Philip Bauer

Friday is shaping up to be quite a stakes-laden slate as the rescheduled King's Plate card from last weekend at Woodbine joins the GI Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga and a pair of pricey Grade IIs from Charles Town. TDN's full coverage of the races that were forced to move because of a deluge in Toronto can be found in Patrycja Szpyra's preview, plus a piece on the King's Plate by Bill Finley. As for the Spa feature, it boasts a set of intriguing match-ups between four of the runners...

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- At the top of the stretch of the opener of the Saturday card at Saratoga Race Course, a 2-year-old colt named Jonathan's Way (Vekoma) was fanned six, maybe seven wide. But he was moving and, like a giant tidal wave, gathering momentum with each long, powerful stride. Out in California, Richard Rigney, who owns the colt, was watching the race on a cellphone along with bloodstock agent John Moynihan. They had hope, but they also were realists.  After all, the six-furlong race was the first in Jonathan's...

The annual Thanksgiving weekend "Stars of Tomorrow" card at Churchill Downs is designed to highlight aspiring 2-year-olds right before they launch into their sophomore seasons. An intriguing subplot to this year's edition, however, put the spotlight on several human rather than equine participants who could be on the cusp of bigger and better things. Eighteen-year-old jockey Axel Concepcion just might be on his way to winning an Eclipse Award as the nation's top apprentice for 2023 despite not starting racing at American mainland tracks until Feb. 19 and also having...

Already a proven winner over the 1 1/16-mile trip, Buchu (Justify) made the jump from maiden winner to graded-stakes winner Friday with an eye-catching come-from-behind performance in the GII Jessamine S. on Keeneland's opening day. Facing her fifth track in as many starts, the dark bay debuted with a pair of thirds on the dirt--first at Ellis Park June 16 and then to Saratoga in a rained-off event July 30. Sixth once she finally got on the turf in upstate New York Aug. 20, Buchu broke through at 4-1 by...

Kentucky stewards have disqualified two winners and a third-place horse while assessing trainers Philip Bauer and Greg Foley 30-day suspensions and $500 fines for three separate post-race drug tests that came back positive in recent months. It was not immediately known if appeals were in the works. Bauer's two suspensions will run concurrently because the stewards cited mitigating circumstances (including "first medication violation in training career"), but he will be responsible for paying both fines. Foley's one suspension got halved via stay to 15 days, also because of mitigating circumstances...