There was no need for photo finishes last year when Desert Flower won all four of her starts in England, ending with the Group 1 Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket in October.

Equally as impressive, Lake Victoria was undefeated in five starts in Ireland, England, and the United States, in a campaign that concluded in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar in November.

At least one of them will lose an unbeaten record when they have their first starts of 2025 in Sunday’s Group 1 English 1000 Guineas at a mile at Newmarket Racecourse.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Reigning Canadian Horse of the Year Patches O’Houlihan makes his much-anticipated season debut Sunday at Woodbine in the $100,000 Thorncliffe, a 5 1/2-furlong overnight stakes.

Voters have chosen Patches O’Houlihan to receive the Sovereign Award for champion male sprinter in each of the past two years. A nagging foot problem delayed his return to the races last year until July, after which he reeled off four consecutive stakes victories on Tapeta and turf. Shipper Nobals was all out to beat him when he last saw action in the Grade 2 Kennedy Road in November.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The plaques listing the names of his six Kentucky Derby winners, three Kentucky Oaks winners, and a few other Grade 1 victors are back on the wall outside of Bob Baffert’s barn 33 at Churchill Downs.

Perhaps more importantly, Baffert himself is back, holding court in front of those plaques, which includes the names of American Pharoah and Justify, his two Triple Crown winners.

“My life is on that wall,” Baffert said. “My greatest achievements are on that wall. It’s good to see them.”

For Baffert, it’s good to be seen again at Churchill Downs.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Mike Smith was 19 years old when he rode his first Kentucky Derby, a sixth-place finish aboard Pine Circle in 1984. Fourteen of the jockeys Smith will be riding against in Saturday’s 151st Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs weren’t born yet.

“I was so nervous, I don’t think I ever left the bathroom,” Smith recalled. “I kept going to the bathroom to pee and nothing would come out. Once I got on the horse, he actually ran really well. I rode a really good race and ran well.”

A glance at the betting markets provides the unsurprising knowledge that the three shortest antepost prices for the 2000 Guineas come from three global racing and breeding powerhouses – Juddmonte, Godolphin, and Coolmore. But did you know that John Gosden, a trainer who has landed major races the world over, never has won the Guineas?

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Thursday was the final regular day of training at Churchill Downs prior to Oaks and Derby days, although the racetrack will be open, weather permitting, early Friday and Saturday mornings. It turned out to be another pretty routine morning, with Journalism and Sovereignty still standing out along with East Avenue, who made another strong appearance while galloping just a furlong or so behind Sovereignty.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – At the annual trainers’ dinner Tuesday night, one of the many events that are part of the landscape of Kentucky Derby week, 32-year-old Ethan West, a first-time starter at the Kentucky Derby, found himself sitting at a table with 89-year-old D. Wayne Lukas, whose first of 50 Derby starters came in 1981.

“That was our table – me, my wife, my oldest son, and Mr. and Mrs. Lukas,” West said. “That was pretty special to us. I don’t know if they did that as a joke – the oldest and youngest in the room.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Brendan Walsh trains Kentucky Derby hope East Avenue, and sure, it must feel amazing to have a Derby horse who’s physically imposing, fast, and, some would say, a sleeper. But it’s hardly like Walsh can sleepwalk through the rest of the weekend. Walsh has six entrants on Kentucky Oaks Day, four in graded stakes, and East Avenue’s one of his six entrants Saturday. Walsh has action in three Grade 1 stakes and in the Grade 2, $750,000 Distaff Turf Mile he runs perhaps his most obvious stakes chance of the weekend, Special Wan.