Next

Connections Will Consider Both Breeders' Cup Classic and Turf for Marathon Specialist Next

After Next (Not This Time) romped in Saturday's GIII Greenwood Cup at Parx, trainer Doug Cowans said Sunday he will consider both the GI Breeders' Cup Classic and the GI Breeders' Cup Turf for the marathon specialist's next start. "We're going to get the horse home," Cowans said. "He's on his way back right now from Philadelphia to Kentucky. We will let him get back to his routine and get through the first breeze, which will take place 15 to 17 days from now. From there, we'll see how the...

[ Read More ]
Thorpedo Anna The Star Turn on Pennsylvania's Biggest Day

With better than three months left on the racing calendar for 2024, 'TDN Rising Star' Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) has already locked up the 3-year-old filly championship, having dominated her peers in the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks, GI Acorn Stakes and GI Coaching Club American Oaks. She lost little in defeat when running fellow 'Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light) to a head in the GI Travers Stakes, but she returns to her own sex for Saturday's $1-million GI Cotillion Stakes, the first half of a Grade I double in...

[ Read More ]
Cogburn Advances To Top Five In NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll

Saturday's GII Ainsworth Turf Sprint Stakes winner Cogburn (Not This Time) jumped from 13th to fifth in this week's NTRA Top Thoroughbred poll. The top four remain unchanged with Fierceness (City of Light) leading the way ahead of Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna), Adare Manor (Uncle Mo) and National Treasure (Quality Road). Highland Falls (Curlin) held steady in sixth while Dornoch (Good Magic) dropped to seventh. New to the Top 10 this week is another son of Not This Time in Next who last won the Birdstone Stakes at Saratoga Aug....

[ Read More ]
Karl And Cathi Glassman Joins TDN Writers' Room Podcast

Owners Karl and Cathi Glassman, this week's Green Group Guests of the Week on the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland, bought their first horse in 2015 and initially didn't have much to show for it. But they understood patience and that good fortune would eventually come their way. Did it ever. The Glassmans have their first star, the GI Whitney winner Arthur's Ride (Tapit). Making his stakes debut at age 4, he was a 2 1/4-length winner on a rainy day in Saratoga. The win gave Bill Mott his...

[ Read More ]
It's Time For Next To Step Up To The Big Leagues

When people discuss Horse of the Year candidates, the name Next (Not This Time) almost never comes up. That's despite what is currently the most impressive winning streak and show of dominance in the sport. He's won eight of his last nine, all of them stakes, by a combined 81 3/4 lengths. On Sunday at Saratoga, he won the Birdstone Stakes, doing so while never appearing to do more than galloping across the track in what amounted to a paid workout. We haven't seen a horse like this for a...

[ Read More ]
Next Collects Another Distance Dirt Prize In Birdstone At The Spa

In a stylish defense of his title--though the word feels underwhelming to describe the ease--Next (Not This Time) did what Next does best in the Birdstone Stakes: turning a marathon into a runaway. Racing on appointment only the last couple of seasons, his smallest margin of victory came in his first appearance in the GII Brooklyn Stakes last year, where he defeated SW & MGSP Calibrate (Distorted Humor) by 2 1/4 lengths. His largest came when he wrapped 2023 a 25-length winner in Parx's Sept. 23 GIII Greenwood Cup, but...

[ Read More ]
Saratoga Notebook, Presented by NYRA Bets: Next Up for Next: Going for Back-to-Back Wins In Spa's Birdstone

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--Here is what's next at Saratoga Race Course. Next (Not This Time) is. The 6-year-old gelding is the best long-distance dirt horse in the country, and, on Sunday, he'll attempt to prove it again when he runs in the $150,000 listed Birdstone Stakes at the Spa. If you want to see it, get to Saratoga early. The Birdstone is race No. 2 and has a scheduled post time of 1:44 p.m. A field of five is entered in the 1 3/4-mile Birdstone and Next is the overwhelming 1-9...

[ Read More ]
Breeding Digest: Another Juddmonte Sophomore Combining Precious Legacies

Back on the hamster wheel, everybody. You know the drill. Usual freshman hype, please. Just remember to change the names--and not to dwell too unhelpfully on how things played out for those being talked up four or five years ago. But the legitimate, perennial challenge of the yearling circuit also abides, and likewise much of its color and character. Just not quite all. Not enough time has elapsed, certainly, to heal one aching void. For many of his compatriots, in particular, every barn we enter we still half-expect to hear...

[ Read More ]
Next to Stick to Marathons; Eyes Birdstone Repeat

Michael Foster's Next (Not This Time) has earned a host of fans with five straight wins in races 1 1/2 miles and over, most recently storming to a 9 3/4-length victory in the GII Brooklyn S. last Friday. Fans may be hoping to see the 6-year-old gelding cut back in distance for a chance to earn a spot in the Breeders' Cup in a race like the 'Win and You're In' GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, but trainer Doug Cowans plans to stick with what is working and will aim...

[ Read More ]
Who's Next? Marathon Specialist Next Romps Again in Brooklyn

Marathon specialist Next (Not This Time) made it five straight victories while successfully defending his title in Friday's 1 3/8-mile GII Brooklyn S. at the Big A. The 2-5 favorite stalked Drake's Passage (Tonalist) through a half mile in :49.29, took over under confident handling approaching the quarter pole and opened daylight in the stretch to win by 9 1/4 lengths. The gray completed his final eighth in a sensational :11.89. Crupi (Curlin) tagged Drake's Passage for second. "I always say that I don't know if the horse can do...

[ Read More ]
Temperence Hill or Isaac Murphy Up 'Next' for Streaking Marathon Man After 45-60 Days Off

After missing an intended start in the GII Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance S. at Santa Anita on Breeders' Cup Saturday due to a fever, the streaking marathon specialist Next (Not This Time) is currently being turned out for 45-60 days, according to trainer Doug Cowans. "This fall, we were planning on going to California, but the Sunday before he was supposed to get on the plane, he got a little temperature," Cowans said of Next missing the 1 5/8-miles event, a race he won at Keeneland in 2022. "He was fine...

[ Read More ]
Paco Lopez Suspended 30 Days for Greenwood Cup Ride

Jockey Paco Lopez, who pulled up his mount Ridin With Biden (Constitution) a few steps before the finish of last Saturday's GIII Greenwood Cup S. at Parx, likely costing the horse a second-place finish, was handed a 30-day suspension Thursday by the stewards at Parx. In ruling, the stewards wrote that the suspension was "for failure to give his best effort and failure to use the proper diligence in Race 7 on September 23, 2023 while astride the horse Ridin With Biden..." The suspension began Thursday and will conclude on...

[ Read More ]
X

Never miss another story from the TDN

Click Here to sign up for a free subscription.