Zozos

In a deal that came about unexpectedly for Rodney Eckenrode's Equistar--the training and breeding operation east of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania that stands Smarty Jones and Brody's Cause--GSW Zozos (by Munnings) will join the farm's stallion roster for 2025 with a stud fee of $2,500 in the offing. The dark bay who was bred and campaigned by Minnesotans Barry and Joni Butzow recently retired from trainer Brad Cox's shedrow after a career which began at three. Zozos's career highlights include a runner-up finish in the GII Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds...

Fresh off a spectacular four-timer during the prestigious Royal Ascot meeting, Wathnan Racing--the horse racing operation of the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Al-Thani--saw its blue-and-tan colors cross the line first and second, respectively, in Sunday's Hanshin Stakes by the progressive Cagliostro (Upstart) and Tumbarumba (Oscar Performance), each acquired by Wathnan over the last several months. Placed in last year's GIII Indiana Derby and GIII Smarty Jones S. and fifth in the GIII Oklahoma Derby for a partnership including West Point and David Ingordo, Cagliostro narrowly annexed a two-turn Keeneland...

Three Chimneys Farm homebred Gun Pilot (Gun Runner) punched through from in between horses in the final furlong after sitting a midfield trip and skipped clear at odds of 5-1 to give his sire a sweep of the afternoon's seven-furlong Grade I contests in the Churchill Downs S. Here Mi Song (Cross Traffic) dueled heads apart for the early lead with 'TDN Rising Star' Zozos (Munnings) and battled back inside of that one to complete the exacta. Briefly on the Triple Crown trail in 2023 and fifth in the GII...

LOUISVILLE, KY -- Weeks and months of preparation, with a healthy dose of good luck, are complete. A full field of 20 will line up for the 150th anniversary renewal of the GI Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Much of the pre-race hype has revolved around the defending juvenile champion Fierceness (City of Light). A runaway winner in the GI Florida Derby in his latest start, the 'TDN Rising Star' has been training like a beast, signaling he is ready to do big things come Derby day. His trainer, Todd...

Barry and Joni Butzow, who bred and race graded-stakes winning 'TDN Rising Star' Zozos (Munnings), are the recipients of the 2023 John Deere Award, which recognizes breeders who were represented in this year's Breeders' Cup World Championships and the Breeders' Cup 'Win and You're In' Challenge series over the course of the year. The Deere Award winner was determined by a drawing among all breeders who either won a Breeders' Cup race or a Challenge series race. NTRA Advantage and John Deere will award the Butzows a John Deere Gator...

Barry and Joni Butzow's homebred and 'TDN Rising Star' Zozos (Munnings) took them all the way for an overdue first graded stakes success in Saturday's GIII Ack Ack S., a 'Win and You're In' for the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. The 3-5 favorite set a pressured pace, albeit through very manageable early fractions of :23.69 and :47.10 going a one-turn mile beneath the Twin Spires. He let it out a notch as they straightened for home and held Justify (Scat Daddy)'s half-brother and 'Rising Star' Stage Raider (Pioneerof the...

"What's in a name?" Spurning Master Shakespeare and embracing anecdotal evidence, consider the tale of how Saratoga's Oklahoma Training Track got its name. Horsemen complained that the distance across Union Avenue to the main course was such a hike that it might as well be in Boomer Sooner land. Another piece from the past concerns the name of the Alabama S. Dating to 1872, the race was given that moniker after the Derby-winning owner William Cottrell of Mobile asked if it could be dubbed after his home state, instead of...

T.C. Stevens, son of Hall of Fame Jockey Gary Stevens, will ride his first race as a professional jockey at Fair Grounds March 19 for trainer Steve Asmussen. T.C. has been named on Motown Missile (Mo Town) in the race six. A regular exercise rider for trainer Brad Cox, T.C. has morning rides on Instant Coffee (Bolt d'Oro), Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}), Zozos (Munnings), Strobe (Into Mischief), and Tapit's Conquest (Tapit). "I am very grateful to Mr. Asmussen and his staff for giving me this opportunity," stated Stevens. "I've...

You've all done the donkey work. Maybe you've resigned yourself to the skinny prices about Zandon (Upstart) and Epicenter (Not This Time) and there's a good chance you've debated--internally or otherwise--whether Mike Battaglia got it right from the perspective of the morning line. Or, you argue, 'It's a 20-horse field, there isn't a snowball's chance in hell I am betting one of the favorites when there is value to be found elsewhere.' Surely, you reason, there isn't much that separates the market leaders from horses like 'TDN Rising Star' Messier...

LOUISVILLE, KY - Crown Pride (Jpn) (Reach the Crown {Jpn}) had Wednesday morning's 'Dawn at the Downs' crowd buzzing just three days out from the GI Kentucky Derby. With the G2 UAE Derby winner continuing to warm up with his popular dressage-like jogging routine in the chute on a very cool and overcast morning, Todd Pletcher's troops of Charge It (Tapit), Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) and Pioneer of Medina (Pioneerof the Nile) were the first to hit the track for the special Derby/Oaks training period at 7:30 a.m. Owner Jerry...

It was an action-packed Saturday morning at Churchill Downs for GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks workers. At 5:15 a.m., the Brad Cox-trained duo of GI Arkansas Derby winner Cyberknife (Gun Runner) and GII Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby runner-up and 'TDN Rising Star' Zozos (Munnings) worked six furlongs together in 1:11.20 (1/4) and 1:11.40 (2/4), respectively. At 7:30 a.m., GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. winner Tawny Port (Pioneerof the Nile), with newly named jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr., worked five furlongs for Cox in 1:01.60 (30/57). "There's a lot of excitement leading...

It was a busy Friday morning at Churchill Downs with 10 GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks contenders logging their penultimate work prior to the first weekend in May. Half of those workers were from Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher's barn--Oaks contenders GII Gulfstream Park Oaks runner-up Goddess of Fire (Mineshaft) (five furlongs, 1:00.80); GI Central Bank Ashland S. winner Nest (Curlin) (four furlongs, :49.80); and unbeaten G3 UAE Oaks heroine Shahama (Munnings) (five furlongs, 1:00.80) and Derby contenders GI Curlin Florida Derby runner-up Charge It (Tapit) (five...