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By Wandering Eyes · Posted
The biggest move made in this week's poll was the jump made by Explora (Blame) after her game win in the GIII Honeybee Stakes at Oaklawn. She jumped from seventh to third. The latest list also includes She Be Smooth (Lexitonian), who lands at No. 4 after her impressive win in the GII Davona Dale Stakes. It will be a quiet weekend for the 3-year-old filly division, but they will run the rescheduled GIII Santa Ysabel Stakes Sunday at Santa Anita. All eyes will be on last year's 2-year-old filly champ Super Corredora (Gun Runner), who will be trying to rebound after a disappointing showing in the Las Virgenes Stakes. So, here goes, your latest Top 10: 1) ZANY (American Pharoah–Mo' Green, by Uncle Mo) O-Repole Stable; B-D.J. Stable (KY); T-Todd Pletcher. Sales history: $350,000 yrl '24 FTSAUG. Lifetime Record: GSW, 3-3-0-0, $221,500. Last Start: Won Feb. 7 Suncoast Stakes. Kentucky Oaks Points: 30. The Mike Repole-owned filly was last seen winning the Feb. 7 Suncoast Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs and remains in a holding pattern until she makes her next scheduled start in the Apr. 3 GI Ashland Stakes at Keeneland. As she didn't exactly blow them away in the Suncoast, the Ashland will be a big test for her and a win there would likely solidify her role as the betting favorite in the Oaks. She's on a regular work pattern for Todd Pletcher at his Palm Beach Downs headquarters, working a half-mile each time. “She's doing great,” said Pletcher, who has acknowledged that there are some issues with Zany changing leads in a smooth fashion. “Anytime any of them don't do everything perfectly, it worries you. She has a tendency when she changes to her right lead in the stretch, she wants to drift in a little bit. She's a very big, long filly and she just needs a little bit of space to get her balance, to make that lead change. She's also a very curious filly and she kind of takes everything in and looks around.” 2) BELLA BALLERINA (Street Sense–Pretty City Dancer, by Tapit) O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Brendan P Walsh. Lifetime Record: MGSW, 3-3-0-0, $301,525. 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard.' Last Start: Won Feb. 14 GII Rachel Alexandra Stakes. Kentucky Oaks Points: 60. Terrific pedigree. Owned and bred by Godolphin. Trained by the talented Brendan Walsh. With this one checking so many boxes, she belongs in the No. 2 spot. She's coming off a half-length win in the GII Rachel Alexandra Stakes. It was not an overpowering performance, but Walsh has predicted that she will “improve a ton” in her next start. That will come in the Mar. 21 GII Fair Grounds Oaks, which always seems to produce top runners for the Kentucky Oaks. To date, 10 fillies have completed the Fair Grounds Oaks / Kentucky Oaks double. The last to do so was 2025 Kentucky Oaks winner Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro). The list also includes the great Rachel Alexandra (Medaglia d'Oro). 3) EXPLORA (Blame–Collections Choice, by Bernardini) O-Michael Pegram, Karl Watson & Paul Weitman; B-Mesingw Farm (KY); T-Bob Baffert. Sales History: $22,000 yrl '24 KEESEP; $350,000 2yo '25 FTMMAY. 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard.' Lifetime Record: GSW & MGISP, 7-4-3-2, $1,064,250. Last Start: Won Mar. 1 GIII Honeybee Stakes. Kentucky Oaks Points: 95. All is now forgiven for her defeat as the 4-5 favorite in the Las Virgenes, where she was cooked in a speed duel. She rebounded with a game win in Oaklawn's Honeybee Stakes for Bob Baffert. Like Zany and Bella Ballerina, she was not overly impressive, winning by just three-quarters of a length. But it was an important win that showed that she's back on track. Baffert switched riders for the race, going from Juan Hernandez to Eclipse Award-winner Flavien Prat. Hernandez is good, but Prat may just be in a league of his own. Baffert has not announced where Explora will run next, but he loves to win at Oaklawn, so the Mar. 27 GII Fantasy Stakes would make sense. 4) SHE BE SMOOTH (Lexitonian–Seattle Smooth, by Quiet American) O/B-Calumet Farm (KY); T-Todd Pletcher. