#Sword Dancer

Two weeks after a Grade 1 win at Saratoga, trainer Christophe Clement is putting the star of his barn back in the starting gates. Gufo (7-5) is morning-line favorite Saturday for the Grade 2, $1 million Kentucky Turf Cup Stakes. Post time from Kentucky Downs is 5:45 p.m., with the race broadcast on both CNBC and FanDuel TV, the network formerly…

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…

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…

When the Turkish Jockey Club announced the death of classic winner and stallion Sea Hero in mid-July, the statue of the horse that resides in the Saratoga Race Course paddock was adorned with a blanket of flowers in the colors of owner and breeder Paul Mellon's Rokeby Stables. Social media was filled with pictures of the statue, along with glowing…

SARATOGA SPRINGS - After trying two turns, Jack Christopher returned on Saturday to what he is - an exceptional 3-year-old sprinter. In his first start since a third-place finish in the nine-furlong Haskell at Monmouth Park last month, Jack Christopher cut back in distance impressively with a 1 1/4-length victory in the Grade I Allen Jerkens run at…

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…

Epicenter, shown training before his second-place finish in the Kentucky Derby, meets the winner of that race, Rich Strike, again Saturday in the Grade I Travers Stakes at Saratoga. Photo courtesy of Churchill Downs Aug. 26 (UPI) -- The "Midsummer Derby" at Saratoga pits the first three finishers from the Kentucky Derby against one another again in…

The 153rd running of the Travers headlines the biggest day of the summer at Saratoga. Six graded stakes including five Grade 1 races highlight the 13 race card. The $1.25 million Travers drew a very competitive field of eight runners for the'Midsummer Derby', and post time for the 1 1/4 mile Travers is 5:44 p.m. ET and Race 11 on the card. The…

Keeneland Barn Notes: Blue Grass Winner Zandon Zooms in Pre-Derby Work (Zandon in his work at Keeneland / Coady Photography) From the Keeneland Media Team: TOYOTA BLUE GRASS WINNER ZANDON TUNES UP FOR KENTUCKY DERBY WITH KEENELAND WORK Jeff Drown's Zandon, winner of Keeneland's $1 million Toyota Blue Grass (G1) on April 9, worked 4 furlongs…

The son of Not This Time finally chose a time and a place for his first Grade 1 victory, Saturday's $1.25 million Run Happy Travers Stakes at Saratoga. With his convincing five-length closing cruise over Cyberknife, Zandon and Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Rich Strike, the Jim Dwyer (G2) victor immediately shot to the top of a three-year-old male…

With Champion 3-Year-Old Male finalist Omaha Beach and Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Spun to Run out for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup on Saturday at Gulfstream Park, the field has opened up for the remaining 10 horses. Spun to Run was withdrawn with hives, and even money favorite Omaha Beach scratched due to swelling in his right hind leg. Bob…

Will Take Charge, runner-up to Mucho Macho Man in the Breeders' Cup Classic and the 2013 Eclipse Award Champion Three-Year-Old Colt, takes on a field of ten rivals in Sunday's Grade 1 Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park, the first installment of the 2014 Jockey Club Tour on FOX. (Post time: 6:01 p.m. Eastern; TV: Fox Sports 1). Hall of Fame trainer D.…

A $1000000 purse and an automatic berth to the Breeders' Cup Turf are at stake Saturday, September 10 in the Kentucky Turf Cup (G2)! As with so many of Kentucky Downs's rich races, the Turf Cup drew an overflow field: 12 in the starting gate, plus one horse on the also-eligible list. Thanks to both the field size and the undulating, pear-shaped…

Keeneland Barn Notes: Twilight Gleaming Headlines Field for Sunday's Franklin Stakes (Twilight Gleaming / Coady Photography) From the Keeneland Media Team: TWILIGHT GLEAMING (IRE) HEADS OVERFLOW FIELD FOR SUNDAY'S FRANKLIN Stonestreet Stables' Twilight Gleaming (IRE), winner of last fall's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2) at Del Mar,…

OZONE PARK, N.Y.- Celebrity chef Bobby Flay's homebred Pizza Bianca will make her anticipated return following an international endeavor at Royal Ascot in Saturday's 28th running of the Grade 2, $200000 Sands Point for 3-year-old fillies going nine furlongs on the inner turf at Belmont at the Big A. Pizza Bianca has not raced since finishing eighth…

