Francesa: High Oak will not be ready for Wood Memorial

Within the past three months, the purses for all three Triple Crown races have been raised. Paradoxically, this increase in prize money has coincided with a 2024 prep race season that is uncharacteristically light on emphatic, leap-off-the-page contenders for the GI Kentucky Derby, GI Preakness S., and GI Belmont S. The first weekend in March has…

SARATOGA SPRINGS - The 3-year-old division is up for grabs this weekend at Saratoga in the 154th edition of the Travers Stakes. It's rare that all three Triple Crown race winners converge in the Travers and this year the trio will be joined by last year's 2-year-old champion. The three Triple Crown winners have faced off in the Travers only three…

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - With the three winners of the Triple Crown races gathered for just the fourth time in the GI Travers S. Saturday, will history repeat itself? Will a horse that did not run in the GI Kentucky Derby, GI Preakness S. or the GI Belmont S. deliver an upset in the 154th Travers? That is how it played out in 1918 with Sun Briar,…

Forte (outside) head-to-head with Saudi Crown on a drenched track. (Adam Coglianese) By Ashley Tamulonis It was a sloppy day at Saratoga, but an off-track did not stop Champion Forte from reminding us all why he was the Kentucky Derby favorite. Sent off as the 3-5 choice in the $500000, Grade 2 Jim Dandy, the son of Violence, sporting first-time…

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.-A decision will be announced Tuesday on whether Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) will run in the GI Haskell S. July 22 or train up to the GI Travers S. Aug. 26, co-owner Ramiro Restrepo said Friday. Mage was given a break from training by trainer Gustavo Delgado after his third-place finish in the GI Preakness S. May…

Horse racing's Triple Crown resumes on Saturday when the starting gate opens for the 2023 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. In the first leg, the Kentucky Derby, 15-1 longshot Mage overcame another slow start with a powerful stretch run to win the Run for the Roses. He is the 8-5 favorite in the 2023 Preakness Stakes odds. Post time for the…

Mage's chances to advance to the Belmont Stakes with an opportunity to become the 14th Triple Crown winner appeared to get easier on Friday, when First Mission was scratched from the Preakness Stakes. Mage won the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago as the No. 8 choice among bettors. None of the 17 colts that Mage defeated at Churchill Downs made the trip…

Kentucky Derby winner Mage will try to add the second leg of the Triple Crown on Saturday when eight 3-year-old horses leave the starting gate in the 2023 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. On May 6, Mage overcame a slow start with a powerful late kick to win the Derby. With a win in the Preakness, he would have a chance to…

Mage will break from Post Position 3 as the morning-line favorite in the Preakness Stakes on Saturday. The Kentucky Derby winner will face seven challengers as he seeks to take the second step toward thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown, and he'll have to beat an entirely new lineup of horse to do it. Mage finished at the front of a field of 18 in…

With only one month left until the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby on May 6 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, one horse has separated itself from the pack as a clear front-runner for this year's Run for the Roses. Forte - trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. - has been nothing short of sensational in his racing career. Forte…

Last year's champion 2-year-old colt, Forte, kicks off a 3-year-old campaign that's focused on winning the Kentucky Derby when he leaves the starting gate in the 2023 Fountain of Youth Stakes on Saturday at Gulfstream Park outside of Miami. Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, Forte has four wins in five career starts. He last raced on Nov. 4,…

High Oak wins the G2 Saratoga Special back in 2021 (NYRA/Coglianese) By Ross Blacker Every year hundreds of horses are nominated to the Triple Crown with hopes of securing one of the 20 spots in the Churchill Downs starting gate on the first Saturday in May. High Oak was certainly one of those horses, beginning his career with a pair of impressive…

There are 10 entries for the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park this Saturday. There is also a prize purse of $400000 covering 1 1/16 miles on dirt. The stakes event is open to three-year old thoroughbreds as one of the key 2023 Kentucky Derby prep races. The Fountain of Youth Stakes is my favorite, a trio of legitimate contenders…

The Grade 2, $400000 Fountain of Youth Stakes, which will be run Saturday, is the second of three official prep races at Gulfstream Park on the road to Kentucky Derby 2023. The 1 1/16-mile race drew a field of 10 3-year-olds who will compete for the 50-20-15-10-5 points that go to the top five finishers. The Fountain of Youth has seven horses who…

The past two weeks, the Kentucky Derby points races mostly produced long shot winners and confusion for handicappers. Maybe this week, one of the busiest on the Derby prep race calendar, will provide some momentary clarity. Four Derby points races from across the country are on the Saturday schedule. At the post: the Fountain of Youth Stakes at…

Ahead of Saturday's 77th edition of the G2 Fountain of Youth, Phil Janack interviews the Canadian rider who stunned the racing world in 1996 with a triple-digit triumph on Built For Pleasure in the main prep for the Florida Derby. USA: By late February 1996, South Florida's betting public had seen plenty of a nondescript horse named Built For…

Future Plans for other Preakness Starters BALTIMORE, Md. - Fern Circle Stables, Back Racing LLC and trainer Kenny McPeek's Creative Minister, who finished third in Saturday's Preakness (G1) at Pimlico Race Course, will be pointed toward the Belmont Stakes (G1) June 11 at Belmont Park. McPeek said the colt will likely have a couple of half-mile…

Horse racing's Triple Crown resumes on Saturday when the starting gate opens in the the 2022 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. In the first leg, the Kentucky Derby, 80-1 long shot Rich Strike shocked the world by rallying for an unlikely victory, becoming the second biggest long shot to win the race. Rich Strike, however, will skip the…

Rich Strike, the 80-1 shot ridden by Sonny Leon and trained by Eric Reed, mounted a furious and improbable rally to capture the 148th Kentucky Derby on May 7. He was not even in the field until another horse was scratched the day before the race. But after initially pointing the colt toward the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, Rich Strike's owner said…

Ifnot for an unlikely rail trip by 80-1 long shot Rich Strike in the KentuckyDerby, then Epicenter would be the undisputed center of attention in thebuildup to Saturday's $1.65 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. Now, instead ofbeing a candidate for a possible Triple Crown, he is merely the favorite. Afterlosing the lead in the last 10…

Early Voting Set for Preakness; Zandon Decision Pending BALTIMORE, Md. - Trainer Chad Brown has not decided whether he will have one or two runners in the 147th Preakness (G1) on May 21 at Pimlico Race Course. Klaravich Stables' Early Voting (Gun Runner) is on course for the 1 3/16-mile Preakness, while Brown said that he is still considering a run…

As the dust settled on Rich Strike's improbable 81-1 victory in the 148th Kentucky Derby on Saturday, the question of who would challenge him in the Preakness Stakes on May 21 in Baltimore, Maryland began to make the rounds across the country. Rich Strike, a last-minute Derby entrant who got a dream trip under jockey Sonny Leon for trainer Eric…

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Tami Bobo's Simplification circled the field on the turn into the homestretch and drew away in the stretch to capture Saturday's $400000 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth (G2) at Gulfstream Park, stamping himself as a serious contender for the 2022 Triple Crown. The 76th running of the Fountain of Youth was featured during the…

The Grade 2, $400000 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth Stakes is one of the first few races which are part of the Kentucky Derby Championship Series that award 50 points to the winner, which historically has been enough to give that horse a spot in the starting gate on the first Saturday in May. Leading the full field of 12, plus one also-eligible, is…

There's been a different winner in each of the 10 open Grade 1 races for 3-year-olds in 2023. So yes, there's a divisional championship to be won, and it starts with Saturday's $1.25 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, with a strong field of contenders looking to separate themselves from the pack in the quest for year-end…