Wandering Eyes

Superstar jockey Joao Moreira will return to Hong Kong for the final three months of the season as the retained stable rider for Caspar Fownes. The Jockey Club on Monday approved Fownes’ application to retain Moreira, a four-time Hong Kong champion rider, from April 7 until the end of the campaign on July 15. Fownes currently leads the race for the championship on 36 wins and hopes Moreira’s return will boost his bid for a fifth trainers’ title. “Who wouldn’t be happy with a superstar like him...View the full article

Greenwich Village (Quality Road) with Juan Hernandez aboard timed things just right to get his head down at the wire in a tight finish in Sunday's Pasadena Stakes at Santa Anita. Sent off the 8-5 choice after a first-time turf score in the 6 1/2 furlong Baffle Stakes at this venue on Jan. 25, the bay exited post 2 in good order and soon set up camp in a ground-saving fourth as Medici (Into Mischief) led Brigante (More Than Ready) and Army Man (Battalion Runner) through an opening quarter in :22.82. Still content to survey the 7-1 leader through a half in :46.38, Greenwich Village was asked for more and responded as he swung out four to five paths wide turning for home. Taking dead aim at the game pacesetter down the lane, Greenwich Village closed with every stride and put his head down just in time to edge Medici with a fast-closing Iriseach (Ubettabelieveit {Ire}) grabbing third. A debut winner in a 6 1/2-furlong test at Los Alamitos on Dec. 6, the Bob Baffert trainee showed good early speed but wilted to finish fifth–beaten 15 lengths by winner So Happy (Runhappy)–in the GII San Vicente Stakes over seven panels on Jan. 10. Greenwich Village, the third foal out of a multiple group winning mare in Australia, Houtzen (Aus) (I Am Invincible {Aus}), has a juvenile brother by Charlatan and a yearling brother by Not This Time. PASADENA S., $102,000, Santa Anita, 2-22, 3yo, 1mT, 1:34.72, fm. 1–GREENWICH VILLAGE, 120, c, 3, by Quality Road 1st Dam: Houtzen (Aus) (MGSW-Aus, GSP-Eng, $1,599,872), by I Am Invincible (Aus) 2nd Dam: Set To Unleash (Aus), by Reset (Aus) 3rd Dam: Leash (Aus), by Redoute's Choice (Aus) ($350,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP). O-SF Racing, LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, LLC, Stonestreet Stables, LLC, Bashor Racing, LLC, Determined Stables, Golconda Stable, Waves Edge Capital, LLC and Donovan, Catherine; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert; J-Juan J. Hernandez. $60,000. Lifetime Record: 4-3-0-0, $151,000. 2–Medici, 120, c, 3, Into Mischief–Avenge, by War Front. 1ST BLACK TYPE. O-Bass II, Perry R. and Bass, Ramona S.; B-Bass Stables, LLC (KY); T-Richard E. Mandella. $20,000. 3–Iriseach (Ire), 120, c, 3, Ubettabelieveit (Ire)–Max's Dandy (Ire), by Dandy Man (Ire). (15,000gns 2yo '25 TAOJN). O-Benowitz Family Trust, CYBT, McLean Racing Stables, Strand Beach, LLC and Nentwig, Michael; B-Hyde Park Stud (IRE); T-Philip D'Amato. $12,000. Margins: NO, NK, 3/4. Odds: 1.70, 7.10, 8.20. Also Ran: Caro Buono (Fr), Later Than Planned (Ire), Unrivaled Time, Army Man, Brigante, Smoovin Saturday. Scratched: Bust Out, Sammy Davis. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV. The post Greenwich Village Finds a Home on the Lawn, Takes Pasadena in a Thriller appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Ka Ying Rising cruised to a Hong Kong record 18th straight win in the Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup (G1) Feb. 22 at Sha Tin Racecourse.View the full article

Three Chimneys Farm and John Ennis' Great White took the winning bite out of the $174,835 John Battaglia Memorial Stakes at Turfway Park Feb. 21, joining the Kentucky Derby (G1) trail with 20 points.View the full article

