Just a Touch

Spendthrift Farm and Repole Stable's Accelerize (c, 4, Omaha Beach--Motion Emotion, by Take Charge Indy) tackled a seasoned field in Saturday's 1 1/16-mile GIII Louisiana Stakes at Fair Grounds in just his fourth career start and prevailed in a hard-fought stretch battle. The 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' was making his stakes debut. Just a Touch (Justify), the 3-5 favorite after returning from six months on the sidelines and multiple Grade I placings, hopped awkwardly out of the Louisiana gate. Meanwhile, Accelerize had left the stalls sharply and went...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Led by Breeders' Cup winners Fierceness (City of Light) and White Abarrio (Race Day), a talented field of five will line up for Saturday's GI Metropolitan Handicap on the stacked GI Belmont Stakes program at Saratoga. TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack takes a closer look at the pedigrees of all five of the runners entered in the stallion-making race. #1 FIERCENESS (c, 4, City of Light--Nonna Bella, by Stay Thirsty) Lifetime Record: Ch. 2yo Colt & MGISW, 10-6-1-1, $4,315,320. O-Repole Stable, Derrick Smith, Michael B....

The Easter weekend that would conclude the mission of Argentina's most revered expatriate had begun, in our rather more trivial field of endeavor, with a remarkable testament to the influence of South America on the American Turf. At Keeneland, the late Pope's compatriot Ignacio Correas saddled his latest big winner, Utah Beach (English Channel) in the GII Elkhorn Stakes. Over at Santa Anita, the flourishing Chilean import Richi (Chi) (Practical Joke) impressed in the GII Santa Maria Stakes. And at Oaklawn the weekend's biggest prize was won by First Mission...

8th-Keeneland, $130,000, Alw (NW2$X), Opt. Clm ($80,000), 4-19, 4yo/up, 1 1/8m, 1:50.34, ft, 7 lengths. JUST A TOUCH (c, 4, Justify--Touching Beauty {GSW, $183,166}, by Tapit) was runner-up in last year's GIII Gotham Stakes and this track's GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes and was as short as 11-1 for the GI Kentucky Derby. Very little went right on that occasion, but he bounced back to just miss in the July 6 Iowa Derby before going missing. The bay could not have been more impressive in bossing a first-level Fair Grounds...

With Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) already back galloping following his upset victory in the $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup--more on him shortly--trainer Brad Cox will be well-represented by a pair of older horses on Saturday that could make some noise of their own in the handicap division this year. Godolphin homebred and 'TDN Rising Star' First Mission (Street Sense), a fantastic third while launching his 5-year-old season off the bench in the GIII Razorback H. Feb. 23, is the 2-1 program favorite in the $1.25-million GII Oaklawn H. in...

6th-Fair Grounds, $53,000, Alw, 3-1, (NW1X), 4yo/up, 1 1/16m, 1:42.23, ft, 10 1/2 lengths. JUST A TOUCH (c, 4, Justify--Touching Beauty {GSW, $183,166}, by Tapit) was training 'exceptionally well' ahead of a pending return to action, Qatar Racing U.S. advisor Fergus Galvin told TDN Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack on Feb. 21, and those words proved more than prescient, as the 4-year-old colt galloped his rivals into the ground, suggesting the sky is the limit in the handicap division for 2025. Ridden forward from gate three, the bay colt had...

Just a Touch (Justify), a fantastic second behind subsequent GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) in last spring's GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, is nearing a return to action. Last seen coming up just a head short for Qatar Racing, Resolute Racing and Marc Detampel in the Iowa Derby July 6, the 4-year-old has posted seven workouts at Brad Cox's Payson Park base this year, most recently breezing five furlongs in 1:01.80 (3/13) Feb. 15. "He's doing great," said Hunter Valley Farm's Fergus Galvin, who...

7th-GP, $94k, Msw, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 3:21p.m. ET A $500,000 KEESEP purchase by Repole Stables in 2023, ADVENTURIST (Curlin) goes to post here for Todd Pletcher with Irad Ortiz Jr. in the irons. Out of GIII Comely Stakes victress Touching Beauty (Tapit), the chestnut is a half-brother to GISP Just a Touch (Justify) and SP Corps of Discovery (Unbridled's Song). His dam is herself a half-sister to GSP Tritap (Tapit) as well as SW Noisy Feet (Tapit), in turn the mother of SW What Say Thee (Sea The Stars {Ire})....

LOUISVILLE, KY -- Weeks and months of preparation, with a healthy dose of good luck, are complete. A full field of 20 will line up for the 150th anniversary renewal of the GI Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Much of the pre-race hype has revolved around the defending juvenile champion Fierceness (City of Light). A runaway winner in the GI Florida Derby in his latest start, the 'TDN Rising Star' has been training like a beast, signaling he is ready to do big things come Derby day. His trainer, Todd...

Featuring $200-million worth of improvements in its new paddock area, Churchill Downs hosted the draw ceremony for next weekend's GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks during its opening night card Saturday. As usual, the proceedings drew some cheers, and jeers, from the crowd. Possibly numbered among the latter, the connections of the 5-2 morning line favorite 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light) couldn't have been overly thrilled with drawing post 17 for Saturday's Run for the Roses. Campaigned by his breeder Mike Repole, the reigning juvenile champ comes...

GI Blue Grass S. winner Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) led a total of nine GI Kentucky Derby hopefuls on the work tab a week out from the Run for the Roses. Breezing in company with stablemate and fellow Derby hopeful Domestic Product (Practical Joke), the pair went five furlongs in 1:00.20 (15/58) through splits of :13, :24.80, :36.40 before galloping out in 1:13.20 and 1:26.20. "It [the work] was executed perfectly," said Chad Brown, the trainer for both workers. "I wanted them to a good five-eighths out in three-quarters but...

With Derby week just around the corner, the morning work tab under the Twin Spires was chock full of participants Wednesday, but one Derby entry went further than the others. Susumu Fujita's undefeated Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) worked six furlongs in 1:19.60 over a fast track. With jockey Ryusei Sakai aboard, the colt posted fractions of :14.80, :28.80, :42.60, :55.20, 1:19.60 and out seven furlongs in 1:33,60. He was joined for the last half-mile by Cuffed Candy (Candy Ride {Arg}), an unraced 3-year-old for trainer Dale Romans. "Thanks...