—Jan 28— Jason Servis’ four-year-old filly, Actress made her 2018 debut in the $400,000 Grade III Houston Ladies Classic Stakes at Sam Houston Race Park on Wednesday, racing to a two-and-a-half length win over Dutch Parrot. Ridden by Jose Ortiz, Actress was the 4/5 favorite and looked the part.

Dutch Parrot finished a length-and-a-quarter in front of Valadorna, followed by Santa Monica, Tiger Moth and Vertical Oak.

—Jan 27—Fear the Cowboy broke on top then responded gamely when challenged by Gun Runner midway through the race, finding another gear and sprinting away from that rival down the stretch to win the second annual $12 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes at Gulfstream Park by one-and-three-quarters lengths. Let go at 10/1 at the windows, Fear the Cowboy paid $23.50 to win.

It was a win for the Bluegrass State in the Sunshine State. Fear the Cowboy wasn’t just bred in Kentucky, he was bred by the University of Kentucky. Beyond his not-at-all-unusual Bluegrass roots, there isn’t a lot to say about the winner, who first sold as a yearling for $1,500 and later failed to reach a $145,000 reserve in the 2016 Fasig-Tipton Summer Selected Horses of Racing Age sale in 2016.

More can be said about the second-place finisher, Gun Runner, who was sent to post as the overwhelming 2/5 favorite and failed to deliver. Steve Asmussen’s uber-talented five-year-old didn’t race poorly—he was a length ahead of the show horse, Seeking the Soul, at the wire—but his lack of a response to Fear the Cowboy’s late charge was nonetheless vexing, to say the least. He was retired to stud immediately following the race and the swiftness of that announcement may have hinted at his connections’ opinion of his performance in the race.

After Seeking the Soul came Gunnevera, Stellar Wind (the only female in the race) and West Coast. The Bob Baffert trainee delivered an uncharacteristically dull effort as the second-favorite but nonetheless earned a whopping $120,000 for finishing last.

 

—Jan 27—Hard Study repelled a late challenge from Bill Mott’s talented four-year-old gelding, Channel Maker, and held on to win the $200,000 Grade III W. L. McKnight Handicap at Gulfstream Park by three-quarters of a length on Saturday. Trained by Todd Pletcher and well-ridden by John Velazquez, Hard Study paid $7.80 for the win.

After being forwardly placed early, Channel Maker fell back during the race’s middle stages and was forced to rally entering the stretch. After pulling even with Hard Study in deep stretch, he was unable to match strides with the winner.

Oscar Nominated finished third, a half-length behind Channel Maker. Hi Happy, the 8/5 race favorite finished a dull fourth, followed by Big Dollar Bill and Nessy.

—Jan 27— When the two-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer, Chad Brown, saw Texting hop past Daddys Lil Darling midway through the $200,000 Grade III La Prevoyante Handicap, he was confident the daughter of Candy Ride wasn’t going to be denied the spoils this time around. As is often the case, Brown was right.

Texting pulled away further before Daddys Lil Darling made her final run, but it was way too little too late and Texting emerged the three-and-a-half length winner over late-charging Peru while Daddy Lil Darling faded to third.

“She’s been a work in progress,” Brown said after the race. “If you look at her, she is still quite lightly raced and … it’s just taken a while to get her here. Today she got a good pace to work with. Javier really got along with her well, it was a good patient race. It was her day, everything came together.”

—Jan 25— Mark Hennig’s My Miss Lilly upset Shamrock Rose in the Busanda Stakes at Aqueduct on Thursday. Last seen finishing third in the Ginger Brew Stakes over the turf at Gulfstream, the switch to dirt and extra one-and-a-half furlongs seemed to work wonders for the 3-year-old daughter of Tapit. The 3/1 third choice in the race, My Miss Lilly finished the 9-furlongs two-and-a-half lengths ahead of the favorite, Shamrock Rose, who was making her first start of the year.

War Heroine finished third, followed by Midnight Disguise, Virginia Key and Sara Street, who finished nearly 17 lengths behind the winner.