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $162,320. Last Start: Won the Feb. 28 GII Davona Dale Stakes. Kentucky Oaks Points: 50. It was hard to see this one coming. Though She Be Smooth broke her maiden by 2 1/4-lengths in her first start, she was clearly in tough in the one-mile Davona Dale. But not only did she win, she blew the field away, winning by six lengths and she earned a 91 Beyer figure. The big question going forward will be her ability to negotiate two turns. Both of her wins have come at Gulfstream in one-turn, one-mile races. She Be Smooth is a homebred from Calumet Farm, which also stands her sire, Lexitonian. Lexitonian was a confirmed sprinter who never raced beyond a mile, and recorded his most important win in the GI Alfred Vanderbilt Handicap at six furlongs. Keep an eye on what Prat decides. He rides this filly and Explora. Trainer Todd Pletcher said he will consider the Ashland for She Be Smooth, but it looks like the Mar. 28 GII Gulfstream Park Oaks will likely be her next start. She Be Smooth winning the Davona Dale | Lauren King 5) MEANING (Gun Runner–Figure of Speech, by Into Mischief) O-Bridlewood Farm & Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners; B-Stonehaven Steadings (KY); T-Michael McCarthy. Sales history: $440,000 yrl '24 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: SW, 3-2-0-0, $187,000. Last Start: Won Feb. 8 Las Virgenes Stakes. Kentucky Oaks Points: 26. That she beat Explora in the Las Virgenes and Explora came back to win the Honeybee makes this one's credentials look all the better. But it should be remembered that she enjoyed a perfect trip in the Las Virgenes, sitting off a speed duel that involved Explora. She worked Saturday at Santa Anita, going four furlongs in :48.80. Trainer Michael McCarthy has said that the Apr. 4 GII Santa Anita Oaks will be next for his filly. Owned by the partnership of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Bridlewood Farm, Meaning was bought for $440,000 as a yearling at Keeneland September. For a Gun Runner filly that has turned out to be talented, that looks like a bargain. 6) LUV YOUR NEIGHBOR (Constitution–Disobedient, by Into Mischief) O-Lael Stables; B-Anderson Farms Ont Inc & 552727 Ontario Ltd (ON); T-Michael Stidham. Sales history: $350,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 6-1-4-0, $164,071. Last Start: 2nd Feb. 14 GII Fasig-Tipton Rachel Alexandra Stakes. Kentucky Oaks Points: 40. Stepped up to run a huge race in the Rachel Alexandra, finishing second, just a half-length behind Bella Ballerina. It was her first start with Luis Saez aboard. He took over for Axel Concepcion. She's run second four straight times and her only win came in her first lifetime start. That came on Sept. 10 at Colonial Downs, where she won by a nose. She will, obviously, need to get over the hump before she can beat the very best of this division. 7) LIFE OF JOY (Gun Runner–Jordayn's Leo, by Malibu Moon) O-Will Stroud, Andrew Farm, Mountmellick Farm & For the People Racing Stable LLC; B-Springhouse Farm (KY); T-Brad H Cox. Sales history: $375,000 yrl '24 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: SW, 4-2-1-0, $180,260. Last Start: Second in Feb. 7 Suncoast Stakes. Kentucky Oaks Points: 22. Another filly who has been ridden by Prat, so Brad Cox will likely need to start shopping for a new rider. She should probably be rated lower than seventh, but gets the nod in this position because of Cox. He's won the Oaks three times over a span of eight runnings. Life of Joy turned in a solid effort behind Zany in the Suncoast, finishing second. She also held her own against Bella Ballerina when fourth in the Golden Rod. Before that, she was a 2 1/4-length winner of the Rags to Riches Stakes. The Fair Grounds Oaks will be next for her. 8) COUNTING STARS (Honor A.P.–Paynterbynumbers, by Paynter) O-West Point Thoroughbreds; B-HRH Prince Sultan Bin Mishal Al Saud (KY); T-Mark Casse. Sales History: $13,000 yrl '24 KEESEP; $150,000 2yo '25 OBSAPR. Lifetime Record: SW & GSP, 6-3-1-0, $37,356. Last Start: Second Mar. 1 GIII Honeybee Stakes Stakes. Kentucky Oaks Points: 25. Bought for just $150,000 at the OBS Spring Sale, this filly makes the list after finishing a game second behind Explora in the Honeybee. Considering that she was beaten 60 lengths in her prior start in the Martha Washington Stakes, it was a stunning turnaround for the Mark Casse-trained filly. But she was also good enough to win the Year's End Stakes at Oaklawn by six lengths. She is owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, which hasn't had much luck so far this year with Super Corredora. Could this one turn out to be their Oaks filly? 