Score More With Four: Quadruple Kentucky Derby Prep Races

Forte was fantastic this Fall at Keeneland. Forte picked up Kentucky Derby prep points there, winning both the Breeders' Futurity and the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Stakes.
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The 4th features four fine Kentucky Derby prep races. A quartet of stakes are to be raced March, 4, 2023, The Gotham, The San Felipe, The Fountain of Youth, and the John Battaglia Memorial will all post this Saturday.

First, the $300,000 GIII Gotham Stakes is at Aqueduct in Ozone Park, NY. Race nine has a total of fifteen entries. The stakes will post at 4:56 PM ET. The 1 mile race, inaugurated in 1953, awards 50-20-15-10-5 KY Derby prep points, respectively.

Then, Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, CA will host the $400,000 GII San Felipe Stakes, inaugurated in 1935. At a distance of 1 and 1/16 miles this race offers 50-20-15-10-5 points. Eleven are entered for the sixth race, posting at 5:27 PM ET.

Next, the $400,000 GII Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, FL dates back to 1945. The first five finishers of the 1 and 1/16 mile race will receive 50-20-15-10-5 points. Race fourteen posts at 5:43 PM ET. Forte will face off with nine contenders.

Finally, the $150,000 John Battaglia Memorial Stakes will be held at Turfway Park in Florence, KY. This 1 and 1/16 mile race offers 20-8-6-4-2 points. Fourteen thoroughbreds are entered in this edition of The John Battaglia Memorial Stakes, created in 1982. The all weather track will host race eight at 9:25 PM ET.

Photo caption: Forte was fantastic this Fall at Keeneland. Forte picked up Kentucky Derby prep points there, winning both the Breeders’ Futurity and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Stakes.

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Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland

Flightline schools in Keeneland's paddock to prepare for the 2022 Breeders' Cup.
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Flightline schools in Keeneland's paddock to prepare for the 2022 Breeders' Cup Classic.
Flightline schools in Keeneland’s paddock to prepare for the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Keeneland is rolling out the purple carpet for the top thoroughbreds from all parts of the globe. The 39th Breeders’ Cup World Championships will race on November 4th and 5th, 2022. The Breeders’ Cup Challenge series selected contenders for fourteen champion races. Save this post, as your reference, to this exciting event, the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland!

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Keen On Keeneland

Thoroughbred U is back at the track for Keeneland's Fall Meet, 2022.
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California Angel won the 2021 JP Morgan Jessamine Stakes at Keeneland.
California Angel won the 2021 JP Morgan Jessamine Stakes at Keeneland.

Thoroughbred U is going back to the track! Record breaking and racing returns to Keeneland October, 2022. Fall Stars Weekend kicks off 22 stakes and 17 days of full card, live racing. 11 races will offer “Win and You’re In” berths into the Breeders’ Cup, which will also be hosted by Keeneland, this November. Additionally, races On The Road To The Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks will take place at Keeneland, this Fall Meet. Thoroughbred U is keen on Keeneland, my hometrack. Read on to enjoy the action and record purses available at Keeneland this October!

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Pretty In Pink Pictorial and Kentucky Oaks Opine

The 148th Kentucky Oaks is Friday, May 6, 2022!
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Cocktail Moments finished second to Nest in the Ashland Stakes at Keeneland!
Cocktail Moments finished second to Nest in the Ashland Stakes at Keeneland!

The 148th Kentucky Oaks field is set and I could not resist sharing both my contender photos and my enthusiasm for these outstanding fillies. Please, enjoy my pictures and minimal commentary.

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Keeneland: Just Like Heaven, Including an Angel

California Angel is a closer and as Keeneland closes the Fall Meet this was a standout moment.
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California Angel reminds me of her famous father, California Chrome, with the flashy socks and blaze.
California Angel reminds me of her famous father, California Chrome, with the flashy socks and blaze.

Late October, Keeneland has all the feels of a heavenly place and this meet included a special angel. Seventeen stakes to date into the Fall meet and I’m still so enthused that I was present for many of the races and especially the win, raced by California Angel!

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Stars and Stakes

Mutasaabeq won the Bourbon Stakes at Keeneland in 2020!
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Inthemidstofbiz, won the 2020 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes at Keeneland.
Inthemidstofbiz, won the 2020 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes at Keeneland.

Keeneland is back! Legendary, live racing returns to the Horse Capital of the World October 8th, 2021. The Fall Meet marks the 85th anniversary of racing at Keeneland. Seventeen days of racing will be hosted Friday, 10/8, through Saturday, 10/30/21. First, it’s Fall Stars Weekend!

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Fifteen Years of Old Friends Farm

Silver Charm stands out as a favorite at Old Friends Farm!

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Little Silver Charm is the only non-thoroughbred equine at Old Friends.
Little Silver Charm is the only non-thoroughbred equine at Old Friends.

Old Friends Farm is celebrating its 15th year of rescuing retired Thoroughbreds.  Operating at 3 locations and home to hundreds of horses, the Georgetown, KY farm is full of famous champions and a broad spectrum of former Thoroughbred racehorses.   On a beautiful Kentucky Fall day I paid the farm another visit.

 

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Kings Of Keeneland

Keeneland's paddock is beautiful.

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Lawn jockeys decorated with the winners of previous stakes decorate Keeneland.
Lawn jockeys decorated with the winners of previous stakes decorate Keeneland.

It’s been exactly one week since things really heated up at Keeneland racetrack in Lexington, KY.  The October meet opened Friday, October 5th and served up some hot temperatures and hotter stakes races.  Fall Stars Weekend delivered 10 stakes races.  Since then they have held another stakes as well.  What has sire power meant to Keeneland’s racetrack so far and who may we expect to win this weekend’s stakes?

 

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Seventy-fifth September Sale

Gun It, was a Keeneland September Sale grad of 2017. He sold for the second highest price for a North American yearling.

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Hip 69, a filly sired by Tapit, her dam is Pretty n' Smart, was 2017's top priced yearling sold in North America, at the Keeneland September Sale!
Hip 69, a filly sired by Tapit, her dam is Pretty n’ Smart, was 2017’s top priced yearling sold in North America, at the Keeneland September Sale!

Suddenly it’s sales time!  I love attending the September Yearling Sales at Keeneland in Lexington, KY.  You never know what you’re looking at the first time you see it.  Justify, our latest Triple Crown winner, is a Keeneland September sales grad.  Today’s yearlings are classic champions in as little as 2 years time.  Be sure I will follow up with results, pictures and tales from the sales.  For now, I’ll keep it simple with the sales stats and story.

 

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Fame isn’t Fast

Affirmed, triple crown winner and U.S Racing Hall of Fame thoroughbred won many awards and his Hall of Fame plaque.

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Affirmed, triple crown winner and U.S Racing Hall of Fame thoroughbred won many awards and his Hall of Fame plaque.
Affirmed, triple crown winner and U.S Racing Hall of Fame thoroughbred won many awards and his Hall of Fame plaque.

Fame does not come fast, not even for Thoroughbreds who sweep the triple crown at the young age of three.  An induction into the Official National Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame is something one achieves many years into or even after their outstanding career in horse racing.  Friday, finally finalized the fame of a few favorites.

 

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