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Byron King's Top 12 on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, presented by Spendthrift Farm.

Becoming the first jockey to exceed $3 million in mount earnings at Delta Downs since the track opened in 1973, Vicente Del Cid ran away with the leading rider title.

While the 3-year-olds competing in the Davona Dale Stakes (G2) for fillies and the open Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) figure to draw the most eyes to the Feb. 28 Gulfstream Park card, the day's other seven stakes also bring plenty of star power.

South Australian nursery Kambula Stud will present its entire 2026 yearling crop at the upcoming Inglis Premier Yearling Sale, held March 1-3, marking a significant strategic shift for the family-run operation.

With four wins in five starts, Albaugh Family Stables homebred On Time Girl aims to keep rolling as she will stretch out to a mile in the $225,000 Davona Dale Stakes (G2) Feb. 28 at Gulfstream Park.

A relatively quiet weekend of racing, in terms of stakes action, led to little change in the National Thoroughbred Racing Association's polls released Feb. 24, but that is likely to change this weekend.

The $300,000 Indiana Derby (G3) and the $200,000 Indiana Oaks (G3) highlight the premier racing schedule.

As part of its traceability initiative, The Jockey Club is distributing 100 microchip scanners this week free of charge to identified aftercare organizations to facilitate the identification of Thoroughbreds.

The first reported foal is a colt bred by Daniel Bates out of Ruby Soho.

Unbeaten 3-year-old fillies Zany (American Pharoah) and Bella Ballerina (Street Sense), one-two on the most recent TDN Kentucky Oaks Top 10, lead the list of 89 early nominations to this year's GI Kentucky Oaks, released Tuesday by Churchill Downs.

Repole Stable's Zany is three-for-three following her win in the Feb. 7 Suncoast Stakes and is expected to make her next start in the Apr. 3 GI Central Bank Ashland Stakes. Godolphin's Bella Ballerina took her record to a matching three-for-three with her victory in the Feb. 14 GII Fasig-Tipton Rachel Alexandra Stakes and is expected to make her next start in the Mar. 21 GII Fasig-Tipton Fair Grounds Oaks.

Also on the list of early nominees is last year's Eclipse champion 2-year-old filly Super Corredora (Gun Runner), who will look to rebound from a fourth-place effort in her sophomore debut in the Feb. 8 Las Virgenes Stakes this weekend in the GIII Santa Ysabel Stakes.

Other stakes-winning nominees include GII Oak Leaf Stakes winner Explora (Blame); GIII Forward Gal Stakes winner On Time Girl (Not This Time); GIII Pocahontas Stakes winner Taken by the Wind (Rock Your World); and Las Virgenes winner Meaning (Gun Runner).

The 89 fillies were made eligible to compete in the May 1 Kentucky Oaks through a $200 early nomination payment that closed Feb. 18. A $1,500 late nomination deadline is available through Apr. 8.

For the complete list of nominees, click here.

The post Zany, Bella Ballerina Lead 89 Early Nominations for Kentucky Oaks appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Jockey Vicente Del Cid won his third overall riding title and his first since the 2023-24 season at the 76-day Delta Downs meeting which concluded Saturday. Allen Landry captured his second consecutive leading trainer title at the Louisiana oval and Endzone Athletics (Karl Broberg and Matt Johanson) won its 14th leading owner crown.

Del Cid won 129 races from 449 mounts, which was 76 wins ahead of second-place rider Joel Dominguez. The Guatemalan native also set a new single-season record with total mount earnings of $3,109,245. He is the first jockey to exceed $3 million in mount earnings since the track opened in 1973.

Landry won his title by saddling 40 winners from 194 starts and his barn also garnered the most mount earnings this season with a mark of $1,278,535.

End Zone Athletics was represented by 21 winners from 96 starts at the meet and earned a total of $362,940, which ranked third behind Elite Thoroughbred Racing (Michele Rodriguez), $524,635, and Norman Stables (Robert A. Norman), with $505,135.

