Kentucky Derby runner-up Mandaloun rallied from a rough start to edge Weyburn in the Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park.
Mandaloun, second in the Kentucky Derby, makes his first start since in Sunday’s Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park, the local prep for the Haskell.
Preakness winner Rombauer and last year’s two-year-old champ Essential Quality, beaten favorite in the Kentucky Derby, headline Saturday’s Belmont Stakes.
Trainer Brad Cox said today he would not start either Kentucky Derby runner-up Mandaloun or Arkansas Derby runner-up Caddo River in the Preakness.
Two-year-old champion Essential Quality, a close-up fourth in the Kentucky Derby, will bypass the Preakness, as will Lexington winner King Fury.
The first NTRA Top Thoroughbred Polls of 2021 are out, and the Brad Cox barn has seized the top spot in both the 3yo poll and that of older horses.
Maryland-bred Knicks Go has been tabbed the 5-2 morning line favorite for Saturday’s Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational.
Knicks Go, a Maryland-bred, simply ran his rivals off their feet to post a dominant win in track-record time in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland.
Bonny South, winner of the G2 Fair Grounds Oaks and second in the G1 Alabama, is headed to the G2 Black-Eyed Susan, trainer Brad Cox said.
Favored Warrior’s Charge needed help from the stewards, who disqualified first-past-the-post Pirate’s Punch, to win the Grade 3 Iselin at Monmouth Park.