Lexington S

10th-Keeneland, $120,000, Alw (NW2$X), Opt. Clm ($80,000), 10-14, 3yo/up, 1 1/16m, 1:45.63, ft, neck. FIRST MISSION (c, 3, Street Sense--Elude, by Medaglia d'Oro), making his first start since winning this track's GIII Lexington S. during the April meeting, validated 2-5 favoritism--if only just--to give Godolphin a sweep of the late Daily Double. Off alertly from the inside stall, the homebred allowed himself to be taken back to sit in the second flight of horses behind a pace that was slow to materialize. Up into third and remaining glued to the...

Coming from a culture where most wagering stipulates a fixed dividend, in the startling event that your horse happens to see through his part of the deal, I tend to view the morning line on American races as named for the hangover evidently being suffered by its compiler. Certainly by the time the market has been soberly hydrated with dollars and cents, I won't be expecting anything as close to an even play as the 4-5 listed about Forte (Violence) overcoming the wide draw that appears to introduce his only...

When Bob Baffert won a record seventh GI Kentucky Derby May 1 with Medina Spirit (Protonico), I couldn't help but think back to the first time I met the conditioner. Walking through the Keeneland barn area one mid-April morning in 1990, Baffert asked if I knew where the clockers were located at the track. We introduced ourselves to each other and I offered to show him the route to the press box, where the clockers were situated during training hours. Baffert was in the process of switching from Quarter Horses...

Fern Circle Stable & Three Chimneys Farm's King Fury (Curlin) took advantage of a fast early pace in Saturday's GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. over a sloppy Keeneland main track and closed off fastest of all to cause an 18-1 upset, earning 20 points towards a potential appearance in the GI Kentucky Derby in three weeks' time. A maiden winner at first asking over a distance of ground at Churchill Sept. 3, King Fury could not overcome a wide trip when eighth of nine behind Essential Quality (Tapit) in the GI...