Emerging Market

TDN's Chief Correspondent Bill Finley is joined by Senior Contributing Editor Alan Carasso and Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack to handicap Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. FINLEY: The Puma (Essential Quality) is Mage (Good Magic) 2.0. From the same team that won the GI Kentucky Derby in 2023 with Mage, The Puma is following the exact same pattern. He finished an improved second in the GI Curlin Florida Derby and now looks ready to take another step forward, one that can land him in the winner's circle Saturday...

The field for the GI Kentucky Derby, ranked in "likeliest winner" order followed by program number. On Wednesday #13 Silent Tactic (Tacitus) scratched with a foot bruise, allowing #21 Great White (Volatile) to draw in off the also-eligible list. 1) #6 COMMANDMENT (c, Into Mischief--Sippican Harbor, by Orb) O-Wathnan Racing; B-Lee Pokoik (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. Sales history: $485,000 RNA Wlg '23 FTKNOV; $475,000 RNA Ylg '24 FTSAUG; $500,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP. Lifetime record: GISW, 5-4-0-0, $1,017,339. Last start: WON Mar. 28 GI Florida Derby. Commandment rides a four-race win...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Who's been making the best impression during training hours heading into the 152nd Kentucky Derby? Our boots on the ground and Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack reveals his top five favorite workouts recorded from the field of 20 beneath the Twin Spires. 1) CHIEF WALLABEE April 20, 2026 | 5F | 1:00.00 (2/11) This is the move that everyone is still talking about. Sporting blinkers for the second straight breeze (he'll wear them for the first time in the Derby), 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Chief...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A 7:22 a.m. announcement over the PA system on the Churchill Downs backstretch welcomed Kentucky Oaks/Derby runners as well as Kentucky Derby winners to the track for a special 15-minute training window on a humid and overcast Tuesday morning. With the surface in terrific condition and officially listed as fast despite torrential, late-night thunderstorms, last year's Kentucky Derby winner and physically imposing Horse of the Year Sovereignty (Into Mischief) showed this year's class how it's done with a powerful gallop to get things started. His Bill Mott-trained...

With one week to go until next Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby, contenders began putting in their final works Friday. At Keeneland, Golden Tempo (Curlin) had his final timed drill for first-time Derby trainer Cherie DeVaux. Working inside of MGSW Brilliant Berti (Noble Mission {GB}), the GIII Lecomte Stakes winner clocked a half-mile in :47.40 (2/72). "He's had different company, and he's outworked each one," DeVaux said. "This was just a maintenance work and Brilliant Berti is a pretty good workhorse and he's older. We didn't want him (Golden Tempo) doing...

Has the time finally come to change the dates of the Triple Crown? In an article posted Apr. 13 on the Sports Business Journal website, it was reported that the GI Preakness Stakes would be pushed back a week to be held three weeks after the GI Kentucky Derby in 2027. Maryland Jockey Club President and General Manager Bill Knauf, however, quickly shot down the report and denied that any decision had been made regarding the date of next year's Preakness. Last year's Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty (Into Mischief) famously...

Several horses clustered near the bottom of the "Road to the GI Kentucky Derby" are eligible for the race based on points, but their connections have not committed to the Derby. So this list differs slightly from the official qualifying rankings with respect to a few horses who are currently outside the top 20 points leaders and looking to get in. 1) COMMANDMENT (c, Into Mischief--Sippican Harbor, by Orb). O-Wathnan Racing; B-Lee Pokoik (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. Sales history: $485,000 RNA Wlg '23 FTKNOV; $475,000 RNA Ylg '24 FTSAUG; $500,000...

In what was no doubt a difficult decision, jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. has committed to riding GI Arkansas Derby winner Renegade (Into Mischief) in the GI Kentucky Derby. Ortiz was also the regular rider of GI Blue Grass Stakes winner and 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Further Ado (Gun Runner). It's possible that the two will be, in some order, the first and second choices in the Derby. The news on Ortiz's pick, as well as other jockey commitments made to other key Derby contenders, was first reported by...

by T.D. Thornton-Last Saturday's news that the No. 1-ranked Paladin (Gun Runner) will miss the GI Kentucky Derby with a non-displaced condylar fracture of his right front ankle created a vacancy atop this list. Any set of Derby rankings abhors a vacuum, but it wasn't easy deciding which of several worthy candidates out of the GI Florida Derby and GI Arkansas Derby would take over the kingpin slot.   1) COMMANDMENT (c, Into Mischief-Sippican Harbor, by Orb) O-Wathnan Racing; B-Lee Pokoik (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. Sales history: $485,000 RNA Wlg...

I daresay that plenty of people who invest in bloodstock also like to play "emerging" markets. Both, after all, are notoriously volatile environments, where assets seem to spend at least as much time "submerging." As such we must applaud Klaravich Stables for the naming of the GII Louisiana Derby winner. Strictly they have taken an opportunity overlooked in Wild Empress, the dam of Emerging Market (Candy Ride {Arg}): she was by Empire Maker out of a Seeking the Gold mare named Trappings. And, being at one remove, I guess their...

This coming weekend's nine-furlong stakes at Oaklawn and Gulfstream have the potential to usher in a major shake-up within the rankings, with seven of the Top 12 listed below entered in either the GI Arkansas Derby or the GI Curlin Florida Derby. 1) PALADIN (c, Gun Runner--Secret Sigh, by Tapit) O-Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Peter M. Brant, Brook T. Smith, and Summer Wind Equine, LLC; B-Summer Wind Equine LLC (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. Sales history: $1,900,000 Ylg '24 FTSAUG. Lifetime Record: MGSW, 3-3-0-0, $848,250. Last start: WON...

It can be hazardous to one's betting bankroll to drink the hype-flavored Kool-Aid that flows freely when an undefeated sophomore with limited experience wins a nine-furlong prep for the GI Kentucky Derby in eye-catching fashion. Yet despite the well-documented risks against backing horses who have made only two lifetime starts prior to the first Saturday in May, Emerging Market just might be the type of real-deal, rapidly rising phenom to convince me to saunter over to the punch bowl and try a sip. In the case of this ''TDN Rising...