Tag: Nadal

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert won his appeal of a 15-day suspension for two of his mainstay trainees testing positive for lidocaine in 2020. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Arkansas Race Officials Rescind Charlatan’s, Gamine’s Drug DQs

- 3 min read

In horse racing’s version of splitting the foal in half, the Arkansas Racing Commission upheld three stewards’ rulings from the 2020 Arkansas Derby card, but rescinded drug-related disqualifications for two Bob Baffert horses — Charlatan and Gamine — running on that card. The six-vote, unanimous decision reinstates Charlatan’s first division […]

Concert Tour and sizzling rider Joel Rosario come into the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby unbeaten in three races, including this 4 3/4-length victory in last month's Rebel Stakes. (Image: Coady Photography)

Get Your Concert Tour Tickets for This Arkansas Derby

- 4 min read

For reasons ranging from handicapping to running style to history, the Arkansas Derby is the perfect last stop on the Kentucky Derby Trail. You could dial up a better finishing prep race. But you’d second-guess yourself mid-thought and wind up back at Oaklawn Park. Yes, Saturday’s 1 1/8-mile Arkansas Derby […]

Caddo River brings front-end speed, two-turn experience and Oaklawn familiarity to Saturday's Grade 2 Rebel Stakes. (Image: Coady Photography/Oaklawn Park)

Expect Rebel Stakes to Flow Caddo River’s Way

- 4 min read

The Grade 2 Rebel Stakes, which holds court as the lone Kentucky Derby prep of consequence this weekend, has a Grade 1 winner in its field. Bob Baffert doesn’t train 8/1 Get Her Number, the lone Grade 1 winner in Saturday’s Rebel at Oaklawn Park. Nor does Brad Cox. No, […]

Concert Tour arrived at Oaklawn Park Tuesday for Saturday's Grade 2 Rebel Stakes. He and Bob Baffert stablemate, Hozier, shipped in from Southern California. (Image: Coady Photography/Oaklawn Park)

Concert Tour’s Next Gig on Stardom Path: Rebel Stakes

- 3 min read

If Concert Tour was your garden-variety band embarking on a, well, concert tour, he’d be one of those hot new groups from the underground. A group people have heard of, but don’t really know about. He may not have broken through to the main stage yet, but Concert Tour is […]

Winning the Breeders' Cup Classic two months after capturing the Kentucky Derby likely made Authentic the Horse of the Year. The 50th Eclipse Awards will be announced Jan. 28. (Image: Horsephotos.com)

Authentic, Improbable, Monomoy Girl Head Eclipse Awards Finalists

- 3 min read

Horse of the Year candidates Authentic, Improbable, and Monomoy Girl headline the finalists for the 2020 Eclipse Awards, announced Saturday by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB), and the Daily Racing Form. The Eclipse Awards get their name from the iconic 18th-century racehorse and […]

Undefeated Nadal Heading to Japan to Begin His Stallion Career

- 3 min read

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 […]

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

- 3 min read

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

- 3 min read

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

- 3 min read

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 […]

Nadal won February's San Vicente Stakes for one of his four career victories. The cold retired Thursday after breaking a bone in his leg during a workout. (Image: Benoit Photography)

Broken Bone Forces Kentucky Derby Favorite Nadal Into Retirement

- 2 min read

Illustrating the fragile nature of today’s Thoroughbred horses, Kentucky Derby favorite Nadal broke a bone in his left front leg during a Thursday morning workout. His owner, George Bolton, said Nadal has been immediately retired. One of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s standout 3-year-olds, Nadal worked a half-mile at […]

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

- 3 min read

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. […]

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?

- 4 min read

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 […]

Bob Baffert's unbeaten Nadal is the 5/2 favorite in the tougher of the two Arkansas Derby divisions. (Image: AP)

Deep End of Arkansas Derby Pool is Smack Dab in Second Division

- 3 min read

With the Arkansas Derby’s split divisions, here runs the talent. The Arkansas Derby’s second division features your graded-stakes winners, your low-odds Kentucky Derby futures picks and the horses owning Derby prep victories. Here is the Arkansas Derby’s varsity division – the second division. This is where you find your Louisiana […]

Seen here winning the San Vicente in January, Bob Baffert's Nadal checks all the boxes for a Rebel Stakes winner. (Image: Eclipse Sportswire)

Which Speedster Can Lock Up Kentucky at the Rebel Stakes in Arkansas?

- 3 min read

Like its Santa Anita counterpart, last weekend’s San Felipe, the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas is a Grade 2 Kentucky Derby prep race that boasts predictability, a blueblood pedigree of winners, and the ever-present Bob Baffert. The Rebel, a 1 1/16-mile, two-turn test, is Saturday’s lone Derby prep […]

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