Tag: Churchill Downs

Damon's Mound won his debut race by 12 1/2 lengths, bringing another juvenile star to the forefront. (Image: Coady Photography)

Climb Aboard the Precocious Damon’s Mound Bandwagon

- 2 min read

Damon’s Mound, the latest 2-year-old worth keeping several eyes on, announced his presence at Churchill Downs Saturday with a flourish. A 12 ½-length authoritative flourish in a maiden special weight race on the Stephen Foster undercard. Damon’s Mound took apart the six-furlong maiden special weight in 1:09.84. He debuted with […]

Shedaresthedevil owns three Grade 1 victories, including this 2020 score in the Kentucky Oaks. But she comes into Saturday's Grade 2 Fleur de Lis at Churchill Downs 0-for-her-last-5. (Image: Coady Photography)

Mandaloun, Life Is Good, Speaker’s Corner Head Cross Country Pick 5

- 3 min read

Last year’s Kentucky Derby champion, two of the most dynamic sprinters in the country, and a multiple Grade 1 winner looking for redemption headline this week’s New York Racing Association’s Cross Country Pick 5. This week’s Cross Country Pick 5 is an all-stakes sequence. The week’s races come from Belmont […]

Olympiad is 4-for-4 in 2022, with this solid victory in the Grade 2 Alysheba at Churchill Downs on the ledger. He is expected to contend for the Grad3 2 Stephen Foster title Saturday. (Image: Coady Photography)

Churchill Downs All-Stakes Pick 5 Features Eclectic, Familiar Names

- 3 min read

A veritable all-star roster of eclectic talent that includes a Kentucky Derby winner, a Kentucky Oaks winner, a Breeders’ Cup Sprint victor, and a true horse for course highlight Churchill Downs’ Saturday All-Stakes Pick 5. The All-Stakes Pick 5 wager encompasses all five of the Twin Spires’ stakes races on […]

Racing on the Churchill Downs turf course is done for the Spring Meet, canceling one turf stakes race and sending three others during closing weekend to the main turf. (Image: Coady Photography)

Churchill Downs Cancels Turf Racing for Duration of Spring Meet

- 2 min read

Citing more problems from its new turf course, Churchill Downs officials suspended racing on the Matt Winn Turf Course for the track’s closing weekend. The decision cancels the Grade 2 Wise Dan Stakes and sends three other stakes originally carded for the turf course to the main dirt track. Those […]

Bell's the One (L) and Sconsin renew their sprinting rivalry in Saturday's Grade 3 Chicago Stakes, which moves from the last Arlington Park to Churchill Downs. (Image: Coady Photography)

Bell’s the One, Sconsin Renew Rivalry in Relocated Chicago Stakes

- 3 min read

By renewing their established rivalry, Bell’s the One and Sconsin double-handedly turned Saturday’s Grade 3 Chicago Stakes at Churchill Downs into one of the weekend’s most intriguing races. The seven-furlong Chicago also offers up Grade 1 winner Kalypso, who finds herself relegated to the chorus against her elders. The Grade […]

Tyler Gaffalione pats Bango afer the pair won the Listed Arisitides Stakes Saturday. Bango's victory at 10/1 gave him seven wins at Churchill Downs. (Image: Coady Photography)

Seeking a Horse for a Course? Take Bango at Churchill Downs

- 2 min read

Lost in the shuffle of Bango defending his Aristides Stakes title at Churchill Downs on Saturday was the not-insignificant fact that he is truly a horse for the Twin Spires course. Bango’s 2 ½-length victory over Necker Island marked his seventh victory at Churchill Downs. That ties him with 26 […]

Conagher was a $9,000 purchase back in 2020. He is now a three-time winner after capturing his second consecutive allowance victory in near-record fashion Friday. (Image: Coady Photography)

Here’s Another 3-Year-Old to Watch: Sprinter Conagher

- 2 min read

In April, Conagher announced his presence with a 6 ¾-length blitzkrieg of a Keeneland allowance field. And just to remind everyone this is a 3-year-old to watch, Conagher nearly broke the Churchill Downs seven-furlong track record Friday. En route to his second allowance victory in as many starts, Conagher covered […]

Americanrevolution won the Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct in his last start. He headlines the Blame Stakes field, the penultimate leg of this week's Cross Country Pick 5. (Image: Coglianese Photos)

This Cross Country Pick 5 Features Grade 1 Winner, Four Stakes Races

- 3 min read

The return of a Grade 1 winner and an intriguing Grade 2 stakes race provide the highlight of this week’s New York Racing Association Cross Country Pick 5. This week’s races come to horseplayers from Belmont Park and Churchill Downs. The aforementioned Grade 1 winner is Americanrevolution, who returns six […]

Sconsin returns from her 8 1/2-month winter break to defend her title in Monday's Grade 3 Winning Colors at Churchill Downs. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Sprinter Sconsin Returns to Paint Her Defense in Winning Colors

