TDN Takeaways: January’s Graded Races

[Wandering Eyes]

In this new series for 2025, we'll take a monthly look at trends and notable items from the nation's graded races and present them in quick, easy-to-digest bullet points.

• The month of January saw 16 graded races in the U.S.: two Grade Is, four Grade IIs, and 10 Grade IIIs, with 11 on dirt and five on turf. While they ranged from six furlongs to 12 furlongs, the most popular distance, by far, was 1 1/16 miles with six graded races contested over that distance.
• Gulfstream hosted the most graded races of any U.S. track in January, with seven, all held on Pegasus World Cup Day. Santa Anita was next, with five spread throughout the month. Completing the lineup were Fair Grounds, with two, and Oaklawn and Sam Houston Race Park, each with one.
• Three graded races for sophomores were held in January: one each at Fair Grounds, Oaklawn, and Santa Anita. They were won by colts by Not This Time, Volatile, and Into Mischief, and spread between trainers Brad Cox, Ron Moquett, and Bob Baffert.
• The 16 graded races were won by progeny of 15 different sires. One sire, Coolmore America's Practical Joke, doubled up with two of the winners. Fourteen of the sires are active, with 11 currently standing in Kentucky. Two others began their careers in the Bluegrass, but have been exported. Only one, the French-based Muhaarar (GB), has never stood in the Commonwealth.
• A variety of broodmare sires were represented, but one stands out: Gainesway's Tapit was the damsire of three of January's 16 graded winners. Other active stallions who served as broodmare sires of January's graded winners include American Pharoah, Into Mischief, and Medaglia d'Oro.
• Eleven different trainers won graded races in January. Bob Baffert and Saffie Joseph, Jr. each took home a trio of events, while Brad Cox had two.
• Each of the 16 race winners had a different breeder, with five of the winners campaigning as homebreds: Disco Time (Not This Time), Juddmonte; Toupie (Uncle Mo), Wertheimer Et Frere; Forever After All (Connect), Dixiana Farms LLC; Dashman (Oscar Performance), Frankly Speaking LLC; and Recharge (Gun Runner), Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC.

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