As you’re trying to fit the fluid and shifting 3-year-old colt/gelding class into their places, consider Saturday’s Grade 3 Indiana Derby as one of those bridge events between the Triple Crown season and the higher-profile sophomore races later this summer. Nobody’s confusing the Indiana Derby, or its junior-varsity derby counterparts […]
Tag: Un Ojo
Sophomores Take Center Stage in All-Stakes Cross Country Pick 5
Belmont Park’s two Grade 1s share the stage with the biggest day on Horseshoe Indianapolis’ schedule to create this week’s all-stakes Cross Country Pick 5. The New York Racing Association starts this week’s Cross Country Pick 5 at home with the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational. The 10-filly field of […]
Colt Sells for Record $3.55 Million at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale
A colt from the late sire Bernardini shattered several records on Tuesday when he brought $3.55 million at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale at Timonium, Maryland. The colt, a product of Bernardini out of the Medaglia d’Oro mare G Note, went to Gary Young, the respected West […]
Pesky Bone Bruise Knocks Un Ojo Out of Preakness Stakes
The same foot bruise that kept Un Ojo out of the Kentucky Derby will keep him out of the 147th Preakness Stakes, his connections told turf publicist Jennie Rees. Ricky Courville, the one-eyed gelding’s trainer, told Rees by phone that something wasn’t right after Un Ojo’s Saturday workout. Un Ojo […]
Kentucky Derby Prep Stretch Run: Who’s Rising, Who’s Falling
Saturday’s penultimate wave of Kentucky Derby prep races brought four horses into the Derby field and taught us plenty about several others who either evolved into Derby contenders or devolved into Derby pretenders. There was White Abarrio, winning the Florida Derby in stellar fashion to punch his ticket to the […]
Favorite Secret Oath is No Secret Coming in to Arkansas Derby
In 1984, D. Wayne Lukas decided on a whim to bring back his filly Althea for the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby. That this was unconventional – even for those times of running horses far more often than happens now – can’t be understated. That’s because Althea ran the week before, […]
Arkansas the Center of This Week’s Cross Country Pick 5
With Oaklawn Park sharing center-of-the-racing-world status with Gulfstream Park this weekend, the Arkansas track holds a near-monopoly on this week’s New York Racing Association Cross Country Pick 5. Four of this week’s five races come from Oaklawn Park, with Aqueduct providing the lone exception. Unlike last week’s Cross Country Pick […]
It’s No Longer A Secret: Lukas Will Run Secret Oath in the Arkansas Derby
Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas said Sunday he planned running standout filly Secret Oath against the boys in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby April 2 at Oaklawn Park. Lukas broke the news to retired Hall of Fame jockey and current jockey agent Gary Stevens late Saturday on Fox […]
Lukas’ Secret is Officially Out, Meet Star Sophomore Filly Secret Oath
There is a certain dangerous element to giving a Hall of Famer like D. Wayne Lukas a filly like Secret Oath, a dangerous element that went on display Saturday in the Grade 3 Honeybee Stakes. The 86-year-old Lukas isn’t quite ready to retire. Not when he nearly swept Oaklawn’s two […]
At 75/1, Un Ojo Puts His One Eye on the Rebel Stakes Prize
Un Ojo lost his left eye in a pasture accident as a yearling, which partially explains how he got lost in the shuffle of Saturday’s Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park. One-eyed geldings aren’t usually the bettor’s favorites, which explains how the son of the late Laoban went off […]