#Grade III

Knicks Go, seen winning the Grade I Pegasus World Cup in January, is favorite for Saturday's Grade I Whitney at Saratoga. Photo courtesy of Gulfstream Park Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Rich purses drew some top foreign talent for the Saratoga Derby and Oaks on Saturday and Sunday on the upstate New York turf to highlight a big weekend of Thoroughbred…

The winter campaign of the 2023 Santa Anita horse racing season is in full swing. The track, one of the nation's best, will host the Grade III $200000 La Canada Stakes on January 15, and Daniel Benjamin has the preview and prediction here. The La Canada is a one and one-sixteenth-mile race for 4-year-olds and upward fillies and mares. The $200000…

Essential Quality, shown winning the Grade I Travers, is among the favorites in a Breeders' Cup Classic field announced this week. Photo courtesy of New York Racing Association Oct. 29 (UPI) -- It's a week for looking forward as horse racing around the globe nears its annual champion-making events and youngsters get in final licks to make a case…

Largent, shown winning the 2020 Fort Lauderdale Stakes, returns from an 11-month layoff to contest Saturday's Tropical Turf at Gulfstream Park and could be considered for the Grade 1 Pegasus Turf with a good effort. Photo by Ryan Thompson, courtesy of Gulfstream Park Jan. 7 (UPI) -- A potential prep for the Pegasus World Cup Turf in Florida, a…

This is "last call" weekend for Breeders' Cup hopefuls with more than a dozen "Win and You're In" races spread across three U.S. tracks. It's also Arc weekend in Paris and Winx seeks her 28th straight win in Australia. There's even more, with important 2-year-old races in Canada and the Group 1 Sun Chariot in England. Twenty-eight straight wins? It…

Champagne Dream winning the G3 Nashua at Aqueduct Nov. 6, 2022. (Joe Labozzetta) Tampa Bay Downs Skyway Festival Day by Mike Henry/Tampa Bay Downs TAMPA BAY, Fla.-A trio of stakes races comprise Saturday's annual Skyway Festival Day card at Tampa Bay Downs, with 3-year-olds of both sexes attempting to prove their mettle in a pair of $125000,…

This content was produced in partnership with Sean Miller. If you are a casual fan of horse racing, you will know the first Saturday in May is for the Kentucky Derby. But that is just the culmination of months worth of qualifying to get into the main race, let alone all the other races on Kentucky Oaks and derby day. That is where we are at now:…

This is trainer Bob Baffert's really fun time of the year, running his stable full of talented 3-year-olds and learning which ones are ready for the big time and which are maybe a cut below. Cave Rock, Arabian Knight and Faustin might be at the head of the class right now, but Baffert unveiled three others Sunday at Santa Anita that he hopes could…

Speed Boat Beach winning the Cecil B. DeMille Dec. 4, 2022 at Del Mar. (Benoit Photo) Stable Notes By Victor Ryan ARCADIA, CALIF.- Speed Boat Beach, a two-time stakes winner on turf, was scratched from today's Grade III Sham Stakes going a mile on dirt by trainer Bob Baffert. Speed Boat Beach was the 5-2 co-second choice on the morning line Baffert…

Kentucky Derby second-place finisher Mandaloun (pink cap) wins Sunday's Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park. Photo courtesy of Monmouth Park June 14 (UPI) -- Maybe it's a little early to crown Belmont Stakes winner Essential Quality as best 3-year-old in the nation, especially after Mandaloun's impressive victory in Sunday's Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth…

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…

Santa Anita Barn Notes: Friday's Card Gets 8.5 Starters Per Race From the Santa Anita Media Team: FRIDAY'S ALL-DIRT CARD ATTRACTS 8.5 STARTERS PER RACE With more rain in the forecast for Arcadia this week, the decision was made to run Friday's eight-race program exclusively on dirt. After entries were taken and the program finalized yesterday,…

Light Quantum (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) remained perfect to graduate to the group ranks while taking on the boys for the first time with an impressive rallying victory in the G3 Nikkan Sports Sho Shinzan Kinen at Chukyo on Sunday. The public's second choice at odds of 2-1 in this 1600-metre affair hopped a bit from the gate and was taken way back…

