Kentucky Derby News
September 9, 2018
Opry bursts onto stage as versatile two-year-old to follow
With an eye-catching, last-to-first rally in the August 29 With Anticipation S. (G3) on the Saratoga turf, Opry broke his maiden in style. The Todd Pletcher juvenile was convincing enough to ponder his future, not only on turf, but on dirt.
Opry prompts...
September 7, 2018
Star-studded Fall racing season on tap at Churchill Downs
The Fall racing season at Churchill Downs will be more star-studded than usual as the track will play host to the Breeders' Cup World Championships on November 2-3. Churchill last hosted the Breeders' Cup in 2011.
As is customary, the Fall...
Derby News September 7, 2018
10 things in racing this weekend: Enable, Shesasuperfreak, Real Money and more!
10 Things to watch for in racing this weekend
1) Enable Makes Her Seasonal Debut – Reigning Prix De L’arc d DeTriomphe (FG1) sensation will make her much anticipated 2018 debut in the Group 3 September Stakes at Kempton on Saturday. John Gosden...
September 7, 2018
Baltas, Van Dyke could strike again in Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf
Trainer Richard Baltas and jockey Drayden Van Dyke plundered the Old Friends Stakes with California invader Next Shares at Kentucky Downs on Thursday. Can the trainer/jockey combo pull off a similar feat Saturday in the $500,000 Kentucky Downs Ladies...
September 6, 2018
Always Dreaming, 2017 Kentucky Derby winner, retired
WinStar Farm has announced the retirement of the 2017 Kentucky Derby (G1) hero, Always Dreaming . From the first crop of Bodemeister, who was himself runner-up to champion I’ll Have Another in the 2012 Derby and Preakness (G1), Always Dreaming will...
September 4, 2018
Game Winner takes Del Mar Futurity, Mind Control prevails in Hopeful
The summer racing seasons at Saratoga and Del Mar ended Labor Day afternoon with two historic juvenile features, the Hopeful (G1) and Del Mar Futurity (G1), the featured events.
Not surprisingly, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert was in the winner's...
September 1, 2018
Early Kentucky Derby contenders emerge from Del Mar Futurity, Hopeful
A sense of excitement surrounds the $300,000 Del Mar Futurity (G1) and $350,000 Hopeful Stakes (G1). Del Mar and Saratoga save their biggest two-year-old events for closing day and these important races have produced Kentucky Derby (G1) winners in the...
Expert picks August 31, 2018
Best Bet of Labor Day weekend
Close followers of Churchill Downs racing in recent seasons should be familiar with several candidates in the $750,000 Woodward (G1) at Saratoga, the historic 1 1/8-mile feature for older horses that attracted one of its largest fields in years —...
August 31, 2018
Sapling, Affirmed have proven to be hotbeds of early Kentucky Derby potential
A pair of stakes races for juveniles will be held on the eastern half of the country Saturday. Each of these are non-graded races, but anytime a two-year-old runs in a black-type race this time of year we start thinking ahead to next spring’s Kentucky...
August 31, 2018
Ten two-year-old colts to get excited about
The official Road to the Kentucky Derby doesn’t begin until mid-September, so many of the runners who will enter the starting gate for Kentucky Derby 145 are horses we haven’t even heard of yet.
Led by prospects trained by five-time Kentucky...