Ka Ying Rising has to be rated one of Hong Kong’s all-time great racehorses and will have the chance to sit at the top of that tree if he continues his incredible winning streak. The world’s best sprinter broke Silent Witness’ 21-year record with an 18th consecutive triumph in Sunday’s Group One Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1,400m), smashing the track record in another dominant success. He has been an unstoppable force since starting the streak two years ago, just after the only two defeats of...View the full article

Journalism, winner of last year's Preakness Stakes (G1), Santa Anita Derby (G1), and Haskell Stakes (G1), had his first official workout of the year Feb. 22 at Santa Anita Park.View the full article

Haulin Ice became the first accredited Arkansas-bred to reach $1 million in career earnings with a front-running 11 3/4-length tour de force in the $150,000 Downthedustyroad Breeders' Stakes Feb. 20.View the full article

The year 2025 was not a good one for jockey Florent Geroux. A jockey who had won at least 100 races for 11 years in a row, and won 217 races in 2016, he won only 75 races last year. The start of 2026 was no better. When he left Fair Grounds after the Feb. 14 card, he had only seven winners on the meet. Worse yet, after going 5-for-5 on Disco Time (Not This Time), he lost the mount on the 3-2 favorite in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes. He was replaced by Flavien Prat, who finished eighth on the Brad Cox-trained horse. “It was simply because people were taking away from me the horses I used to ride,” Geroux said when asked to explain why his business was suffering. “When every time you lose and they take you off of the horse, there's no way you can succeed. Maybe sometimes the connections wanted the guys to ride that were on top at the moment. That's the way it is. A lot of people want to ride Flavien and/or Irad (Ortiz, Jr.) any chance they can get them. A guy like me will get taken off.” Knowing that he needed a change, Geroux packed his bags and headed to Southern California, arriving there on Feb. 15. For the native of Argentan, Normandy, France, it's been a game-changer. Geroux won Saturday's feature race at Santa Anita, the Wishing Well Stakes aboard Gratefully (Laoban). It was the third weekend in a row that he has won a stakes race, a mini-streak that includes a win aboard the GI Kentucky Derby hopeful Plutarch (Into Mischief) for Bob Baffert in the GIII Robert B. Lewis Stakes. Through Saturday's races, he was 5-for-25 at Santa Anita. “To have momentum, you need to ride good horses and have a little bit of luck,” Geroux said. “Definitely, I am riding good horses again and that makes you and everyone else look good. That's the key to success, riding good horses. The thing is, I never lost faith in my ability. What you have to do in this business is you just have to keep pushing and working hard, especially in the morning. I am always out there working and people see that. They see you getting up in the morning and showing that you are hungry. Then you win a few races and you start to get back on track. I am not the first person who got into a slump.” That he was in a slump probably factored into why he was taken off Disco Time, who is owned by Juddmonte. It is unusual to take a jockey off a horse after a win, and especially after five straight wins. “At the end of the day, that was their decision,” Geroux said. “I thought I did great work with the horse. Those people have been great to me. I was upset, yes. But I was not mad. Juddmonte and Brad have been great to me through the years, so I could not be mad at them.” Geroux sporting the Juddmonte silks on champion Idiomatic | Sarah Andrew Geroux was convinced to try California by agent Matt Nakatani after his top rider, Umberto Rispoli, was hurt in a spill on Jan. 24 at Gulfstream. Rispoli, who