Major General

'TDN Rising Star' Jack Christopher (Munnings) returns to action Saturday in the GII Pat Day Mile at Churchill Downs. A dazzling debut winner at Saratoga Aug. 18, the flashy chestnut scored another decisive victory in Belmont's GI Champagne S. Oct. 2, earning a 102 Beyer Speed Figure. He was the early favorite for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, but was scratched by the vet the day before the race. A stress fracture was discovered in the colt's left shin that required a screw to be inserted and he returned to...

Currently ranked number one on the TDN Triple Crown Top 12, Kentucky West Racing LLC & the Clarke M. Cooper Family Living Trust's Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway) will attempt to further cement his position as a chief protagonist of the 2022 sophomore crop when he jumps a warm favorite in Saturday's GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby on what projects a pretty wet afternoon on Florida's Suncoast. One of three from the final crop of the 'Iron Horse' and one of two in the race, the blaze-faced chestnut made the...

The South Florida worktab was dotted with several horses tuning up Saturday morning for a possible start in the GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S. at Gulfstream Park Mar. 5. WinStar Farm and Siena Farm LLC's 'TDN Rising Star' Emmanuel (More Than Ready) will be in search of a third win in as many starts in the Fountain of Youth and tuned up for the 8 1/2-furlong test with a bullet half-mile in :48.05 (1/32) Saturday morning at trainer Todd Pletcher's base at Palm Beach Downs. He worked great, I...

With less than three months remaining before the running of the GI Kentucky Derby, trainer Todd Pletcher, with 42 horses nominated to the Triple Crown, will be active in a number of Derby preps as he prepares his troops for his annual invasion of Churchill Downs. Pletcher divulged his plans during this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast, which will be available Wednesday afternoon. Despite finishing third as the favorite in last Saturday's GIII Holy Bull S. at Gulfstream, Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) may represent Pletcher's best chance of winning a...

It is still relatively early days in his Turf adventure. But no matter how much Paul Farr can build on what is fast becoming a pretty serious commitment, he may never experience a more succinct sample of its ups and downs--and how bewilderingly entwined those tend to be--than his debut involvement in a graded stakes. That came just a few days ago, in the GIII Iroquois S. at Churchill: the first chance to bank starting points for a certain race staged on the same track next May. Time to start...

Major General took his record to two-for-two with a gutsy score in the GIII Iroquois S. at Churchill Downs Saturday, earning a spot in the gate for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile. The $420,000 KEESEP buy went gate to wire in his 6 1/2-panel unveiling at Saratoga Aug. 21 and was given a 9-2 chance for this step up in class. The bay raced off the rail in mid-pack as a pair of longshots battled through an opening quarter in :23.82. Moving into a joint fourth as the half went...

L and N Racing and Winchell Thoroughbreds' Stellar Tap (Tapit) wowed spectators with a TDN Rising Star-worthy performance at Saratoga Aug. 7 and will try to prove that it wasn't a fluke in Saturday's GIII Iroquois S. at Churchill Downs. Out of a half-sister to GISW Nereid (Rock Hard Ten), the $250,000 KEESEP graduate showed early speed for trainer Steve Asmussen navigating seven furlongs in his debut and turned on all boosters late, drawing away to score by 5 1/4 lengths over Keepcalmcarryon (Union Rags), who won at that venue...