Journalism, the highly rated winner of the San Felipe Stakes on March 1 at Santa Anita in his first start of 2025, has been tabbed as the 3-1 morning-line favorite for this weekend’s Kentucky Derby Future Wager pool, the fifth to be offered prior to this year’s Derby.

Journalism beat odds-on favorite Barnes in the San Felipe by 1 3/4 lengths and earned a 108 Beyer Speed Figure, tops of the year for a 3-year-old. Trained by Michael McCarthy, Journalism is being pointed to the Santa Anita Derby on April 5 as his next start prior to the Kentucky Derby.

Rapture will start Saturday in the Virginia Derby, while trainer Brad Cox’s second Colonial Down entrant, John Hancock, will be scratched to start in the Louisiana Derby on March 22 at Fair Grounds.

John Hancock won the Sam Davis Stakes on Feb. 8 at Tampa Bay Downs, beating runner-up Owen Almighty by a half-length. Owen Almighty returned this past weekend to easily capture the Tampa Bay Derby.

Flavien Prat has the mount on Rapture, a second-start Oaklawn Park maiden route winner in his most recent outing on Jan. 25.

When Sierra Leone won the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar, the thoughts of Coolmore co-owner M.V. Magnier quickly turned to Clem Murphy, a longtime bloodstock consultant for the global outfit. Murphy was unable to attend the Breeders’ Cup due to illness but was credited for success at the Breeders’ Cup by a number of Coolmore’s connections. In a poignant moment, the famously reserved Magnier dedicated the Classic win to Murphy, his voice breaking before he hustled away from the NBC microphone.  

ARCADIA, Calif. - Citizen Bull, the champion 2-year-old male, and Baeza, a maiden race winner on Feb. 14, worked at Santa Anita on Saturday in advance of scheduled start in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 5.

Citizen Bull worked six furlongs in 1:12.60, his fourth workout since a win by 3 3/4 lengths in the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes at a mile at Santa Anita on Feb. 1. The Lewis is Citizen Bull’s lone start this year for trainer Bob Baffert.

Baeza worked five furlongs in 1:02.20, his second workout since a win by 4 3/4 lengths on Feb. 14 in his third start.

ARCADIA, Calif. - By most standards, the 4-year-old colt Eagles Flight would rightfully gain accolades for winning two of his first three starts, including a sharp victory in an allowance race at a mile at Santa Anita on Saturday.

It is not that simple for Eagles Flight, a half-brother to the 2022 undefeated Horse of the Year Flightline.

Flightline won all six of his starts by at least six lengths, including four consecutive Grade 1 races in his brief career.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Cavalieri is unbeaten in four starts, a two-time stakes winner, and nowhere near reaching the peak of her ability.

That was the assessment of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert in the immediate aftermath of Cavalieri’s win in Saturday’s Grade 1 Beholder Mile for fillies and mares at Santa Anita.

“We always knew she would be a superstar,” Baffert said.

Cavalieri will have ample opportunity in coming months to sort her way through the older filly and mare division on dirt.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Free Like a Girl emerged from her runner-up finish in Saturday's Azeri Stakes in good order and was scheduled to ship to her new base of Evangeline Downs with the goal of returning to Oaklawn Park for the Apple Blossom, according to trainer Chasey Deville Pomier.

“She cooled out well, bucking and playing in the test barn, her normal self,” Deville Pomier said Sunday. “She cleaned up. Everything seems to be good.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Trainer Kenny McPeek’s canine best friend Sonny spent Sunday morning enjoying the spoils of Thorpedo Anna’s victory in the Grade 2, $400,000 Azeri Stakes at Oaklawn Park.

The reigning Horse of the Year was an authoritative winner of Saturday’s race, storming home by 3 1/2 lengths to earn a Beyer Speed Figure of 95 in her first start since winning the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. McPeek on Sunday morning said Thorpedo Anna emerged from the race in excellent condition and is to ship back to her Fair Grounds base early Monday.

Sierra Leone, the Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and 3-year-old champion of 2024, will likely make his 4-year-old debut in the Grade 2, $500,000 New Orleans Classic at Fair Grounds on March 22, trainer Chad Brown said Sunday.

Brown, after having to scrap plans to run Sierra Leone in the $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 22 due to a foot abscess, had said he was pointing Sierra Leone to the Oaklawn Handicap on April 19. But the horse has come to hand quickly since resuming training following his foot issue.

OLDSMAR, Fla. - While Brown came up a bit short in the Tampa Bay Derby, he won two turf stakes on the card with Saffron Moon taking the Grade 2 Hillsborough for fillies and mares and Zulu Kingdom in the listed Columbia Stakes for 3-year-old males. 

Saffron Moon won the Hillsborough by three-quarters of a length over Gimme a Nother, her second straight stakes win over the Tampa Bay course this winter. Saffron Moon earned a 93 Beyer Speed Figure for both wins.