Mystic Guide

Paul Pompa's Country Grammer (Tonalist) was ultra-game in securing his first black-type score in the rescheduled and relocated GIII Peter Pan S. on Saratoga's opening day Thursday. Saving ground in fourth, the 4-1 shot sat a few lengths off the longshot pacesetter Mo Hawk (Uncle Mo) through a :23.24 opening quarter and closed the gap a bit, moving into third as the half went in :48.13. The bay inched up the fence as 22-1 shot Celtic Striker (Congrats) ranged up outside the leader with Caracaro (Uncle Mo) hot on his...

Ed DeRosa of Brisnet.com takes on TDN's Steve Sherack and Brian DiDonato as they handicap Triple Crown prep races plus the big three races themselves. The three will make $100 Win/Place bets in the preps and $200 Win/Place bets in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont. Highest bankroll at the end wins. DeRosa - Blue Grass Result - Art Collector (+$530) wore down Swiss Skydiver for a breakout victory. Bankroll: $4210. GIII Peter Pan S. - I normally don't like horses who need 1 1/8 miles on dirt to break...

A field of nine sophomores, including the field's lone graded winner Modernist (Uncle Mo), will line up for Thursday's GIII Peter Pan S. on Saratoga's opening day program. Traditionally run as a prep downstate for the GI Belmont S., the Peter Pan was moved to Saratoga as a potential prep for this summer's GI Runhappy Travers S. The Peter Pan carries 85 qualifying points (50-20-10-5) toward the GI Kentucky Derby. Modernist, a 12-1 upset winner of the split-division GII Risen Star S. Feb. 15, followed a third-place finish in the...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency GUARANA RETURNS AT CHURCHILL 8th-CD, $85K, Opt. Clm. ($80K), 3yo/up, f/m, 7f, 4:46p.m. Dual Grade I winner and 'TDN Rising Star' GUARANA (Ghostzapper) makes her seasonal bow Thursday beneath the Twin Spires. Demolishing the field in her debut by 14 3/4 lengths in the slop at Keeneland last April, the bay followed suit with another dominant win in Belmont's GI Acorn S. in June. Capturing the GI CCA Oaks at Saratoga next out July 21, she was second when last seen in the GI Cotillion...

A few weeks ago, the GIII Matt Winn S. was added as a points race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, reconstituted when Churchill Downs relocated the 2020 'Run for the Roses' to Sept. 5. The race took on added importance earlier this week, when officials at Belmont Park announced that its marquee race, the GI Belmont S., would be the first of this year's Triple Crown races and take place June 20. Saturday's first graded stakes of the season beneath the Twin Spires therefore takes on added importance...

When Sheikh Mohammed purchased Stonerside back in 2008, trainers previously employed by Bob McNair's massive operation, such as Mike Stidham, were kept on board provisionally as the acquired stable of runners transitioned to carry the famed maroon-and-white silks of Darley. "The deal was that we were able to stay in with the horses that we had at the time," said Stidham, who saddled the Stonerside-bred Tizaqueena (Tiznow) to a pair of graded tallies as well as Grade I placing at Keeneland for Darley. "And once those horses were retired, we...

Mystic Guide romped to 'TDN Rising Star'-dom in his second attempt at Fair Grounds Saturday after finishing a troubled third sprinting on debut here Feb. 15. Saving ground in fifth through a :24.07 opening quarter, the flashy chestnut moved off the fence through a :48.59 half-mile. Creeping up two wide on the backstretch, he was four wide turning for home and rolled clear in the lane to win as he pleased. Amani's Eagle (American Pharoah) completed the exacta. Five-time Grade I winner Music Note is also responsible for a juvenile...