Richard Mandella

There are but five weeks remaining between now and the Breeders' Cup at Keeneland Nov. 4 and 5, and many of horse racing's biggest names will take in their final prep races over the course of the next couple of weekends. Better than 40 graded stakes, the majority of which have championship weekend implications, are set to take place from sea to shining sea, including 21 'Win and You're In' events offering the winners an all-expenses paid trip to the Bluegrass. Santa Anita stages one of the four Breeders' Cup...

MyRacehorse and Spendthrift Farm's Forbidden Kingdom (American Pharoah), a powerful wire-to-wire winner of the GII San Vicente S. Jan. 29 and GII San Felipe S. Mar. 5, could return to action against older horses in the GII Santa Anita Sprint Championship S. Oct. 1. Knocked off the Triple Crown trail after finishing last of six as the favorite after setting a fast pace in the GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby Apr. 9, the chestnut has posted three breezes since returning to the worktab in August, most recently firing a four-furlong...

Bo Derek, an actress, model, and humanitarian, has joined the MyRacehorse owner community as its first-ever celebrity ambassador. Derek sits on the Executive Board for the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, is an Ambassador for the Breeders' Cup World Championships and is now an owner on I'm a Looker '20, a 2-year-old colt by Pioneerof the Nile, who will be trained by Richard Mandella; with whom she has an over 20 year friendship. "I am so excited to be a horse owner with MyRacehorse," Derek said of her new venture. "I've...

A half-dozen 3-year-old fillies, topped by the one-two finishers in the July 9 GI Belmont Oaks Invitational S., will do battle in Sunday's GIII Saratoga Oaks Invitational S., one of three graded stakes taking place on the first Sunday in August. Highly-regarded McKulick (GB) (Frankel {GB}), named after trainer Chad Brown's first employee when he struck out on his own, was an impressive debut winner last summer at the Spa, but went winless in her next three starts while placing in the GII Miss Grillo S., GII Edgewood S. and...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY-Just like Rachel Alexandra (Medaglia d'Oro) and Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire}) in 2016, Beholder (Henny Hughes) and Tepin (Bernstein) are entering the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame together Friday in their first year of eligibility. Six years after the no-brainer election package, Hall of Fame voters selected two brilliant race mares of the second decade of the 21st century to join the best-of-the-best club on Union Avenue. Though they excelled on different surfaces, there are plenty of similarities. Both were well-beaten in their career debuts. Both...

The National Museum of Racing will induct the 2022 Hall of Fame class Friday, Aug. 5 at Fasig-Tipton. The event is slated to begin at 10:30 a.m. Tom Durkin will serve as the master of ceremonies. The event is open to the public and free to attend. The ceremony will also be broadcast live on the Museum website at racingmuseum.org. A stellar class of inductees comprises the 2022 ceremony, namely four-time Eclipse Award winner Beholder (Henny Hughes); Hillsdale (Take Away), who is also the first Indiana-bred in the Hall of...

The Roth family's LNJ Foxwoods announced plans to move its Southern California-based horses east and re-focus its racing stable on the East Coast, Canada and Kentucky circuits. A Sunday afternoon tweet from Jaime Roth read, "LNJ Foxwoods has made the difficult decision to take a break from having horses stabled year-round in Southern California. With our family based in New York and one of our advisors, Alex Solis, II of Solis/Litt, having relocated to Lexington, we would like to focus on the East Coast, Canada and Kentucky circuits at this...

6th-Santa Anita, $67,500, Msw, 3-27, 3yo/up, 1m, 1:37.99, ft, 7 1/2 lengths. SET SAIL (c, 3, Malibu Moon--Fleet of Gold {SP, $109,892}, by Medaglia d'Oro) was third on debut Feb. 26 in a seven panel maiden over Santa Anita's main track after altering course early and losing second by 1 1/4 lengths. Trying a mile here, the bay Mandella trainee broke on top and never looked back, coasting home much the best by 7 1/2 lengths as the 2-1 second choice over One More Bid (California Chrome). Q B One...

6th-SA, $67K, Msw, 3yo/up, 1m, 6:38 p.m. ET With a race under his belt, BLETCHLEY PARK (Nyquist) looks to move forward in his second career start Sunday for trainer Bob Baffert. The bay colt, purchased for a sale-topping $2.6 million from the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Park Sale (:9 4/5), was a close second behind Happy Jack (Oxbow), who has since gone on to place third in the GII San Felipe S. Bletchley Park is the first foal to race from the Smart Strike mare Spinning Wheel who, while not a...

Forbidden Kingdom (American Pharoah), an early GI Kentucky Derby favorite and a leading contender for the GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby Apr. 9, missed a scheduled work Friday due to a minor temperature. "He had a slight temperature at the end of the morning yesterday," Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella said. "It's down today and his bloodwork is good, so we're hoping it passes quickly." Forbidden Kingdom was a front-running daylight winner of his last two starts--the GII San Vicente S. at seven furlongs Jan. 29 and the GII...

Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella looks to have a great chance of saddling his first GI Kentucky Derby starter since the mid-2000s with a major contender in GII San Felipe S. romper Forbidden Kingdom (American Pharoah), and Tuesday, Mandella sat down with the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland to talk about his electric speedster, the impending Hall of Fame induction of former trainee Beholder, his view on the state of California racing after its trials of the past few years and more. "Truly excited," Mandella, calling in via...

Fresh off an exciting weekend with Forbidden Kingdom's win in the GII San Felipe S., trainer Richard Mandella joins the TDN Writers' Room to discuss the Derby hopeful and his enthusiastic connections, Spendthrift Farm and MyRacehorse.