Oaklawn

Valentine Candy took home the fourth stakes win of the Oaklawn meet and gave his conditioner Steve Asmussen his ninth Bachelor S. The colt's run of Hot Springs black-type success began late in his juvenile year when he won the Advent S. in early December and later that month when he captured the Renaissance S. Turning the calendar to his 3-year-old season, the chestnut won the Ozark S. Feb. 10, but shipping to Turfway he finished just off the board in the Animal Kingdom S. Mar. 23. Back on his...

Proxy (Tapit) provided Godolphin with its first winner of the GII Oaklawn H. just 12 months ago and the progressive Highland Falls (Curlin) has legitimate claims to double that tally when he squares off with 10 others in the nine-furlong contest. Trained by Brad Cox--who somewhat surprisingly has never saddled an Oaklawn H. winner--the homebred son of GI Breeders' Cup Distaff upsetter Round Pond (Awesome Again) won three of his first four trips to the post in maiden and allowance company back east and was scarcely disgraced last time in...

Michael Lund Petersen's Adare Manor (m, 5, Uncle Mo--Brooklynsway, by Giant Gizmo), who so often shows her best on the front end, took her California tactics on the road with a 5 1/2-length score in Oaklawn's $1.25-million GI Apple Blossom S. Saturday while conceding between one and six pounds to her rivals. Flying Connection (Nyquist), who shipped in from Sunland Park after three straight stakes wins in New Mexico for the red-hot Todd Fincher barn, closed late to nab second over Mar. 24 Shantel Lanerie S. winner Free Like a...

Saturday's GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. at Keeneland, the final stop on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, offers a path to Churchill Downs for the first Saturday in May for D. J. Stable and Robert Cotran's Hades (Awesome Slew). Currently on the outside looking in, Hades sits in 24th place on the leaderboard with 30 points. The GI Kentucky Derby is limited to 20 starters. The Lexington offers 42 points on a 20-10-6-4-2 scale. With a victory, Hades would be in the top 20. A runner-up finish would put him...

Top trainer Robertino Diodoro has been provisionally suspended by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) after he was allegedly found to possess the banned substance Levothyroxine. Levothyroxine is a thyroid medication. According to the National Library of Medicine the use of thyroid hormones for doping to enhance performance in human sports has long been controversial. There have been claims of abuse of these drugs, but they have not been prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Diodoro declined to comment and referred questions to his lawyer, John Holleman. At deadline...

Nash, named a 'TDN Rising Star' after a 10 1/4-length romp in a 1 1/16-mile Churchill Downs maiden special weight Nov. 12, resumed winning ways after three straight placings at Fair Grounds this season. Nash was second behind Track Phantom (Quality Road) in the GIII Lecomte Jan. 20, then second again in a live optional claimer over a sloppy surface at Fair Grounds Feb. 17. Jockey Florent Geroux settled the even-money favorite four-wide behind Frost Free's pace set in fractions of :23.15, :47.64 and 1:12.56. Remaining four wide throughout, he...

Lance Gasaway, 4G Racing and Daniel Hamby III's Mystik Dan (Goldencents) worked five furlongs in 1:01.80 (20/34) over a fast track at the Fair Grounds Saturday morning. Trained by Ken McPeek, the winner of the Feb. 3 GIII Southwest S. is expected to ship to Oaklawn Wednesday in advance of a tilt at the $1.5-million GI Arkansas Derby Mar. 30. McPeek opted to train Mystik Dan up to the Arkansas Derby, which could award as many as 200 qualifying points to its top five eligible finishers (100-50-25-15-10, respectively) for Kentucky...

6th-Oaklawn, $115,000, Msw, 3-15, 3yo, 6f, 1:10.53, sy, 6 1/2 lengths. THIS IS USCAR (c, 3, Oscar Performance--Journey On {GSP, $259,878}, by Good Journey) drifted up from his 5-1 morning line to jump as a 9-1 longshot in this debut spot. Up on the pace from the break, he stayed right outside of pacesetter Capital Connection (Connect) and dueled that rival nearly the entire way around the track. The pair traded blows through fractions of :21.97 and :46.00 over the sloppy surface but, as they swung off the turn, This...

It's still not clear exactly what went wrong Saturday when a tote failure impacted several tracks, including Tampa Bay Downs. The Oldsmar, Florida track took a huge hit when it was forced to run the GIII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby as a non-wagering event and to also cancel the last race of the day. Tampa Bay Downs Vice President and General Manager Pete Berube estimates that the track lost as much as $4.5 million in handle because betting wasn't available. There was a massive telecommunications network failure Saturday afternoon...

The only GIII Azeri S. entry to not have tried stakes company, Tiny Temper (Arrogate) ran like a giant down the lane on Saturday afternoon in Hot Springs in the prep for next month's GI Apple Blossom S. Breaking her maiden at second asking over the slop as a late juvenile at Churchill Downs, the bay was not seen until she ran fourth against allowance company at Ellis Park last summer. Taking a break until the beginning of this year, the older filly faced off-the-turf allowance foes at Fair Grounds...

The GII Davona Dale S., run last Saturday at Gulfstream, was all about the return of Eclipse Award winner Just F Y I (Justify). But she was scratched with a fever, delaying her 3-year-old debut. At Aqueduct, Jody's Pride (American Pharoah) won the Busher S., picking up enough points to guarantee her a spot in the GI Kentucky Oaks. It will be a relatively quiet weekend for the horses on the road to the GI Kentucky Oaks. The GIII Santa Ysabel at Santa Anita will be headlined by Kinza (Carpe...

Kentucky's Thoroughbred retirement home Old Friends welcomed the recently-retired MGSW/MGISP C Z Rocket (City Zip). The 10-year-old gelding arrived Feb. 29 to the farm and was welcomed by founder Michael Blowen and current Old Friends CEO John Nicholson. "CZ Rocket has captured the affections of countless race fans throughout his many years on the track," said Nicholson. "After such a successful career, this special gelding has earned the right to enjoy being pampered and celebrated here at Old Friends. We are grateful to his connections for seeking such a well-deserved...