Kentucky Oaks

Blazing Meadows Farm and Siena Farm's Dayoutoftheoffice (Into Mischief) makes her belated seasonal debut in the GII Eight Belles S. on the GI Kentucky Oaks undercard Friday. A romping winner of the GIII Schuylerville S. at Saratoga last July, the dark bay added a two-length tally in the one-turn-mile GI Frizette S. at Belmont Oct. 10, but she settled for second when Frizette runner-up Vequist (Nyquist) turned the tables on her in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. The Tim Hamm pupil recorded a couple breezes at Tampa in January,...

If you've tuned into a major national racing broadcast in the past two decades, there's a good chance you saw and heard Randy Moss. The longtime ESPN horse racing analyst joined NBC in 2011 and has been providing the knowledgeable racetracker's perspective for wide audiences during the network's highly acclaimed coverage ever since. Wednesday, Moss joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland to offer his thoughts and opinions on this week's GI Kentucky Derby. Calling in via Zoom live from the Churchill backstretch as the Green Group Guest of...

Cypress Creek Equine's Ava's Grace (Laoban), runner-up to Pauline's Pearl (Tapit) in the GIII Fantasy S. earlier this month, will scratch from Friday's GI Kentucky Oaks, according to a tweet from Churchill Downs. The tweet went on to say trainer Robertino Diodoro was not pleased with her current condition. Daily Racing Form's David Grening reported the filly's right shoulder is the concern. A nuclear scan is being scheduled. In addition to her Fantasy placing, Ava's Grace was third in last summer's GII Adirondack S. She was 50-1 on the morning...

Shortleaf Stable's 'TDN Rising Star' Caddo River (Hard Spun) will not make the line-up for Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby after spiking a fever over the weekend. "We noticed he was off his feed and took his temperature yesterday afternoon. It was slightly elevated," trainer Brad Cox said. "It's just really bad timing being this close to the Derby. We drew blood on him [Sunday] morning and his white cell counts were a little high. We just can't run him on Saturday with being a little off his game." The defection...

Several GI Kentucky Oaks-bound fillies put in their final major workouts Saturday morning leading up to Friday's Churchill Downs Classic. Leading the Churchill Downs worktab, Phoenix Thoroughbred's Crazy Beautiful (Liam's Map), winner of the Mar. 27 GII Gulfstream Park Oaks in her most recent start, worked a half-mile in :49.20 under Danny Ramsey for trainer Kenny McPeek. "She had a breeze last week in :59, which was a bullet work," McPeek said. "So today I just went a half with her, something simple, again just a basic maintenance work. She's...

GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks workers were out in full force Friday morning at Churchill Downs. Breezers included: The Todd Pletcher-trained quartet of Known Agenda (Curlin) and Sainthood (Mshawish), who were clocked in 1:01.00 (17/50) together under the Twin Spires; Dynamic One (Union Rags) who covered a half in :47.80 (1/108) alongside GSP Prime Factor (Quality Road); and GII Wood Memorial S. upsetter Bourbonic (Bernardini), who went in :49.60 (71/108). "Known Agenda is not the most aggressive work horse," Pletcher noted. "He is not an Always Dreaming (the...

Between Saturday, Apr. 17 and Wednesday, Apr. 28, Churchill Downs will be open free-of-charge daily from 7-10 a.m. for fans to watch the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks contenders work. Horses train on Churchill Downs' main track daily from 5:15-10 a.m. Beginning Saturday, April 17, there will be an exclusive training window only for Derby and Oaks participants from 7:30-7:45 a.m. following the 7-7:30 a.m. renovation break. Those horses will be identified by special saddle towels which include their names:  yellow saddle towels for Derby horses and pink...

Not to be lost off the heels of a very productive weekend of GI Kentucky Derby/Oaks preps for the Chad Brown barn--more on that in a bit--the four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer recently unveiled a pair of ultra-impressive, stakes-quality Euro imports for allowance victories. Juddmonte homebred Pocket Square (GB) (f, 4, Night of Thunder {Ire}), heroine of Deauville's G3 Prix des Reservoirs at two for trainer Roger Charlton, turned in an eye-catching, 2 1/4-length come-from-behind tally in her U.S. bow over the Keeneland lawn Wednesday, rocketing home in :28.21. She was...

After the busiest weekend of the year for 3-year-old fillies eyeing the GI Kentucky Oaks, the field is pretty much set for the race. There were four preps over the weekend, which was a problem. There are not enough top horses to go around to fill that many races, so the fields were six, six, six and four. It looks like the Oaks will be highly competitive. There is no one standout. Instead, you will have a number of horses in with a chance and a favorite who should be...

A limited number of infield-only general admission tickets for the Apr. 30 GI Longines Kentucky Oaks and May 1 GI Kentucky Derby day cards at Churchill Downs will go on sale Wednesday at noon at kentuckyderby.com/tickets/2021-derby-week-tickets. "The Kentucky Derby experience is synonymous with fun and excitement and we're thrilled to welcome fans back to our infield," said Churchill Downs Racetrack President Mike Anderson. "We remain committed to relying on the most recent scientific evidence we have surrounding COVID-19, and with Kentucky Derby week three weeks away, we are encouraged by...

Trainer Brad Cox was plenty pleased with how champion juvenile and 'TDN Rising Star' Essential Quality (Tapit) exited Saturday's hard-fought decision in Keeneland's GII Toyota Blue Grass S. "He looks good this morning and I am happy with the way he came out of the race," Cox said Sunday. "I liked that he got a test yesterday. It was not like he just galloped up to the leader and went on by." Essential Quality will join Cox's string at Churchill Downs after training Monday to prepare for the GI Kentucky...

Stepping up into graded company fresh off a debut maiden victory over six furlongs, SOOTHSAY (f, 3, Distorted Humor--Spellbound, by Bernardini) was given a tremendous ride by leading jockey Flavien Prat, met the late-stretch bid of favored Beautiful Gift (Medaglia d'Oro), and went on to a gutsy victory in Saturday's GII Santa Anita Oaks in Arcadia. While Beautiful Gift and Moraz (Empire Maker) took the bulk of the betting and battled up front in a rematch of the GIII Santa Ysabel S., Soothsay tracked those two from behind. The opening quarter...