Whit Beckman

With nominations for the $500,000 Virginia Derby closing Wednesday, Feb. 25, GSW Incredibolt (Bolt d'Oro) and Ocelli (Connect) have emerged as likely starters, Colonial Downs said in a press release on Friday. The 1 1/8-mile Virginia Derby will be run Saturday, Mar. 14, highlighting Colonial Downs's three-day meet held Mar. 12-14. Nominations for all seven opening week stakes also close Feb. 25. Held just under two months from the GI Kentucky Derby, the Virginia Derby awards 50-25-15-10-5 qualifying points to the top five finishers toward a berth in the "Run...

6th-SA, $70K, Msw, 3yo, 6f, 6:12 p.m. ET. While a good portion of the country is tossing another log on the fire in an attempt to stave off the frigid temperatures, out in toasty Arcadia a group of maidens led by some intriguing prospects have assembled for a hot race. Chief among them is POTENTE (Into Mischief) who Speedway Stables made the second topper when they went to $2.4-million to acquire the colt at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale. Sent to trainer Bob Baffert, the first-time starter is out...

Trainer Brad Cox's outfit was like a hen on a June bug towards the end of Keeneland's 'Fall Stars' meet and subsequently kept pouncing on wins at Churchill, Horseshoe Indy and Aqueduct as the calendar flipped to the more autumn-like weather of November. Louisville's favorite son collected 20 winner's circle visits across 61 starts from Oct. 21 on, which included a Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) playlist in the GIII Hagyard Fayette Stakes, an Oaks points deposit for Life of Joy (Gun Runner) in the Rags to Riches Stakes and...

Legion Racing, MHM Stables, Ed Stefanski and William Conlin's  Carmel Coast (Omaha Beach), a 5 1/2-length debut winner at the Spa Aug. 10, will point to the GI Frizette Stakes on Oct. 4 at Belmont at the Big A, according to trainer Whit Beckman Sunday. The one-turn mile Frizette is part of the Breeders' Cup Dirt Dozen series for the GI Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar. The connections opted to bypass the upcoming GI Spinaway on closing weekend. "We're going to wait for the Frizette," Beckman confirmed. "We knew she...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Though she wasn't exactly perfect leaving the gate in her career debut Sunday, Carmel Coast (Omaha Beach) did everything else right in the fifth race at Saratoga Race Course. With a 5 1/2-length victory in the $100,000 maiden special weight contest for 2-year-old fillies, Carmel Coast was an emphatic best-in-class performer. Runner-up Lovely Christina (Vekoma) was 10 1/2 lengths in front of third-place filly, Essential Coffee (Nyquist). Carmel Beach and jockey Kendrick Carmouche reached the wire in 1:17.25 and paid $12.20. The Legion Bloodstock team identified...

A group of former Todd Pletcher assistant trainers have pledged to donate a percentage of their earnings from the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival to support the mission of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF), the organization said on Thursday in a press release. Michael McCarthy, George Weaver, Jonathan Thomas, Whit Beckman and Amelia Green have each committed a portion of their festival earnings to the TRF, underscoring their dedication to the welfare of retired racehorses. Click here to learn more about helping the TRF.

Under what was described as "perfect conditions" by analyst Kaitlin Free, a busy Saturday morning at Churchill Downs ensued as seven GI Kentucky Derby contenders logged published workouts for the "Run for the Roses" and a pair of GI Kentucky Oaks contenders also drilled for their connections, according to a press release from the track on Saturday morning. The tab included top Derby point getter Burnham Square (Liam's Map), who went a half-mile in :49.40 under pilot Brian Hernandez Jr. Trained by Ian Wilkes, the GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes...

With just three weeks remaining to the GI Kentucky Derby, a trio of probable starters turned in workouts over the Churchill main track, while another continued his preparations at Turfway Park. Trainer Steve Asmussen sent out his GII Louisiana Derby romper Tiztastic (Tiz the Law) for a five-furlong move in the company of maiden stablemate Publisher (American Pharoah). Taking to the track around 5:45 a.m., the pair went the distance in 1:00.80 in fractional times of :13, :24.80 and :36.60 before galloping out six furlongs in 1:13.40 and up seven-eighths...

It was a busy weekend with GI Kentucky Oaks preps being run at Santa Anita, Aqueduct and Gulfstream. None of the winners did enough to crack the top four, but they all have a license to improve. We've dropped the bottom three from last week's list--Running Away (Gun Runner), Runnin N Gunnin (Gun Runner) and White Rocks (Frosted)--and replaced them with horses who appear to have more potential. It will be a quiet week as there is not a single stakes race for 3-year-old fillies that will be run this...

Legion Racing's Drexel Hill (Bolt d'Oro) overcame a stumble at the start to post a rallying score in Saturday's Listed Busher Invitational, a one-turn mile for sophomore fillies, at Aqueduct Racetrack. In victory, the Whit Beckman trainee secured 50 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points, joining stablemates Simply Joking (Practical Joke)--campaigned by Grantley Acres, Ryan Conner and Berkels0813--and Grantley Acres' homebred Her Laugh (Practical Joke) as contenders for the 'Lilies for the Fillies' on the first Friday in May at Churchill Downs. In Saturday's one-turn test, Drexel Hill was returning from a...

With the top five finishers receiving 50-25-15-10-5, respectively, on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks, Drexel Hill (Bolt d'Oro) proved best and took home the top prize in the Busher Stakes at Aqueduct on Saturday. Initially conditioned by Barbara Minshall, the filly broke out of the maiden ranks with a six-length score last fall in what was her fourth attempt at Woodbine. Drexel Hill was then sent to Whit Beckman. The filly finished a well-beaten fifth in the Untapable Stakes in New Orleans Dec. 21, but rebounded to run a...

Simply Joking was failed by 17 vets at the Keeneland September Sale, but Geoff Nixon had an inside track into the filly's history. The daughter of Practical Joke had spent some time at his farm, Grantley Acres, as a yearling and Nixon had liked what he saw. Plus, he knew that her half-brother Drum Roll Please (Hard Spun) was showing promise as a 2-year-old. Nixon took a chance and bought the filly from his friends at Ballysax Bloodstock for $65,000. "To the Thoroughbred world it's not a ton of money,...