Tag: Charlatan

Mucho Gusto seized last year's Pegasus World Cup title. He returns as one of two Bob Baffert entries in the Jan. 23 race at Gulfstream Park. (Image: Getty)

Knicks Go, Charlatan, Mucho Gusto Headline Pegasus World Cup Invites

Bob Baffert will take two of his older mainstays, Mucho Gusto and Charlatan, into his bid for a third Pegasus World Cup Invitational title. Those two are among the 16 horses earning invites to the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park. The 1-1/8-mile Pegasus headlines a seven-graded […]

Smooth Like Strait was the only favorite to win the five graded stakes races on Santa Anita Park's opening-day card. He nipped Storm the Court in the Grade 2 Mathis Brothers Mile. (Image: Benoit Photography)

No Crowds? No Problem as Santa Anita Park Enjoys Record Handle

With Charlatan winning Bob Baffert’s 17th Grade 1 race of 2020 headlining an 11-race, six-stakes card, Santa Anita Park set an all-time opening day handle record of $23,003,159 Saturday. That surpassed the previous record: 2018’s 11-race opening-day handle, by more than $2.51 million. And it did so without the traditional […]

Every race thus far has been a breeze like this for Nashville. The 6/5 favorite for Saturday's Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita is 3-for-3 since September, winning his races by an average of 8 1/2 lenths. (Image: Coady Photography/Keeneland)

The Malibu Stakes Puts a Rich, Plot-Filled Bow on 2020’s Grade 1 Races

The Malibu Stakes is the bow on the 2020 racing season. It gives horseplayers and racing fans a deserving end to this year’s wild, unpredictable runaway roller coaster that was Horseracing 2020. There’s Nashville, he of the freakish speed. There’s Charlatan, he of the one-time Kentucky Derby favorite status. There’s […]

Charlatan returns to action for the first time in seven months on a stakes-packed opening day at Santa Anita Park. (Image: Horsephotos)

Unwrap Plenty of Stars in Santa Anita Park’s Boxing Day Opener

Santa Anita Park’s opening day marks the return of this year’s Pegasus World Cup champion for the first time in 10 months. And poor Mucho Gusto; he’s not remotely the headline attraction. For that, he can thank Nashville, Charlatan, and Independence Hall, who all smashed and grabbed Mucho Gusto’s spotlight […]

Monomoy Girl and Florent Geroux stood tall in the 2020 Breeders' Cup Distaff. just as they did in this 2018 Distaff victory. Even after selling for $9.5 million, the standout mare returns to the track in 2021. (Image: Darron Cummings/AP Photo)

Not Every Horse Retired in 2020: Here are the Stars to See in 2021

Now that we’ve bid farewell to the Thoroughbred standouts who retired in 2020, which horses will we greet as the returning equine stars worthy of attention in 2021? We bid farewell to Authentic, Improbable, Maximum Security, Vekoma, Tom’s d’Etat, War of Will, McKinzie, Serengeti Empress, Enable, and Ghaiyyath in recent […]

Jockey Martin Garcia and Charlatan are no longer 2020 Arkansas Derby winners. Oaklawn Park stewards stripped the Bob Baffert horse and his filly stablemate, Gamine of their May 2 victories for excessive amounts of lidocaine. (Image: Wesley Hitt/Getty)

Baffert Suspended 15 Days, Horses Disqualified for Positive Drug Tests

Oaklawn Park stewards suspended Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert for 15 days and stripped two of his prize horses of victories for their positive drug tests for excessive amounts of a banned substance. The decisions came down Wednesday, two days after a hearing addressing the excessive amounts of lidocaine […]

Seen here with 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify, trainer Bob Baffert plans fighting the positive drug tests of Charlatan and Gamine. (Image: Julio Cortez/Associated Press)

Second Samples Come Back Positive for Two of Baffert’s Star Horses

More than a month after two of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s star horses failed post-race drug tests at Oaklawn Park, the split samples of both tests both came back positive. The “B” sample tests confirmed the initial findings that showed undefeated Charlatan and Gamine both tested positive for […]

Undefeated in three races, Maxfield injured a leg bone during a routine workout Wednesday. He's out of the Triple Crown races. (Image: Jordan Thomson)

Maxfield Injured, Star Colt Becomes Latest Derby Trail Casualty

Illustrating another example of the precarious nature of Thoroughbred horse racing, Kentucky Derby contender Maxfield injured his front right leg during a routine workout on Wednesday. He will miss the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby after suffering a condylar fracture in his leg. If this sounds eerily familiar, it should. This […]

Charlatan easily captures his division of the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby. But it's been an uphill climb for the Bob Baffert colt since. He'll miss the Belmont and the Kentucky Derby with an ankle injury. (Image: AP Photo)

Ankle Injury Takes Star Baffert Colt Charlatan Out of Belmont, Derby

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s vaunted Big Three Kentucky Derby contenders is now down to a Big One with the news that Charlatan will miss the Kentucky Derby with an ankle injury. Baffert told Paulick Report Publisher Ray Paulick the undefeated Speighstown progeny suffered “a filling in a front […]

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher sends three horses into the June 20 Belmont Stakes field. (Image: Sarah Andrew/Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners)

Belmont Stakes Field Undergoes a Thursday Tremor

The Belmont Stakes field underwent a shakeup on Thursday, losing powerful Nadal to a broken leg and Wells Bayou to other Kentucky Derby preps. On the plus side, Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher confirmed three of his horses, Dr. Post, Farmington Road, and Gouverneur Morris, will be in the […]

Bettors imitated jockey Joel Rosario and given thumbs-up to Nadal. He is the early betting favorite at +325 on Circa Sports' new Kentucky Derby futures board. (Image: Eclipse Sportswire)

Circa Sports Opens New Kentucky Derby Futures Betting Market

Circa Sports burst on the sports betting scene last year in an audacious, aggressive manner that revealed an organization not afraid to take chances or try new things with its lines. The downtown Las Vegas property stayed true to form this week when Circa released its Kentucky Derby futures board. […]

Charlatan has a fruitful future in the breeding shed after he finishes beating his fellow thoroughbreds like he did here in the Arkansas Derby. (Image: Coady Photography)

After Three Races, Charlatan’s Breeding Rights Sold to Kentucky Farm

He has all of three races and one stakes victory under his tack. And now, Charlatan has a new home once his racing career is finished. Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm in Lexington, KY. announced it bought Charlatan’s breeding rights for an undisclosed amount. The announcement came less than a week […]

In winning the tougher second division of the Arkansas Derby, Nadal remained unbeaten. The Bob Baffert-trained cold also took over the Kentucky Derby points lead. (Image: Coady Photography)

What Did We Learn About Major Kentucky Derby Hopefuls?

The Arkansas Derby is behind us and a work-in-progress Kentucky Derby Trail lies in front of us. With tracks around the country beginning to open again in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, and Churchill Downs officials still mapping out prep races, it’s a good time to see where the […]

Rarely has Charlatan had to stare down his opponents. He faces his first true test in the first division of Saturday's Arkansas Derby. (Image: Mark Terrill/AP

Arkansas Derby’s First Division Features Charlatan — and Not Much Else

If you picture Saturday’s Arkansas Derby’s two divisions as a high school sport, the first division would be the junior varsity. And not just because it goes to post an hour and 44 minutes before the second division. With few exceptions, the first division is the JV. There’s no other […]