Whitney S.

C2 Racing Stable's White Abarrio (Race Day), last-out winner of the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita Nov. 4, will be kept in training for a 5-year-old campaign in 2024, according to a post on X made Monday afternoon. A $7,500 OBS January short yearling turned $40,000 OBS March breezer, the 2022 GI Florida Derby winner was originally trained by Saffie Joseph, Jr., but was turned over to trainer Richard Dutrow, Jr. this past summer. A longshot third, beaten 3 3/4 lengths behind Cody's Wish (Curlin) in the GI...

Todd Pletcher stablemates Charge It (Tapit) and Far Bridge (English Channel), each victorious in stakes company on the July 8 program at Belmont Park, returned to the worktab for the first time since those efforts. Whisper Hill Farm's 'TDN Rising Star' Charge It, who returned to winning ways with a dominating victory in the GII Suburban S. at a mile and quarter, went a half-mile in :49 flat over the Saratoga main track and is on track for a start in the GI Whitney S. Aug. 5. "He worked really...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y--Nothing new at old Saratoga this summer. As has been the case for many decades, most of racing's stars will be in town for America's most important Thoroughbred meet of the year. The first race of the 40 days of the 155th season opens at 1:10 p.m. Thursday with a 10-race program at Saratoga Race Course. By the time the meeting reaches its conclusion on Labor Day, Sept. 4, over 400 races, including 71 stakes worth $20.8 million, will have been run. The traditional opening-day feature is the...

The uber-talented 'TDN Rising Star' Life Is Good (Into Mischief), last seen tiring to fourth in the G1 Dubai World Cup Mar. 26, returned from the bench in style with a dominating, front-running win sprinting over three rivals in the GII John A. Nerud S. at Belmont Park Saturday. Away alertly from his rail draw, the 1-5 favorite was shadowed by GI Carter H. winner Speaker's Corner (Street Sense) through an opening quarter in :22.19 and a half-mile in :44.70. With Flavien Prat sitting chilly, Life Is Good hit the...

Thoroughbred racing fans will have the opportunity to purchase season tickets to Saratoga Race Course for the 2022 summer meet beginning Wednesday, March 23. Full-season ticket plans, which include admission and reserved seats for the entire 40-day meet, will be available for purchase online through NYRA.com. Fans can access the Saratoga Virtual Venue seating map to digitally preview their seat location and sight lines before purchasing. Season admission passes, which include entry to the track for all 40 days but not reserved seats, will go on sale Friday, April 1....

At the completion of Wednesday's card, all-sources handle for the Saratoga meet stood at $709,437,410, which was enough to set an all-time handle mark for the historic race meet. After Wednesday, there were still five days left to the meet, which means the final handle number will shatter all records. The previous handle record was set in 2019, when $705,343,949 was wagered. With fans not allowed on-track last year due to COVID-19 concerns, the 2020 handle came in at $702.5 million. "The record-breaking handle numbers reflect the quality of racing...

Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing's Silver State (Hard Spun), who had a six-race winning streak snapped with a third-place effort behind Knicks Go (Paynter) in the GI Whitney S. Aug. 7, going remain at the nine-furlong distance for the GI Woodward S. Oct. 2 or could cut back to Belmont's one-turn mile for the GII Kelso S. Sept. 25. The 4-year-old has already shown an affinity for the latter track and trip, having made the GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. the last of his half-dozen victories in a...

Could happen, you know. Within the random weavings of the Thoroughbred, after all, it's always tempting to discern some pattern suggestive of a coherent, governing narrative. And if Silver State (Hard Spun) were to win the GI Whitney S., and in the process happened to become the 9,446th winner saddled by his trainer, it might well feel as though 35 years of skill and endeavor, processed daily through random fluctuations of good or bad luck, have all led logically and inexorably to this pinnacle. The trouble is that whoever came...

A compact, but talented field of five will face the starter for Saturday's GI Whitney S., a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar Nov. 6. Korean Racing Authority's Knicks Go (Paynter) has been pegged as the 6-5 morning-line favorite for trainer Brad Cox and jockey Joel Rosario. The 5-year-old is perfect in his last five starts around two turns, including a latest blow-out, big-figure success in the GIII Cornhusker H. at Prairie Meadows July 2. Cox attributes his losses in the Saudi...

Godolphin's once-beaten Maxfield (Street Sense) tuned up for next Saturday's GI Whitney S. at Saratoga Saturday morning, breezing a five-eighths of a mile in 1.01.61 (16/34) before turning in a strong gallop out. Working in the company of the commonly owned Churchill maiden winner Business Model (Candy Ride {Arg}), Maxfield covered his opening quarter-mile in :24 3/5 and the half in :48 2/5 and pulled up six furlongs in a shade over 1:13, according to trainer Brendan Walsh. "I just wanted the company to take him to the wire," Walsh...

Godolphin's once-beaten Maxfield (Street Sense), the impressive 3 1/4-length winner of Churchill's GII Stephen Foster S. when last seen June 26, tuned up for his next appearance in the Aug. 7 GI Whitney S. with a half-mile breeze over the Oklahoma training track Friday morning that was timed in :49.09 (14/46). Working in the company of stablemate Longpants Required (New Year's Day), the son of Velvety (Bernardini) covered his first two furlongs in :25.3 and was out five-eighths of a mile in 1:01.1 according to NYRA clockers. "I just wanted...

Since his maiden-breaking 'TDN Rising Star'-worthy juvenile debut, McKinzie had caught the eye of Gainesway Farm. But according to Gainesway's Director of Stallion Sales and Recruitment Sean Tugel, the son of Street Sense had the attention of nearly every top stud farm in the country. "He was on everybody's radar from the very beginning," he said. "Any time you see one win first time out from Bob Baffert's barn, you have to recognize it." [tdn_vimeo_embed title="McKinzie at Gainesway Farm" admp4="https://player.vimeo.com/external/454078835.sd.mp4?s=e4abccf474c464c025df68f2a109c29ca8402ae7&profile_id=165" videomp4= "https://player.vimeo.com/external/481849258.sd.mp4?s=b0108e0717b96d50a0ed06578fa2458c02f1f51e&profile_id=165" thumbnail= ""] McKinzie's resume only improved from there...