The Graded Gist for March: 43 Races. What Did We Learn?

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 races in March. 

• With several blockbuster Saturday cards, March featured 43 graded races, split between Aqueduct (2), Fair Grounds (4), Gulfstream (14), Oaklawn (6), Santa Anita (11), Tampa Bay Downs (4), and Turfway Park (2). Five were contested as Grade I events, while 14 were Grade II and 24 were Grade III. A total of 25, or 58%, were on dirt. Sixteen were on the grass and the final two were on Turfway's all-weather surface. Seven were held at 10 furlongs or further and five at seven furlongs or less. The remaining 31 varied between eight and 9 1/2 furlongs, with 1 1/16 miles being the most popular (12). Fifteen of the 31 at those distances were carded for sophomores.
• Ten different trainers won 13 graded Derby and Oaks preps (two of the 15 graded 3-year-old races were contested on the turf), with only Brad Cox winning multiple events (4). Each of the Cox quartet was at a different track. Mark Casse did win three sophomore graded races in March, although they included the two turf races. Only one breeder had a graded sophomore double; no one will be surprised to learn it is multiple Eclipse-winning outstanding breeder Godolphin.
• Seven of the 15 sophomore graded winners are homebreds, including Journalism (Curlin). Breeder Don Alberto Corp. sold the colt for $825,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale, then joined the partnership that now campaigns the current Derby favorite. Two of the remaining eight graded sophomore winners sold for seven figures: Sandman (Tapit) for $1.2 million at OBS March and Tappan Street (Into Mischief) for $1 million at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga.
• Into Mischief netted two March graded-winning sophomore colts likely headed to the Derby, while both Medaglia d'Oro and Vekoma each got two sophomore graded-winning fillies, although the Oaks may be in the cards for only one of the March winners for each of those stallions as both of their second winners were on the grass.
• The GI Curlin Florida Derby has just under 75 years of history, yet 25 winners of the Kentucky Derby have run in the Florida Derby (15 as winners). Tappan Street won this year's edition.
• The highest Beyer Speed Figure of the month was 109, set by Locked (Gun Runner) and matched by Touchuponastar (Star Guitar). Journalism got the highest for a sophomore at 108, while the biggest figure for a sprinter was the 107 set by Booth (Mitole).
• The five Grade I winners in March were split between City of Light, Gun Runner, Into Mischief, Nyquist, and Tapit. With the exception of Locked for Gun Runner, the rest were all first-time Grade I winners for their sires, who are all active in Kentucky and all currently ranked in the top 25 sires in the nation for 2025.
• Thirty-three individual sires were represented by graded scorers in March. Both Gun Runner and Into Mischief had three individual winners, while Lancaster Bomber, Malibu Moon, Medaglia d'Oro, Mitole, Vekoma, and War Front had two. Three stallions doubled up on single days of racing: Gun Runner, Into Mischief, and War Front.
• Twenty-one of the 33 graded-winning stallions currently stand in Kentucky, while five are deceased and two were last reported to be standing in Korea. Of the remaining five, two stand in Louisiana, one in Florida, and one each in England and Ireland.
• Thirty-four individual broodmare sires were represented, with the biggest beneficiaries being Distorted Humor with two Grade I winners Mar. 29, Street Sense with four individual graded winners spread throughout four separate Saturdays, Tapit with three graded winners out of his daughters Mar. 22 (and his own Grade I winner Mar. 29), and Uncle Mo with three, including the reigning Horse of the Year and the current Derby favorite. Both Street Sense and Tapit are still active.
• Beach Bomb (SAf) (Lancaster Bomber) won two graded stakes, both at Gulfstream and both on the lawn, during the month of March. She joins other March graded winners Cavalieri (Nyquist), Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro), Quietside (Malibu Moon), Saffron Moon (Malibu Moon), and White Abarrio (Race Day) as dual scorers for 2025, but she is the only one to do it in one calendar month.
• Twelve of the 42 individual graded winners in March were homebreds, with three of the breeders taking on partners for ownership (two after a public sale). Twenty-five more went through public auctions, while the remaining five changed hands privately.

Tapit sired a Grade I winner, had three sons and a grandson sire graded winners, and had three daughters produce graded winners during the month | Sarah Andrew

• Sandman ($1,200,000 2yo '24 OBSMAR) was the highest seller, while four have been sold at public sales for less than six figures. The Queens M G (Thousand Words) was the biggest bargain of all ($3,500 Ylg '23 FTKOCT). The latter is the only graded winner for her sire to date, while Sandman's sire Tapit is such a force he had three sons (Constitution, Frosted, and Race Day), as well as a grandson (Tiz the Law), sire graded winners in the U.S. during the month.
• GII TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby winner Tiztastic (Tiz the Law) is inbred 3×2 to Tapit.
• As a breeder, Godolphin was represented by three individual graded winners in the U.S. in March, two of which are campaigned as homebreds. The other, Saturday's GIII Oaklawn Mile Stakes winner Banishing (Ghostzapper), was sold last July for $80,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Horses of Racing Age Sale. Spendthrift Farm LLC also bred two graded winners, as did Joseph Allen LLC (one in partnership).
• GI Santa Anita Handicap winner Locked is bred on the identical cross (Gun Runner out of a Malibu Moon mare) as last year's 3-year-old champion Sierra Leone.
• Augustin Stable lost Tirupati (Mitole) to the claim box for $25,000 last October at Woodbine, claimed her back for $50,000 just 23 days later, and increased her value exponentially in March with a win in the GIII Wilshire Stakes at Santa Anita.
• January's Eclipse-winning apprentice jockey Erik Asmussen scored his first career graded win with Booth in Oaklawn's GIII Whitmore Stakes. Booth is trained by his father, Steve, who in March also trained GIII Essex Handicap winner Red Route One (Gun Runner), giving another jockey son, Keith, his second career graded victory.