Who's Hot

ARCADIA, Calif. – Dips might be fun when riding a roller coaster, but when it comes to getting on a swaybacked racehorse, sometimes it’s not much of a joy ride.

“I’ve ridden a couple that were so bad it felt like you were sitting down in a bucket,” jockey Garrett Gomez said. “They’re not a lot of fun to ride. You feel like you’re going uphill.”

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HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – If The Factor shows the same brilliance routing that he has sprinting in the Grade 2, $300,000 Rebel at Oaklawn, he’ll emerge as one of the flashiest prospects on the road to the Kentucky Derby. If he fails to carry his speed, he could be exiting the Louisville-bound freeway Saturday.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Blind Luck, The Factor and Sway Away all rolled through the Oaklawn Park backstretch around 5:15 p.m. Central on Wednesday, in town for stakes races on Saturday. The horses flew in from Southern California along with Grade 1 winner Smiling Tiger, who is being pointed for the Grade 3, $200,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap at Oaklawn on April 14, said his trainer, Jeff Bonde.

Trainer Nick Zito said his top Kentucky Derby prospect Dialed In will have his final major work for the Grade 1 Florida Derby sometime next week. Dialed In won the Grade  3 Holy Bull in his 3-year-old debut before finishing second behind his older stablemate Equestrio when sent nine furlongs for the first time earlier this month.

KENTUCKY DERBY NEWS: Track all the 3-year-olds on the Triple Crown trail

Mike Stidham-trained horses are possible runners in major upcoming graded stakes races, including Willcox Inn, who finished second last Saturday in the Grindstone Stakes, his first race since a third-place finish last fall in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

Willcox Inn closed well through the stretch, unable to catch Great Mills, who coasted through soft splits on an uncontested lead.
“Considering everything, short of him winning, I was very pleased,” Stidham said. “I knew going in the seven and a half [furlongs] was far shorter than his best distance.”