Cheval Grand, shown winning the 2017 Japan Cup, returns seeking a repeat victory in Sunday's renewal. Photo courtesy of Japan Racing Association Nov. 22 (UPI) -- Weekend horse racing action stretches from Tokyo to Bahrain with a stop in England and a quick look at Hong Kong's preparations for its big weekend two weeks down the calendar. The Grade 1…

G3 Sham Stakes Preview: Spun Intended Could Spell Trouble From the Santa Anita Media Team: In what appears to be a David vs. Goliath scenario at Santa Anita, trainer Mark Glatt's Spun Intended will take on no less than four Bob Baffert Derby hopefuls among a field of six sophomores in Sunday's Grade III, $100000 Sham Stakes at one mile. Named for…

Fresh off a visually impressive win in an ungraded stakes Nov. 19, C R K Stable's Justique heads a field of six sophomore fillies going seven furlongs in Sunday's Grade III, $100000 Santa Ynez Stakes at Santa Anita. Originally scheduled to be run on New Year's Day, the Santa Ynez was re-drawn Thursday due to this past Sunday's races being…

In what appears to be a David vs. Goliath scenario at Santa Anita, trainer Mark Glatt's Spun Intended will take on no less than four Bob Baffert Derby hopefuls among a field of six sophomores in Sunday's Grade III, $100000 Sham Stakes at one mile. Named for the winner of the 1973 Santa Anita Derby and subsequent runner-up to Secretariat in that…

Santa Anita Barn Notes: The Chosen Vron Seeks 4th Straight Stakes Win (The Chosen Vron / Benoit Photo & Courtesy of Santa Anita) From the Santa Anita Media Team: THE CHOSEN VRON GOES FOR 4TH STRAIGHT STAKES WIN IN CAL CUP SPRINT The ultra-consistent and versatile California-bred The Chosen Vron, a winner of three-straight stakes for trainer Eric…

Cyberknife, shown winning the Arkansas Derby, tops the list of invitations to the Grade I Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 28. Coady Photography, courtesy of Oaklawn Park Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Kentucky Derby preps in California and New York highlight the weekend horse racing schedule with plenty of would-be stars looking for a big step…

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Wit, who races for the Repole, St. Elias and Gainsway Stables, followed his usual racing pattern of coming from off the pace when he took the trophy in the Spa's $135000 Better Talk Now Sunday afternoon at Saratoga Race Course. With Jose Ortiz in the saddle for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, the colt by Practical Joke…

Titleholder wins Sunday's Takarazuka Kinen, now targeting the Arc d'Triomphe. Photo courtesy of Japan Racing Association June 27 (UPI) -- Tawny Port's victory in Saturday's Ohio Derby serves notice the scramble among U.S. 3-year-olds is far from over while Westover's dominance of the Irish Derby indicates he's not out of the frame, either, despite…

Colonel Liam, shown after winning the 2021 Fort Lauderdale Stakes at Gulfstream Park, returns to try for a repeat win Saturday. Photo by Lauren King, courtesy of Gulfstream Park Dec. 30 (UPI) - Eight horses celebrate their third birthday Sunday by lining up for the Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park - the holiday weekend's way station on the "Road…

Edwin Maldonado / 6 John Velazquez / 6 TRAINERS / WINS Philip D'Amato / 14 Bob Baffert / 7 Doug O'Neill / 6 George Papaprodromou / 6 Peter Miller / 5 Saturday • $400000 Grade I Hollywood Derby, 3-year-olds, 1 1/8 miles (turf) • $100000 Grade III Jimmy Durante Stakes, 2-year-old fillies, 1 mile (turf) • $100000 Stormy Liberal Stakes, 3-year-olds and…

The biggest race run on American soil is here. The $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic, which is supposed to draw the best horses that the world has to offer, will be run at embattled Santa Anita Park on Saturday night. Eleven horses have been entered to run in the 1 1/4-mile race, which is in its 36th year. While the horses should be getting the most…

