Mon, 10/06/2025 - 12:19

Outfielder likely to stretch out

Coady Media

Outfielder passed his dirt test with a two-length allowance win going six furlongs Saturday.

The 2-year-old colt Outfielder passed his dirt test with a two-length allowance win going six furlongs Saturday at Keeneland. He is likely to now get a route test.

“As big as he is, we’re thinking about stretching him out,” trainer Wesley Ward said.

Ward ran Outfielder on turf early because of his size, believing the surface would be easier on him at that point in his development. The colt ran creditably, winning his debut in May at Churchill Downs and finishing fourth in the Group 1 Prix Morny, a tough assignment, in August in France.

Mon, 10/06/2025 - 12:13

Walsh encouraged by big weekend

By Nicole Russo

Coady Media

Gin Gin’s upset in the Grade 1 Spinster Stakes was the last of trainer Brendan Walsh's opening-weekend wins.

In a stellar opening weekend at Keeneland in which he won a pair of graded stakes, trainer Brendan Walsh also opened the book on a potential star for the future.

The 2-year-old filly Bella Ballerina, a Godolphin homebred, is a half-sister to Eclipse Award champion Pretty Mischievous, winner of the 2023 Kentucky Oaks for Godolphin and Walsh. Bella Ballerina, with blinkers on for her debut going six furlongs on Sunday, drew clear by 4 1/4 lengths in the stretch, earning a 70 Beyer Speed Figure.

Mon, 10/06/2025 - 12:02

Ted Noffey, Tommy Jo back to Saratoga to train for Breeders' Cup

By Nicole Russo

Coady Media

Ted Noffey is the likely favorite for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile off his 2 3/4-length win in the Breeders’ Futurity.

After sweeping Keeneland’s Grade 1 races for dirt 2-year-olds, Ted Noffey and Tommy Jo are headed back to Saratoga, where they launched their careers, to prepare for their biggest test yet, the Breeders’ Cup on Oct. 31 at Del Mar.

Both horses are trained by Todd Pletcher for Spendthrift Farm.

“They will head to Saratoga, where Todd has his Breeders’ Cup horses, on Monday,” Sophie Green, who is overseeing the Pletcher barn at Keeneland, said the morning after Ted Noffey won the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity.

Fri, 10/03/2025 - 14:53

Chismosa to make farewell start in Chillingworth

By Steve Andersen

Benoit Photo

In 2024, Chismosa had a career-best year, winning three stakes in 11 starts.

Chismosa changed owner and breeder Jaime Renella’s outlook on racing. Watching a filly amass five stakes wins in a little more than two years will do that to an owner with a small stable.

“If I won an allowance race, I was the happiest guy in the word,” Renella said earlier this week.

Fri, 10/03/2025 - 14:09

Dylan Davis to winter in New York

By David Grening

Barbara D. Livingston

n the winter of 2024, Davis was the leading rider at the Aqueduct meet with 54 wins.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – After spending last winter riding at Gulfstream Park, where he did pretty well, jockey Dylan Davis will stay in New York this upcoming winter.

Davis said he will do what many other riders do during the winter, which is fly down to Gulfstream as needed. Despite missing the first month of Gulfstream Park’s winter meet, Davis won 38 races – good enough for seventh in the standings – and his horses earned $2.38 million.

Fri, 10/03/2025 - 14:03

Igniter to race in Remsen

By David Grening

Walter Wlodarczyk/NYRA

Trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. is excited for Igniter to try two turns.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Igniter, a one-length winner of a one-mile allowance race at Aqueduct on Sept. 27, will make his next start in the Grade 2, $250,000 Remsen Stakes here on Dec. 6, trainer Rick Dutrow said this week.

“I think he wants to go two turns, that’s what we think he’s looking for,” said Dutrow, who trains Igniter for Three Chimneys Farm. “I think giving him time is going to help him run bigger that day.”

Fri, 10/03/2025 - 12:42

Ewing scratched from Breeders' Futurity

By Nicole Russo

Barbara D. Livingston

Trainer Mark Casse elected to scratch Ewing after an atypically lethargic workout.

Saratoga Special winner Ewing, unbeaten in his nascent career, will scratch from tomorrow's Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland and point to his 3-year-old campaign.

Trainer Mark Casse said that Ewing trained on Friday morning, but Casse "wasn't completely happy with him afterwards."

"He wasn't 100 percent, and he's always 100 percent," Casse added.

Thu, 10/02/2025 - 13:32

Thomas to have stable at Keeneland before return to Del Mar

By Steve Andersen

Benoit Photo

Trainer Jonathan Thomas will have a stable at the upcoming Keeneland meet, before returning to California for the Del Mar fall meet.

Trainer Jonathan Thomas, whose stable has won nine stakes in California in the last year, has relocated his 20-horse team to Keeneland this month, but plans a return to California for the Del Mar autumn meeting, he said on Thursday.

“We hope to start trickling out there by Nov. 1,” he said.

The Del Mar autumn meeting runs from Oct. 30 to Nov. 30.

Thomas said he plans to have a California-based stable later this fall and through the winter at Santa Anita before moving some runners back to Keeneland in the spring.

Wed, 10/01/2025 - 14:08

Kopion works quickly ahead of Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint

By Steve Andersen

Barbara D. Livingston

Kopion is best known for an attractive win in the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff at seven furlongs at Churchill Downs on May 3.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Kopion, the winner of three graded stakes for female sprinters from last December to early May, is on schedule for a start in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 1 after a quick five-furlong workout in 59.40 seconds at Santa Anita on Wednesday.

“She wasn’t meant to have a fast work, but she did,” trainer Richard Mandella said. “She’s just going good.”

Rapid workouts have become customary for Kopion in recent weeks. She went a half-mile in 46.80 seconds at Santa Anita on Sept. 24, the quickest of 22 works at the distance that day.

Wed, 10/01/2025 - 10:56

Lucrative meet opens with stakes-packed cards

By Nicole Russo

Barbara D. Livingston

There will be 22 stakes worth a total of $10.85 million during Keeneland's fall meet.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Big money changed hands on the expansive Keeneland grounds during the track’s September yearling sale. More big money, for horsemen and patrons, will be on offer as the bucolic track opens its 17-day fall meet Friday, running through Oct. 25.

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