WinStar Farm

Tappan Street (Into Mischief), the winner of the Mar. 29 GI Florida Derby, will miss the Kentucky Derby after suffering a condylar fracture to his right front leg, according to trainer Brad Cox. The colt is owned by WinStar Farm LLC, CHC, Inc. and Cold Press Racing. Tappan Street worked five furlongs in :59.60 on Saturday morning, and Cox told the Louisville Courier Journal that jockey Luis Saez felt something was off after the work. The colt had X-rays back at the barn. "It's nothing major I don't believe at...

Griffin Johnson may not be well known within horse racing circles, but that doesn't mean he can't help the sport. For decades, racing has been fighting a losing battle when it comes to attracting a younger audience. That's where Johnson comes in. He is a social media influencer who has 9.7 million followers on TikTok and 2.6 million on Instagram. He's also a horse owner. Johnson is part of the West Point Thoroughbreds group that owns GI Arkansas Derby winner and GI Kentucky Derby contender Sandman (Tapit). He'll be at...

1st-Keeneland, $110,000, Msw, 4-8, 3yo, 7f, 1:23.51, ft, 2 1/2 lengths. INVICTUS (c, 3, Into Mischief--Serengeti Empress {MGISW, $2,175,653}, by Alternation) had not been seen since finishing a well-beaten seventh in the 6 1/2-furlong Saratoga maiden race won in 'TDN Rising Star' style by Chancer McPatrick (McKinzie) last July. The 8-5 second choice was hustled out to the early lead, but allowed favored Camp Hale (Mo Town) to take control and then settled in third as longshot Ship Ship Hooray (Midshipman) shot up the rail to lead as the quarter...

3rd-KEE, $120k, OC125k/NW1, 3yo, 6f, 2:04 p.m. ET. Jim Bakke and Gerry Isbister's Tip Top Thomas (Volatile), who was tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' following his debut win at Saratoga last August, returns to the races for the first time since finishing second behind Chancer McPatrick (McKinzie) in the GI Champagne Stakes last October. Trained by Todd Pletcher, the $160,000 FTKOCT yearling is a half-brother to multiple stakes winner Gray Attempt (Graydar) and to multiple graded placed Dua (Arrogate). CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm's Gunmetal (Gun Runner), who scratched out...

7th-Aqueduct, $86,000, Alw (C)/Opt. Clm ($80,000), 4-4, 4yo/up, 1m, 1:35.23, ft, 1/2 length. STAR OF WONDER (c, 4, Uncle Mo--Starship Warpspeed, by Congrats), a half-brother to Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil), MGISW, $2,777,458, delivered as the even-money favorite in his 4-year-old debut here. The 'TDN Rising Star' was off to a slow start, but recovered nicely to advance into fourth through an opening quarter in :23.11. Locked and loaded but stuck in traffic approaching the quarter pole, Star of Wonder found racing room along the rail as they straightened for home and kicked...

7th-AQU, $86K, OC80k/C, 4yo/up, 1m, 4:22 p.m. ET. A debut winner by 3 1/2 lengths over the slop at Churchill Downs last summer, STAR OF WONDER (Uncle Mo) earned a 'TDN Rising Star' for the effort. The WinStar homebred then cleared an allowance condition under the Twin Spires in mid-September, and broke through on the main track there in late November when he faced optional claimers for the second time. Back on the tab at Payson Park by Feb. 1, the colt hails from the same Brad Cox shedrow as...

World record-setter Cogburn (Not This Time), who is currently standing his first season at WinStar Farm in the U.S. and is scheduled to shuttle during the Southern Hemisphere season to Widden Stud in New South Wales, has had his Australian fee set at AU$27,500. Cogburn stands for $30,000 at WinStar. Billed as "the fastest horse in the world," Cogburn blazed 5 1/2 furlongs in :59.80, setting a world record for the distance, while winning the GI Jaipur Stakes at Saratoga last summer. The 6-year-old won an additional three graded stakes,...

We're on the cusp of the one-month mark to the GI Kentucky Derby and this Saturday marks the most important weekend of nine-furlong preps on the Triple Crown calendar, with significant stakes at Santa Anita, Keeneland, and Aqueduct. Next week the Top 12 expands to the Top 20 as the actual field begins to take shape. 1) CITIZEN BULL (c, Into Mischief-No Joke, by Distorted Humor) O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Dianne Bashor, Determined Stables, Robert E. Masterson, Tom J. Ryan, Waves Edge Capital...

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...

Eclipse Award-winning sprinter Straight No Chaser (Speightster--Margarita Friday, by Johannesburg) will stand at WinStar Farm upon his retirement, the farm announced Friday. After beginning his year with a win in the G2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint in Saudi Arabia in February, the Dan Blacker trainee is entered in next Saturday's G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen at Meydan on Dubai World Cup Day. "Acquiring the breeding rights to Straight No Chaser ensures that we will retire the fastest horse in the world two years in a row, following Cogburn this season," said WinStar...

During his 22 years serving in the Kentucky State Senate, Damon Thayer was known as a fierce advocate for the horse racing industry. Thayer decided not to run for re-election in 2024, but that doesn't mean that he stopped trying to help the sport, using his considerable political acumen to do so. Thayer has accepted the job as the senior advisor to the Thoroughbred Racing Initiative--a group formed to try to fight off efforts to decouple the racing and casino and card room licenses in Florida. To talk about his...

A year after recording a GII TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby-GII Fasig-Tipton Fair Grounds Oaks double with Catching Freedom and Tarifa, trainer Brad Cox will saddle the morning-line favorites in both races Saturday. The rail-drawn John Hancock (Constitution), a game wire-to-wire winner over next-out GIII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby winner Owen Almighty (Speightstown) in the Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs Feb. 8, will put his two-for-two record on the line in the Louisiana Derby. The WinStar Farm and CHC, Inc. colorbearer is the 7-2 program favorite. The stretch-running...