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Sneaker, shown winning last year's Cal Cup Distaff Handicap, returns Saturday in the Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Turf Sprint at Santa Anita. Photo by Benoit Photography, courtesy of Santa Anita
Jan. 16 (UPI) -- It's Mardi Gras season in New Orleans, and while the city starts ramping up for the Fat Tuesday parades Feb. 17, Fair Grounds will be fully into the swing of things Saturday with important races, including big steps on its Derby and Oaks prep series.
Elsewhere, Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita feature the remnants of the old "Sunshine Millions" series for state-breds. Laurel Park in Maryland gets into the action -- along with Aqueduct and Sunland Park in New Mexico, which kicks off its own Derby series.
On the international front, King Abdulaziz Racecourse hosts a qualifier for the $20 million Saudi Cup with top foreign jockeys in to ride. Dubai and Hong Kong are a week out from big doings -- Fashion Friday in Dubai and dual Group 1 festivities with Hong Kong's three superstars all back in action Jan. 25.
No time to catch our breath as we dive right into ...
The Road to the Roses
Saturday's $250,0000 Grade III Lecomte Stakes technically is the second race on the New Orleans track's Derby slate, following the Dec. 20 Gun Runner Stakes, won by Chip Honcho.
But the Lecomte ups the ante, more than doubling the purse money on offer, doubling the "Road to the Kentucky Derby" points from 10 to 20 for the winner and providing a little more history to the series.
Chip Honcho, a Connect colt trained by Steve Asmussen, is back seeking his third straight win, but drew the outside No. 11 gate to start the 1 1/16-mile journey.
Liberty National, second in the Gun Runner, continues to work steadily at Fair Grounds, but is sitting this one out.
Crown the Buckeye, an Ohio-bred, and Quality Mischief look to improve on their third- and fourth-place showings, respectively. Crown the Buckeye is the morning-line favorite even though his two wins both came against fellow state-breds at Thistledown and Mahoning Valley.
Also worth a look are Saturday's $175,000 California Chrome California Cup Derby for California-breds at Santa Anita, Saturday's $125,000 Leonatus Stakes on the Turfway Park all-weather course and Sunday's $100,000 Riley Allison Derby at Sunland Park in the Land of Enchantment.
The Path to the Oaks
The action here mirrors that in the Derby ranks with Saturday's $150,000 Fasig-Tipton Silverbulletday at Fair Grounds leading the way with a very competitive field of six. Saturday's $175,000 Leigh Ann Howard California Cup Oaks is for state-bred fillies. And Sunday's $65,000 Borderplex Stakes at Sunland Park rounds out that schedule.
Turf
Fair Grounds also rolls out an impressive turf lineup Saturday. The $100,000 Colonel E.R. Bradley is 1 1/16 miles, with the companion Marie G. Krantz Memorial for fillies and mares contested at the same distance. The $100,000 Duncan F. Kenner is 5 1/2 furlongs on the lawn.
Classic
Saturday's $100,000 Grade III Louisiana Stakes at Fair Grounds features as favorite Just a Touch, whose resume includes runner-up finishes in the Grade III Gotham Stakes and Grade I Toyota Blue Grass in 2024 and the Iowa Derby and Grade III Monmouth Cup in 2025. He also finished third in the Grade I Met Mile and last of 20 in the Kentucky Derby.
Distaff
Aqueduct's weekend feature is Saturday's $135,000 Ladies Stakes at 1 1/8 miles. Quietside, winner of the last year's Grade III Honeybee and Grade II Fantasy at Oaklawn Park and sixth in the Kentucky Oaks, makes her 2026 debut. Weigh the Risks has won five of her last six starts going back to 2024.
Around the world, around the clock
Saudi Arabia
A big weekend of racing features the Group 3 Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup, a qualifier for the $20 million Group 1 Dubi Cup on Feb. 14. Several foreign jockeys are set to compete, including Joel Rosario, who rode Rattle N Roll to victory in the race.
Rattle N Roll went on to finish fifth in the Saudi Cup and eighth in the Dubai World Cup.
This time, Rosario will ride Ameerat Alzaaman, the 2025 1000 Guineas and Fillies Mile winner. Also visiting King Abdulaziz Racecourse are Christophe Soumillon, Mickael Barzalona and Danny Tudhope.
Gracing the field for the 1,800-meter Custodian are last year's 2000 Guineas winner and Saudi Derby third Mhally, and Scotland Yard, who disappointed last year as the favorite, but returned to win the Tuwaiq Cup on Saudi Cup weekend. There are three other qualifiers for Saudi Cup weekend Saturday and four Friday, when the remarkable turf course is put back in action.
Dubai
The international essence of the Dubai World Cup Carnival is on full display Friday evening with horses from as far afield as South Africa, Russia, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom. Runners from five different jurisdictions are entered for one race, the Vazirabad Handicap at 2,410 meters on the turf.
Interesting as this Friday is, the following week's Fashion Friday is the real blockbuster before World Cup day. Fashion Friday comprises eight races, all Group affairs and all designed to shake out local favorites for corresponding heats on World Cup night.
Hong Kong
It's a week away, but the final Sunday of January will be another big one at Sha Tin Racecourse.
Romantic Warrior is passing up another chance at the Saudi Cup to tackle Hong Kong's Triple Crown -- a unique series only completed twice. As he sets sail on that journey in the Group 1 Stewards' Cup, he will face off against Voyage Bubble, who won the Triple Crown last season (River Verdon in 1993-94 was the only other).
The world's top turf sprinter, Ka Ying Rising, is expected in the Group 1 Centenary Sprint Cup.
Japan
Keeping an eye on the 3-year-olds who might be showing up a bit later in the season:
Thunderstruck scored a mild upset in Monday's Grade 3 Nikkan Sports Sho Shinzan Kinen at Kyoto Racecourse.
The Lord Kanaloa colt saved ground in mid-pack, moved up on the turn and hit the front with 200 meters left in the 1,600-meter test. He then willingly held on to win by a neck over Sound Move. He's 2-for-3, with both wins coming at 1,600 meters. Asked to go 2,000 meters in his second start, he lacked a closing punch.
Sunday's Grade 3 Keisei Hai at Nakayama Racecourse drew 15 colts, four of them sired by Rey de Oro, winner of the 2017 Tokyo Yushun or Japanese Derby, who has been moving up the sire rankings since his retirement after the 2019 season.
The field also includes Gene King, a disappointing 12th in the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes last month, and Porphyrogennetos, a mouthful for the race caller and nightmare for spell-check programs.
Meanwhile, back in the states ...
Will Rogers Downs
Minnesota-bred Thunders Rocknroll strolled home first in a hand ride in Monday's $50,000 Wilma Mankiller Stakes for fillies and mares.
The 6-year-old daughter of Maclean's Music dueled for the lead into the turn but had put the beat on six rivals at the furlong pole and won by 8 1/2 lengths over Antique Silver. It was her 11th career win, most coming at Canterbury Park.
The race is named for the first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, also the first elected chief of any major Native American tribe.
Mankiller also was a social activist and organizer, who improved living conditions for the Cherokee through consensus building over confrontation. In 1998, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian honor. She died in 2010.
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