Track Trends: How Keeneland played opening weekend

Hades, winner of the Grade 3 Holy Bull, and Southwest (G3) winner Mystik Dan were among the horses in Kentucky Derby 2024 futures who worked Sunday morning. Hades, who is undefeated in three starts for trainer Joe Orseno, breezed five furlongs in 1.34 seconds at Gulfstream Park, the second fastest of 14 at the distance. He's expected to make his…

1 of 2 | Speed Boat Beach, shown winning the Malibu Stakes in California, is among the American entries for Saudi Cup weekend races Feb. 23-24 in Riyadh. Benoit Photography, courtesy of Santa Anita Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Jan. 12 (UPI) -- It's a slow week on the track but a flurry of news from Louisville to Riyadh makes for a warm equine hot stove…

Welcome to Noel Michaels' Weekend Winners, the place to go for weekend best bets and spot plays from veteran handicapper and tournament-play pioneer Noel Michaels. Check back every week for a couple of highlighted selections designed to help you cash a few bets and make some money. Noel's selections have been featured just about everywhere horse…

Welcome to Noel Michaels' Weekend Winners, the place to go for weekend best bets and spot plays from veteran handicapper and tournament-play pioneer Noel Michaels. Check back every week for a couple of highlighted selections designed to help you cash a few bets and make some money. Noel's selections have been featured just about everywhere horse…

The 2023 Ashland (G1), a traditional feature of the opening day of the Keeneland spring meet, is coming up on Friday, April 7! A Grade 1 race at 1 1/16 miles on dirt, it drew a field of seven sophomore fillies to compete for a $600000 purse and 100-40-30-20-10 Road to the Kentucky Oaks points. The winner is guaranteed a spot in the Kentucky Oaks,…

Smile Happy returned a winner Thursday in an optional-claiming allowance race going 1 1/8 miles at Oaklawn. The race was his first start since he finished eighth in the Kentucky Derby. Settled at the middle of a well-strung field of seven, he chased patiently as long-shot leader Seize the Night set opening fractions of 23.44 seconds for the quarter…

The Road to the Kentucky Derby in Arkansas continues Saturday, February 25, with the Rebel Stakes (G2). The 1 1/16-mile race over the Oaklawn dirt drew a field of 11 to compete for rich spoils: a $1 million purse and 50-20-15-10-5 Road to the Kentucky Derby points for the top five finishers. It is the third points race in Oaklawn's series: preceded…

The Road to the Kentucky Derby makes a lucrative stop at Oaklawn Park this Saturday for the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile event known for producing Kentucky Derby winners such as Smarty Jones (2004) and 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. History can tell us a lot about the Rebel, which boasts a $1 million purse and awards Kentucky…

With one victory Sunday at Sam Houston Race Park, Steve Asmussen moved within three of becomingthe first trainer based in North America to reach 10000 career wins. Jockey Stewart Elliott had Spoiler (7-2) lurking in mid-pack before making a decisive move in the second turn of the second race at the Texas track. The First Samurai colt drew away to…

Arabian Knight, under John Velazquez, wins the Grade 3 $750000 Southwest Stakes Saturday at Oaklawn. - Photo courtesy of Coady Photography Three of horse racing's high priests were represented by Oaklawn stakes winners Saturday. Not really surprising, that, although the estimated 27000 spectators needed umbrellas. Quoting Lennon and McCartney from…

Horse racing gamblers are you looking for 2023 Southwest Stakes Free Pick & Handicapping Odds…plus some predictions? Need some advice on who to take? The 2023 Southwest Stakes is set for January 28 at Oaklawn Racing in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Here's a preview of our top contenders. Race: Southwest Stakes Purse: $750000 Track: Oaklawn Racing Casino…

A showdown of unbeatens highlights this week's Road to the Kentucky Derby. The Southwest Stakes, a lucrative $750000 race at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark. , drew a field of nine. The morning-line favorite is trainer Bob Baffert's Arabian Knight, who won his only career start by more than seven lengths in lightning-fast time. Trainer Brad Cox,…

