Vodka With a Twist

Kappa Kappa (Omaha Beach) drew in off the also-eligible list and pulled off a 27-1 upset with a game victory in Saturday's GII Lexus Raven Run S. at Keeneland. She jumped well from her outside draw beneath the hot-handed John Velazquez and vied for command while three deep through an opening quarter in :22.81. Kappa Kappa enjoyed a narrow advantage at the top of the lane and battled back gamely after being headed in the stretch by Vodka With a Twist (Thousand Words) to win by a head. Favored 'TDN...

Indy Bay kept the momentum rolling Friday night for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., giving him his second stakes win on the card with a pace-stalking win in the GII Charles Town Oaks. The daughter of Take Charge Indy kicked off her career with a pair of Oaklawn starts for trainer Thomas Vance before selling privately and shipping south to join Saffie Joseph's Gulfstream string in early spring. A winner in her first Florida try stepping up to seven furlongs March 1, she made the return trip to Arkansas and added...

Two years ago, Daniel Alonso's Skippylongstocking (Exaggerator) ran off to an impressive victory in the GII Charles Town Classic and returned last term to replicate the feat, winning by 5 3/4 lengths as the even-money choice. At Charles Town Friday, the 6-year-old will try for the three-peat when he lines up against seven others in the nine-furlong test. This season, the grey finished third in the GI Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream in January before taking Tampa's Challenger Stakes Mar. 8. Third in the GII Oaklawn Handicap in April, the...

Purchased privately following a maiden win, last year's overachieving Debutante S. winner and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies runner-up Vodka With a Twist (Thousand Words) hit the board in five straight graded stakes races for trainer Phil D'Amato in Southern California beginning with the GIII Sorrento S. at Del Mar. Taylor Made's Medallion Racing will look to follow a similar blueprint with impressive Laurel Park debut winner Dreaming of Alys (Upstart), who will face five rivals, led by the Bob Baffert-trained 'TDN Rising Star' Himika (Curlin), going six furlongs in...

Bill duPont's program today is much smaller than it was back in the 1980s, when he stood 15 stallions across three continents. Nonetheless all his experience keeps telling in a fashion very hard to emulate for anyone now trying to fill that kind of space. Under the banner of Pillar Properties Services Inc., duPont bred GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies runner-up Vodka With a Twist (Thousand Words) from a $6,000 mare. Then there's Irish Maxima (Maximus Mischief), whose recent graded stakes breakout at Aqueduct was her eighth win in 11....

Champion MGISW Citizen Bull (Into Mischief) and SW & MGISP Vodka With a Twist (Thousand Words) were on the work list Saturday at Santa Anita Park with a six-furlong move from each as other notable names made an appearance in the morning hours. The Bob Baffert-trained Citizen Bull posted the co-bullet move of three, clocking the six panels in 1:12.20 in his second work since finishing in the back half of the GI Kentucky Derby field. The filly, trained by Philip D'Amato, went from the blocks for her move, and...

GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies runner-up MGISP Vodka With a Twist (Thousand Words) is reportedly on track to make her 2025 debut in the GII Fasig-Tipton Santa Anita Oaks after a good drill Monday morning at Santa Anita. Most recently clocked in a five furlong move in :59.80 (4/71), the multiple Grade I-placed filly has been on the sidelines since running third behind GISW Tenma (Nyquist) and SW & GSP Look Forward (Bolt d'Oro) in the GII Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos Dec. 7. "I was very happy with the...

Grade I winner Tenma (Nyquist), Alpha Bella (Justify)--who was scratched from last Saturday's GII Buena Vista on turf in favor of this weekend's GI B. Wayne Hughes Beholder Mile on dirt--and royally-bred Eagles Flight (Curlin) were among several notable workers Sunday at Santa Anita. Tenma worked five furlongs in 1:02.60 for trainer Bob Baffert. Most recently, the filly won the GIII Fasig-Tipton Las Virgenes Stakes on Feb. 2. She is being pointed to the GII Santa Anita Oaks on Apr. 5. Winner of last season's GIII La Prevoyante at Gulfstream,...

DEL MAR, CA - Immersive (Nyquist) capped a perfect four-for-four championship season with a powerhouse performance in Friday's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar. Off as the 2-1 favorite, the Godolphin homebred was away in good order from post three. The GI Spinaway Stakes and GI Darley Alcibiades Stakes heroine settled in mid-pack beneath Manny Franco, racing inside of impressive GI Frizette Stakes winner and second-choice Scottish Lassie (McKinzie) as $1.8- million OBS March breezer and 'TDN Rising Star' Nooni (Win Win Win) sped off through fractions of...

A bevy of horses pre-entered in next weekend's Breeders' Cup at Del Mar worked Saturday at Santa Anita. Out in force were horses trained by Bob Baffert and Phil D'Amato, who combined pre-entered 18 horses to the 41st Breeders' Cup. D'Amato worked all eight of his Breeders' Cup pre-entrants. One Magic Philly (Good Magic) (Filly & Mare Sprint), winner of the GIII Chillingworth Stakes last out, and Vodka With a Twist (Thousand Words) (Juvenile Fillies), second in the GI Del Mar Debutante, worked in company. One Magic Philly was clocked...

Trainer Philip D'Amato sent out a quintet Saturday morning at Santa Anita Park, with three confirmed as pre-entries for the Breeders' Cup after their works, on a busy morning for World Championship hopefuls across the country. From his three confirmed, GSW Iron Man Cal (Collected) worked four furlongs in :49 flat, and will be pre-entered for the Juvenile Turf. GSW Thought Process (Collected) also went four panels in :49.80 and will target the Juvenile Fillies Turf. Argentinian Group 1-winner Che Evasora (Arg) (Greenspring) worked six furlongs in 1:15.80, and owns...

.      The lesser-preferred half of a Bob Baffert-trained pair, Baoma Corp's Tenma (Nyquist) was shoved across the wire first by jockey Kazushi Kimura to take out Saturday's GI Del Mar Debutante on the penultimate day of the summer meeting at the seaside oval. Vodka With a Twist (Thousand Words) carried a clear advantage into the final furlong, but was chinned on the wire while finishing a block ahead of longshot So There She Was (Munnings) in third. The disappointment of the race was 'TDN Rising Star' Nooni (Win Win...