Led by Red Knight, the winner of the 2020 edition, a loaded field of 16 older turf males have been entered in Friday's Grade 3 Sycamore Stakes at Keeneland. The 8-year-old gelding has been perfect so far in 2022 for trainer Mike Maker, with a pair of stakes wins at the same 1 1/2-mile distance he will see on Friday. Most recently, the stakes record…

It's 2-year-old showcase weekend at Saratoga and Del Mar, with top trainers sending out what they hope will turn into promising contenders for the 2022 Triple Crown. Throw in the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) and the $600000 Flower Bowl Invitational (G1), a pair of Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In'' races the Spa, plus a $1 million race at…

OZONE PARK, N.Y.- For the past two seasons, George Krikorian's War Like Goddess has displayed superiority amongst her staying female counterparts at graded stakes level on grass. In Saturday's Grade 1, $500000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, the talented bay mare will target a new task when facing males for the first time for Hall of Famer Bill Mott. The…

We know just about all our regular readers are focused on college football on Saturdays, but there's still time to play the ponies, so Team Tuley is still here to help as we look for value at tracks from coast to coast. This Saturday, we have plays on the "Belmont at Aqueduct" card as well as the Pennsylvania Derby Day card at Parx Racing. I'm…

Last fall, Yibir used Belmont Park as his American test stage for what became a marvelous score in the Breeders' Cup Turf. And the British colt returns to the scene of his first American victory as the favorite for Saturday's Grade 1 Man o' War Stakes. The 1 3/8-mile Man o' War, Belmont Park's first Grade 1 of 2022, headlines the track's 11-race,…

Nations Pride and Classic Causeway will face off once again in Saturday's Caesars Jockey Club Derby (G3) at Aqueduct closing out the Caesars Turf Triple. Classic Causeway got away easy in the Belmont Derby, but Nations Pride evened the score by winning the G1 Saratoga Derby. While the Jockey Club Derby's longer, mile-and-a-half distance could…

Some of the nation's premier thoroughbreds continue their 2021 rivalry on August 28 at the Travers Stakes, the nation's oldest stakes race for 3-year-olds, at Saratoga Race Course. Belmont Stakes winner Essential Quality was installed as the 4-5 favorite. He headlines a field of seven going 1 1-4 miles in the 152nd running of this event, first held…

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…

Trainer Chad Brown has been on a cold streak at the Kentucky Downs meet, and there is a simple explanation why. It seems that he either underestimated the level of competition and sent his "B" team to Franklin, or he understood the levels and sent the "B" team anyway. For example, take a closer inspection at the horses Brown lost with at Kentucky…

Saturday's Irish Champion (G1) anchors three Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" events at Leopardstown. The eponymous centerpiece of Irish Champions Weekend, the 1 1/4-mile prize offers a free ticket to the Turf (G1). Also on the Saturday card, the Champions Juvenile (G2) and Matron (G1) serve as "Win and You're In" races for the Breeders' Cup…

Epicenter: easy winner of the Travers Stakes Connections of Epicenter described a dominant victory in the Travers Stakes as "everything you hope for" after the Kentucky Derby runner-up produced a scintillating performance to strike at Grade 1 level for the first time. A record crowd of 49672 watched the Steve Asmussen-trained colt, sent off an…

Today is Day 36 of the Saratoga Race Course meet. Racing starts at 1:05 p.m. RECENT STORIES FROM THE DAILY GAZETTE AT THE TRACK Based on her first start, 2-year-old filly Be Your Best has learned her racing lessons well. She made her debut at Saratoga Race Course on July 31, winning by 3 1/4 lengths under jockey José Ortiz for owner/breeder Mike…

Change. Sometimes we fear it, and sometimes we embrace it. President Bill Clinton once said that "the price of doing the same old thing is far higher than the price of change." Few major races have had as much change in their history as the Jockey Club Gold Cup. One of those changes began last year with the race moving to the final weekend of the…

SARATOGA SPRINGS - The obvious next big step for Americanrevolution, in the natural progression of stakes for which he's eligible, is the Empire Classic. Trainer Todd Pletcher may try to go even bigger than that. Ever upward, as they say in New York. On New York Showcase Day at Saratoga Race Course on Friday, WinStar Farm's chestnut son of…