Mon, 05/04/2026 - 15:03

Rosario shifting base to Southern California

Goal Oriented.Joel Rosario after Malibu win Dec 28 2025
Benoit Photo
Joel Rosario and Goal Orientated return to the winner's circle after winning the Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita last December.

Jockey Joel Rosario, the leading rider at Santa Anita at the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 winter-spring meetings, is returning to California and will begin riding at Santa Anita on Sunday.

Rosario, who is represented by agent Bill Castle, said in a text message he plans to arrive in California on Thursday.

Rosario, 41, won the Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding rider in 2021. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2024.

Through Sunday, Rosario ranked 22nd in the nation in earnings, with more than $2.99 million. Rosario had 20 wins from 168 mounts.

Mon, 05/04/2026 - 13:04

Gold Phoenix off until summer, will target Eddie Read

Benoit Photo
A nine-time stakes winner, Gold Phoenix was beaten 8 3/4 lengths by the impressive winner Rhetorical in the $1.41 million Turf Classic at 1 1/8 miles.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The veteran turf runner Gold Phoenix is unlikely to race again until late July after finishing a troubled seventh in the Grade 1 Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic on Saturday at Churchill Downs.

Trainer Phil D’Amato said at Santa Anita on Sunday that the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on July 26 at Del Mar is a summertime goal for Gold Phoenix, who has won 11 of 32 starts and earned $2,377,087.

Mon, 05/04/2026 - 12:38

Ottinho won't go in Peter Pan or Preakness

Coady Media
Ottinho, second in the Blue Grass, won't start in the Peter Pan or Preakness, according to trainer Chad Brown.

Ottinho, runner-up in the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes, will not run in either the Grade 3 Peter Pan Stakes on Saturday at Aqueduct or the Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park on May 16, trainer Chad Brown said.

Brown said Ottinho missed a work on the last weekend of April due to a foot issue, then worked a slow half-mile in 52 seconds by himself Saturday morning at Churchill Downs. Brown did not have an immediate plan for the horse.

Brown said that Tariff Mindset, a horse he was originally planning to run in the Peter Pan, is on the shelf for a little while.

Mon, 05/04/2026 - 12:36

Brown applauds DeVaux for Derby win while thinking of Paladin

Barbara D. Livingston
Trainer Cherie DeVaux, a former assistant to Chad Brown, became the first female trainer to win the Kentucky Derby.

Trainer Chad Brown said Golden Tempo’s victory in the Kentucky Derby was well-deserved by his former assistant Cherie DeVaux, who became the first female trainer to win the Kentucky Derby. DeVaux went out on her own in 2018 after working as Brown’s New York assistant for eight years.

Mon, 05/04/2026 - 12:31

T O Elvis to point for Breeders' Cup Sprint; New York prep possible

Justin N. Lane
T O Elvis, winner of the Churchill Downs Stakes, will be pointed toward the Breeders Cup Sprint, with a prep at Belmont as a possibility.

T O Elvis, dominant winner of Saturday’s Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes, will be pointed to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Oct. 31 at Keeneland. He will likely have one start before then and it’s possible that start could come in New York.

T O Elvis, who left Churchill Downs on Sunday morning to head to Chicago before flying back home to Japan, was originally slated to run in a race at the Royal Ascot meeting, said Yuto Kumagai, who works with the connections of T O Elvis, including trainer Daisuke Takayanagi.

Mon, 05/04/2026 - 12:16

McCarthy has stakes options aplenty

Benoit Photo
Whittingham winner Mondego has won twice this year at 1 1/4 miles.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Four of trainer Michael McCarthy’s stakes runners at Churchill Downs and Santa Anita last weekend are likely to scatter across the United States – and perhaps over the Atlantic – for their next starts.

McCarthy won three stakes on Saturday – the Grade 1 American Turf Stakes with Stark Contrast and Grade 2 Twin Spires Turf Sprint with Yellow Card at Churchill Downs, and the Grade 2 Charles Whittingham Stakes with Mondego at Santa Anita.

Mon, 05/04/2026 - 11:59

Late-starting 9-year-old retired after one race

Timer Moses, a 9-year-old maiden, had a one-race career.

After finishing sixth of seven in an $8,500 claiming race for maidens at Turf Paradise on Friday, Timer Moses was sold privately over the weekend, according to owner and trainer Chad Story.

“He’s going to West Virginia to be a trail horse,” Story said.

Timer Moses broke slowly from an inside post in Friday’s race at five furlongs. He trailed by 10 lengths early and was beaten 6 3/4 lengths as the 5-2 second choice. Rocksalot, the 2-1 favorite, won the race by a nose over 7-2 River’s Benchmark.

Sat, 05/02/2026 - 19:15

Kentucky Derby 2026: Golden Tempo storms home for upset; DeVaux first female trainer to win

Barbara D. Livingston
Jose Ortiz celebrates his first Kentucky Derby victory aboard Golden Tempo as his brother looks over from second-place Renegade.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Cherie DeVaux has frequently said that she doesn’t want her gender to define her as a horse trainer. Whether she likes it or not, history will now always define her as the first female trainer to win the Kentucky Derby.

Sat, 05/02/2026 - 08:32

Kentucky Derby 2026: The Puma scratched due to swollen pastern

Debra A. Roma
The Puma was scratched from the Kentucky Derby on Saturday morning.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Puma, the fifth choice at 8-1 in the early wagering for Saturday’s 152nd Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, was scratched about 12 hours before the race was scheduled to be run due to a swollen pastern believed to be caused by a skin infection in his left front leg.

Gustavo Delgado Jr., the assistant trainer to his father Gustavo Delgado, said Saturday morning that when he got to the barn the groom of The Puma informed him the horse had a swollen leg.

Thu, 04/30/2026 - 18:43

Gaffalione picks up Kentucky Derby mount on Ocelli

Barbara D. Livingston
Tyler Gaffalione is 0 for 7 in the Derby, though he did finish second, beaten a nose, aboard Sierra Leone in 2024.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It was a tough morning for jockey Tyler Gaffalione, who saw his original mounts for the Kentucky Derby (Fulleffort) and Kentucky Oaks (Bella Ballerina) scratch due to injury. 

Gaffalione wasn’t without a mount in the Derby for very long. 

Trainer Whit Beckman said Thursday afternoon that he will put Gaffalione on Ocelli in the Derby. Gaffalione was named to ride Nycon in the Oaks before she was scratched Friday morning. Both of Beckman’s horses had drawn into their respective races from the also-eligible list. Joe Ramos was previously named on Ocelli.