9) SEARCH PARTY (Gun Runner–Devious Charm, by Into Mischief) O/B-Tracy Farmer (KY); T-Mark Casse. Lifetime Record: 7-2-1-2, $276,211. Last Start: Fourth GIII Honeybee Stakes. Kentucky Oaks Points: 30. Another Casse horse who merits a second look. It took her four starts to break her maiden, but once the light bulb went off, she's been good. She won an Oaklawn maiden by six lengths and came right back to win the Martha Washington by a neck. Impeccably bred, she is by Gun Runner out of an Into Mischief mare. Casse has admitted that she has to improve to be an “Oaks filly,” but it looks like he has her headed in the right direction. Casse also has the undefeated French Friction (City of Light), who has yet to run beyond six furlongs, but could also emerge as an Oaks candidate. 10) LABWAH (Charlatan–War Tigress, by War Chant) O-Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed Al Maktoum; B-Calvin Crane (KY); T-Salem Bin Ghadayer. Sales History: $125,000 2yo '25 OBSAPR. Lifetime Record: GSW, 4-3-0-0, $232,612. Last Start: Won Feb. 20 G3 UAE Oaks. Kentucky Oaks Points: 50. The G3 UAE Oaks is not necessarily where you'd expect to find a candidate for the Kentucky Oaks, but Labwah, who is by Charlatan and is a Kentucky-bred, should not be ignored. She's won three in a row and galloped to a 7 1/2-length win in the listed Dubai event. It is possible she will run next G2 UAE Derby in an effort to gain enough points to make it into the GI Kentucky Derby. After the win in the UAE Oaks, trainer Salem bin Ghadayer told reporters, “I will go back to His Highness Sheikh Hamdan [bin Mohammed Al Maktoum] as she was his pick from the breeze-up sale. I will ask him what he wants to do. But she is ready for both options [the Oaks or Derby].” The post The TDN Kentucky Oaks Top 10 for Mar. 5: Explora Makes a Big Move appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Silent Tactic will be pointed to the March 28 Arkansas Derby (G1) following his nose loss to Class President in the March 1 Rebel Stakes (G2).View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
As part of her 2025 highlight reel, Nitrogen won five stakes on turf, four in graded company, before capturing one of North America's most prestigious races for 3-year-old fillies on the dirt, the Alabama Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
The 2026 Thoroughbred stakes season at Woodbine kicks off April 18 and ends in December. Notable races include the 167th King's Plate and Woodbine Mile (G1T). View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
In recent weeks, Forever Young has won the world's richest race for the second time, Ka Ying Rising has set a new record in winning 18 consecutive races, Romantic Warrior landed his 13th Group 1 contest, and Rebel's Romance posted his 21st career victory. They have respectively earned the equivalent of approximately £23m, £13m, £26m and £12m. It would seem that there has never been a better time to own a top-class racehorse. Calandagan, the world's top-rated racehorse in 2025, has just turned five and may be seen next in the $6m Dubai Sheema Classic, depending on the situation in the Gulf region in a few weeks' time. He has clocked up £6.2m in earnings, and then there is his bonus of approximately $3m (2.2m) for winning the Japan Cup, having also landed at least one of a series of races around the world designed to entice overseas horses to Tokyo in late November. Ka Ying Rising looks to be about to chart a similar course to last year, which would see him launch a repeat bid on The Everest at Randwick in October. His 2025 victory in Sydney was the sole start for the five-year-old away from his home track of Sha Tin, not counting his dazzling barrier trial in his native New Zealand some three years ago. The David Hayes-trained gelding had been top of the wish list for Ascot's Nick Smith, whose job it is to sign up overseas challengers for Royal Ascot, the King George and British Champions Day. Ka Ying Rising appearing in Berkshire this summer seems unlikely to happen this year at least. Hayes recently told Ray Thomas of Australia's Racing and Sports, “Maybe after a couple of Everests we might think about going to Royal Ascot but at the moment we are staying with the plan to give him three more runs in Hong Kong this season then prepare for Sydney and The Everest again.” Smith, the director of racing and public affairs at Ascot, says, “When you're looking in from an American, Japanese or Australian point of view about sending horses to compete in Britain, you're only talking about sending them to compete in Group 1s. And regardless of the fact that we've made some pretty positive changes across the programme, [Britain's Group 1 races] still compare unfavourably with global Group 1s.” Smith does however cite the rising prize-money in Britain – in the upper echelons at least – as cause for cheer in Europe. He says, “Actually we are a very appealing destination