suffered a fractured ankle, tibia, and fibula, is expected to be sidelined for several months. Nakatani told Geroux that he could get him on many of the horses that Rispoli had been riding. That has worked out fine, but what no one could have expected is that Geroux would fall into the Bob Baffert camp, which is not easy to do. Not only did Baffert give him the mount on Plutarch, but he also rode another winner for Baffert on Friday, the maiden winner Blacksmith (Liam's Map). Baffert has given him four mounts so far at the meet. During his career, Geroux has ridden 12 winners for Baffert from 43 starts. “Bob has given me a big vote of confidence,” Geroux said. “Other people see this, too. When you have the opportunity to ride and win for a trainer like him, everyone is paying attention. When I came here, I was hoping to do well. When Umberto got hurt and injured his leg, I was able to pick up his agent. Everyone likes to work with Matt Nakatani here at Santa Anita. I thought he would have some business for me, and I had already ridden for Bob in the past. I think that's it's been a mix–the business that Matt is getting for me, plus the fact that I had established a relationship with Bob over the years. Umberto never really rode for Bob, and I have been riding for him.” Geroux's other recent stakes win came back at Fair Grounds, where he won the GIII Mineshaft Stakes with Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}). In one of the few highlights of his 2025 campaign, he won the G1 Dubai World Cup with Hit Show, who is headed back to the Middle East for another crack at one of racing's richest prizes. After taking Geroux off of Disco Time, Cox stuck with him for the Mineshaft. “Hopefully, I will ride the horse back in Dubai,” Geroux said. “He enjoys the track and the distance will be to his liking. The last time when he ran at the Fair Grounds I thought it was a speed-favoring track that day and he was able to run that horse down. The race was a little short for him and he was coming off the layoff. So, if he can move forward off that race, he can make a good showing in Dubai.” Win or lose in Dubai, it looks like Geroux is back. The Awesome Story of Awesome Hawaiian The story of Awesome Hawaiian (Awesome Bet) continues to be a feel-good tale for the sport. Bound for the slaughterhouse, he was saved by owner John Stewart and his family from a kill pen and given the chance to become a race horse. He won at first asking, winning a $30,000 maiden claimer at Churchill Downs. He was claimed out of that race and entered the Joe Sharp barn. In his first start for Sharp, he ran third in an allowance race for Louisiana-breds at Fair Grounds. He came back Saturday night at Delta Downs and won a $50,000 claimer. The same horse that someone deemed was worth nothing more than what he could fetch from the meat buyers has now won $62,570. The Hunch Bet of the Weekend Considering what happened last week in the Supreme Court, how could you not like a horse named Tariff Mindset (Tiz the Law) in Saturday's fifth race at Aqueduct? As it turned out, not only did the horse win, but he was extremely impressive. Tariff Mindset | Coglianese More so than any other high-profile trainer on the New York circuit, Chad Brown has never shied away from running good horses in the winter at Aqueduct. Tariff Mindset obviously fit the pattern. He walked out of the gate and then started climbing badly down the backstretch over the sloppy track. He wound up last, hopelessly far behind. But he found his best stride under Prat and, despite having to alter course in the stretch, managed to close from a mile back to win by a nose. No doubt Brown will find a way to get him to be more focused in future races. If so, he's got a good one on his hands. The post Week in Review: Florent Geroux Has His Mojo Back appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

