Kentucky Derby News

A bill that passed the state Senate 48-1 on Friday could provide more financial flexibility to horse racing at Kennewick's Sun Downs.

Leading gate to wire, California Chrome most likely punched his ticket for the Kentucky Derby with a 71/4-length romp in Saturday's $300,000 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita.

Triple Crown prospect Top Billing cracked his right front cannon bone in a workout Saturday and is off the Triple Crown trail.Trainer Shug McGaughey says Top Billing will undergo Your Take contributions have not been reviewed for accuracy by USA TODAY.

It was smooth sailing after that as Ring Weekend, a 14-1 shot, won the Grade II $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby with ease Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs before an announced crowd of 10,359.

Ring Weekend and jockey Daniel Centeno went straight to the front from the inside post and stayed there in the sophomore prep, clicking through fractions of :23.62 and :46.68 while all the time increasing their advantage on the field.

On the same track where Breeders' Cup glory has eluded him, Game On Dude won the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap by 1A3 4 lengths Saturday, becoming the first three-time champion in the race's 77-year history.

California Chrome romped to victory by 7A1 4 lengths in the $300,000 San Felipe Stakes for 3-year-olds at Santa Anita on Saturday, inserting the colt into the Kentucky Derby picture.

Kentucky Derby contender Top Billing has an injury and will not be able to race in this year's Run for the Roses.

As the saying goes you are allowed no more than just fifteen minutes of fame. There are just too many people to absorb in our brave new world of social media.

The Indiana side of the Big Four Bridge is on track to open around the weekend of the Kentucky Derby, Jeffersonville's mayor said Friday.

In the course of the horse racing season, late winter early spring is a tough time to make a case for the importance of races that have nothing to do with the word derby.

He won the Sam F. Davis Stakes by a nose. One heady performance Saturday could put him into the Kentucky Derby.

Churchill Downs is using a tiered points system based on 34 races to determine how horses earn their way into the May 3 Kentucky Derby if more than 20 are entered.

Two-time Horse of the Year Curlin, his trainer Steve Asmussen and Kentucky Derby-winning jockeys Chris Antley and Craig Perret are among the 10 finalists for election to the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame.

Art Sherman may be New York-bred and Kentucky-bound, but his heart is lodged squarely in California.

He's the regular rider for Derby hopefuls Candy Boy and Bayern and it's no accident he's well positioned for May 3. “The day after the Breeders' Cup, and probably before that, I started looking for my 3-year-olds for the Derby and I'm pretty loaded right now,” he said.

The expectations were affixed to Conquest Titan before the substance. He had that $475,000 price tag from the 2013 OBS March 2-year-old sale, after all, inspired by a pedigree and stride that had trainer Mark Casse thinking May in capital letters.

When Breeders' Cup Classic winner Mucho Macho Man and 3-year-old champion Will Take Charge square off in Saturday's $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap, it will mark only the second time that the Classic's top two Your Take contributions have not been reviewed for accuracy by USA TODAY.

The two return for the first time in 2014 March 8 as part of an eight-horse field set to go in the $250,000 Gulfstream Park Handicap at was third in the BC Dirt Mile and third in the Feb. 8 Gulfstream Park Sprint Stakes for trainer Rick Mettee.

He was shelved for the year, having already captured the Met, San Carlos, and Palos Verdes Stakes , and was a fast-closing second in the grade I Carter Handicap.