Tag: Bob Baffert

Astute sung a 7 1/2-length victory tune in the Desi Arnaz Stakes. She goes for her first Grade 1 victory in Saturday's Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos. (Image: Benoit Photography)

Which Starlet Will Reign Supreme Among These Precocious Fillies?

Bob Baffert rarely tastes defeat in the Starlet Stakes, which makes him the perfect trainer to put the crown back on Princess Noor’s head in Saturday’s Grade 1 Starlet at Los Alamitos. To do that, Princess Noor will not only have to beat two of her Baffert stablemates in the […]

Firenze Fire, seen here winning the True North Stakes at Belmont Park, owns two victories at Aqueduct. He's a strong contender for Saturday's Cigar Mile at the Big A. (Image: Chelsea Durand/NYRA)

Have a Grade 1 Cigar as You Handicap This Weekend’s Graded Stakes

New York’s final Grade 1 race of 2020 headlines this weekend’s bicoastal slate of graded stakes races, coming to you from Aqueduct and Southern California’s Los Alamitos. The Cigar Mile is that Grade 1 farewell from New York. The $250,000 race for 3-year-olds and up is Aqueduct’s flagship winter race. […]

Life Is Good sprinted up the Kentucky Derby futures betting boards. His next test is likely at January's Sham Stakes at Santa Anita Park. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Life Is Good’s Next Stop: The Derby Trail’s Sham Stakes

The same day that 2-year-old sensation Life Is Good became the favorite in the first Kentucky Derby Future Wager pool, trainer Bob Baffert said he’s likely to run next in the Sham Stakes at Santa Anita Park. Baffert told the Thoroughbred Daily News that Life Is Good will join the […]

Red Flag and Victor Espinoza flew up the Kentucky Derby Futures Board with their 7 1/4-length breeze in Sunday's Bob Hope Stakes at Del Mar. The Tamarkuz colt is 50/1 to win the 2021 Derby. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Wave Hello to Kentucky Derby Futures Board Newcomer Red Flag

He ran only seven furlongs, not the 10 that possibly awaits next May. Even so, Red Flag’s 7¼-length romp in Sunday’s Bob Hope Stakes at Del Mar vaulted the juvenile from off the board to 50/1 on William Hill Nevada’s 2021 Kentucky Derby Futures Board. The $220,000 purchase by A&M […]

Knicks Go broke the track record in the Breeders' Cup Dirt mile earlier this month. He could run the Cigar Mile at Aqueduct Dec. 5. (Image: Coady Photography/Keeneland)

Don’t Take a Holiday on These Late-Season Races

The Breeders’ Cup is in the rear-view mirror, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any prime late-season races on the horizon. The end of the year may seem like a racing lull before the calendar flips, but don’t let the last two months of the horse racing season go by […]

Spielberg -- the horse -- finished second in this summer's Del Mar Futurity. Expect the $1 million Bob Baffert trainee to ride the Road to the winner's circle in Sunday's Bob Hope Stakes. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Spielberg’s Next Close-Up Comes at Del Mar’s Bob Hope Stakes

Spielberg going On the Road to Del Mar in the Bob Hope Stakes. It sounds like a Hollywood mashup, instead of the next hurdle on the heralded 2-year-old’s racing itinerary. The Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes is Sunday’s featured race at Del Mar’s Bing Crosby Meet. The $100,000 race sends […]

Maximum Security won 10 of his 14 races, including six in a row at one point. He retires with more than $12.4 million in career earnings and a wild career of ups and downs. (Image: Matthew Stockman/Getty)

Maximum Security Retires: Closes Book On Wild, Accomplished Career

Three days after finishing off the board for only the second time in his career, Maximum Security retired from racing. The Eclipse Award 3-year-old Champion of 2019 heads to Coolmore America’s Ashford Stud, where he’ll begin his stud career in 2021 standing for $20,000. The move comes after Maximum Security […]

Authentic went gate-to-wire to win the Breeders' Cup Classic over an all-star field of Grade 1 stakes winners. (Image: AP Photo)

On Record-Setting Day, Breeders’ Cup Handle Takes Mild Dip

With Kentucky Derby champion Authentic, standout filly Gamine, and Knicks Go all winning Breeders’ Cup races in record time – and without general public tickets available – the Breeders’ Cup World Championships managed its sixth-highest all-sources handle since 2007. That was the year the Breeders’ Cup expanded to two days. […]

Improbable was nothing short of awesome in the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes. The 5/2 favorite rides into the Breeders' Cup Classic on a three-race win streak. (Image: Alex Evers)

Breeders’ Cup Classic: Picking a Winner in this All-Star Field is a Puzzle

If you’re grasping to understand how good the field is for this year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic truly is, it’s easiest to picture what an All-Star horse race would look like. The Mid-fall Classic, as it were. If the Mid-fall Classic offered a $6 million purse, two Triple Crown race winners, […]

Improbable stands out as a 5/2 favorite in what is one of the deepest Breeders' Cup Classic fields in the history of the event. (Image: AP)

Improbable Takes Favorite Status, Outer Post in Breeders’ Cup Classic

The last time Bob Baffert turned loose a Breeders’ Cup Classic favorite at Keeneland, that horse – American Pharoah – won him his second of three consecutive Classics. Now, Baffert has more than an outside chance of winning his fourth. He has three outside chances. That’s because his three mainstays, […]