now for French, German and Irish horses because they're competing across the [European] Pattern. And, therefore, the opportunities for those nations and the motivation to run horses in Britain has probably never have been higher.” Ka Ying Rising's jockey Zac Purton has previously been a little less diplomatic than Hayes when discussing the chances of Ka Ying Rising running at Royal Ascot, describing British prize-money as “hopeless”. But is it though? Trainers of horses in the lower ranks may well agree that it is, and the Class 5 and 6 races do feel more squeezed than ever. Some participants within British racing are calling for these races not to receive Levy Board funding and for the tracks who host them to find the money for this lower tier through executive contributions and sponsorship alone. There has, however, been a determined approach in Britain to raise the prize-money at the higher end. For some time now, the financial rewards for black-type races in Britain have compared favourably with those on offer in Ireland and France, and the minimum values have risen again this year. Ireland, too, has seen increases in this sector, while France, which has been forced to reduce in prize-money for 2026 by €20.3m, has imposed decreases in most black-type tiers bar Group 1 races. It is worth noting, however, that the figures in the accompanying tables (below) do not include the owners' and breeders' premiums available to French-bred horses on top of prize-money. Also, Britain, unlike France and Ireland, has a lower set of minimum values for its two-year-old black-type programme. Dr Jim Walker, president of Britain's Racehorse Owners Association and owner of the Ascot Gold Cup winner Subjectivist, took issue with the focus on the top end in a recent column in Owner Breeder magazine, particularly in regard to the announcement by the Jockey Club of a £1.35m increase in prize-money for the 2026 Derby Festival. This included £500,000 extra in prize-money for the Betfred Derby – bringing the total purse to £2m – and for the Coolmore Coronation Cup, which is now worth £1m. “Thirty-six per cent of £97.7m in Flat-race prize-money in 2025 went to Class 1 (i.e. Pattern) races. If we assumed that the horses competing in those races were rated 95 or better, less than 10% of the horse population vied for £35m (and a lot of it went to Ireland anyway),” Walker noted. “Meanwhile, at the bottom end, owners of the 4,500 horses rated 70 and below – more than half the Flat racehorse population – competed for £22m.” His column concluded, “What the 'elite sport' brigade seems to forget is that every building needs foundations. The almost 50% of horses running in Classes 5 and 6 are the foundation of our sport. The owners of these horses are giving a home to the animals that the top trainers and top owners happily discard after a couple of runs or even a few training gallops that suggest they are sub-par. Without a strong foundation, the whole house will fall down. “The Premier League, which [former Jockey Club chief executive] Mr Truesdale wishes to emulate in racing, ensures the supply of future talent by funding lower leagues. That is smart thinking. If the Jockey Club had looked at the bigger picture and announced half a million pounds in enhanced prize-money for Classes 4, 5 and 6 across its venues – a material difference to keep small owners in the sport – I would have been cheering louder than anyone.” Plenty in British racing will share Dr Walker's sentiments. Plenty of others will applaud the focus on high-end races – an approach aimed at retaining the best horses to race in a country which is one of the acknowledged world leaders of thoroughbred breeding, and at enticing some of the best around the world to race on these shores. Smith takes a different view to Walker. He says, “This is about maintaining Britain's preeminent position on the global stage as a place to have horses in training above everything else. And if we're not a destination for championship-level horses, then these owners won't have horses in training with us going forward. “It is only the top end of the sport that creates the halo effect for everything else underneath it. And if that halo continues to dim, then there's going to be consequences in five to ten years' time. “Developmental races are fundamental to the whole programme. Prize-money should be allocated towards the Pattern and towards developmental races as a matter of absolute priority and everything else fits in. If you don't promote and enhance the top of the pyramid, the pyramid will just shrink and no one will make any