Bullard

Top 3-year-old Journalism (Curlin) returned to the work tab Sunday at Santa Anita following his victory in the GII San Felipe Stakes Mar. 2. Journalism and jockey Umberto Rispoli hit the track together under darkness at about 6:30 a.m. PT. The colt, trained by Michael McCarthy, was clocked working four furlongs in :48.20. He is targeting the GI Santa Anita Derby at 1 1/8 miles Apr. 5. "Very good," McCarthy said of the drill. Rispoli reacted with a wide grin and a thumbs up. In the San Felipe, Journalism ran...

Eclipse Award-winning sprinter Straight No Chaser (Speightster) and a pair of important 3-year-old colts were the star turns on the Santa Anita worktab Saturday morning. Last seen sewing up championship honors when taking out the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint over Bentornato (Valiant Minister) at Del Mar Nov. 2, Straight No Chaser turned in his second consecutive bullet work, going five furlongs in :59.20 (1/72) in advance of his expected appearance in the G2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint on the Saudi Cup undercard Feb. 22. There the 6-year-old is expected to face...

We're inside the 16-week mark for the May 3 GI Kentucky Derby. That's roughly 168,000 minutes until post time, but who's counting? The initial Top 12 rankings are largely based on 2-year-old form, but a speculative element is baked into the equation with an eye toward projecting how these still-developing contenders will blossom over the winter and early spring. 1) FIRST RESORT (c, Uncle Mo--Fair Maiden, by Street Boss) O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Eoin G. Harty. Lifetime Record GSW, 4-2-1-0, $338,671. Last start: WON Nov. 30 GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. This...

Prep season for the GI Kentucky Derby is still in its earliest stages, but a couple of races over the weekend gave us some things to get excited about. It appears, in GII San Vicente Stakes winner Barnes (Into Mischief), we have an early Derby favorite that could give Bob Baffert his first official Derby win since Authentic (Into Mischief) in 2020 in what would be his return to America's most famous race after the Churchill ban. Sold for $3.2 million at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga, this could be a special horse....

Zedan Racing Stable's Barnes (Into Mischief), a $3.2-million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling, made it a perfect two-for-two for Bob Baffert with a jaw-dropping performance in Saturday's GII San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita. The even-money favorite was placed in a tracking second by Juan Hernandez, gained command approaching the quarter pole and leveled off beautifully in the stretch to win with authority by 5 1/2 lengths. His Baffert-trained stablemate Romanesque (Practical Joke), a debut winner over freshly minted 'TDN Rising Star' Rodriguez (Authentic), rounded out the exacta. Narrow second-choice Bullard (Gun...

With plenty of tasty birthday cake in the offing, a cadre of newly-minted 3-year-old colts have blown out their candles and are ready for stakes action across four tracks on Saturday. Leading the charge at Santa Anita is the GII San Vicente Stakes, which is the annual renewal of the seven furlong dirt race. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has won 13 prior editions, including last year with Muth (Good Magic). In customary fashion, the Hall of Famer enters a pair of runners in Barnes (Into Mischief) and Romanesque...

Bob Baffert trainees Citizen Bull (Into Mischief) and Gaming (Game Winner), who made up the exacta in the GI FanDuel Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Del Mar Nov. 1, were among several notables to record timed workouts Saturday morning at Santa Anita. A contender for the Eclipse Award as the top 2-year-old colt, Citizen Bull drilled alongside stablemate Richi (Chi) (Practical Joke) going five furlongs in 59.40 seconds, which was the second-fastest of 59 works at the distance. Gaming worked five furlongs in 1:02.60. For Citizen Bull, this was his third...

In the first domestic graded race for juveniles since the Breeders' Cup a little more than two weeks ago, 'TDN Rising Star' Bullard (c, 2, Gun Runner--Reve d'Amour, by Warrior's Reward) stayed unbeaten to capture Del Mar's GIII Bob Hope Stakes Sunday. The $675,000 Keeneland September purchase had gone to the post favored over highly regarded GI Del Mar Futurity runner-up and GI American Pharoah Stakes third McKinzie Street (McKinzie), who would hit the board once again. Umberto Rispoli, who has been aboard in both of Bullard's two career starts,...

The field for Sunday's GIII Bob Hope Stakes, a seven-furlong event for 2-year-olds at Del Mar, features a small and somewhat eclectic group of six. Take, for example, MGISP McKinzie Street (McKinzie). The Tim Yakteen trainee impressed in his sprint debut earlier in the summer but has had the misfortune of running second and third in a pair of Grade I's including a last-out third to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Citizen Bull (Into Mischief) in the GI American Pharoah Stakes Oct. 5. He breaks from the rail and...

Some say the Boy Scout bugle merit badge is one of the toughest to collect. In Thoroughbred racing it is winning a dirt race from way off the pace. In his Sunday debut at Del Mar, the 'TDN Insighted' Bullard (Gun Runner--Reve d'Amour, by Warrior's Reward) sounded his bugle and charged home to graduate, which earned the 2-year-old a 'TDN Rising Star' merit badge for his effort. Trailing from the bell, the $675,000 Keeneland September grad watched from the rear of the field as 60 cents on the dollar favorite...

7th-SAR, $100K, Msw, 2yo, f, 7f, 3:25 p.m. ET. ALL THE FEELS (Into Mischief) was produced in-house at Spendthrift Farm and will make her first start for trainer Todd Pletcher. GSW Positive Spirit (Pioneerof the Nile) joined the farm's broodmare band after she was acquired for $1.5 million at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Fall Mixed Sale and has handed All the Feels a pair of full-siblings. The Spa debut runner's GSW/GISP second dam is also responsible for GI Kentucky Derby hero Always Dreaming (Bodemeister) and GI Spinaway Stakes heroine Hot Dixie...