#Inaugural Stakes

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…

A Grade 3 stakes winner last time in New York, Champions Dream headlines a strong pair of stablemates for Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse in Saturday's $125000 Pasco Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. Likely to be favored in the field of six, the son of Justify has won 2-of-3 starts for former trainer Danny Gargan. Debuting at Saratoga, he broke his maiden…

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,…

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…

Like a lot of kids who grew up on the racetrack, Jesus "Jesse" Cruz hoped to become a jockey. But long after he outgrew that king-sized dream, he continued to forge relationships with horses. When a homebred named Help a Brother arrived in the barn of his stepfather, Lewis Craig, Jr., at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races in 2012, 18-year-old…

Regal Glory winds up her career with a victory in Sunday's Grade I Matriarch at Del Mar. Benoit photo, courtesy of Del Mar Turf Club Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Mind Control and Regal Glory wound up their careers with Grade I victories a continent apart in weekend racing, while the another name popped up on the "Road to the Roses" Kentucky Derby 2023…

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…

Coast-to-coast Grade 1 stakes races are in the offing this weekend as Aqueduct and Del Mar start the month of December with a bang. Saturday's Grade 1 Cigar Mile in New York and Hollywood Derby in California will set the weekend table for Sunday's Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes on the west coast. It's a month on the racing calendar that will build to a…

Quinoa Tifah wins her career debut Thursday at Gulfstream Park. Photo by Lauren King, courtesy of Gulfstream Park April 17 (UPI) -- There's quality in lieu of quantity in this weekend's horse racing action with two "Grade A Prime" events at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas and the belated start of 2-year-old action in Florida. In Japan, 3-year-olds are the…