—Jan 20— Bolt d’Oro sprinted clear of Once On Whiskey and Core Beliefs before going a half and drew out to an impressive three-and-a-half length score in the $100,225 California Derby at Golden Gate Fields in San Francisco on Saturday. The 8/5 favorite, Bolt d’Oro paid $5.20 to win. He is expected to make his next start in the Grade II San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita in March.

The winner aside, for an ungraded race with a relatively small purse, this year’s edition of the California Derby drew a surprisingly competitive field. Though far from the top Derby hopeful in trainer Bob Baffert’s barn, Once On Whiskey is a useful sort, and his second place finish at 9/2 odds was more than enough to keep him on the Derby trail (his next start will be in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita on February 3).

Owner Gary Broad and trainer Peter Eurton have high hopes for Core Beliefs, the third-place finisher in the race.

“He’s doing very well.” Eurton said. “We’re very proud of him, no complaints. We were real pleased with him and how he ran.”

Although Eurton said he doesn’t want to look too far ahead, there is a plan for the colt moving forwards and, at least for now, the Kentucky Derby remains a goal.

Desert Stone, the only real longshot in the race at 31/1, finished fourth, followed by Restoring Hope and Ax Man.

—Jan 15— Claude “Shug” McGaughey’s High North broke slowly but was fast when it mattered, catching Solomini and Mourinho down the stretch to win the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park by a length-and-a-quarter. Mourinho finished second, three-parts of a length ahead of Solomini, the narrow favorite in the race. The third choice in the race, Tenfold, finished fourth, followed by Sporting Chance and Combatant.

—Jan 13— After travelling to New York from the U.K., the one-mile distance of the Jerome Stakes was nothing for Phoenix Thoroughbred III and Khalid Bin Mishref’s Gronkowski. Despite a muddy racetrack and the presence of Avery Island, the 3/5 race favorite, Gronkowski and Jose Ortiz ran off with the $82,500 winner’s share of the purse, beating Firenze Fire by a length. Avery Island finished third by a nose over Engage.

The 4/1 second choice in the betting, Gronkowski paid $10.60 to win.

—Jan 13— Jerry Hollendorfer’s Instilled Regard took home the Grade III Lecomte Stakes at the Fair Grounds in impressive fashion, pulling away from the 9/5 favorite and pacesetter, Trigger Warning, to win by four lengths. The 3/1 third choice in the betting, his victory wasn’t as improbable as the fact he was in the race in the first place.

In a career that has included more than 32,000 starters, Jerry Hollendorfer has rarely sent his horses to the Fair Grounds, but, after talking it over with owner, Larry Best, the two men decided to try their luck with Instilled Regard. Getting away from what appears to be a strong California contingent that includes McKinizie, Bolt d’Oro and Solomini may also have played a role.

“It was mostly Larry’s idea but as you can see, it worked out,” Hollendorfer said. “We haven’t been around here much, but this was a good race to run in and the timing was pretty good.”

To say it was a “good race to run in” is a bit of an understatement. Instilled Regard was simply dominant in the Lecomte and should be considered among the favorites for the Kentucky Derby moving forward.

 

—Jan 7— Sent to post the overwhelming 1/5 favorite, Steve Asmussen’s talented three-year-old filly, Midnight Bisou, didn’t disappoint, drawing away from War Heroine down the stretch to win the $201,035 Grade II Santa Ynez Stakes by one-and-a-half lengths. Give War Heroine— and jockey Flavian Prat— credit, though; she kept things close. 

Ridden by Mike Smith, Midnight Bisou immediately went to the lead leaving the gate, with War Heroine establishing a stalking position right behind her. Rounding the turn, War Heroine went by Midnight Bisou and, for a moment, appeared as though she might win. Midnight Bisou dashed any chance of that, moving strongly to reach even terms with that rival before sprinting clear down the lane.

After War Heroine is was more than three lengths back to Win the War, who finished third at 21/1. Sweetsongofthenile, Steph Being Steph and Just a Smidge, all longshots, rounded out the order of finish.