sprint

When a horse has never been outside of the lead at first call in any of his 11 prior races, chances are good that he'll be a contender right from the jump. In this case, despite not having raced over the turf since contesting a five-furlong sprint as a juvenile in Oct. 2021, Forbidden Kingdom (American Pharoah) continued to put that trademark early speed to use and took the field coast-to-coast in the GII Joe Hernandez S. It's been a slow 2023 for the Richard Mandella trainee with only a...

The Chosen Vron's (Vronsky) story will continue in 2024. Trainer Eric Kruljac will bring the 5-year old gelding back for another year he announced Thursday. The gelding started an eight-race win streak at Los Alamitos in September of 2022 which ended with his fifth-place finish in this year's GI Breeders' Cup Sprint. "I've put the Breeders' Cup behind me," said Kruljac. "He was kind of covered up. He might have had a little trouble getting out. I think he was behind a couple of horses and when they took off...

Closing Act (Munnings) put it all together here to secure the first black-type victory of her young career in the Astoria S. as the 3-5 favorite. A step slow on debut May 11 beneath the Twin Spires, she showed a good turn of foot in the lane to run down rivals for a neck win over an experienced rival. Brushing with Living Magic after leaving the blocks, she was urged along to keep pace from the outside of rivals and went as far as four wide into the final bend. Gaining...

Unbeaten sensation and guaranteed GI Breeders' Cup Classic favorite Flightline (Tapit) put in his final prep for the World Championships at Keeneland Saturday. The 'TDN Rising Star' covered five furlongs solo in 1:00.60 (4/62) shortly after 7:30 a.m. under assistant trainer Juan Leyva. "I told Juan to go in a minute and change and out [seven-eighths] in 1:26, and that's what he did," trainer John Sadler said. "Juan's a great work rider. It was not about going fast today, just getting around there happy today." Flightline arrived at Keeneland Sunday...

Reigning GI Kentucky Derby hero Rich Strike (Keen Ice) tuned up for his appearance in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic Nov. 5 with a five-furlong drill over the Keeneland main track early Tuesday morning. With Gabriel Lagunes in the irons for trainer Eric Reed, the chestnut broke off in :26.20 and completed his work in 1:02.60 before galloping out three-quarters of a mile in 1:15.60. "Slow and steady," Reed said of Rich Strike, a latest near-miss second to Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) in the GII Lukas Classic at Churchill...

Steve Asmussen looks to take his sixth renewal of the GIII Chick Lang S.--and third straight--Saturday at Pimlico with Cogburn (Not This Time). Graduating at second asking at Churchill Downs in September, he kicked off his sophomore season on a winning note with a decisive optional claimer score at Oaklawn Mar. 25. He came up a neck short of re-opposing Whelen Springs (Street Sense) last time in that venue's Bachelor S. Apr. 30. That Arkansas-bred rival took five tries to break his maiden, finally doing so against other locals in...