#Practical Joke

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…

Repole Stable's Chocolate Gelato fought off a determined You're My Girl coming out of the turn to win the $400000, Grade 1 Frizette Stakes by a length on a sloppy main track at the Belmont at the Big A meet held at Aqueduct Oct. 2. The victory earned the 2-year-old daughter of Practical Joke a spot in the NetJets Breeders' Cup Juvenile…

The Road to the Kentucky Derby series opened in late September, but the prep season doesn't get into full swing until the New Year. And the first qualifier of 2023 took place at Oaklawn Park on New Year's Day, the Smarty Jones. Twenty-six additional point races will be offered for the May 6 Kentucky Derby (G1) over the next 3 1/2 months. Let's…

Always Dreaming need dream no longer after the horse won the 143rd Kentucky Derby on Saturday at Churchill Downs on a soggy track. Jockey John Velazquez rode Always Dreaming during the annual event that was attended by more than 158070 people - the seventh-largest crowd in the race's 143-year history. The win for Always Dreaming marks the second…

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…

Morello drawing away to a win in the $62000 Feature Allowance at Laurel Park, Oct. 8, 2022. (Jim McCue/MJC) NYRA Press Office OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Blue Lion Thoroughbreds, Iapetus Racing and Diamond T Racing's graded-stakes winner returns from a two-month absence in Friday's $135000 Gravesend, a six-furlong sprint for 3-years-old and up, at Aqueduct…

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…

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…

The sadly-missed Arrogate is slowly starting to pick up as a sire, with the former champion's tally of winners now up to six. Rated by some agencies as the best North American-trained horse of the 2010s after phenomenal victories in the Travers S. (G1), Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), Pegasus World Cup (G1), and Dubai World Cup (G1), Arrogate was sadly…

Venti Valentine wins the Busher Invitational March 5, 2022 (Chelsea Durand) By Keith McCalmont - NYRA Press Office OZONE PARK, N.Y.- NY Final Furlong Racing Stable and Parkland Thoroughbreds' multiple graded-stakes placed Venti Valentine will seek her third career stakes score in Saturday's $100000 Bay Ridge, a one-turn mile for New York-bred…

Of the 270 horses in Las Vegas' most recent Kentucky Derby futures, only four sires have seven or more hopefuls. Here is a look at the four and their potential runners for the roses. Into Mischief - 15 Retired in 2008 with a 6: 3-3-0 record, his biggest win came in the Hollywood Futurity (G1) at Hollywood Park. He is the sire of 2020 Kentucky Derby…

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…

Dalaika, shown winning the Grade I Beverly D. at Churchill Downs, returns for the $1 million Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf on Saturday. Photo courtesy of Churchill Downs Sept. 9 (UPI) -- It's all about the turf in weekend horse racing with Kentucky Downs staging an extravaganza unmatched anywhere in North America short of the Breeders' Cup World…

Rich Strike, seen posing the morning after his Kentucky Derby win, returns in Saturday's Grade I Clark Stakes with a chance to stake a claim for year-end honors. Photo courtesy of Churchill Downs Nov. 25 (UPI) -- It's getting to be crunch time for horses who seek year-end honors, and this weekend's Clark Stakes at Churchill Downs provides one of…

Ronald Cuneo's Armando R, scratched from a Thanksgiving Day allowance, came with a steady run on the far outside down the center of the track to upset favored Ournationonparade by a half-length in Saturday's $100000 Richard W. Small at Laurel Park. The 22nd running of the 1 1/8-mile Richard Small for 3-year-olds and up anchored three stakes on the…

KY Derby Advance Wager #2 To Be Offered This Week (Forte / Coady Photography) From the Churchill Downs Media Team: Fans will have their second of six opportunities to bet on the 149 running of the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (Grade I) Thursday-Sunday where Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Breeders' Cup Juvenile (GI)…