- 2 min read

While Santa Anita Park and its three Grade 1s is the center of Monday’s racing universe, the return of multiple graded stakes winner Sconsin to the track opens another window into a possible presence on the older female front. The 5-year-old mare returns to the track for the first time […]

Temple City Terror won last year's Keertana Overnight Stakes at Churchill Downs. She goes for her fifth victory in the same event Saturday. It is the third race in this week's Cross Country Pick 5. (Image: Coady Photography)

Cross Country Pick 5 Offers Several Deep Fields, Two Stakes

- 3 min read

Two stakes races, one featuring a Breeders’ Cup board hitter, highlight Saturday’s New York Racing Association Cross Country Pick 5, which come to you from Belmont Park and Churchill Downs. This is the first of two Cross Country Pick 5s this weekend. The multi-race, multi-track wager resets Monday with stakes […]

Trainer Peter Miller, seen here at Del Mar last summer, returns after a six-month hiatus from training Sunday. The embattled trainer insists his break from the barn was a personal decision and not the result of a spate of deaths in his barn. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Trainer Peter Miller Returns After Six Months On Hiatus

- 2 min read

Peter Miller, who hasn’t raced a horse since Nov. 28, returns to the barn for the first time in six months when he sends out 3-year-old gelding Respect the Code for Sunday’s eighth race at Churchill Downs. The California-based trainer, who won nine training titles at Del Mar, took what […]

Kentucky Derby champion Rich Strike had his first workout since winning the May 7 Run for the Roses the same day as the Preakness Stakes his connections passed. He will have one more Churchill Downs workout before going to New York for the Belmont Stakes. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Derby Winner Rich Strike Returns to the Track — For a Workout

- 2 min read

As he watched his biggest meal ticket work out Saturday, Rich Strike trainer Eric Reed cast a figurative eye East toward Pimlico Race Course. Then, he answered the question of many fans wondering why he wasn’t there, running the second jewel of the Triple Crown — the Preakness Stakes. “Skipping […]

Another Mystery heads an overflow field in the Grade 3 Louisville Stakes, the lone stakes race on this week's Cross Country Pick 5. (Image: Coady Photography)

Louisville Stakes Anchors this Week’s Cross Country Pick 5

- 3 min read

If you need to take a break from handicapping the Preakness Stakes, this week’s New York Racing Association’s Cross Country Pick 5 offers an all-turf series from Belmont Park and Churchill Downs. The lone stakes race in the weekly wager is the Grade 3 Louisville Stakes from Churchill Downs. The 11th […]

Trainer Tim Yakteen learned plenty in defeat about the Kentucky Derby horses he inherited from Bob Baffert: Messier and Taiba. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Kentucky Derby Taught Tim Yakteen Plenty About Messier, Taiba

- 3 min read

With both Messier and Taiba back at his Santa Anita Park barn, trainer Tim Yakteen took a look back at last Saturday’s Kentucky Derby shocker by 80/1 Rich Strike and came up with one inescapable conclusion many people overlooked. “Horses that show a fondness for Churchill Downs have a tendency […]

Jack Christopher returned from eight months on the shelf to win the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile on the Kentucky Derby undercard. The one-time Kentucky Derby prospect suffered an injury right before the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. (Image: Coady Photography)

Even with Comeback Win, Brown Thinks ‘What If?’ with Jack Christopher

- 3 min read

There was Chad Brown with Jack Christopher, standing in the Churchill Downs winner’s circle on the first Saturday in May. Just the way the four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer drew it up with the standout colt. Well, not quite. Brown and Jack Christopher were in the winner’s circle, not for the […]

Newly minted Kentucky Derby champion Rich Strike and his barn connections are headed next to Pimlico for the Preakness Stakes in 13 days. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Rich Strike trainer Eric Reed Hasn’t Woken Up From Derby Dream

- 3 min read

Everything kept going back through Eric Reed’s mind like a never-ending dream, which the trainer of Rich Strike still wasn’t sure about. “I couldn’t sleep last night,” said Reed, still in shock over Rich Strike’s 80/1 shocking victory in the 148th Kentucky Derby. “At 4 this morning, I was wondering […]

Secret Oath captured the 148th Kentucky Oaks in impressive, workmanlike fashion. She may run two weeks from now in the Preakness Stakes. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Secret Oath Comes Out of Kentucky Oaks Win Looking at Preakness

- 2 min read

The options before Secret Oath – newly minted Kentucky Oaks winner Secret Oath – are plentiful and profitable. And Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas said the Preakness Stakes remains one of those options. “I’m going to let a few days go by and then I’ll get with (owner) […]

Taiba is attempting to be only the third horse to win the Kentucky Derby without running as a 2-year-old. Columnist and morning line author Jon White likes his chances. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Racing Veteran White Sees Plenty of Gray in this Kentucky Derby

- 5 min read

Jon White wants you to know this Kentucky Derby prognostication stuff can get rather tricky. He once picked Point Given to win the 2001 Derby because he simply was the best horse in the field. Point Given picked the first Saturday in May that year to run the worst race […]

1 2 3 … 6