Thousand Words

Unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Nashville (Speightstown) has been nothing, but sensational in his three racetrack appearances thus far and he looks to take his career to the next level in the GI Runhappy Malibu S. at Santa Anita Saturday. Romping by 11 1/2 lengths in the slop in his Saratoga unveiling Sept. 2, the $460,000 KEESEP purchase demolished a Keeneland allowance by 9 3/4 lengths next out Oct. 10. His Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen decided to take a more sensible route with his pupil and bypassed the GI...

The adage reckons a picture to be worth 1,000 words. Of course, as has been remarked, that means 1,001 words must be worth more than a picture. (On which wiseguy basis, I will generously trade this column for that Rembrandt in your loft.) But then it might take something closer to 1,000 pages to record everything the owners of Thousand Words (Pioneerof the Nile) have experienced over the past year. This colt gave a literal quality to their topsy-turvy fortunes when rearing and toppling in the Derby preliminaries, sending Bob...

All of 2020 has been unconventional to say the least and the Triple Crown series is no exception. Instead of starting with the GI Kentucky Derby on the First Saturday in May, the highlight of the 3-year-old season kicked off in mid-June with a shortened GI Belmont S., which is traditionally the final leg of the series. It was 11 weeks before the Run for the Roses on the First Saturday in September and now, another four weeks later, the Triple Crown road comes to an end in Baltimore Saturday...

GI Kentucky Derby hero Authentic (Into Mischief) was assigned gate nine in a field of 11 and was installed the 9-5 morning-line favorite for Saturday' GI Preakness S. at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. John Velazquez has the return call on Authentic, who goes for a third consecutive victory at the Grade I level, having beaten Ny Traffic (Cross Traffic) in the GI TVG.com Haskell S. before defying those who concluded he would not stay the 10 furlongs of the Derby by outfighting heavily favored Tiz the Law (Constitution) beneath...

A trio of candidates for the GI Preakness S. at Pimlico Oct. 3 turned in their final serious moves Saturday morning at Churchill Downs. Bruce Lunsford's Art Collector (Bernardini), who was forced to miss the Sept. 5 GI Kentucky Derby owing to a minor foot injury, tuned up for the final leg of this year's reconstituted Triple Crown by drilling a half-mile in :48 flat with big-race rider Brian Hernandez, Jr. in the saddle. The GII Toyota Blue Grass S. and Runhappy Ellis Park Derby hero was caught in fractions...

GI Kentucky Derby hero Authentic (Into Mischief) and GI Kentucky Oaks victress Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil) both returned to the worktab Saturday at Churchill Downs. GI Preakness S.-bound Authentic covered five panels in :59.20, the fastest of 38 works at the distance. With jockey Martin Garcia aboard, the bay clicked off splits in :23.80 and :35.40, galloping out six furlongs in 1:12.20. "It went very well. Martin has been with me," said trainer Bob Baffert, who came to Louisville from the Keeneland Sale in Lexington. "He knows what I expect. I told...

The 2020 GI Kentucky Derby winner Authentic (Into Mischief) and his stablemate Thousand Words (Pioneerof the Nile) are both on track for Pimlico's GI Preakness S., scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 3, according to trainer Bob Baffert. The Hall of Famer reported Sunday from Keeneland's September yearling sale that both colts remain at the Churchill barn of D. Wayne Lukas. Both are galloping daily and Baffert indicated they would both likely breeze toward the end of the week. "[Authentic] came out [of the Derby] very well, very well," said Baffert Sunday....

It could be quite a Derby week for Spendthrift Farm and its owner B. Wayne Hughes. Spendthrift has never won a Triple Crown race but is in solid position in this year's GI Kentucky Derby with two starters it co-owns, Authentic (Into Mischief) and Thousand Words (Pioneerof the Nile). It could also be a huge couple of days for Spendthrift's white-hot stallion, Into Mischief. He will be represented by 'TDN Rising Star' Authentic in the Derby and by the freakishly fast 'Rising Star' Gamine in the GI Kentucky Oaks. Hughes...

This past Saturday wasn't a great day to be a favorite in an open stakes race at the nation's premier race meets. Chalk horses went a collective one-for-seven at Saratoga and Del Mar, and the list of excuses included stutter-step starts, bumps leaving the gate, stretch-run roughhousing, getting disqualified, and being dueled into defeat in internal pace battles. Tight finishes in several stakes elevated the interest level, although the results in general did not lend clarity to the nationwide divisional races with the GI Kentucky Derby inside the five-week mark...

Thousand Words (Pioneerof the Nile) returned to winning ways and improved his position on the GI Kentucky Derby trail with a gutsy score in Del Mar's Shared Belief S., which offered a total of 50 points towards the Run for the Roses. Breaking sharply from the inside post in this field scratched down to four, the 9-1 shot had all three rivals hot on his tail through a :23.89 opening quarter. GI Santa Anita Derby hero and heavy favorite Honor A.P. (Honor Code) was the first to break ranks, moving...

Honor A.P. (Honor Code) looks to add more GI Kentucky Derby points to his collection in Saturday's Shared Belief S. at Del Mar. An impressive second-out graduate when extending from six panels to a mile at Santa Anita in October, the $850,000 FTSAUG buy was runner-up to recent GI Haskell Invitational S. victor Authentic (Into Mischief) in the GII San Felipe S. Mar. 7. The dark bay turned the tables on that rival last time with a decisive score in the GI Santa Anita Derby June 6. Bob Baffert had...

Following a disappointing spring which saw two top Bob Baffert trainees-Nadal (Blame) and Charlatan (Speightstown)-get bounced off the GI Kentucky Derby trail, the horseman emerges with a pair of live contenders in Saturday's GIII Los Alamitos Derby. The more accomplished of the two is Albaugh Family Stables and Spendthrift Farm's Thousand Words (Pioneerof the Nile), the winner of his first three starts, including last winter's GII Los Alamitos Futurity and the GIII Robert B. Lewis S. Feb. 1. After fading to fourth behind stablemate Authentic (Into Mischief) in the Mar....