Arkansas Derby

Two of trainer Brad Cox's four GI Kentucky Derby contenders turned in half-mile works at Churchill Downs Saturday, with GI Arkansas Derby winner Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) and GII Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby third-place finisher Jace's Road (Quality Road) both credited with working, hours apart, in :48.20 (20/99). Albaugh Family Stables' Angel of Empire worked alongside stablemate Tapit's Conquest (Tapit), who was most recently seventh in the Louisiana Derby, just as the track opened at 5:30 a.m. Sporting blinkers while working outside his stablemate through early fractions of :12.40 and...

It was likely a difficult decision, but Flavien Prat has chosen to ride GI Arkansas Derby winner Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) over GII Louisiana Derby winner Kingsbarns (Uncle Mo) in this year's GI Kentucky Derby. The news was confirmed by trainer Brad Cox, who said he has received assurances from Prat and his agent Brad Pegram that the French-born riding star will be aboard Angel of Empire in the Derby. "Yes, Prat will ride Angel of Empire in the Derby," Cox said via text. "We're excited that Flavien is...

Sam Wright has been purchasing racehorses for clients across the globe since founding Equine Investments International three years ago, but the Hong Kong native may have found his most successful graduate to date in the fields of Kentucky where he picked out three foals for a pinhooking partnership of friends. The trio included a son of Classic Empire who, after RNA'ing for $32,000 at the 2020 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, sold to Albaugh Family Stables for $70,000 at the following year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Named Angel of Empire,...

Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) and Wet Paint (Blame) weren't the only 3-year-olds to impress on Oaklawn Park's loaded GI Arkansas Derby program. WinStar Farm and Siena Farm's Federal Judge (c, 3, Army Mule--Congarette, by Congaree) announced his presence with authority on the undercard, kicking off his career for trainer Rodolphe Brisset with a razor sharp, front-running performance, good for a flashy 97 Beyer Speed Figure. He broke sharply from post five beneath Ricardo Santana, Jr. and quickly cleared his six rivals, including a trio of older horses, at debut...

We're approaching the edge of the GI Kentucky Derby abyss. Three final 100-points prep races Saturday, followed by four weeks of microscopic analysis and animated speculation. Bring it on! 1) FORTE (c, Violence--Queen Caroline, by Blame) 'TDN Rising Star'. O-Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable; B-South Gate Farm (KY); T-Todd Pletcher. Sales history: $80,000 Wlg '20 KEENOV; $110,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: Ch. 2yo Colt, MGISW, 7-6-0-0, $1,833,230. Last start: 1st GI Curlin Florida Derby at Gulfstream Apr. 1. Kentucky Derby Points: 190. 'TDN Rising Star' Forte has made...

Approaching the four-week mark to the GI Kentucky Derby, trainer Todd Pletcher has three highly ranked contenders, and the most impressive thing about that collective is that the Hall-of-Fame conditioner has guided them through undefeated 2023 campaigns to date, meticulously mapping out their schedules to avoid overlap. Divisional champ Forte (Violence), now 6-for-7, won Saturday's GI Florida Derby with a mad-dash flourish. 'TDN Rising Star' Tapit Trice (Tapit), the winner of the GIII Tampa Bay Derby, will be heavily favored to improve his 3-for-4 record with another score in Saturday's...

Brad Cox saddled a trio of winners Saturday at Oaklawn with Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) taking the day's biggest prize in the GI Arkansas Derby. He also won the GIII Fantasy Stakes for 3-year-old fillies with heavily-favored Wet Paint (Blame) and the Hot Springs S. with Eyeing Clover (Lookin At Lucky). "It was a great day," Cox said during training hours Sunday morning at Oaklawn. "It was good. Big performance from that colt yesterday, Angel of Empire. We'll load him on Tuesday and ship to Kentucky and see what...

Fourth choice at 9-2, but the only runner in the GI Arkansas Derby field with a win at nine furlongs, Angel of Empire (c, 3, Classic Empire--Armony's Angel, by To Honor and Serve) used that overlooked experience to his advantage and emerged looking like a world-beater. Racing midpack early, he ranged up and burst clear to win in hand and by daylight. King Russell (Creative Cause) was second, while Reincarnate (Good Magic) finished third. The Arkansas Derby was a GI Kentucky Derby points race and awarded points on a 100-40-30-20-10...

Big Brown (Boundary) took no prisoners from post 12 with a powerful, wire-to-wire performance in the GI Curlin Florida Derby before capturing the first two legs of the Triple Crown in 2008. It's champion Forte (Violence)'s turn now. Last term's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner, an eye-catching winner while kicking off his sophomore campaign in the GII Fountain of Youth S. Mar. 4, towers over his 11 rivals on paper in Saturday's Florida Derby. But with a well-documented short run to the first turn going 1 1/8 miles at Gulfstream...

Coming from a culture where most wagering stipulates a fixed dividend, in the startling event that your horse happens to see through his part of the deal, I tend to view the morning line on American races as named for the hangover evidently being suffered by its compiler. Certainly by the time the market has been soberly hydrated with dollars and cents, I won't be expecting anything as close to an even play as the 4-5 listed about Forte (Violence) overcoming the wide draw that appears to introduce his only...

It's that time of the year, when Todd Pletcher is in the headlines virtually every weekend. He won last Saturday's GII Louisiana Derby with Kingsbarns (Uncle Mo), has the favorite in Saturday's GI Curlin Florida Derby in Forte (Violence) and the following week will head to Keeneland for the GI Toyota Blue Grass, where Tapit Trice (Tapit) could be the horse to beat. To get Pletcher's latest thoughts on his wealth of 3-year-old talent we had him join us on this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland. Pletcher...

Forte (Violence), who goes postward in Saturday's GI Curlin Florida Derby, was tabbed the 5-2 favorite in the field of 39 individual horses, plus a 40th option for all other 3-year-olds, in the final pool of the GI Kentucky Derby Future Wager. Unlike the first five Future Wager pools, Pool 6 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager will close Saturday at 6 p.m. ET., which is 40 minutes before the Florida Derby and one hour and 50 minutes ahead of GI Arkansas Derby. Here is the complete field for Pool...