Tappan Street

Having produced a five-furlong breeze which pleased trainer Brad Cox and completed his winter season in Indiantown, FL Friday morning, GI Florida Derby hero Tappan Street (Into Mischief) is scheduled to ship to Churchill Downs Saturday morning. Going the five panels in company in 1:01.40 at Payson Park Training Center, it marked the penultimate breeze on the sophomore's schedule in advance of his expected start in the GI Kentucky Derby May 3. Tappan Street worked with stablemate 'TDN Rising Star' Rapture (Uncle Mo) for the second straight week. The son...

Godolphin's Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro), the likely favorite for the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks, turned in her most serious work to date Thursday morning at Churchill Downs with a five-furlong breeze in a sharp :59.40, the fastest of 10 at the distance. The undefeated filly hit the track at 7:15 a.m. EST wearing her usual set of blinkers and partnered with trainer Brad Cox's longtime exercise rider Edvin Vargas. She began her workout at the 4 1/2-furlong pole and broke off about two lengths behind stablemate and maiden Saucier (City...

Tappan Street (Into Mischief) and Sovereignty (Into Mischief), one-two in the GI Curlin Florida Derby, breezed Friday morning at Payson Park while preparing for their scheduled starts in the GI Kentucky Derby. WinStar Farm LLC, CHC Inc. and Cold Press Racing's Tappan Street, who defeated Sovereignty by 1 1/4 lengths Mar. 29, breezed a half-mile in company with 3-year-old stablemate Rapture (Uncle Mo). "He went very well. I had him in :48 2/5, 1:01 3/5. It was a good move, executed very, very well. Obviously, inside of Rapture. It was...

A new kingpin graces the No. 1 slot after the final round of 100-point preps. The rankings below are in "likeliest winner" order, and are independent from the "Road to the Derby" points leaderboard that awards starting berths. 1) JOURNALISM (c, Curlin--Mopotism, by Uncle Mo) O-Bridlewood Farm, Don Alberto Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Elayne Stables 5 LLC, LaPenta, Robert V., Magnier, Mrs. John, Smith, Derrick and Tabor, Michael B.; B-Don Alberto Corporation (KY); T-Michael W. McCarthy. Sales history: $825,000 Ylg '23 FTSAUG. Lifetime Record: GISW, 5-4-0-1, $638,880. Last start: WON...

In racing, the advent of spring doesn't just mean delightful weather and foals capering through fields. It also means a multiplication of the number of graded events across the nation. The month of March boasted more graded races in the U.S. than January and February combined. With GI Kentucky Derby and Oaks preps in full swing, top older campaigners returning from winter breaks, and 2-year-old racing just around the corner, it's an exciting time in the sport. We took a look at trends and notable items from the country's graded...

A week after we saluted the impact of his daughters on the GI Kentucky Derby trail, suddenly Tapit might also have found a colt to redress the one glaring omission on his resume. At the same time, the emergence of Sandman also contributes to a remarkable reciprocation by a still more venerable distaff influence. Tapit mares having produced American Promise, Tiztastic and Final Gambit across consecutive weekends, Distorted Humor is plainly not to be outdone. Both the big winners last Saturday were out of daughters of the WinStar legend; moreover...

If you want a historical prognosticator for success in the GI Kentucky Derby, you can't do much better than running well in the GI Florida Derby. The premier stakes for sophomores at Gulfstream Park has been around since 1952, and in 73 renewals, Florida Derby participants have gone on to win that year's Kentucky Derby 25 times-a better than 1-in-3 strike rate. For perspective, the next-most-productive preps are two far older races, the GI Champagne Stakes (which dates to 1867) and the GI Blue Grass Stakes (first run in 1911),...

GI Florida Derby hero Tappan Street (Into Mischief) has emerged from his Saturday exploits in good order, but his trainer revealed that a travel itinerary has not yet been decided for the trip north to the Twin Spires. The son of Into Mischief got the best of GII Fountain of Youth victor Sovereignty (Into Mischief) to claim his 100 points to the first Saturday in May, and the aforementioned runner-up also secured a berth into the race with 50. Tappan Street currently sits in third with 110 and is tied...

Tappan Street (Into Mischief), making just his third lifetime start and first since a runner-up effort in the Feb. 1 GIII Holy Bull Stakes, punched his ticket to the GI Kentucky Derby with a stylish victory over favored Sovereignty (Into Mischief) in the GI Curlin Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park Saturday. "He really ran like we thought he would," said Elliott Walden of WinStar Farm, which owns the colt in partnership with CHC, Inc. and Cold Press Racing. "We've given him the time after the Holy Bull because we thought...

Adam Corndorf isn't afraid to admit that he has never been to the Kentucky Derby, but the reason behind his skipping the iconic event--even after living in Kentucky for the past 15 years--offers some insight into the tenacious drive and determined strategy that define his leadership of Blue Heaven Farm. "I've always said I'm not going until we have something connected to a horse that is running," explained Corndorf. "We've never had a horse run at Churchill on the Friday or Saturday of Derby weekend, but I'm hoping that we...

Dual Eclipse winning trainer Brad Cox is drawing up intended targets for Flood Zone's (Frosted) next start after the colt took home the GIII Gotham Stakes at the Big A last weekend. The trainer said that possibilities include the Mar. 29 running of the GI Florida Derby and also two races scheduled for Apr. 5--the GII Wood Memorial Stakes at Aqueduct and the GII UAE Derby at Meydan. Flood Zone stablemate and GI Florida Derby contender Tappan Street (Into Mischief) continues to tune up at Payson Park. Most recently, the...

It sometimes seems that not a weekend goes by where Brad Cox isn't making news and visiting the winner's circle somewhere after winning another important race. That was the case last weekend as Cox won the Sam F. Davis S. at Tampa Bay Downs with John Hancock (Constitution). This coming weekend he'll send out one of his top threats for the GI Kentucky Oaks when the filly Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro) makes her 2025 debut in the GII Rachel Alexandra S. at the Fair Grounds. To talk about past successes...