Owners and breeders Robert Manfuso and Katy Voss have a long and prolific background in the Maryland racing industry. They are writing one of the latest chapters in their partnership with the broodmare Tanca, a multiple stakes producer.
Last year, each passing race in the Triple Crown highlighted the magnitude of the loss of the stallion Scat Daddy, as his son Justify swept through Louisville, Baltimore, and New York undefeated. There was still one more crop of runners waiting in the wings for Scat Daddy, who had died at Coolmore's Ashford Stud in Kentucky in December 2015 at age 11.
Laughing Fox's appearance in the Preakness Stakes will mark the first starter in a Triple Crown race for Alex and JoAnn Lieblong.
Lookin At Lucky was anything but lucky in the 2010 Kentucky Derby. The two-time Eclipse Award champion got a nightmare trip while breaking from the rail, finishing sixth as the favorite on a sloppy, sealed track.
The late, great leading sire Danzig was expected to have an impact on this Kentucky Derby through his son War Front, the most expensive stallion in North America.
Kentucky Oaks winner Serengeti Empress became the biggest winner yet for her sire, Pin Oak Stud's homebred stallion Alternation, who continues to perform consistently from his relatively small numbers at stud.
Spendthrift Farm has reached a deal to stand Omaha Beach, the likely favorite in this year's Kentucky Derby, upon his retirement from racing.
The Kentucky Derby Sire Future Wager, which ran concurrently with the first Kentucky Derby Future Wager pool from Nov. 22- 25, may have provided an opportunity for pedigree-savvy handicappers to cash in.
Master Fencer will become the first Japanese-bred to start in the Kentucky Derby. But the colt, who is looking to become the first non-North American-bred to win the classic since British-born Tomy Lee in 1959, is not without Kentucky connections.
Horsemen would go anywhere to find a Kentucky Derby horse, and this year's prospective runners come from many avenues – homebreds born as close as Kentucky or as far away as Japan, runners purchased at major North American auction houses such as Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton, and even claiming races.
