Leave No Trace

Doesn't anyone want to be No. 1? At the beginning of the month, the 3-year-old filly picture looked pretty set. There were two big stars in Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief) and Hoosier Philly (Into Mischief) and then there was everyone else. Surely, one, if not both, would cruise through their preps and enter the GI Kentucky Oaks ready to finish the job. Then Wonder Wheel was defeated in the Suncoast S. as the 1-2 favorite, losing to 38-1 shot Dreaming of Snow (Jess's Dream). And then, a week later, Hoosier...

With the runnings of the GIII Las Virgenes S. at Santa Anita and the Martha Washington S. at Oaklawn, there's now a bit more clarity to the division, particularly in California where Las Virgenes winner Faiza (Girvin) look like she is the best of that group. The Martha Washington was won by the Brad Cox-trained Wet Paint (Blame), but she didn't beat a stellar group and will have to wait for another day to make this list. This will be a quiet weekend for the 3-year-old fillies. Gulfstream does offer...

It's early in the season, but not too early to get excited about the group eyeing the GI Kentucky Oaks. In Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief) you have a standout 2-year-old and a deserving Eclipse champion. Hoosier Philly (Into Mischief) has so impressed trainer Tom Amoss that he said the GI Kentucky Derby is under consideration. Justique (Justify) has been ultra-impressive at times. They're the Top 3, but numbers four through 10 make up a group filled with potential. At least two prominent members of the division will not make it...

Indiana horseman William Austin Nicks, who improbably acquired the dam of Rich Strike just days before that colt won the GI Kentucky Derby in May, scored another dam of a future Grade I winner on a shoestring budget when he purchased Tanquerray (Good Journey), in foal to Outwork, for $2,000 at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton February sale. The mare was followed into the sales ring at that auction by her yearling filly by Outwork, who sold for $8,000. Reoffered at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic in October, the yearling brought $40,000. Now named Leave...

By J.N. Campbell While U.S. television sets await a rainy French Arc Day in the morning, both the right and left North American coasts will emcee three graded stakes races apiece, as Sunday afternoon comes calling. The Big A and The Great Race Place (Aqueduct and Santa Anita, in case you were stationed under a rock) host. The former is accommodating Belmont's Fall Meet, while "Big Sandy" undergoes an extreme makeover tunnel edition; while the latter is back in business under the picturesque mountains and ray filled sun in SoCal....

WellSpring Stables' Leave No Trace (Outwork), overlooked at 14-1 stepping up from restricted maiden company, proved best in Sunday's GI Spinaway S. at Saratoga to give trainer Phil Serpe his first top-level success since 1993. Bought for just $40,000 as a Fasig-Tipton Midlantic October yearling, the dark bay scored a professional 2 3/4-length victory while wrapped up later against auction price-restricted foes here July 20. That effort earned a co-field best 77 Beyer, but Irad Ortiz, Jr. departed to ride Aunt Shirley (Justify) in here and Leave No Trace drifted...