War of Will, shown winning the Maker's Mark Mile at Keeneland in July, is a major player in Saturday's Grade I Woodbine Mile. Photo courtesy of Keeneland Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Two days of top-level turf action at Woodbine, including three Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" events, provide the feature attraction in weekend horse racing. Two of the…

Maximum Security, the colt disqualified from victory in the Kentucky Derby, returns to the winner's circle Saturday at Belmont Park. Photo courtesy of New York Racing Association Oct. 28 (UPI) -- It was a very good weekend of horse racing for Japan as Lys Gracieux landed the Group 1 Cox Plate in Australia and Almond Eye returned to her dominant…

Almond Eye, shown winning the 2018 Japan Cup, is the favorite for Sunday's Grade 1 Tenno Sho (Autumn). Photo courtesy of Japan Racing Association Oct. 30 (UPI) -- American horse racing is virtually on pause a week out from the Breeders' Cup World Championships, but plenty of action exists around the globe with Almond Eye returning in Japan,…

OCEANPORT - Jason Servis is confident he has Maximum Security fully cranked for the $1 million TVG.com Haskell Invitational Saturday at Monmouth Park. However, what Servis, Maximum Security's trainer, is not completely confident of is whether the horse likes the Monmouth Park racing surface. "I don't know if people have thought of this, but last…

Desert Encounter, winner of the 2018 and 2019 Pattison Canadian International, is back trying for a "three-peat" in Saturday's renewal at Woodbine. Photo courtesy of Woodbine Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Belmont Park returns to action this weekend with Irish and English horses, including Bolshoi Ballet, chasing the third leg of New York's rich turf…

Today is Day 3 of the Saratoga Race Course meet. Racing starts at 1:05 p.m. RECENT STORIES FROM THE DAILY GAZETTE AT THE TRACK Trainer Chad Brown is so dominant in the Grade I Diana that he even gets horses who didn't look like they were meant for races like this into the Diana. And not just into the field, but into the role of favorite. That's the…

The ball drops at Times Square, fireworks explode around the globe and North American Thoroughbreds celebrate their birthdays at midnight on Jan. 1. A few of the newly turned 3-year-olds waste no time starting their once-in-a-lifetime quest for the Kentucky Derby starting gate as Aqueduct rings in 2018 with the $150000 Jerome Stakes. On New Year's…

Zandon, shown winning the Grade I Blue Grass Stakes, runs in Saturday's Grade I Cigar Mile at Aqueduct. Photo courtesy of Keeneland Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Triple Crown contenders from the past three seasons will battle it out in a field of seven for one of this weekend's top races, the Grade I Cigar Mile at Aqueduct, where 2023 Kentucky Derby hopefuls…

ARCADIA - Taiba will be favored when a field of nine enters the starting gate for Monday's Malibu Stakes on opening day of Santa Anita's 47-day Classic Meet. The $300000 Malibu is one of three Grade I races, along with the La Brea and the American Oaks, on the 11-race card that begins at 11 a.m. There are also three Grade II events scheduled,…

From the Turfway Park Media Team: Lucrative purse money and Kentucky Derby qualifying points will be on the line during Turfway Park's annual Winter/Spring Meet, which will begin Sunday, Jan. 1 and feature the Grade III, $700000 Jeff Ruby Steaks on Saturday, March 25. Led by the Jeff Ruby Steaks on the Road to the Kentucky Derby presented by…

Letruska edges Monomoy Girl in Saturday's $1 million Grade I Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park. Photo by Coady Photography, courtesy of Oaklawn Park April 19 (UPI) -- Million-dollar races at Oaklawn Park produced a big upset and a potential star for the remainder of the year in highlights of horse racing this weekend. The Kentucky Derby field continued…

Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Trainer Bob Baffert celebrated Christmas a day late with five winners on Santa Anita's Opening Day program Monday, likely boosting one of those horses to an Eclipse Award and perhaps setting up another for a repeat raid on the rich races in the Middle East. It was a star-studded day in front of a big crowd at Santa Anita, as Juan…