progress.” He adds, “But to be absolutely clear, it would be completely wrong for Ascot and courses like it to only focus on the top end. We've put prize money up across almost 50% of our entire programme, including not just the developmental races but also the lower-grade handicaps. So we are specifically this year spreading the prize-money increases much wider.” In that key middle tier of racing, there has been focused funding from sponsors Juddmonte, Darley, Tattersalls, and the British EBF as well as from the BHA's development fund to stage a series of high-value maiden and novice races. Finding the balance between the opposite ends of the spectrum is not easy, especially when set against a background of turbulence within the British horseracing. The latest twist in that long-running tale has been the announcement on Tuesday of the resignation of British Horseracing Authority chair Lord Allen after only six months in the post. Whichever way you happen to veer in the prize-money argument, there is no denying the determination among some of the major tracks in Britain – which in recent years have benefited from extra income derived from hosting World Pool fixtures – to raise the appeal of flagship meetings. Prior to the Jockey Club's announcement regarding Epsom, Ascot had announced last summer that this year's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes would become the first race in Britain to be run at £2m. York has raised the prize-money for the Juddmonte International to £1.5m (from £1.25m), while in 2025, the the Coral-Eclipse stakes was run at £1m for the first time. At Royal Ascot, which this year is worth a total of £19.4m, two races – the Prince of Wales's Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes are run for £1m each while the remaining six Group 1 contests offer a prize fund of at least £700,000. The Qipco-sponsored British Champions Day, which is funded by stakeholders Ascot, the Jockey Club, York, Goodwood, and Great British Racing as an 'industry day', is Britain's richest race day at £4.35m, with the Champion Stakes being worth £1.3m and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes run for £1.1m. These are far from derisory sums. Admittedly, with a rapidly expanding network of high-value races in the Middle East, and significant expansion of the Australian programme to include some newer races such as The Everest, The Golden Eagle and The Quokka, it is hard for Britain to lay up in some areas, but as the accompanying table of some of the world's most valuable races shows, the situation is far from Purton's assertion of “hopeless”. That said, Smith says that headhunting international runners to race in Britain has become harder than ever. He does however say that here have been “positive noises” about Masquerade Ball, who on Tuesday was ruled out of travelling from Japan to the Dubai Sheema Classic, coming to Ascot for the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. The Chris Waller-trained Australian sprinter Joliestar is also likely to head to Royal Ascot. “The difference now to how it was 10 years ago is unbelievable,” he says. “I used to go to Australia with the confidence of getting seven or eight entries, three or four runners. Japan has always been a bit of a struggle, but America built from nothing, and we used to get horses from Hong Kong much more regularly. “The prestige only takes you so far. Myself and William Derby [York] and Ed Arkell [Goodwood] and and indeed Sophie Able from the Jockey Club, we spend an awful lot of time talking to connections, and it's the same redounding message all the time and that's 'We'd probably love to race in the UK more than anywhere else in the world, but we can't justify it'.” Ascot is still very much holding its own, however, and it staged three of the top-ten-rated races in the world last year, including the Qipco Champion Stakes, which tied at the top of the table with the Japan Cup. Sandown's Coral-Eclipse also made a top-ten appearance, and the Betfred Coronation Cup, Juddmonte International and Betfred 2,000 Guineas were all in the top 20. In fact, Britain led the way in 2025 with 20 of the top 100 Group/Grade 1 races in the Longines World Rankings, ahead of Australia (19), America (16), Japan (15), Hong Kong (11), France (10), Ireland (4), United Arab Emirates (3), Germany (1), and Saudi Arabia (1). The key challenge now is to stay out in front. The post British Black-Type Prize-Money is Best in Europe but Challenges Remain appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article
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