GII New Orleans Classic

For the second time the accomplished Touchuponastar (Star Guitar) was named by the Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders Association as the LA-bred Horse of the Year, the organization said in a letter that was sent to its members on Friday. The gelding, who secured the same honor in 2023, turned in a stellar 2025 which included a handful of wins against black-type state bred company and also a victory in the GII New Orleans Classic at Fair Grounds. Bred by Coteau Grove Farms, Touchuponastar is owned by former NFL quarterback Jake Delhomme's...

You probably won't find the name Touchuponastar (Star Guitar) on anyone's 2025 Eclipse Award ballot. Fanfare just doesn't come easily for a Louisiana-bred who has spent most of his career competing against fellow state breds. But the 7-year-old gelding is unquestionably one of the fastest horses in the sport. Is he fast enough to win the Jan. 24 GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes at Gulfstream Park? It appears he may just be given that chance. When the names of horses invited to the $3 million race were released, Touchuponastar...

If you are looking to back a runner who can confidently operate under center, shoot the A-gap and get to the next level, streak like a gazelle along the sidelines and tip-toe ever so elegantly for the score, then look no further than Louisiana-bred Touchuponastar (Star Guitar), who took home his fourth Champions Day Classic Stakes at Fair Grounds on Saturday--the mark surpassed his stellar sire and moved him closer to $2-million in career earnings. The 6-year-old's ride for brothers Jake and Jeff Delhomme took them to new heights earlier...

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...

Last year's Champion 3-year-old male and 'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) will return to Fair Grounds to make his 4-year-old bow in the 100th running of the GII New Orleans Classic on Saturday. Tabbed as the 7-5 morning line favorite, Sierra Leone will face nine other opponents including the highly-regarded winner of the GIII Mineshaft Stakes at Fair Grounds Feb. 15, Hall of Fame (Gun Runner). As reported by TDN's Senior Contributing Editor Alan Carasso, Sierra Leone's trainer Chad Brown had made plans for the colt to make...

Pleasant Acres Stallions welcomed 2021 Virginia Horse of the Year and GSW Chess Chief (Into Mischief) who will stand his inaugural season in Florida for a $5,000 fee, the farm said in press release on Friday. Bred by Morgan's Ford Farm, Chess Chief comes to the 220-acre breeding operation northwest of Ocala after finishing his racing career last January. The 7-year-old owned by the estate of James J. Coleman and trained by Dallas Stewart, earned $931,319 over the course of his career with his best effort coming when he won...