Resilience

His contentious prohibition from Churchill penalizes many others besides Bob Baffert and his loyal patrons. A shot at the GI Kentucky Derby, once-in-a-lifetime for most, is also being denied to everyone else with a stake in his horses' development, from those on duty at the foaling shed to the pre-trainer to the feed company. And, of course, there's nothing like a Derby winner to market a stallion. As things have turned out, a setback means that Nyquist would have lost the services of Nysos even had he moved to another...

The rankings below are independent from the "Road to the GI Kentucky Derby" leaderboard that Churchill Downs uses to determine starting berths. In addition, several horses listed here could be aiming for other Triple Crown races. 1) MUTH (c, Good Magic--Hoppa, by Uncle Mo) 'TDN Rising Star'. O-Zedan Racing Stables Inc; B-Don Alberto Corporation (KY); T-Bob Baffert. Sales history: $190,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP; $2,000,000 2yo '23 OBSMAR. Lifetime Record: MGISW, 6-4-2-0, $1,504,100. Last start: WON Mar. 30 GI Arkansas Derby. Right now there's a court showdown in Kentucky initiated by...

After a long lifetime marked by notable wins on the racetrack and in the business world, prominent owner-breeder, entrepreneur and philanthropist Marty Wygod has passed away aged 84. "I have so many good memories of Marty Wygod. I was telling Emily [Bushnell, Wygod's daughter] this morning, one of my favorite things about Marty was he had a great sense of humor," said trainer John Shirreffs, who conditioned some of Wygod's heaviest hitters on the track. Wygod, said Shirreffs, was also something of a prankster. "The first time I met him...

The GII Louisiana Derby runner-up GSW Honor Marie (Honor Code) and fourth-place finisher GSW Track Phantom (Quality Road) returned to the work tab Sunday morning at Churchill Downs as they continue to train towards Kentucky Derby 150. In the early hours, Track Phantom breezed five furlongs in 1:02.00, the ninth fastest of 19 on the morning while sporting new equipment--a small set of blinkers. With Joel Rosario in the irons, the pair went in company with another Asmussen trainee and Track Phantom galloped out six furlongs in 1:15.20. "I thought...

Emily Bushnell and Ric Waldman's Resilience (c, 3, Into Mischief--Meadowsweet, by Smart Strike) punched his ticket to the GI Kentucky Derby for Hall of Famer Bill Mott in an eventful renewal of Saturday's GII Wood Memorial S. at Aqueduct. Last out Aqueduct maiden winner Society Man (Good Magic), off at boxcar odds of 106-1, was second. Another longshot Protective (Medaglia d'Oro), a maiden of two starts, was third at 38-1. The race was marred by a spill in the stretch when the Uriah St Lewis owned/trained-longshot Deposition (Constitution) appeared to...