Tales From the Crib

CHC, Inc. and WinStar Farm’s John Hancock earned 20 points on the 2025 Road to the Kentucky Derby challenge series following his half-length score in the $200,000 Sam F. Davis S. at Tampa Bay Downs on February 8.

Nine horses will vie for 20-10-6-4-2 Road to the Kentucky Derby qualification in Sunday’s $400,000 Sunland Park Derby at Sunland Park.

Saturday’s $500,000 Risen Star (G2) at Fair Grounds is the first Kentucky Derby (G1) qualifier of the year worth 50-25-15-10-5 points to the top five finishers, which virtually guarantees the winner a spot in the Derby starting gate.

A quick horse from California appears the horse to beat over the traditionally quick surface at Sunland Park in New Mexico on Sunday when Getaway Car tops a field of nine in the $400,000 Sunland Park Derby.

The Championship Series kicks off at Fair Grounds with the Risen Star Stakes, the first 50-point race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.

Citizen Bull, the 2024 champion 2-year-old colt and recent winner of the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (Grade III), has been tabbed as the 6-1 individual favorite in Pool 4 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager while the pari-mutuel field of “All Other 3-Year-Olds”...

From the sire line of 1990 Kentucky Derby (G1) champion Unbridled, Burnham Square also has Derby-winning sires on his mother’s side.

Saturday’s “Louisiana Derby Preview Day” at Fair Grounds serves as a pivotal point on the Road to the Kentucky Derby and Oaks.

"He was all man, was always the leader in his paddock."

At Tampa Bay Downs, John Hancock and La Cara recorded frontrunning wins in the Sam F. Davis S. and Suncoast to earn points toward respective berths in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Kentucky Oaks (G1) on Saturday