Cornucopian

7th-Aqueduct, $71,340, Alw (NW1$X)/Opt. Clm ($100,000), 4-27, 3yo, 1m, 1:36.58, ft, 3 1/4 lengths. GARAMOND (c, 3, Uncle Mo--Blue Watch, by Tapit) broke his maiden by 1 3/4 lengths on debut at Tampa Bay Jan. 25. The colt ran third to Flood Zone (Frosted) in the GIII Gotham Stakes Mar. 1 before going off as the 5-2 second choice here in a field that scratched down from eight to three. The homebred rolled from the word 'go' and gave 'TDN Rising Star' Cornucopian (Into Mischief) a dose of his own...

7th-AQU, Alw (N1X)/OC ($100k), $82k, 3yo, 1m, 4:22 p.m. ET The official feature of Sunday's program at the Big A is the Memories of Silver Stakes one race hence, but this one-mile contest is liable to produce multiple runners for age-restricted stakes over the coming weeks and months. CORNUCOPIAN (Into Mischief) blew the doors off a field of Oaklawn maidens on debut Feb. 23, earning no-brainer 'TDN Rising Star' status, but found himself in a suicidal pace battle in the Mar. 29 GI Arkansas Derby and the $1.1-million KEESEP yearling...

Journalism (Curlin), widely regarded as the favorite for the GI Kentucky Derby on May 3, has been made the 8-1 choice for the single-pool Preakness Stakes Future Win Wager according to a release from the new Maryland Jockey Club. Trained by Michael McCarthy, the $825,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling was third over an insufficient six furlongs on career debut last October, but has since rattled off four straight victories at a mile and beyond, most recently overcoming trouble to take the GI Santa Anita Derby Apr. 5. 'TDN Rising Star' Cornucopian...

If you want a historical prognosticator for success in the GI Kentucky Derby, you can't do much better than running well in the GI Florida Derby. The premier stakes for sophomores at Gulfstream Park has been around since 1952, and in 73 renewals, Florida Derby participants have gone on to win that year's Kentucky Derby 25 times-a better than 1-in-3 strike rate. For perspective, the next-most-productive preps are two far older races, the GI Champagne Stakes (which dates to 1867) and the GI Blue Grass Stakes (first run in 1911),...

Travel plans for the GI Arkansas Derby runners are taking shape as top two Sandman (Tapit) and Publisher (American Pharoah) are scheduled to make the move to Churchill Monday. Positive prognoses abound Sunday as trainers prepared their charges for the haul to Churchill Downs ahead of the final preparations for the first Saturday in May. Sandman relished not only the added distance, as his dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse predicted, but also the meteoric pace up front courtesy of Cornucopian (Into Mischief) and Speed King (Volatile). His preliminary...

Gulfstream Park's GI Curlin Florida Derby tips off one hour ahead of Oaklawn's GI Arkansas Derby on Saturday and, with 100 points on the 'Road to the Kentucky Derby' on offer in each spot, both races offer what amounts to a 'win and you're in' spot in the gate on the first Saturday in May. Between them, the two tracks host eight of the day's 10 graded stakes. Godolphin homebred Sovereignty (Into Mischief), one of two runners in the Florida Derby along with Madaket Road (Quality Road) facing a jockey...

During his 22 years serving in the Kentucky State Senate, Damon Thayer was known as a fierce advocate for the horse racing industry. Thayer decided not to run for re-election in 2024, but that doesn't mean that he stopped trying to help the sport, using his considerable political acumen to do so. Thayer has accepted the job as the senior advisor to the Thoroughbred Racing Initiative--a group formed to try to fight off efforts to decouple the racing and casino and card room licenses in Florida. To talk about his...

Bob Baffert has found himself in a familiar position as he once again brings a well-met runner into Saturday's GI Arkansas Derby with all the buzz behind him, this time in the form of 'TDN Rising Star' Cornucopian (Into Mischief), who has been made the 7-5 morning line favorite from the nine hole. Fresh off an unveiling which garnered the stamp of approval from the TDN, and stopped the clock in a six-furlong maiden special in an eye-catching 1:09.02--the fastest by a 3-year-old in Oaklawn history--the son of Into Mischief...

Cornucopian (c, 3, Into Mischief--Magical World, by Distorted Humor) left his backers in little doubt on this unveiling, running his competition off their feet and on to 'TDN Rising Stardom'. Away quickly from the gates, the son of the venerable Into Mischief flashed good early foot as the 3-5 favorite and sailed along through :21.86 and :45.50 splits while 34-1 longshot Oil Capital (Maclean's Music) tried to make a race of it. Hounded relentlessly by that one going into the bend, he was well in control coming into the home...

2nd-GP, $94k, Msw, 3yo, f, 7 1/2fT, 1:20p.m. ET Debuting on the Gulfstream grass for Bregman Family Racing, Athaliah (Gun Runner) will go to post from the George Weaver barn. The $480,000 KEESEP grad is out of graded-placed Divine Elegance (Uncle Mo), a half-sister to the dam of multiple Grade I-placed Standard Deviation (Curlin). This is the extended female family of GI Kentucky Oaks victress Believe You Can (Proud Citizen). To her outside is Uncommon (Quality Road), a half-sister to MGSW Fast Boat (City Zip), who hails from a busy,...