Corniche

A total of 312 sophomores were nominated for this year's Triple Crown series at the early nomination deadline of Jan. 29. The number of early nominations slipped 4.3%, or 14 horses, from last year's total of 326. The nominated group is led by Grade I winners Corniche (Quality Road), Jack Christopher (Munnings), Pinehurst (Twirling Candy) and Rattle N Roll (Connect). Echo Zulu (Gun Runner), winner of last year's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and likely 2-year-old champion female, is one of six fillies made eligible for the Triple Crown. Nominees...

Yes, despite everything, life really is good. I know that the industry press is currently saturated with the contention of attorneys, rather than racehorses. And I know that our sport, in the process, is squandering much of the cultural capital that should instead have been invested in the two compelling talents squaring up at Gulfstream Saturday. Yet perhaps one of the protagonists will not just put all these tawdry sagas aside, however briefly, but also pay a timely tribute to a mare who could get anyone interested in the game....

Knicks Go (Paynter) was one of a dozen winners at the 2021 Breeders' Cup meeting at Del Mar in early November to be named Eclipse Award finalists, as the candidates in 11 equine and five human categories were announced Saturday morning on TVG. While the finalists for 2021 were not revealed--they will be announced at the conclusion of the Eclipse Award ceremony at Santa Anita Feb. 10--it is a fait accompli that Knicks Go will take home the evening's most coveted award. The grey, winner of the 2020 GI Breeders'...

The Week in Review by T.D. Thornton Oaklawn Park readjusted its series of prep races for the GI Kentucky Derby this year by moving back the date of its premier stakes, the GI Arkansas Derby, so it now sits five weeks out from the first Saturday in May instead of the traditional three. That changed the overall complexion of the prep-race picture so that the final three nine-furlong stakes that award 100 coveted Derby qualifying points to the winner will all take place Apr. 9. This means that for the...

Presumptive 2-year-old champion male and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile hero Corniche (Quality Road) will be freshened briefly at WinStar Farm in Kentucky this winter before returning to Bob Baffert's barn, according to a report in Daily Racing Form. Marette Farrell, who purchased the $1.5-million colt for Speedway Stable, said Corniche was sent to Kentucky last Wednesday. "It's time to give him a little bit of a break," Farrell told DRF. "Speedway likes to use WinStar for lay-ups. He can be turned out, graduate to a paddock, and they have a...

Red Smith put it well; of course he did. So well, in fact, that he said it all over again. In 1975, writing one of the pieces that won a Pulitzer Prize the following year, Smith declared that Kentucky Derby week was "the only one in 52 when the instrument of Satan known as horse racing becomes a showpiece of the American sports scene." Four years later, back at the same point in the cycle, he wrote that little old ladies in Wisconsin would this week be glad to learn...

In 1985, owner Dennis Diaz had a decision to make after his runner, Spend a Buck, won the GI Kentucky Derby. Under ordinary circumstances it would be on to the GI Preakness S. two weeks later. But, as Lee Corso would say: "Not so fast." In this particular year, before the Triple Crown prep season had begun, Garden State Park owner Robert Brennan offered a $2-million bonus to any horse who won the track's two preps plus the Kentucky Derby and GIII Jersey Derby. Diaz and trainer Cam Gambolati sent...

Express Train (Union Rags), slated to contest Saturday's GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, was scratched the morning of the race because of swelling in his hind right hock. "He was schooling in the paddock three days ago and he got a little playful, jumping around and kicked himself," trainer John Shirreffs said. "He'll be fine with a little more time and we plan on running him next year." Also withdrawn Saturday morning, Lael Stable's Arrest Me Red (Pioneerof the Nile) was forced to miss Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint....

DEL MAR, CA - Following the unfortunate vet scratch of speedy morning-line favorite and 'TDN Rising Star' Jack Christopher (Munnings), unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Corniche (Quality Road) had things his own way on the front end and ran to the money as the 7-5 favorite for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert in Friday's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Del Mar. Drawn widest of all in post 11, the $1.5-million OBS April topper shot out to the front beneath "Big Money" Mike Smith and cleared the field heading into the first...

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. After finishing a well-beaten third behind potential GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile favorite Corniche (Quality Road) sprinting on debut at Del Mar Sept. 4 (video), the promising War At Sea (c, 2, War Front--Serene Melody, by Street Cry {Ire}) stretches to two turns at Santa Anita Friday. Off at 24-1 in his unveiling for the patient Ron Ellis barn, War At Sea chased from an inside fifth as Corniche...

We've all seen those old thrillers where the sports car is twisting along a road cut into a coastal cliff, and suddenly one of the wheels is spinning over the sea far below. Well, that's pretty much how it feels when a commercial breeder decides to bring home a Book 1 yearling at $385,000. In both cases, you're putting an awful lot of trust in horsepower, admittedly in its sleekest form, getting you back on the road. Unlike Cary Grant in North By Northwest, however, you don't even have the...

'TDN Rising Star' Corniche (c, 2, Quality Road--Wasted Tears, by Najran), the $1.5-million OBS April topper earlier this spring and a jaw-dropping debut winner going 5 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar Sept. 4, led them every step of the way to run to the money as the 2-5 favorite in Friday's 'Win and You're In' GI American Pharoah S. at Santa Anita. Pappacap (Gun Runner), winner of the GII Best Pal S., was second; third out maiden winner Oviatt Class (Bernardini) was third. Corniche is the 10th winner of the...