The week that was in racing, April 18-24, 2016

Here's a collection of some of the biggest stories in horse racing, all in one place. Unless noted, all of the links here are to free stories on DRF.com.

Stanford goes wire to wire in Charles Town Classic

Stanford rolled to the lead under Javier Castellano at the outset of the $1.25 million Charles Town Classic and was never headed. Although dogged throughout by a determined Page McKenney, Stanford was able to open a clear lead entering the stretch and ultimately scored by two lengths.

Geroux, Da Big Hoss save ground, take Elkhorn

It hasn’t been the greatest of meets in the fabulous recent history of jockey Florent Geroux, but the French jockey deftly guided Da Big Hoss to a hard-fought triumph in the Grade 2 Elkhorn. Da Big Hoss saved ground on all three turns and was able to outkick Kaigun by a half-length.

Finest City upsets in Great Lady M

Finest City won the first stakes of her career in the Grade 2 Great Lady M and set a track record of 1:14.48 with the hard-fought win. She gave trainer Ian Kruljac, 27, the first stakes win of his career.

Derby and Oaks contenders post works

A number of contenders for the Kentucky Derby posted workouts this weekend, including likely favorite Nyquist, who worked five furlongs in 1:01.80 in company with stablemate Ralis on Saturday at Keeneland. At Churchill Downs on Saturday, Brody’s Cause posted a five-furlong work in the same time as Nyquist (1:01.80), while Tom’s Ready worked five furlongs in 1:01.00. Two top contenders for the Kentucky Oaks worked at Keeneland on Saturday – Cathryn Sophia, who posted the best-of-36 bullet for five furlongs in 59.60 seconds, while Land Over Sea went five furlongs in 1:02.20. On Sunday at Churchill, both of Chad Brown’s Derby hopefuls worked four furlongs, Shagaf in 48.40 and My Man Sam in 50.60.

Zenyatta, Rachel Alexandra, Asmussen, Dominguez elected to Hall of Fame

The outstanding female racehorses Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta, both of whom were named Horse of the Year during their careers, along with jockey Ramon Dominguez and trainer Steve Asmussen – who prepared Rachel Alexandra for her celebrated victories over males in the Preakness, Haskell, and Woodward – make up the 2016 induction class to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, it was announced Monday.

Breeding news

Freshman sires Union Rags and To Honor and Serve both got their first winners from their first starters this week. Also, Littleprincessemma, the dam of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, has been honored as Kentucky’s Broodmare of the Year for 2015.

– reporting by Steve Andersen, Jim Dunleavy, Mike Hogan, Marty McGee, Jay Privman, and Nicole Russo.