Ramon Vazquez / 7 Edwin Maldonado / 5 TRAINERS / WINS Philip D'Amato / 8 Doug O'Neill / 7 Bob Baffert / 6 Peter Miller / 5 George Papaprodromou / 4 Friday • $175000 Real Good Deal Stakes, 3-year-olds bred in CA, 7 furlongs Saturday • $400000 Grade I Clement L. Hirsch Stakes, fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, 1 1/16 miles • $150000 California…

Bobby Flay's homebred Pizza Bianca (#4 outside) under Jose Ortiz on her way to winning the Hilltop Stakes at Pimlico May 20, 2022, and earning Black Type. (Maryland Jockey Club photo) By Maribeth Kalinich There's a phenomenon happening in North America. Turf races are booming. That is in part thanks to more European horses coming across the pond to…

California Spangle, seen at trackwork Dec. 7, tackles champion Golden Sixty and some tough foreign competition in Sunday's Group 1 Longines Hong Kong Mile. Photo courtesy of Hong Kong Jockey Club HONG KONG, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- The Longines Hong Kong International Races take center stage in weekend horse racing, with competition from around the globe…

Sodashi, shown winning the Sapporo Kinen in her last start Aug. 22, returns in Sunday's Grade 1 Shuka Sho at Hanshin Racecourse. Photo courtesy of Japan Racing Association Oct. 15 (UPI) -- As American horse racing enters its pre-Breeders' Cup "calm before the storm" this weekend, the international contingent ably plugs the gap with the world's…

ARCADIA - Aidan O'Brien will be minus one of his main Breeders' Cup hopefuls this weekend after Magical, second in last year's $4 million Turf, spiked a fever that will cause the 4-year-old Galileo filly to miss the Filly and Mare Turf on Saturday. Magical, who has amassed more than $4 million in earnings, will be retired and bred to No Nay Never…

Prince Abama was the victor in the Hollywood Turf Cup Nov. 26 at Del Mar. (Benoit Photos) ARCADIA, Calif-Trainer Phil D'Amato, who has become a dominant force on turf while relying heavily on Irish-bred imports, will send out likely post time favorite Prince Abama, a 4-year-old Irish-bred gelding in Monday's Grade II San Gabriel stakes at Santa…

Winning connections celebrate after the inaugural running of the Royal Saint Lucia Turf Club's $150000 Pitons Cup on Friday. Photo courtesy of Royal Saint Lucia Turf Club Dec. 16 (UPI) -- On a horse racing weekend when "new" was the watchword from Japan all the way to Saint Lucia in the Caribbean, Instilled Regard and War Story provided a hint of…

The rains stopped at Pimlico Thursday morning just as Kentucky Derby winner Justify (pictured) stepped out to test the track in preparation for Saturday's Preakness. Photo courtesy of Maryland Jockey Club The sun didn't shine on My Old Kentucky Home on Derby Day this year and it's unlikely to shine on Saturday's Preakness, either. But for Derby…

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…

Adare Manor was thought to be the West Coast's top Kentucky Oaks hopeful heading into Saturday's $400000 Grade II Santa Anita Oaks, but the connections for the overlooked Desert Dawn had other ideas. Ridden by Umberto Rispoli and trained by Philip D'Amato, Desert Dawn defeated Adare Manor, the 3-5 favorite, by a neck as the longest shot in the…

Mr. Misunderstood wins Saturday's Commonwealth Turf at Churchill Downs, headed for bigger things in the year to come. Photo courtesy of Churchill Downs A spate of major weekend races around the world fueled hopes for the coming season, even as this year's championships are still being debated. In Australia, Redzel silenced any lingering doubts…

Derma Sotogake (4) wins the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun on Wednesday -- the second leg of the "Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby." Photo courtesy of Katsumi Saito Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Candidates for next year's Kentucky Derby take center stage again in a weekend horse racing schedule that also includes the first "Win and You're In" race for the 2023…

Jockey John Velazquez, riding Authentic, celebrates winning the Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., on Saturday. Photo by John Sommers II/UPI | License Photo Nov. 9 (UPI) -- The Breeders' Cup World Championships, just as they were designed to do, nicely wrapped up some issues for the 2020 racing season, including the "Horse of the…