APEX ratings address two issues that affect the average-earnings index: the potential for the index to be skewed by one huge earner, and the tendency for sires’ indexes to be inflated in respect to the commercial world to which they are applied.

Santa Anita Park winners Midcourt and Thousand Words returned in good form after a banner day Feb. 1 that saw Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert score his 3,000th North American win.

Santa Anita Park winners Midcourt and Thousand Words returned in good form after a banner day Feb. 1 that saw Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert score his 3,000th North American win.

Perfection is difficult to achieve on the racetrack, so trainer Michael Trombetta settled for the next-best thing this morning in Independence Hall’s final workout for the Feb. 8 $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs.

Harvey’s Lil Goil drew away from five rivals in the $101,000 Busanda Stakes Feb. 2 at Aqueduct Racetrack and won geared down late by jockey Junior Alvarado.

George Hall’s Max Player, trained by Linda Rice and patiently piloted by Dylan Davis, proved resilient in overcoming a difficult trip to win the Feb. 1 Withers Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The Louisiana Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association and Fair Grounds Race Course have united to partner in an initiative that will expand efforts made by parent company Churchill Downs, Inc. to financially support racehorse aftercare. 

Juddmonte Farms’ Taraz is already a heavyweight, but proved light on her feet Feb. 1 she waltzed to an easy score in the $142,500 Martha Washington Stakes at Oaklawn Park, pushing her record to 3-for-3 with a combined margin of 22 1/2 lengths.

Brad Cox trainees Answer In and Gold Standard are scheduled to make their respective season debuts at Oaklawn Park in the Southwest (G3) and Bayakoa (G3) stakes.

With a nose victory aboard Perfectly Plain, jockey Yuri Yaranga notched his 2,000th North American victory Feb. 1 at Mahoning Valley Race Course.

Trainer Barclay Tagg cashed in on his consummate horsemanship during the 2003 Triple Crown campaign, saddling a headstrong New York-bred gelding for victories in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1).

Juddmonte homebred Taraz answered one question in the Feb. 1 Martha Washington at Oaklawn Park, but one obvious question remained unanswered roughly 15 hours later regarding the unbeaten 3-year-old filly: What’s next?

Thousand Words showed plenty of grit, and likely ate some early, in the $100,500 Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) Feb. 1 at Santa Anita Park, closing from off the pace with a game run after taking plenty of kickback along the rail early.

The catalog for the 2020 Ocala Breeders’ Sales March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training is now available via the OBS website at obssales.com.

Thousand Words showed plenty of grit, and likely ate some early, in the $100,500 Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) Feb. 1 at Santa Anita Park, closing from off the pace with a game run after taking plenty of kickback along the rail early.

Midcourt, who initially didn’t want to train, now doesn’t want to lose. A maiden at the start of last June, he recorded his fifth victory from his last six races with a romp in the $202,000 San Pasqual Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita Park Feb. 1.

McGaughey, 30, son of Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey, is scheduled to be a “trainer of record” for the first time in the featured eighth race Feb. 2 at Oaklawn Park, a first-level allowance sprint.

If you watched George Hall’s Max Player midway through his Nov. 12 career debut in a two-turn, one-mile test at Parx Racing, any conjecture about his future would have been humble.

Nothing seems to come easy for LNJ Foxwoods’ United, and the $200,500 San Marcos Stakes (G2T) was no different for the 5-year-old gelding.