Trevor Denman’s world today is a long way from the California tracks where he spent decades developing a reputation as a ground-breaking race caller.
Denman’s home is a farm in southern Minnesota, about 75 miles south of Minneapolis-St. Paul.
“You should see my farm,” he said in a weekend interview, looking onto the property. “There’s a forest line over there and small mountains to my left. I’ve got a mile-long driveway. This is heaven.”
ARCADIA, Calif. - Goal Oriented, winner of the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 28, has run his last race.
Spendthrift Farm announced on Sunday that Goal Oriented has been retired to its facility in Lexington, Ky., to begin a stud career next month. Goal Oriented will stand for $30,000, according to the farm’s statement.
A 4-year-old colt by Not This Time, Goal Oriented won 3 of 7 starts and earned $624,460 in a career that began last April.
Tom Morley was relieved, though not surprised, that One Nine Hundred ran as well as he did winning a second-level allowance race at Aqueduct on Friday. Though not one who likes to announce plans too far out, Morley said One Nine Hundred is likely to run in the Grade 3, $175,000 Tom Fool Stakes at Aqueduct on Feb. 28.
“The race towards the end of February for older dirt sprinters is certainly on the radar and is logically where we’ll go next,” Morley said Sunday.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Owner/trainer Steve Schauer had a lot of success in 2025, when suddenly he disappeared from the racing landscape.
On Sunday, at Aqueduct, Schauer made a successful return to the races when Bramito rallied along the rail under apprentice Yedsit Hazelwood to win a $100,000 claiming race by 1 3/4 lengths over a stubborn Light the Way. Bramito was Schauer’s first runner since Aug. 29, when Kitty Start won a $12,500 claiming race at Saratoga. That victory gave Schauer his 10th win from 31 starts on the year.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Full Serrano, winner of the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar, worked five furlongs in 59.20 seconds for a scheduled start in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 24.
“He caught a horse from another barn in front of him,” trainer John Sadler said. “He looked very good. It was a good, challenging work.
“I would say we’re going for the Pegasus. We’re moving in that direction.”
Full Serrano has not raced since he finished fifth in the 2025 BC Dirt Mile at Del Mar on Nov. 1.
ARCADIA, Calif. - So Happy, the undefeated winner of Saturday’s Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes at seven furlongs at Santa Anita, is scheduled to have his next start in a two-turn race later this winter.
The where and when were uncertain as of Sunday morning.
“I think we’ll play it by ear,” trainer Mark Glatt said. “He’ll tell us a little bit. I think we have to look at everything around the country.”
From a local perspective, a likely option is the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on March 7, Glatt said.
Distorted Humor, a sire who helped build WinStar Farm into one of Kentucky’s elite stallion operations, was euthanized on Jan. 10 due to the infirmities of old age. The stallion, who continued to reside at WinStar as a pensioner following his long career, was 33. His legacy will live on, not only with a handful of active runners and some solid sons at stud, but as a phenomenal broodmare sire.
Leo O’Brien, a longtime trainer on the New York Racing Association circuit and best known for training New York-bred legend Fourstardave and his brother Fourstars Allstar, died Thursday after a lengthy bout with Lewy Body Dementia, according to his family. He was 85.
A native of Ireland, O’Brien was one of 11 children. He finished school at age 14 and went looking for work when he asked noted Irish farmer Tom Taaffe for a job. Taaffe also trained steeplechase horses.
Jay Privman, the former national correspondent for Daily Racing Form, has been named the recipient of the Eclipse Award for Feature/Commentary Writing for a retrospective on the life of the late D. Wayne Lukas that appeared in the newspaper last summer, the organizers of the Eclipse Awards announced on Thursday.
Adam Wachtel has owned many top fillies in his life, but he says there might be none faster than Lucille Ball.
On Friday, Lucille Ball returned from a 14-month layoff to win a first-level allowance race at Aqueduct by 10 1/4 lengths. She ran 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:17.27 and earned a 103 Beyer Speed Figure. When she debuted as a 2-year-old in November 2024, Lucille Ball won a 6 1/2-furlong maiden race by 5 1/4 lengths, earning an 82 Beyer Speed Figure.
“She might be the fastest filly I ever owned,” Wachtel said. “She’s just a freak. She’s unbelievable.”