Churchill Downs' Barn Notes: Curly Jack May Set Them Straight In G2 KY Jockey Club (Curly Jack / Photos by Holly M. Smith) From the Churchill Downs Media Team: Michael McLaughlin's $300000 Iroquois Stakes (Grade III) winner Curly Jack headlines a field of nine 2-year-old colts that were entered in Saturday's 96 running of the $400000 Kentucky…

Second last time to the highly regarded and unbeaten Smile Happy in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club, Classic Causeway will look to begin his three-year-old season with his first stakes victory when he tops a deep lineup in Saturday's $250000 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. A son of Giant's Causeway, Classic Causeway was an impressive…

The fall meet at Churchill Downs rolls on with a 10-race Wednesday program, and all events are scheduled for the dirt. Here are my five favorite heats on the card. Best bet: Summer Splash (race 3) Best value bet: Flyin Bessie (race 8) Race 3 No. 7 Summer Splash (3-1) demolished a similar field at Remington on Sept. 17 before finding allowance foes…

Big money and Breeders' Cup berths will be on the line on both turf and dirt this weekend all over North America. We'll start at beautiful Belmont Park where a pair of rich turf races for 3-year-olds will lead the way. The $1 million Jockey Club Derby offers a "Win and You're In" for the Breeders' Cup Turf, while the $700000 Jockey Club Oaks closes…

Repole Stable's Chocolate Gelato backed up a highly impressive maiden victory, utilizing a ground-saving trip under jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. to capture a breakthrough win in Sunday's Grade 1, $400000 Frizette for 2-year-old fillies at the Belmont at the Big A fall meet. Chocolate Gelato came into the Frizette off an 8 1/2-length maiden victory at…

It's a good bet that the NetJets Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies could be one of the best wagering races on dirt of the Future Stars Friday card at Keeneland. With a capacity crowd in attendance both in the stands and in the starting gate, it might be a good idea to look past tepid morning-line favorite #10 Chocolate Gelato (7-2) from the Todd…

LEXINGTON, KY - Mike Repole is heading into Breeders' Cup weekend with' Uncle Mo' on his side. After fulfilling a lifelong dream by running one-two in the GI Belmont S. with the recently retired and Spendthrift-bound Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) and Nest (Curlin)-one of Repole's seven Grade I victories on the year-the momentum has continued to build for…

Did you know active subscribers receive our Inside Track wagering guides absolutely FREE? Subscribe today and be the first to receive our upcoming MONSTER wagering guide to the 2022 Breeders' Cup! Arnmore Thoroughbreds' Poppy Flower will vie for her third career stakes victory for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott in Friday's second running of the…

OZONE PARK, N.Y.- Arnmore Thoroughbreds' Poppy Flower will vie for her third career stakes victory for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott in Friday's second running of the $120000 Glen Cove, a six-furlong outer turf sprint for sophomore fillies, at the Belmont at the Big A fall meet. A daughter of Lea, Poppy Flower enters from a close fifth-place…

Nest tuned up for her engagement in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff at Keeneland next month with an effortless victory in the GII Beldame S. at Aqueduct Sunday. Making her first start against her elders, the 1-9 favorite broke well from her inside post and was on the lead in the early strides before allowing Travel Column (Frosted) to take over…

Did you know active subscribers receive our Inside Track wagering guides absolutely FREE? Subscribe today and be the first to receive our upcoming MONSTER wagering guide to the 2022 Breeders' Cup! C R K Stable's Justique, an impressive first-out winner that would appear to be much better suited routing, rates top billing among a talented field of…

OZONE PARK, N.Y.- NBS Stable and Elements Racing's stakes winner Danse Macabre will look to make the grade in Saturday's Grade 3, $150000 Matron, a six-furlong outer turf test for juvenile fillies, at the Belmont at the Big A fall meet. The Matron, set for Race 6, is part of a stacked card that includes the Grade 1 $500000 Joe Hirsch Turf…

