Good Cheer

The cars scooting along on the nearby Pennsylvania Turnpike may have little from a speed standpoint on Saturday's GI Pennsylvania Derby in Northeast Philly, as the pace looks to be very much on and that could help those with stalking or closing ability in the final age-restricted Grade I of the season around two turns. But make no mistake: speed has been king--by and large--in the $1-million contest over the past dozen years or so. The Bob Baffert-trained Bayern (Offlee Wild)--next-out winner of a much-discussed GI Breeders' Cup Classic--future champion...

C R K Stable and Grandview Equine's Baeza (McKinzie), third to Sovereignty (Into Mischief) in the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont Stakes and a latest second to the divisional leader in the GII Jim Dandy Stakes, and Gosger (Nyquist), runner-up to Journalism (Curlin) in the GI Preakness Stakes and when last seen in the GI Haskell Invitational Stakes in mid-July, drew gates eight and nine, respectively, in a field of 10 for Saturday's $1-million GI Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing north and east of Central Philadelphia. The human connections...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - As expected, the field for Saturday's 156th running of the $1.25-million GI Travers Stakes will be a small one. That is because the best 3-year-old in the country, Sovereignty (Into Mischief) is running. Only four others will challenge Godolphin's Sovereignty, who is trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott and ridden by Junior Alvarado. The last time only five horses were entered for the Travers was in 1994 when Holy Bull (Great Above) won. The smallest field in Travers history was two horses and that happened...

In the 145th running of the GI Alabama Stakes, it was Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) who took home the elite level glory at Saratoga. Entering the race, it was largely billed as a showdown between the 'big three' and it more or less went that way during the running. Nitrogen entered the historic contest fresh off a heartbreaker in the July 5 GI Belmont Oaks Invitational over the course next door where a nose denied her a first Grade I victory. Her tour de force two back June 7 in a...

Who's the current leader of the 3-year-old filly division? Featuring a rubber match between GI Kentucky Oaks heroine Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro) and two-time GISW La Cara (Street Sense), we'll have our answer following a fantastic renewal of Saturday's GI Alabama S. at Saratoga. Good Cheer made it a perfect seven-for-seven for trainer Brad Cox with a powerful win on the first Friday in May, but never factored as the 1-4 favorite, finishing a lackluster fifth in the GI Acorn S. in the Saratoga slop June 6. The Godolphin homebred,...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY -- She would have been the likely favorite in next Saturday's $500,000 GI Ballerina Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. But that point is moot now. 'TDN Rising Star' Ways and Means (Practical Joke) won't run. Trainer Chad Brown delivered the news Thursday morning at his barn on the Oklahoma Training Track. "Unfortunately, she got sick," Brown said, sitting at his desk in his office. "She's sick, she's not running. Next question. There is nothing to talk about. She's going to miss the race." Brown was forced to...

SARATOGA SPRINGS - As Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott watched Sovereignty (Into Mischief) gobble up ground on the Oklahoma Training Track from afar Saturday morning, his mind drifted back to maybe the best horse he ever trained. Sovereignty, working for the first time since winning the GII Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga on July 26, went four furlongs in :48.99 (117/65) and galloped out in 1:02 2/5. Assistant trainer Neil Poznansky was on board. Mott had accompanied Sovereignty to the Oklahoma aboard his pony, Rocky. "Coming to the wire,...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--The work is done. Now, Sovereignty (Into Mischief) waits for the $500,000 GII Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga Race Course next Saturday. Winner of the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont Stakes, Sovereignty's connections are confident he is ready to make his first start since that Triple Crown campaign. Saturday, morning at 7:30, Sovereignty had his final work for the Jim Dandy--and third since the Belmont--going four furlongs in 49.82 (12/41) under Neil Poznansky, the assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. Sovereignty worked by himself; in...

Saturday at Saratoga, while stuck in Mother Nature's crosshairs, provided trainer Chad Brown a tenth GI Diana Stakes victory with Excellent Truth (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}) and saw 'TDN Rising Star' Far Bridge (English Channel) dominate the GII Bowling Green Stakes. With their charges emerging from the efforts in good shape, the connections are tentatively looking to the future. In the Brown camp, Excellent Truth's effort only served to strengthen what the conditioner already believed going into the contest--that his mare was one of the best in the country. After...

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Next Wednesday, 2024 Horse of the Year & 'TDN Rising Star' Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) is expected to be in Saratoga. Trainer Kenny McPeek said she will ship to the Spa from Kentucky along with Mystik Dan (Goldencents), last year's GI Kentucky Derby winner. Thorpedo Anna is coming off a three-length win in the GII, $500,000 Fleur de Lis Stakes at Churchill Downs last Saturday. "She is fine, she is like a rocket ship," McPeek said by phone from Kentucky Thursday. "She loves her work; she loves...

Sovereignty (Into Mischief) is on top. He got there by winning two of the most important races on the calendar for 3-year-olds. With his wins in the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont Stakes, he leads the way because this is a sport where they're always asking, "What have you done for me lately?" But that doesn't necessarily mean that he's the best 3-year-old to have run this year. The last time Sovereignty lost was in the Mar. 29 GI Curlin Florida Derby. He didn't have any excuses. He just...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The graveyard of champions strikes again. Tracy Farmer homebred La Cara (Street Sense) shot out to the front and never looked back, splashing home a three-length, wire-to-wire winner in Friday's GI DK Horse Acorn S. at rainy Saratoga. Look Forward (Bolt d'Oro) chased her around the track in second, finishing a neck better than third-place finisher Scottish Lassie (McKinzie). Previously unbeaten GI Kentucky Oaks heroine and 1-4 favorite Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro) suffered her first career defeat finishing fifth. Sent to the front by Dylan Davis,...