Wed, 02/26/2025 - 11:22

Kentucky Derby 2025: After two disappointing runs, Baffert regroups with Gaming

Debra A. Roma

Bob Baffert has yet to decide if Gaming will get another start in a Kentucky Derby prep race.

Is it too soon to give up on Gaming? A Grade 1 winner and second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, Gaming fell off the Derby radar when he disappointed in two subsequent starts. After finishing a distant third in the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity, Gaming broke poorly and finished eighth in the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes on Jan. 25 at Oaklawn Park. He needed a freshening.

“I was disappointed his last two outs, so I just backed off a little bit,” trainer Bob Baffert said.

Wed, 02/26/2025 - 09:46

Kentucky Derby: Who's hot, who's not for Feb. 26, 2025

By Brad Free

Coady Media

Coal Battle's odds on the Derby Watch Top 20, which were 50-1 last week, have plummeted to 15-1 after his victory in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes.

WHO’S HOT

Coal Battle and Madaket Road finished one-two in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park, but opinions may differ on who ran better. Coal Battle benefited from a perfect trip behind a hot pace to win clear. Daily Racing Form linemaker David Aragona lowered his Derby Watch odds from 50-1 to 15-1. Coal Battle is 5 for 5 on dirt.

Tue, 02/25/2025 - 14:09

Trio voted into National Horseplayers Championship hall of fame

By Matt Hegarty

Horsephotos/NTRA

Jim Benes, winner of the 2013 National Horseplayers Championship, has been voted into the NHC hall of fame, along with Cheryl McIntyre and Rich Nilson.

Three veteran members of the handicapping contest circuit, including one winner of the National Horseplayers Championship, have been voted into the NHC Hall of Fame, the administrator of the tournament, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, announced on Tuesday.

Tue, 02/25/2025 - 10:43

Kentucky Derby 2025: First Resort has stress fracture, will miss Triple Crown

By David Grening

Coady Media

Kentucky Jockey Club winner First Resort will not need surgery, but will be taken out of training for 60 days.

First Resort, winner of the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs in November, is off the Triple Crown trail due to a stress fracture in his left hind hock, trainer Eoin Harty said Tuesday.

No surgery will be required but First Resort will be out of training for 60 days, with the potential of him returning for a late summer/fall campaign.

“He should be back as long as the X-rays are clean,” Harty said. “Just unfortunate timing.”

Fri, 02/21/2025 - 11:27

Kentucky Oaks attracts 117 early nominees, up from 104 last year

By Nicole Russo

Louis Hodges Jr.

Oaks nominee Good Cheer remained unbeaten in winning the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra last Saturday.

This year's 151st edition of the Kentucky Oaks has attracted 117 early nominees, up from 104 for last year's running of the Grade 1, $1.5 million classic.

Early nominations for the Oaks, which required a payment of $200, closed Feb. 15. The 1 1/8-mile race for fillies will be run on Friday, May 2, at Churchill Downs.

Fillies can still be made eligible for the Oaks with a $1,500 late-nomination fee through April 9, or with a $15,000 supplement at the entry deadline on April 26.

Fri, 02/21/2025 - 10:48

HISA cites vet, 13 trainers for joint injections of corticosteroids

By Matt Hegarty

Thirteen trainers and one veterinarian based at Penn National Racecourse in Grantville, Pa., conspired to hide illegal injections of corticosteroids to more than 100 horses during an 18-month period in 2023 and 2024, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority alleged on Friday.

Thu, 02/20/2025 - 12:22

Smarty Jones, Groupie Doll, McPeek get on Hall of Fame ballot for first time

By Matt Hegarty

Barbara D. Livingston

Smarty Jones won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in 2004, and lost just once in nine starts.

Smarty Jones, the popular colt who narrowly missed winning the 2004 Triple Crown, is among the eight racehorses who will appear on the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame’s ballot for 2025, the Hall of Fame announced Thursday.

Smarty Jones, who lost only the Belmont Stakes in his nine-race career, is making his first appearance on the ballot this year, 21 years after his Triple Crown campaign. To be included on the Hall of Fame ballot for contemporary horses, a horse must have been retired for at least five years and been active within the past 25 years.

Wed, 02/19/2025 - 15:58

Sovereign Award finalists announced; Moira not eligible but will get special award

By Ron Gierkink

Coady Photography

Trainer Roger Attfield will be honored with the E.P. Taylor Award of Merit at the April 24 Sovereign Awards.

Breeders’ Cup participants Full Count Felicia and Nitrogen, along with Daily Racing Form photographer Barbara Livingston, are among the Sovereign Award finalists for the 2024 Canadian racing season, announced by the Jockey Club of Canada on Wednesday.

Off her victory over Moira in the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor, Full Count Felicia is the front-runner for Horse of the Year honors, which will be announced during the 50th Sovereign Awards ceremony on April 24. Trained by Kevin Attard, she is a shoo-in to take the female turf category over fellow finalists Fev Rover and Stormcast.

Wed, 02/19/2025 - 14:14

Kentucky Derby 2025: Coal Battle taking Lonnie Briley on trip of a lifetime

By David Grening

Lonnie Briley (left). Jorge Vargas at OP after Smarty Jones. Coal Battle Jan 4 2025

Coady Media

Trainer Lonnie Briley and Jorge Vargas enjoy Coal Battle’s victory in the Smarty Jones, his third straight stakes score.

In the mid-1990s, when he was working as a farm manager for owner/breeder John Franks, Lonnie Briley took a shining to a weanling colt by the Grade 1 winner Lively One.

Briley, apparently, was in the minority of the group evaluating the horse who eventually became Answer Lively.

Wed, 02/19/2025 - 11:28

Kentucky Derby 2025: Caesars the last Vegas sportsbook to offer fixed-odds futures

By Brad Free

Benoit Photo

Caesars has booked plenty of Derby futures action on horses trained by Bob Baffert.

Remember when many Las Vegas sportsbooks offered winter-book wagering on the Kentucky Derby? The list is down to one, as Ceasars is the last Las Vegas sportsbook to offer fixed-odds future wagers on the Kentucky Derby.

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