Todd Pletcher

LOUISVILLE, KY--What a difference a day makes. The activity on the backside only a day ago offered a hint that something big was encroaching, however, Wednesday dawned with an explosion of activity straight out of the gate. Masses piled onto the barn area to watch the morning workouts, reminding me just how different Churchill Downs is Derby week when compared to almost any other racetrack in the United States. Fans are given a tremendous amount of access, creating an atmosphere that is difficult to compare most other venues. Trying to...

LOUISVILLE, KY--Having not attended the Kentucky Derby since American Pharoah won in 2015, I was reminded of why it's really worth the trip. Yes, one has to deal with the logistics. Limited parking, long walks to get to your destination, excessively priced hotels and car rentals, in addition to the singular hope that a Kentucky Derby Day ticket might miraculously have fallen into your hands. It's probably hard for some to understand just how many people converge in Louisville at the same time, creating something of a controlled chaos. The...

Featuring $200-million worth of improvements in its new paddock area, Churchill Downs hosted the draw ceremony for next weekend's GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks during its opening night card Saturday. As usual, the proceedings drew some cheers, and jeers, from the crowd. Possibly numbered among the latter, the connections of the 5-2 morning line favorite 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light) couldn't have been overly thrilled with drawing post 17 for Saturday's Run for the Roses. Campaigned by his breeder Mike Repole, the reigning juvenile champ comes...

'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light), the likely favorite for next Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby, completed his final breeze for the first leg of the Triple Crown with a half-mile work Friday in :48.80 (43/68). Working under jockey John Velazquez and in company with fellow 'Rising Star' Agate Road (Quality Road), the Repole Stables homebred and runaway GI Curlin Florida Derby winner worked through fractions of :12.80, :24.80, :36.80 and :48.80 before galloping out five furlongs in 1:00.60, six furlongs in 1:12.60 and seven-eighths in 1:26. "I'm very, very...

With Derby week just around the corner, the morning work tab under the Twin Spires was chock full of participants Wednesday, but one Derby entry went further than the others. Susumu Fujita's undefeated Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) worked six furlongs in 1:19.60 over a fast track. With jockey Ryusei Sakai aboard, the colt posted fractions of :14.80, :28.80, :42.60, :55.20, 1:19.60 and out seven furlongs in 1:33,60. He was joined for the last half-mile by Cuffed Candy (Candy Ride {Arg}), an unraced 3-year-old for trainer Dale Romans. "Thanks...

9th-KEE, $100k, Msw, 3yo, f, 6f, post time: 5:16 p.m. ET CHC Inc. homebred INTO AMORE (Into Mischief), a daughter of 2015 GI Alabama S. heroine Embellish the Lace (Super Saver), debuts for Todd Pletcher. Embellish the Lace brought $2.4 million from China Horse Club International at the 2016 FTKNOV sale. Drawn widest of all in post 11, Into Amore is the 7-2 morning-line favorite. Into Amore RNA'd for $295,000 as a FTKOCT yearling. The field also includes fellow first-time starter Day Dawning (Classic Empire), a $450,000 OBS March breezer....

Repole Stable's Fierceness (City of Light) made his first appearance over the Churchill Downs main track on a sun-splashed Tuesday morning. Under regular exercise rider Danny Wright, Fierceness galloped a mile during the 7:30-7:45 training window for Kentucky Derby and Oaks runners. Wright has been the regular morning partner for the defending juvenile champion since last summer at Saratoga. "He looked smooth and handled it well," trainer Todd Pletcher said of the morning's activity. Winner of the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile and GI Curlin Florida Derby, Fierceness is scheduled to...

Stephen Brunetti, whose family operates Red Oak Farm and Red Oak Stud and owns Hialeah Race Course, passed away Monday after a long battle with cancer. He died at his home in Delray Beach, Florida, surrounded by his family. He was 56. His passing was first announced in a Facebook posting from his son, Stephen Brunetti Jr. Brunetti took on an added role at Red Oak when his father, John Brunetti Sr., passed away in 2018. Along with his brother John Jr., he also took over as the owner of...

Track Phantom (Quality Road) continued his preparation for the GI Kentucky Derby with a five-furlong work in 1:00.80 (6/32) at Churchill Downs Sunday morning. With jockey Tyler Gaffalione in the saddle, Track Phantom worked outside 'TDN Rising Star' and GII Pat Day Mile contender Carbone (Mitole) as the duo cruised an opening quarter-mile in a modest :26.20, but galloped out six furlongs in a solid 1:13.60, according to Churchill Downs clocker John Nichols. Track Phantom's final three furlongs was a sharp :34.60. Track Phantom worked in blinkers Sunday and he...

by J. N. Campbell Looking strong as an oak in the GIII Ben Ali S. at Keeneland, Kingsbarns (Uncle Mo) cleared professionally down the lane to take home his second graded stakes trophy for Spendthrift's case on Saturday afternoon. The 2023 GII Louisiana Derby winner finished 14th behind Mage (Good Magic) in the GI Kentucky Derby before completing his 3-year-old year when he was beaten only a neck as the heavy favorite in the Pegasus S. at Monmouth June 17. After a nine-month hiatus, Kingsbarns returned to Gulfstream Park Mar....

GI Florida Derby champ Fierceness (City of Light) breezed at Palm Beach Downs on Friday morning in preparation for the GI Kentucky Derby. The Eclipse Award winner covered five furlongs in 1:00.35 under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, while working in company with fellow 'TDN Rising Star' Agate Road (Quality Road). "I thought he worked super--a solid five-eighths with a good gallop-out, exactly what we were targeting," Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said. "I think he is doing every bit as good, if not better, than he was...

3rd-GP, $60k, Msw, 3yo, f, 6f, post time: 2:14 p.m. ET In the name of her Whisper Hill Farm, Mandy Pope went to $1.3 million for a son of Tapit out of MSW & GSP Danzatrice (Dunkirk) at the 2021 Keeneland September, and that looked like money well spent when Tapit Trice went on to a victory in the 2023 GI Toyota Blue Grass S. while placing in the GI Belmont S. and GI Travers S. Pope was so enamored of her purchase that she went back to the well...