The post Del Cid, Landry Earn Delta Downs Titles appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

The 123-day season at Horseshoe Indianapolis, which begins Apr. 7, will feature 47 stakes races worth $4.95 million. Highlighting the season is the $300,000 GIII Indiana Derby and $200,000 GIII Indiana Oaks. The pair of graded races will be run on a July 11 card that features total purses over $1.1 million.

“We have moved our Indiana Derby back one week this year, since its traditional place landed on July 4 this year,” said Horseshoe Indianapolis vice president and general manager of racing Eric Halstrom. “Our Indiana Derby has become a popular destination each July, and we wanted to ensure racing fans could enjoy the event. We had a record crowd and handle during last year's Derby with more than 5,000 in attendance and handle that exceeded $9 million, a new track record. We are already working on this year's event and plan to expand seating options trackside, in addition to elevating our indoor clubhouse experience.”

Horseshoe Indianapolis will host the seventh annual Indiana Champions Day Saturday on Oct. 24. The afternoon program will include six Thoroughbred premier races followed by six Quarter Horse stakes with purses exceeding $1.1 million.

For the complete stakes schedule, click here.

The post Indiana Derby, Oaks Highlight Horseshoe Indianapolis Stakes Schedule appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

The Jockey Club will distribute 100 microchip scanners this week to aftercare organizations to facilitate the identification of Thoroughbreds, TJC announced in a press release Tuesday. Approximately 400 additional scanners will be distributed in the coming months.

“We are providing these scanners as a service to the industry to help aftercare organizations and others identify Thoroughbreds and report whereabouts information, which will greatly benefit our traceability efforts,” said Kristin Werner, deputy general counsel and director of Industry Initiatives, The Jockey Club. “These scanners work with the ID My Thoroughbred app, which was released last week through the App store and Google Play.”

Stacie Clark Rogers, operations consultant for the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, added, “The ability to identify Thoroughbreds quickly and accurately, especially in sanctuary situations, is vital for aftercare organizations to find the best options for horses in their care. We are grateful for The Jockey Club instituting this initiative.”

An online form is available to request a free microchip scanner. Forms must be submitted by Apr. 1.

The post The Jockey Club Distributes Free Microchip Scanners appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Sprinters–dirt and turf–dominated the week's best female performances.

5–KAPOOR, GP, 2-19, Alw, 6f (VIDEO)
Beyer Speed Figure-90
(f, 4, Uncle Mo–Kareena, by Medaglia d'Oro)
O/B-Godolphin (Ky). T-Bill Mott. J-Taylor Kingsley.
Kapoor has rolled to three consecutive frontrunning sprint wins by a combined 14 1/4 lengths, and she practically snuck into this allowance in the cover of darkness: the conditions were for non-winners of $20k once other than maiden/claiming, and her winners' take from a Tampa allowance score four weeks earlier was $19,175. As expected, the Godolphin pedigree is strong, especially from the Beyer angle. Dam Kareena recorded Beyers of 96 and 98 in her brief career, and second dam India once had back-to-back Beyers of 100 and 103.

4–GRATEFULLY, SA, 2-21, Wishing Well S., 6fT (VIDEO)
Beyer Speed Figure-91
(f, 4, Laoban–Selflessly, by More Than Ready)
O-Adelphi Racing Club and Shelly and Russell Hume. B-WinStar Farm. T- Rob Falcone. J-Florent Geroux.
Matt Cutair and his Adelphi partners had a 2 1/2 hours to remember Saturday, striking first with unbeaten Gratefully after a Santa Anita stretch duel and again 2,700 miles away with Twirling Beauty (below). Gratefully has now survived three “gut checks” during her 5-for-5 career launch. She's the first foal of Selflessly, a two-time GSW for Seth Klarman and Chad Brown. WinStar acquired Selflessly following her racing career, bred her to Laoban, then sold mother and daughter–Selflessly, first for $875k to Ireland's Barronstown Stud and Gratefully the following year for a bargain $155k as a yearling to Adelphi.

