) tries to remain unbeaten around two turns as the prohibitive favorite in Saturday's GII Santa Anita Oaks at the Great Race Place. Second and fourth, respectively, in sprint maidens at this track on Halloween and at Del Mar the following month, the dark bay ran away from Micro Share (Upstart) by a dozen lengths when making her first start around two turns Jan. 7 and made light work of the GIII Las Virgenes S. last...

Venti Valentine (Firing Line), a dominating seven-length winner with a flashy 92 Beyer in the Busher Invitational S. Mar. 5, will be favored over seven rivals to punch her ticket to the GI Kentucky Oaks via Saturday's GIII Gazelle S. at Aqueduct. The New York-bred fell just a neck short of Nest (Curlin) two back in last December's GII Demoiselle S. over track and trip, the only blemish in her four career starts. "We knew she had talent early on, and turning from two to three, you could see the...

Todd Pletcher captured last year's GI Central Bank Ashland S. with the blue-blooded Malathaat (Curlin), who went on to take the GI Kentucky Oaks in her next start. The Hall of Famer looks to repeat in Friday's renewal with another daughter of Curlin named Nest. A dominant debut winner going two turns at Belmont in September, the $350,000 KEESEP buy checked in third in the Tempted S. there next out Nov. 5. Besting next-out Busher S. winner and Saturday's GII Gazelle S. contender Venti Valentine (Firing Line) by a neck...

The GI Longines Kentucky Oaks will be overshadowed by the GI Kentucky Derby, but maybe that shouldn't be the case. The Oaks is absolutely loaded, perhaps the deepest in many years. In any other year, Secret Oath (Arrogate), Echo Zulu (Gun Runner), Kathleen O. (Upstart) or Adare Manor (Uncle Mo) would be an obvious heavy favorite. This year, a horse like the undefeated Kathleen O. might be third choice in the wagering at, say, 7-2 or 4-1. After a busy Saturday last week, which included Secret Oath's third-place finish against...