Tex Sutton, the dominant equine air-transport company in the U.S., is anticipating a service disruption beginning next week due to its ongoing efforts to secure a new lease for a cargo plane, the company’s president said on Monday.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Expectations were lower this year, but the exhilaration was just as high as in previous years for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who captured his record-setting seventh Kentucky Derby victory Saturday with 12-1 shot Medina Spirit.

Baffert's win broke a tie with Ben Jones for most Derby victories, but - unlike many past ones, including 2018 with Justify and 2015 with American Pharoah - this one was more unexpected, Baffert said.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - John Velazquez will turn 50 later this year, considered old by jockey standards. But the Hall of Fame rider showed age is only a number after completing a sweep of the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby with his wire-to-wire victory aboard Medina Spirit for trainer Bob Baffert in Saturday’s Run for the Roses. 

LOUISVILLE, Ky - The 147th Kentucky Derby was barely 10 minutes old and Brad Cox, whose runners Mandaloun and Essential Quality finished second and fourth, respectively, in what was the trainer’s first appearance in the race, was already looking forward to next year.

“Can’t wait to be back here,” Cox said. “We’ll be back, too. Promise.”

2021 Kentucky Derby payouts.

Finish                   Horse Margin

1st Medina Spirit          1/2

2nd Mandaloun            1/2

3rd Hot Rod Charlie      Head

4th Essential Quality     4 1/2

5th O Besos                 2 3/4

6th Midnight Bourbon   Neck

7th Keepmeinmind       2

8th Helium                  Neck

9th Known Agenda       Nose

10th Highly Motivated   1 3/4

11th Sainthood            Head

12th Like The King       3 1/4

13th Bourbonic            3/4

14th Hidden Stash       1 1/2

Six $75,000 stakes will be run during the summer California Authority of Racing Fairs meetings.

Added to the schedule this year is the She's a Tiger Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on June 26 at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton. The race is named for the filly who romped in her career debut at the Pleasanton racetrack and was the 2013 2-year-old filly Eclipse Award winner.

LOUISVILLE, Ky – The last of the heavy lifting as far as the 2021 Kentucky Derby is concerned took place Monday on two fronts, including here at Churchill Downs where Midnight Bourbon turned in a little more serious work than expected during the special Derby/Oaks training session, which began at 7:30 a.m. The second of the Derby works on Monday came at Parx Racing, where Brooklyn Strong worked five furlongs earlier in the morning.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – John T. Ward Jr., a third-generation horseman who won the Kentucky Derby in 2001 with Monarchos and then became the head of Kentucky’s horse racing regulatory agency, died Saturday at the age of 75, according to Churchill Downs.

Ward, a native Kentuckian, operated a middle-class stable with his wife Donna when he received Monarchos from John Oxley, the colt’s owner and a longtime client. Monarchos won the 2001 Derby at odds of 10-1, instantly catapulting the trainer into the ranks of the sport’s top echelon.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Trainer Brad Cox’s Kentucky Derby contingent was reduced by one Sunday morning when Caddo River was withdrawn from Derby consideration.

Winner of the Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn and most recently second there in the Arkansas Derby, Caddo River breezed here at Churchill on Friday but was found Saturday afternoon to have an elevated temperature, Cox said. On Sunday morning, Caddo River’s bloodwork came back showing signs of an infection and the decision was made to skip the Derby.