One of the preeminent prep races on the road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve will be held at Gulfstream Park, which hosts the Grade 1, $1 million Curlin Florida Derby presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farms at Xalapa.
Oaklawn Park's road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve concludes this Saturday, when the Hot Springs, Ark. track hosts the $1.5 million, Grade 1 Arkansas Derby.
There’s usually something special attached to the first time.
Of the numerous champions trained by Todd Pletcher, the first to enter the sport’s Hall of Fame was the sensational Ashado – an honor well-befitting one of the sport’s top fillies since the dawn of the 21st Century.
For more than a century, Aqueduct Racetrack has been a part of Rockaway Boulevard in Jamaica, N.Y. In its earliest iteration, it was a dirt oval cut out of farmland with crops still flourishing in the infield and a shaky wooden grandstand for a few hundred fans. Over the century since, the Big A has been built on speedy shows by horses at all levels, the memories of these great performances woven into the fabric of both the grass and the dirt that make up its racing surfaces.
Fair Grounds’ path to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve reaches its end Saturday with the $1 million, Grade 2 Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby. The field will travel 1 3/16 miles on dirt in this race, making the Louisiana Derby the longest U.S. Kentucky Derby prep.
