In Celtic Contender’s first race back from an eight-month layoff, trainer Hamilton Smith was expecting a promising allowance performance to propel the 5-year-old back into stakes company. It’s safe to say he’s ahead of schedule.
“We expected to see a good effort out of him, but he exceeded that a little bit,” Smith said.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – If you build it, they will come.
That looks to be the case for horses and horsemen, and it should be the case for fans, as Keeneland opens its 15-day spring meet Friday. The Kentucky circuit’s big purses are already drawing the typical large fields for a meet that will offer record stakes rewards, and Keeneland will debut the rest of its new paddock building for patrons after completing the largest capital improvements in its history.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Jose D’Angelo said drawing an inside post with Bentornato for last Saturday’s $2 million Golden Shaheen was his lone concern going into the race. And in the end, his instincts proved correct after the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner finished second behind defending champion Dark Saffron following a bit of a slow start in the Group 1 dash at Meydan.
Zany, who is among the early Kentucky Oaks favorites, is among a field of seven 3-year-old fillies entered Monday for the Grade 1, $750,000 Ashland Stakes, Friday's opening-day feature at Keeneland.
The Ashland, the first of five Grade 1 races at the Keeneland meet that runs through April 24, awards points for the May 1 Kentucky Oaks on a 100-50-25-15-10 scale to the first five finishers.
No plans have been set for Touchuponastar, but the $750,000 Alysheba on May 1 at Churchill is one of two races that owner Jake Delhomme and trainer Jeff Delhomme are tentatively considering for the standout Louisiana-bred 7-year-old.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Counterbalance, winner of the China Doll Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on March 8, will miss Sunday’s $100,000 Providencia Stakes at Santa Anita in favor of Saturday’s Grade 2, $500,000 Appalachian Stakes at Keeneland.
Aside from the significant difference in purses for the turf races, trainer Michael McCarthy said the one-mile distance of the Appalachian is preferred over the Providencia Stakes, run at 1 1/8 miles.
“I think a mile and an eighth is more than what she is looking for,” McCarthy said.
The weekend news that leading Kentucky Derby hope Paladin had suffered an injury and will not race in the Triple Crown drastically altered the complexion of Saturday’s Blue Grass Stakes, Paladin’s intended final Derby prep.
The Blue Grass favorite out of the picture, Reagan’s Honor’s Blue Grass stock has risen, and a Sunday workout at Keeneland, his first since shipping from Fair Grounds, did nothing to alter that notion.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Stronghold, winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in 2024, will have a delayed start to his 2026 season.
Trainer Phil D’Amato withdrew Stronghold from Sunday’s Grade 3 San Carlos Stakes at Santa Anita in favor of races at Keeneland or Oaklawn Park in coming weeks.
“I think he’s one work away,” D’Amato said on Sunday morning. “There are a couple of spots at Oaklawn Park and Keeneland. I think they will prove to be better, timing-wise.”
Midwest stakes winner Express Kid will not be sent to California for Saturday’s Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby.
“He spiked a little fever at feed time” on Sunday, trainer Justin Evans said on Monday morning from Sunland Park in New Mexico. “It blew us all out of the water. We had to treat him this morning. I’ve had two or three in the last week that have spiked a temperature.”
