Honeybee Stakes

By any measure, Steve and Denise Smith's Mesingw Farm, which celebrated just its fifth anniversary in December, had a banner year in 2025. From the sales ring, where the operation sold its first seven-figure yearling, to the racetrack where it had a graded-stakes placed juvenile at Saratoga in August and a Breeders' Cup starter in November, Mesingw was hitting on all cylinders. The momentum has carried into the new year with the Mesingw-bred Explora (Blame) a leading choice for the GI Kentucky Oaks following her win in the GIII Honeybee...

When a field of 10 enters the starting gate for Saturday's GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park, they'll sure have some big shoes to fill. Twelve months ago, Sovereignty (Into Mischief) embarked on what would become a Horse of the Year campaign with a narrow victory in his seasonal debut and a little more than two months later, joined Spectacular Bid (1979), Thunder Gulch (1995) and Orb (2013) as horses to add the GI Kentucky Derby in the last half-century. Horses such as Union Rags (2012) and...

The GII Fantasy Stakes will be worth $1 million when it is run next year at Oaklawn Park, while the purse for the Arkansas track's GIII Honeybee Stakes will be increased for the second consecutive time, from $500,000 to $750,000 in 2026. "The increase to our Fantasy Stakes by itself makes a very strong statement," Oaklawn's President Louis A. Cella said. "This will be the first time in the history of North American racing that 3-year-old fillies will have an opportunity to run for a seven-figure purse prior to the...

Shadwell Stable's 'TDN Rising Star' Muhimma (Munnings) will not participate in the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks on May 2, trainer Brad Cox told Carlos Morales of Agentes 305 on X during an interview from the Churchill Downs backstretch Saturday morning. Perfect in her three racetrack appearances at two, the $700,000 Keeneland September purchase earned her 'Rising Star' over 6 1/2 furlongs at Churchill last Sept. 20 and followed up with a 5 1/2-length allowance victory going seven-eighths of a mile before closing the season with a front-running success in the...

Shortleaf Stable's 'TDN Rising Star' Quietside (Malibu Moon) returned to the Oaklawn Park worktab for the first time since taking the Feb. 23 GIII Honeybee Stakes, going a half-mile in :48 flat in the company of her stakes-placed stablemate Spankerboom (Mendelssohn). "Just a maintenance work," Ortiz said of Quietside, who covered her final quarter in :23.40 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:00.20 according to track clockers. "Spankerboom always works with her. It was a good work for both. After the wire, I let her gallop out a little bit....

With freezing weather in the forecast, Oaklawn Park has shifted its racing schedule for the coming week. The Hot Springs oval has canceled racing Friday and will move its Friday card to Saturday. The card originally scheduled for Saturday, which included the GII Rebel Stakes and GIII Honeybee Stakes, will be moved to Sunday. Races scheduled for Sunday will now be run Monday. Extreme cold temperatures also caused Turfway Park to move its Wednesday racing card to Sunday, with a first post time of 4:15 p.m. The Florence, Kentucky track...

After the busiest weekend of the year for 3-year-old fillies eyeing the GI Kentucky Oaks, the field is pretty much set for the race. There were four preps over the weekend, which was a problem. There are not enough top horses to go around to fill that many races, so the fields were six, six, six and four. It looks like the Oaks will be highly competitive. There is no one standout. Instead, you will have a number of horses in with a chance and a favorite who should be...

Undefeated Ring Leader (Paynter) looks to add another notch to her belt with a win in Saturday's 8 1/2-furlong GIII Honeybee S. at Oaklawn. A front-running debut winner going five furlongs at Canterbury last June, the Novogratz Racing Stables runner spent the the remainder of the season on the sidelines before returning with a muddy 5 1/4-length win while trying six panels in an Oaklawn optional claimer Jan. 24. Trying stakes company for the first time in the Feb. 15 Dixie Belle S. over that track and trip, she came...