Diodoro gets 2nd stakes win at Oaklawn meet with Bal Harbour.

Welcome to Noel Michaels' Weekend Winners, the place to go for weekend best bets and spot plays from veteran handicapper and tournament-play pioneer Noel Michaels. Check back every week for a couple of highlighted selections designed to help you cash a few bets and make some money. Noel's selections have been featured just about everywhere horse…

Dec. 11 (UPI) Trainer Bob Baffert saddled the winner of the Starlet Stakes for the seventh straight year to highlight a relatively light pre-holiday weekend on the horse racing scene. There was some other action, though and we've got it all, right here: Los Alamitos Baffert got his seventh straight win and 10th overall in Saturday's $200000 Grade…

Notes, Quotes & Photos From G3 Chilukki Stakes: Hot and Sultry (Hot and Sultry wins G3 Chilukki Stakes at Churchill Downs on Saturday / All Photos by Coady Photography) From the Churchill Downs Media Team: FRESH HOT AND SULTRY DOMINATES GRADE III, $295000 CHILUKKI JoAnn and Alex Leblong's 4-year-old filly Hot and Sultry returned from a 196-day…

JoAnn and Alex Leblong's 4-year-old filly Hot and Sultry returned from a 196-day layoff to blitz seven other fillies in mares with a front-running eight-length win in Saturday's 38th running of the Grade 3 $295000 Chilukki at Churchill Downs. After a swift first quarter mile in:23.03 and a half-mile in:45.88 while breaking from the outside post 8,…

1 of 2 | Bright Future wins the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, on to Breeders' Cup Classic. Photo by Joe Labozzetta, courtesy of New York Racing Association Sept. 5 (UPI) -- With the Breeders' Cup Classic just two months away, it's becoming clear that not only do the 3-year-olds hold the upper hand over their older rivals, but it's the late-bloomers…

Casa Creed, show winning the 2022 Kelso at Saratoga, seeks a second straight win in Saturday's Group 1 Fourstardave at the same track, a "Win and You're In" for the Breeders' Cup Mile. Coglianese Photo, courtesy of New York Racing Association Aug. 11 (UPI) -- The Arlington Million, Beverly D. and Secretariat Stakes, the former "International…

April 24 (UPI) -- A shakeup of the Kentucky Derby field and three major races for older horses took the spotlight in weekend horse racing action with fewer than two weeks to the 149th Run for the Roses. There also was 3-year-old action on the international front in Europe and Japan. And, on the juvenile front, memo to Royal Ascot: Watch out for…

D. Wayne Lukas leads Apple Blossom favorite Secret Oath to the track, Paige Mazurenko aboard the Kentucky Oaks winner (Coady Photography) Oaklawn Barn Notes by Robert Yates HOT SPRINGS, Ark.- Thursday marks the 40 anniversary of D. Wayne Lukas' first career victory at Oaklawn, which means the Hall of Fame trainer could come full circle this weekend…

Wet Paint became just the second in history to sweep Oaklawn's series for 3-year-old fillies with her victory in Saturday's Grade 3, $600000 Fantasy Stakes while also adding another 100 points toward Kentucky Oaks (G1) eligibility. The Godolphin-owned 3-year-old had earned 20 points for winning the Martha Washington on Jan. 28 and 50 points for…

Wicked Halo takes the Matron in her first start since the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (Coady Photography) Oaklawn Park Press Release HOT SPRINGS, Ark.- Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC's Wicked Halo, making her first start since a narrow third in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1), was back in the winner's circle after an…

Friday, March 31, 2023 at 7:05 pm |Back to: Top News Wicked Halo | Coady Photography Despite inclement weather in the Hot Springs area on Friday afternoon, Wicked Halo (Gun Runner) returned to action off the break and won the inaugural running of the Matron S. over a wet track with Tyler Gaffalione in-town to ride for the weekend. The 4-year-old…

Mendelssohns March remains undefeated with an allowance win March 9 (Coady Photography) Oaklawn Barn Notes by Robert Yates HOT SPRINGS, Ark.- Add a pair of recent Oaklawn winners for trainer Kenny McPeek to the list of early probables for the $1.25 million Arkansas Derby (G1) April 1. McPeek said unbeaten Mendelssohns March and Interlock…

By Keith McCalmont - NYRA Press Office OZONE PARK, N.Y.- The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will host a Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday, featuring stakes action from Aqueduct Racetrack and Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks qualifiers from Oaklawn Park. The Cross Country Pick 5 requires bettors to pick the winner of five select races from…

