HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Mad House ran arguably the best race of his young career in the Grade 3, $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap last weekend at Oaklawn Park and now he could take his sharp form to either Churchill Downs or Laurel Park.
Mad House was a determined half-length winner over Roll On Big Joe in the Count Fleet. He covered six furlongs on a fast track in 1:08.93 and for the effort earned his best Beyer Speed Figure, a 102. Mad House invaded off an allowance win at Tampa Bay Downs.
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. – One of the most eagerly anticipated workouts in the lead-up to this year’s Kentucky Derby took place in relative anonymity shortly after sunrise Thursday at Palm Beach Downs. There, likely Derby favorite Renegade breezed four furlongs in 48.91 seconds in front of some half-dozen spectators, including his trainer, Todd Pletcher.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Bernieandtherose, a two-time New York-bred stakes winner as a 3-year-old in 2025, makes her 4-year-old debut Saturday in a first-level allowance race at seven furlongs.
Bernieandtherose will be making her first start since she finished third in the Bouwerie Stakes on June 4 at Saratoga. Trainer Dominick Schettino said Bernieandtherose suffered from bone bruising and he gave her nearly six months off.
Prior to the Bouwerie, Bernieandtherose had won five of her first six starts, including the East View Stakes and the Maddie May, both for statebreds.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The well-traveled Pashmina is getting set to make another road trip this spring as she is confirmed to run in the $1.5 million Kentucky Oaks on May 1 at Churchill Downs, trainer Rob Atras said Thursday.
Pashmina, a daughter of Constitution, earned her way into the Oaks with a solid second-place finish in the Grade 3 Gazelle Stakes on April 4 at Aqueduct. After setting the pace, Pashmina gave way late to Always a Runner. Pashmina was beaten 1 1/4 lengths while finishing 8 3/4 lengths clear of the rest of the field.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Woodbine kicks off its 2026 racing season Saturday, the first of 128 scheduled days of a meet that largely mirrors the 2025 season while including a major twist in the turf racing program.
Racing will be conducted on Saturdays and Sundays for the first three weeks of the meet before Fridays are added on May 8 and Thursdays on June 11. Closing day is Dec. 13.
In horse racing, one out of three is not bad at all, and that’s the Grade 1 tally for trainer Brendan Walsh after two weekends of stakes racing at the Keeneland meeting.
In truth, only one of those three actually ran a race: Expensive Queen dead-heated for first with Segesta on April 11 in the Jenny Wiley Stakes.
The Walsh-trained Lush Lips probably would have been favored in the Jenny Wiley had she not been scratched after showing signs of some sort of illness late last week.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Journalism has made an impression in his local gallops since arriving from his Southern California base for a Saturday clash with reigning Horse of the Year Sovereignty in the Grade 2, $1.25 million Oaklawn Handicap – and trainer Michael McCarthy likes the transition last year’s Preakness winner has made from age 3 to 4.
The Oaklawn Handicap will be Journalism’s first start since finishing a good fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 1 at Del Mar.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – For the second year in a row, a reigning Horse of the Year will launch their season at Oaklawn Park.
Last meet, Thorpedo Anna captured the Grade 2 Azeri in her first start since being named the 2024 Horse of the Year.
This Saturday, Sovereignty, the 2025 Horse of the Year, is set to make his first start at 4 in the Grade 2, $1.25 million Oaklawn Handicap.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Gulfstream Park Oaks runner-up My Miss Mo moved a step closer to joining the field for the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on May 1 at Churchill Downs after turning in a visually impressive half-mile breeze in 48.26 seconds, per Daily Racing Form, over a fast but cuppy track shortly after the second renovation break here Wednesday.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Spring at Santa Anita is always good for trainer Phil D’Amato, who expects his run to continue during the 2026 Hollywood Meet that begins Friday.
D’Amato led the spring meet standings in 2023, 2024, and 2025. He also led the Santa Anita winter-spring standings in 2021 and 2022 when statistics were compiled over an extended six-month season from late December to June. On the eve of the 2026 spring meet, D’Amato expressed optimism that his stable will be prominent throughout the two-month meet.
