Horse Racing News

Though he is unlikely to make it into the field due to insufficient graded stakes earnings, A Little Warm is being trained as if the Kentucky Derby will be his next start, trainer Tony Dutrow said Wednesday.

Custom for Carlos began the year at Gulfstream Park, went to Aqueduct last month, and now is here at Oaklawn Park, where he will run on Friday in the Grade 3, $150,000 Count Fleet Handicap for older sprinters.

Seven older females are entered as would-be challengers to Forever Together when she makes her 6-year-old debut Saturday as the defending champion in the best race on the Blue Grass undercard, the Grade 2 Jenny Wiley Stakes.

Dr. Zic led every step of the Grade 1, $300,000 Vinery Madison to register a 15-1 upset and spoil the return of Eclipse champion Informed Decision on a chilly Thursday afternoon at Keeneland.

Trainer Donald Barr has employed a rewarding strategy with Ravalo over his 31-race career: run him where the big boys aren't.

Zenyatta on Wednesday morning took her first tour of the Oaklawn Park main track since her arrival 24 hours earlier, making one lap around the one-mile dirt oval with her regular exercise rider, Steve Willard.

While this year's Wood Memorial winner, Eskendereya, will head to Louisville as the favorite for the Kentucky Derby, I Want Revenge has returned to training at Aqueduct.

Much has been made about how Kentucky Derby also-rans tend to disappear into a black hole afterward. There are happy exceptions, of course, such as Court Vision, a 5-year-old who has blossomed into a genuine grass star in his Derby afterlife.

About a year ago at this time, few had ever heard of trainer Tim Ice. But he certainly made a name for himself the rest of 2009 with Summer Bird, who won the Belmont Stakes, Travers Stakes, and Jockey Club Gold Cup.

Seeking validation within the 3-year-old division - not to mention sufficient graded earnings to make the cut for the May 1 Kentucky Derby - a field of nine has been entered in the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes.