Trainer Bob Baffert capped a stellar opening day at Santa Anita Park Dec. 28 by sending out Goal Oriented and Midland Money as the winner and runner-up of the featured $301,000, Grade 1 Malibu Stakes.
Tag: The Sport
Thrillers, Comebacks, and Breathtaking Blowouts: The Top 10 Races of 2025
As 2025 comes to an end, this seems like a good time to look back at the past 12 months and reflect on the best races of the year. Here is a highly subjective list of the top 10 races of 2025, with the criteria being stretch battles, close finishes, and/or exceptional performances in important races at the top levels of competition. We hope you will enjoy plenty of good racing and wagering again in the year ahead. Good luck and happy new year!
Rookie Rankings for Dec. 23: Leading 2026 Kentucky Derby Contenders
Three prep races for the 2026 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve contested in two different countries promised to shake up Week 4 of the Rookie Rankings. But the impact was smaller than expected. The two stateside qualifiers yielded intriguing results, but the winners weren’t quite strong enough to make the Top 10 cutoff.
2026 Kentucky Derby Prospect Profile: Gun Runner Stakes Winner Chip Honcho
Welcome to Kentucky Derby Prospect Profiles, where we take a look each week at a recent winner of a race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve schedule offering qualifying points for the 1 ¼-mile Derby May 2, 2026, at Churchill Downs.