HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The connections of Bricklin could have a decision Monday on whether the horse will run in the Grade 1, $1.5 million Arkansas Derby on Saturday at Oaklawn Park or remain in the field for the $200,000 Hot Springs Stakes on Thursday.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - A stellar lineup of nine 3-year-olds topped by Chief Wallabee, Commandment and Nearly, the second-, third- and fourth-ranked horses in the latest edition of Daily Racing Form’s Derby Watch, has been drawn for next Saturday's $1 million Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park.
NEW ORLEANS – Lord knows how many times Steve Asmussen has driven the 500 miles separating Fair Grounds Racecourse and Oaklawn Park. Every winter, back and forth, back and forth, between his strings at the two tracks.
The miles add up – hundreds of thousands – a man who has spent a lifetime consumed with horses still fiercely driven by work.
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Incredibolt rebounded from his non-effort in the Grade 3 Holy Bull with a professional victory, albeit against modest company, in last Saturday’s Virginia Derby. He did go 2 for 2 at Churchill last year with a stakes victory and will now train up to the Kentucky Derby.
Tom Amoss, who saddled his first winner nearly four decades ago, will step away from head training duties next month, he announced Monday night.
Amoss, 64, announced on his social media profiles that he would step down from head training duties effective April 1, handing off his stable to assistant Kinnon LaRose. Amoss plans to remain involved with the barn in an advisory role.
The new team behind the familiar Pin Oak Stud has had its share of heartbreak in the last few years. But hope springs eternal in Thoroughbred racing, especially in the spring.
After one Pin Oak colt, Incredibolt, seemingly punched his ticket to the Kentucky Derby by winning last Saturday’s Virginia Derby, another hopeful, Chaos Agent, looks to do the same in this coming weekend’s Grade 3 Jeff Ruby, another prep offering major Kentucky Derby points. The colts carry the gray and blue silks now associated with the Bernhard family, whose patriarch, Jim Bernhard, died in November.
LAS VEGAS – Dylan Donnelly improved on his fifth-place finish in the 2025 National Horseplayers Championship by winning this year’s NHC by less than $1 after three days of contest play.
Donnelly was in fourth place going into the contest’s final race, the fifth race at Santa Anita. His $2 win-place payoff of $37.80 on Crazy Cavalier pushed him to the top of the leaderboard by just 84 cents over Frank Polk, who earned $12 for his bankroll when None Above the Law finished second.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux has been fined $750 and suspended three racing days after excessive use of the whip in an allowance race on turf at Santa Anita on Saturday.
Desormeaux was cited for his ride aboard Balladeer. According to a ruling published on Sunday by Santa Anita stewards on behalf of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, Desormeaux used his whip 14 times, or eight more than the permitted amount.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Jockey Umberto Rispoli recently began physical therapy for what is expected to be a lengthy recovery from ankle and leg injuries sustained when he was unseated in a race at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 24.
Rispoli is “taking things by day to day,” his agent, Matt Nakatani, told Santa Anita publicity on Sunday. “He’s finally walking a little bit now. The most important thing is he’s inching forward.”
ARCADIA, Calif. - More than 43 months after his first appearance in a graded stakes, the 7-year-old gelding Sumter finally had a breakthrough victory at that level in Saturday’s Grade 3 San Simeon Stakes for turf sprinters at Santa Anita.
Sumter ($7.80) may not have been trainer Richard Mandella’s best runner in the $100,500 race. Seal Team, the 2-1 favorite, finished last of six by 3 1/2 lengths in his first start since May. On Saturday, Seal Team was last as the field crossed from the hillside turf course to the main turf course, where he ducked out severely.