While Jackie's Warrior is the clear favorite to win the 2021 Kentucky Derby, Essential Quality is a viable second favorite at 20/1. (Image: Coady Photography)

William Hill Makes Jackie’s Warrior 2021 Kentucky Derby Futures Favorite

William Hill Nevada opened the first domestic futures pool for the 2021 Kentucky Derby, installing Jackie’s Warrior as the top choice among the 115 2-year-olds listed on its futures board. The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile favorite, Jackie’s Warrior opened at 15/1. He’s currently 14/1 at Bovada, which opened the Steve Asmussen-trainee […]

Magical missed last year's Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita due to a fever. But the 2020 three-time Group 1 winner is the likely favorite for the Breeders' Cup Turf. (Image: Caroline Norris)

Baffert’s Classic Trio, O’Brien’s Turf Duo Head Breeders’ Cup Pre-Entries

Bob Baffert has six entries, including three in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Aidan O’Brien counters with 10 entries. And just like that with Wednesday’s pre-entries, lineups for the 14 Breeders’ Cup World Championships races are falling into place. All told, 201 horses pre-entered into the Nov. 6-7 racing festival at […]

Trainer Bob Baffert's Merneith tested positive for an excessive amount of a cough syrup ingredient. (Image: Coady Photography)

Merneith, Another Baffert Charge, Tests Positive for Banned Substance

The California Horse Racing Board revealed that another one of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s charges, Merneith, tested positive for a banned substance. Merneith tested positive for dextromethorphan, a common ingredient found in human cough syrups. The test came after Merneith finished second in the fourth race at Del […]

Standout filly Gamine is in trouble again after testing positive for excessive amounts of an anti-inflammatory after last month's Kentucky Oaks. (Image: Skip Dickstein/For the Times Union)

Baffert Team Disputes Gamine’s Failed Kentucky Oaks Drug Test

After news broke late Thursday that a Kentucky Oaks horse tested positive for a Class C medical violation, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert confirmed in a statement that his star filly, Gamine, was the culprit. The New York Times, citing two sources, reported Thursday evening that Gamine tested positive […]

Undefeated Nadal Heading to Japan to Begin His Stallion Career

Undefeated 3-year-old multiple stakes winner Nadal will head to Japan for his stud career, Japanese breeding farm Shadai Stallion Station announced Wednesday. The announcement ended speculation on where the $700,000 Blame progeny would stand after his once-promising racing career prematurely ended in May. The one-time Kentucky Derby points leader, Nadal […]

Serengeti Empress gets one more opportunity to duplicate her victory here in the Ballerina Stakes. She'll head to the breeding shed after the Breeders' Cup. (Image: Chris Rahayel/NYRA)

Serengeti Empress, McKinzie Take Different Paths to Breeding Shed

Serengeti Empress has one more race before the breeding shed awaits. McKinzie is headed to stud immediately. And so drops the curtain on two of the more prominent Thoroughbreds of the last three years. Serengeti Empress will make her final start in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint Nov. […]

Swiss Skydiver got her head in front of 3/2 favorite Authentic to win a Preakness Stakes stretch duel for the ages. (Image: Nick Wass/AP Photo)

Swiss Skydiver Wins Epic 2020 Preakness Stakes Amid Plunging Handle

Not even one of the most exciting Preakness finishes in memory prevented a 48.7% drop in betting handle from 2019’s record figure, according to Equibase. Pimlico’s 12-race Preakness handle checked in at $51,252,631, a nearly 50% drop from last year’s $99,852,653 record handle. That 2019 handle came on a 14-race […]

The venerable Pimlico Race Course clubhouse will play host to a small group of owners for Saturday's 145th Preakness Stakes. (Image: Getty)

The Triple Crown Ends Here: Breaking Down the 2020 Preakness Stakes

It’s October 2020, which in this bizarre of all bizarre years, means it’s Preakness Stakes time. That there is no Triple Crown at stake does not mean there is nothing at stake in the third and final jewel of a wild, 15-week Triple Crown campaign. The 2020 American Classics trail […]

Authentic and John Velazquez found the Kentucky Derby winner's circle. They are the 9/5 favorite to find the Pimlico winner's circle in Saturday's Preakness Stakes. (Image: MyRacehorse.com)

Preakness Stakes Draw: Derby Winner Authentic Takes Favorite Spot

While Preakness Stakes favorite Authentic was wrapping up his final pre-race workout, the 9/5 favorite for Saturday’s 145th Preakness drew post 9 at Monday morning’s post draw in Baltimore. In what’s already been a wild and unpredictable Triple Crown season, at least one reliable standby remains true. The Kentucky Derby […]

Spielberg was a breeder's box-office smash, selling for $1 million a year ago at Keeneland. He strives for his first victory in Saturday's American Pharoah Stakes at Santa Anita Park. (Image: Keeneland)

Favored Spielberg Shoots for Winning Close-Up in American Pharoah

Could this be Spielberg’s long-awaited Oscar moment? Is Saturday’s Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes at Santa Anita Park the race where Spielberg finds box-office – or winner’s circle – gold? The $1 million juvenile comes into his third race as the 3/1 morning line favorite in this eclectic, but well-bred, […]