Repole Stable's Chocolate Gelato backed up a highly impressive maiden victory, utilizing a ground-saving trip under jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. to capture a breakthrough win in Sunday's Grade 1, $400000 Frizette at the Belmont at the Big A fall meet. Chocolate Gelato came into the Frizette off an 8 1/2-length maiden victory at second asking going six…

In a key Breeders' Cup prep, Wonder Wheel and Fun and Feisty, both stakes winners at Churchill Downs, headline a full field of 14 juvenile fillies entered in Friday's Grade 1 Alcibiades at Keeneland. Wonder Wheel was the runner-up in the Grade 1 Spinaway at Saratoga in her most recent start, five weeks ago. The daughter of Into Mischief was a debut…

Life Is Good warms up for Breeders' Cup with a win in Saturday's Grade I Woodward at Aqueduct. Photo by Dom Napolitano, courtesy of New York Racing Association Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Some monumental showdowns loom in next month's Breeders' Cup World Championships after impressive weekend performances by the likes of Life Is Good, Hot Rod Charlie, Ce Ce…

OZONE PARK, N.Y.- WellSpring Stables' Leave No Trace will vie for her second consecutive Grade 1 score when she takes on six rivals in Sunday's Grade 1, $400000 Frizette for juvenile fillies traveling a one-turn mile at the Belmont at the Big A fall meet. The Frizette is one of three graded stakes on Sunday's card and offers the winner a berth into…

OZONE PARK, N.Y.- Jonathan Poulin, Westerberg, Mrs. John Magnier, Derrick Smith and Michael B. Tabor's regally-bred Verifying, a half-brother to 2019 Champion Older Dirt Female Midnight Bisou, will make his stakes debut in Saturday's Grade 1, $500000 Champagne, a one-turn mile for 2-year-olds, at the Belmont at the Big A fall meet.

It's time once again for pricey mint juleps and off-key singing of "My Old Kentucky Home." The Kentucky Derby will be run this Saturday at Churchill Downs racetrack. Veteran Derby watchers say there does not appear to be a standout horse in this year's field, but someone must win, and many people will make money on it. Here's what we know about…

If you had to guess, would you think the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint is usually a crazy result with longshots all over the place? That's actually not the case. While the average odds on the winner is around 10-1, that is blown up by the winner of the first Turf Sprint, Desert Code (36-1) in 2008. If you toss that result, we're talking more like 5- or…

However green the enormous 2017 Kentucky Derby field of twenty might seem, and it is pretty darn green, tomorrow evening the colts will still be bugled to the track through a wild crowd, muscled into their gates, and will engage in a blistering horse race. Somebody, be it an odds favorite like Classic Empire or McCraken, or a lovable long shot like…

A full field of twelve 3-year-olds, headed by the decisive winner of the local Sam F. Davis Stakes, Classic Causeway, will battle it out on the Kentucky Derby trail when they meet in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby on Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs. A very impressive debut winner at Saratoga, Classic Causeway was bumped right up into graded stakes racing…

OCEANPORT - Jorge Navarro's weekend got off to a pretty good start when El Deal romped to an eight length victory in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday. On Sunday, Navarro, well on his way to a fifth straight trainer's title at Monmouth Park, sent Sharp Azteca out as a heavy favorite in the Grade 3 $100000 Monmouth Cup…

Twenty horses and jockeys will compete in the 143rd running of the Kentucky Derby May 6, 2017, at Churchill Downs in Louisville. Without a standout favorite, the first leg of racing's Triple Crown appears wide open. This year's winnings for "The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports" total $2 million. When: Saturday, May 6 Post Time: 6:34 p.m.…

By several hours, the Hopeful Stakes get the honor of being the first Grade 1 of the year for 2-year-old males. That means it gives horseplayers the first glimpse of possible 2022 Kentucky Derby contenders. In this edition of the 117-year-old, seven-furlong sprint on Saratoga's closing day, you get 11 colts, geldings, and ridglings all trying to…