Golden Sixty wins the Group 1 Stewards' Cup at Sha Tin Racecourse over Romantic Warrior and California Spangle. Photo courtesy of Hong Kong Jockey Club Jan. 30 (UPI) -- Art Collector won the $3 million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park and Golden Sixty brushed aside his two main rivals to win again in Hong Kong, but otherwise, it was a good…

Jan. 23 (UPI) -- Instant Coffee jumped to No. 2 on the "Road to the Kentucky Derby" standings with an impressive weekend victory at Fair Grounds, doing nothing to help trainer Brad Cox sort out nearly a dozen Derby contenders in his care. Cox also saw two of his 3-year-old fillies finish 1-2 in their stakes race in New Orleans, adding to his hopes…

As the 2023 Kentucky Derby trail takes a one-weekend pause, the 2023 Kentucky Oaks path continues Saturday in New York. Occult is the 7-5 morning-line favorite for the $100000 Busanda Stakes. Post time from Aqueduct is 3:47 p.m. EST, with FS2 showing the 1 1/8-mile stakes for 3-year-old fillies. The Busanda is the first prep race to pay points on a…

Lovely Ride wins Saturday's Pippin Stakes at Oaklawn Park Coady Photography, courtesy of Oaklawn Park Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Trainer Bob Baffert saddled the first three finishers in Sunday's $100000 Grade III Sham Stakes at Santa Anita, a "Road to the Kentucky Derby" race, while the other weekend qualifier went to a colt who might find the Derby distance…

Saturday at Oaklawn, Robertino Diodoro became only the 37th trainer in North America to win 3000 races after Arthurian won the afternoon's second race, a $10000 conditioned claiming event. He won his 3001st race shortly thereafter when Lovely Ride took the $150000 Pippin. Diodoro's first victory came on Aug. 2, 1995 with Manchu Prince in a starter…

Coach, under Ricardo Santana Jr., wins the Pippin Stakes on Jan. 8, 2022, at Oaklawn. - Photo courtesy of Coady Photography He bears the nickname of a Hall of Fame trainer, but someone other than Wayne Lukas conditions Coach, a 5-year-old mare stabled at Oaklawn. One may be more familiar with the man saddling Coach. Brad Cox, along with Steve…

Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Practical Move upset three of trainer Bob Baffert's 2-year-olds in the weekend's feature race, the Grade II Los Alamitos Futurity, adding his name into the mix of candidates for the 2023 Kentucky Derby. Things went a bit more to expectations among the Japanese 2-year-olds as the three favorites reported 1-2-3 in Sunday's Grade 1…

Bal Harbour (#4 rail) outbids Last Samurai (#1) for the win. (Coady Photography) Jennifer Hoyt/Oaklawn Racing HOT SPRINGS, Ark.- Trainer Robertino Diodoro, Oaklawn's leading trainer in 2020, is off to a fast start at the 2022-2023 meet, picking up his second stakes win since the Dec. 9 opening and his second straight $200000 Tinsel Stakes victory…

Flavien Prat, atop Flightline, looks between his legs for the rest of the field after winning the Breeders' Cup Classic at the Breeders' Cup Championships at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., on Saturday. Photo by Mark Abraham/UPI | License Photo LEXINGTON, Ky., Nov. 7 (UPI) -- The Breeders' Cup is in the rearview mirror and the star of the…

Breeders' Cup winner and reigning Eclipse Award Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Echo Zulu will look to recapture the dominant form she displayed in her first five starts when cutting back to a one-turn mile in the Grade 1, $500000 Acorn for 3-year-old fillies on Saturday, Belmont Stakes Day, at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. The Acorn - one of eight Grade…

The 2022 Road to the Kentucky Derby features points-paying preps Saturday in both Florida and California. Tampa Bay Downs hosts the Grade 3, $250000 Sam F. Davis Stakes, while the $100000 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate. Both races award Derby points on a 10-4-2-1 basis. This is the last Saturday until April 16 that does not feature a Kentucky…

1 of 2 | Golden Goal wins Maktoum Challenge Round 1 at the first meeting of the Dubai World Cup Carnival. Photo courtesy of Dubai Racing Club Jan. 17 (UPI) -- The first meeting of the Dubai World Cup Carnival was the big doings in weekend horse racing, as some of last year's heavy hitters returned from long vacations to sort out their chances for…