So Happy (Runhappy), winner of the GII San Vicente going seven furlongs on Jan. 10, is likely to mark his return in the GII San Felipe on Mar. 7, according to trainer Mark Glatt Sunday. The 3-year-old posted a bullet six-furlong work in company Sunday at Santa Anita Sunday morning. So Happy, with Hall of Famer Mike Smith in the irons, worked with Grade II winner Mi Hermano Ramon (Creative Cause), who is a 6-year-old. Both were timed in 1:11.60, which tied for the fastest of 11 works at the distance. “I thought everything went well,” Glatt said. “So Happy is just an average work horse, so we worked him with a really good work horse. It was good.” Last Sunday, So Happy worked five furlongs in :59.80. It was the second-fastest of 73 works at the distance. After winning his debut sprinting at Del Mar in November, So Happy returned in the San Vicente, winning by two lengths with Smith aboard. The San Felipe, contested at 1 1/16 miles, would be his first time racing around two turns. The post So Happy on Track for San Felipe After Sunday Drill appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Trainer and co-owner John Ennis says there is more improvement to come in Great White after the 3-year-old Volatile gelding joined the Kentucky Derby (G1) trail with a win in the John Battaglia Memorial Stakes at Turfway Park Feb. 21.View the full article

Vodka Vodka (Stay Thirsty) and his younger half-sister Om N Joy (Om) are both on target for Grade I assignments on Mar. 7 at Santa Anita after each worked five furlongs at Santa Anita Sunday morning. Trained by Aggie Ordonez, Vodka Vodka and Om N Joy each worked with Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux aboard. Winner of the Unusual Heat Turf Classic at Santa Anita on Jan. 17, Vodka Vodka completed the task in 1:00.20. He is slated to run in the GI Santa Anita Handicap. “He's doing so great right now. I could run him tomorrow,” Ordonez said. “He's just floating on air, doing everything right. He's fit. It's just a matter of keeping him happy while I hold my breath for the next two weeks.” The 5-year-old California-bred gelding was fourth in the GII Laffit Pincay Jr. on Dec. 28 in his only stakes try against open company. Working five furlongs in :59.60, 4-year-old Om N Joy hasn't started since finishing fourth in the GII Raven Run in October at Keeneland. “It was exactly what I was looking for,” Ordonez said of the drill. “She needed a serious work and it was a serious work,” Ordonez said. “Kent set a target behind two Baffert horses. That's usually a good idea when you need a good work. It played out perfectly. She had a target and picked it up down the lane immensely.” Pointing toward the GI B. Wayne Hughes Beholder Mile on the Big 'Cap card, the Cal-bred previously posted a lackluster five-furlong work in 1:02.60 in Arcadia on Feb. 15. “I was a little concerned with her work last week, but Kent made a smart move that day and gave her a strong gallop-out. It turned into a stamina work really,” Ordonez said. “We discussed that she would need to wake up this week and she did.” Vodka Vodka and Om N Joy were both bred and are co-owned by Jerry Baker and Connie Baker, who were on hand Sunday morning to watch the works. The post Vodka Vodka Preps for Big ‘Cap, Om N Joy Readies for Beholder appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Journalism (Curlin), winner of last year's GI Preakness Stakes, GI Santa Anita Derby and GI Haskell, had his first official workout of the year at Santa Anita Sunday. Also working for trainer Michael McCarthy was Meaning (Gun Runner), winner of the Feb. 8 Las Virgenes Stakes. Journalism worked three furlongs in :36.80. “Nice and easy,” trainer Michael McCarthy said when asked about Sunday's move. “He got in a good rhythm and galloped out well. It's kind of a maintenance pattern with him right now.” Journalism has been off since finishing fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 1. McCarthy has said the GI Metropolitan Handicap in June at Saratoga is likely the first major target for Journalism this year. Meaning worked for the first time since her 1 1/2-length victory in the Las Virgenes going one-mile. She was officially clocked going four furlongs in :48.40. McCarthy said he timed the drill in :49.20. “I thought it was a nice maintenance move also,” McCarthy added. The next stakes engagement for 3-year-old fillies on dirt at Santa Anita is the GIII Santa Ysabel going 1 1/16 miles on Mar. 8. It is followed by the GII Santa Anita Oaks on Apr. 4. “We'll keep all of our options open, but we'd definitely like to make the Santa Anita Oaks,” McCarthy said. Meaning is owned by Bridlewood Farm and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners. Prior to the Las Virgenes, the bay finished fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies on Oct. 31 at Del Mar. The post Journalism, Meaning Post Works at Santa Anita appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Costa Nova bounced back from three straight losses to repeat as winner of the February Stakes (G1) Feb. 22 on the Tokyo Racecourse dirt.View the full article

Lucky Kid upset the Hyacinth Stakes Feb. 22 at Tokyo Racecourse, taking the lead in the "Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby" with one race to go in the series.View the full article

Ka Ying Rising cruised to a Hong Kong-record 18th straight win in the Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup (G1) Feb. 22 at Sha Tin Racecourse.View the full article