Proxy

Trainer Mike Stidham joins this week's TDN Writers' Room fresh off a win with Godolphin-owned 4-year-old Mystic Guide in the GIII Razorback H. Stidham recaps the victory and talks on his relationship with Godolphin, the demise of Arlington Park and more.

Derby dreams at this time of year can prove as ephemeral as the vapours rising into the glacial air of Hot Springs. But the owner of the champion juvenile knows perfectly well that plans, with Thoroughbreds, can only ever be provisional--and that the postponement of Monday's Oaklawn card is a relatively trivial inconvenience to Essential Quality (Tapit). To recall the graver vexations that can unravel a Derby colt, Sheikh Mohammed needs only rewind to the last cycle, and the last colt that offered to requite perhaps the greatest single ambition...

The Week in Review by T.D. Thornton In a departure from recent seasons, homebreds are dominating the GI Kentucky Derby trail through the early portion of the 2021 prep-race season. In the TDN Derby Top 12 that will be published in the Feb. 2 edition, no fewer than seven of the leading dozen race for the same owners who planned their matings, raised them as foals, and got those colts into the starting gate. That 7-of-12 ratio is as high a number of homebreds within the Top 12 at any...

Next-race plans are starting to solidify for some of the contenders among the Top 12, including a possible No. 1 vs. No. 4 matchup at Oaklawn in February. Farther down the list, Nos. 5 and 9 will clash this Saturday in the GIII Lecomte S. at Fair Grounds. 1) ESSENTIAL QUALITY (c, Tapit--Delightful Quality, by Elusive Quality) O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Brad Cox. Lifetime Record: GISW, 3-3-0-0, $1,335,144. Last Start: 1st GI TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile, KEE, Nov. 6 Accomplishments Include: 1st GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity, 'TDN Rising Star' Next Start: Uncommitted Equineline...

1st-Fair Grounds, $48,500, Alw, 12-19, (NW2L), 2yo, 1 1/16m, 1:45.56, ft, 2 1/2 lengths. PROXY (c, 2, Tapit--Panty Raid {MGISW, $1,052,380}, by Include) missed by a neck in his off-the-turf debut at Monmouth Oct. 24 and broke through next out here Nov. 26. Hammered down to 3-5 favoritism in this four-horse affair, the Godolphin homebred seized the early advantage as he did in his graduation and was hounded by his rivals through a :24.97 first quarter. Briefly headed by Assumption (Medaglia d'Oro), the bay regained command as the half went...