3–TWIRLING BEAUTY, AQU, 2-21, Alw, 6f (VIDEO)
Beyer Speed Figure-91
(f, 4, Twirling Candy–Strategic Dreams, by Archarcharch)
O-Adelphi Racing Club, Anthony Amarosa, Shelly and Russell Hume and Anthony Peters Jr. B-WinStar Farm. T-David Duggan. J-Ricardo Santana.
The excitement of Gratefully's victory at even-money odds still hadn't subsided for Adelphi and the Humes when Twirling Beauty unexpectedly came through as the 12-1 longest shot in a five-horse allowance field. By contrast, her win had few tense moments as she opened up through the lane by 5 1/2 lengths. Also a $150k yearling buy as the first foal of a two-time stakes winner, her racing resume isn't as accomplished as her stablemate, but that 91 Beyer is equally strong.

2–HAULIN ICE, OP, 2-20, Downthedustyroad Breeders' S.,
6f (VIDEO)
Beyer Speed Figure-98
(m, 5, Coal Front–She's Smoke, by Half Ours)
O-C2 Racing Stable, WSS Racing and Agave Racing Stable. B-Eugenia Thompson-Benight (Ark). T-Saffie Joseph. J-Francisco Arrieta.
As a two-time GSW, she can hang with the big girls. But a free square against Arkansas-breds for a $150k purse is too enticing to pass. Haulin Ice has won this race in back-to-back years by a combined 17 3/4 lengths, and this one put her over $1 million in earnings. C2's Mark and Clint Cornett (White Abarrio) bought her from the breeders after her fifth start. She RNA'd in October for $875k in a digital auction after which Bill and Tammy Simon and Agave's Mark Martinez bought out C2's three previous partners.

1–SHINING STAR, FG, 2-17, Mardi Gras S., 5 1/2fT (VIDEO)
Beyer Speed Figure-103
(m, 5, Saraha Spirit–Green Power {Chi}, by Dublin {Ire})
O-Sumaya U.S. Stable. B-Haras Sumaya. T-Brad Cox. J-Jose Ortiz.
Fair Grounds has hosted more than its share of powerful turf sprinters–Shining Star's dominant score marked the 10th triple-digit Beyer in a 5 1/2-furlong turf dash during the track's last five seasons. Since Cox switched her to turf last fall, the Oussama Aboughazale owned-and-bred mare is 3-for-3 by an average margin of 5 1/4 lengths. Aboughazale stands unraced Tapit stallion Saraha Spirit (half-brother to Giant's Causeway stallion Protonico) in Chile. Notably, he's out of Wild Spirit, who Aboughazale imported in 2003 to win the GI Ruffian Stakes with trainer Bobby Frankel. And speaking of triple-digit Beyers, five of Wild Spirit's six American starts featured figs of 110, 109, 109 and 106.

 

The post Five Fleet Fillies of the Week, Feb. 16-22 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

The first reported foal is a colt bred by Daniel Bates out of Ruby Soho.

Coady Media has announced the launch of the 2026 Equine Pro / Am Photography Competition, created to discover, showcase, and support emerging talent in equine photography.

Feb. 28 at 11:59 p.m. ET is the last opportunity to nominate foals born in 2025 to the Breeders' Cup program for a one-time late nomination fee of $1,500.

Popular entertainment comes from ideas in all shapes and sizes, both large, and, in this case, small. Former jockey and exercise rider Robert Montano has achieved rave reviews for something much different and quite personal.

Sandman and Magnitude are the only millionaire stakes winners in the expected field of seven for the $500,000 Razorback Handicap being run Feb. 28 at Oaklawn Park.

This year's Pennsylvania-Bred Stakes Schedule will offer $1.7 million in purses across 20 stakes races. All three of Pennsylvania's racetracks will host stakes.