Even if a race does not carry qualifying points, if there are 3-year-olds running, it could end up being a prep for Kentucky Derby 2023. In addition to the Pasco Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, there are six other races Saturday that include 15 horses who already are in the Derby futures market in Las Vegas or are on the verge of being there. Maiden…

Sunday's $250000 Smarty Jones is the first of four stops on Oaklawn Park's road to the 2023 Kentucky Derby. The one-mile stakes race drew a field of eight which celebrate their racetrack birthdays on this day and will make their first start as 3-year-olds. As an official Derby prep race, points are available to the top five eligible finishers…

With such a dominant favorite as Flightline in this year's Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland, it's perhaps a little too easy to accept his amazing talents as the be-all-and-end-all of the 2022 field. Or, arguably worse, it's perhaps a little too easy to allow Flightline's superior abilities to blur your vision of his competitors. But his main…

The most promising two-year-olds in the country will stretch out to two turns on Saturday for the Breeders' Futurity (G1) at Keeneland! The 1 1/16-mile race offers a $600000 purse and an automatic berth to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile for the winner, and an overflow field has lined up. A maximum of 14 horses can run, though the field also contains…

Iowa-trained Tyler's Tribe has made daylight victories par for the course at Prairie Meadows. Now he's headed for the big time in Kentucky - alongside his ambitious young rider, as Jon Lees reports USA: After wrapping up the Prairie Meadows jockeys' title with 81 winners, Kylee Jordan set off on a nine-hour drive to Keeneland on a mission to become…

Multiple graded stakes-winner Kimari will seek to double up on graded stakes scores this season when shipping back to New York for Sunday's Grade 2, $250000 Gallant Bloom for fillies and mares 3-years-old and upward going 6 1/2 furlongs at the Belmont at the Big A fall meet. Owned by Westerberg, Mrs. John Magnier, Jonathan Poulin, Derrick Smith and…

OZONE PARK, N.Y.- Multiple graded stakes winner Kimari will seek to double up on graded stakes scores this season when shipping back to New York for Sunday's 29th running of the Grade 2, $250000 Gallant Bloom for fillies and mares 3-years-old and upward going 6 1/2 furlongs at the Belmont at the Big A fall meet. Owned by Westerberg, Mrs. John…

West Point Thoroughbreds, fresh off their 1000th career victory as a syndicate, has even more to look forward to Saturday with three live contenders in $1 million stakes, including dual graded stakes winner First Captain, who will seek his first Grade 1 victory in the 10-furlong Jockey Club Gold Cup for 3-year-olds and up at Saratoga Race Course In…

There's more than just the Preakness Stakes horses to bet on for Saturday's races. The Late Pick 5 at Pimlico on Preakness Day includes a quintet of stakes races, beginning with the Chick Lang S. (G3) in Race 9 and concluding with the $1.65 million Preakness S. (G1) in Race 13. Below we examine the top contenders in races 9-13 and build a few Pick…

Keeneland Barn Notes: Champ Letruska Returns to Regular Work (Letruska / Photos by Holly M. Smith) From the Keeneland Media Team: CHAMPION LETRUSKA RETURNS TO KEENELAND WORK TAB St. George Stable's Letruska, who made Keeneland her main base of operations during an Eclipse Award-winning campaign in 2021, worked 5 furlongs in 1:02.40 over a fast…

Keeneland's 15-day Spring Meet begins on Friday, offering a loaded weekend featuring 10 stakes worth $4.55 million. But this being Keeneland in the spring, many eyes are focused on just one stable. That would be Wesley Ward's, he of the three consecutive Keeneland Spring Meet training titles. Ward comes into the 2022 meet loaded as ever in his…

For many years, the $1 million Grade 1 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park has been contested three weeks prior to the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve. It's been a productive time slot; over the last 25 years, the 1 1/8-mile race has produced champions and/or classic winners American Pharoah, Creator, Curlin, Lawyer Ron, Afleet…

Unbeaten in three career starts, Newgrange will take another step on the Triple Crown trail when he tops a field of 11 set for Saturday's $1 million Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park. The Kentucky Derby might not be the major spring destination for the son of Violence, as his trainer Bob Baffert is currently banned, but regardless another graded stakes…