Horse Racing

Tiz the Bomb is the 10/1 second individual choice behind stablemate Smile Happy in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 2, which closed Sunday. (Image: Coady Photography/Keeneland)

Both the Field, Smile Happy, Keep Their Favorite Status in KDFW Pool 2

Just like it did in November’s Pool 1, the Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 2 finished with All Other 3-Year-Olds as the favorite, and Smile Happy closing as the individual favorite. While Smile Happy closed at the same 8/1 odds he finished at in Pool 1, All Other 3-Year-Olds wound […]

Bob Baffert's suit to toss out a NYRA suspension hearing was thrown out Friday. His pre-suspension hearing from NYRA begins Monday. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Judge Tosses Baffert Suit Against NYRA, Suspension Hearing Forthcoming

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s lawsuit against the New York Racing Association was dismissed Friday, clearing the way for his pre-suspension hearing from the organization to go forward. Judge Carol Bagley Amon of the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York threw out Baffert’s attempt to […]

Mandaloun finished second to Medina Spirit in last year's controversial Kentucky Derby. He takes on rival Midnight Bourbon for the sixth time in the Grade 3 Louisiana Stakes at Fair Grounds Saturday. (Image: Coady Photography)

Cue Round Six for Mandaloun, Midnight Bourbon in Louisiana Stakes

The Louisiana Stakes, starring Mandaloun vs. Midnight Bourbon, sounds like deja vu all over again. And again. And again. And again. And, yes, again. This latest duel — the sixth between the newly minted 4-year-olds and 2021 Triple Crown rivals — returns the pair to Fair Grounds and the $150,000 […]

Popcorn Deelite's biggest victory came on the big screen: as Seabiscuit in the Oscar-winning 2003 movie. The journeyman Throughbred died of complications from colic. (Image: Flashpoint/Old Friends)

‘Seabiscuit’ Star Popcorn Deelites Dies of Colic Complications at 24

With 11 victories in 58 races and a modest $56,880 in career earnings, Popcorn Deelites defined journeyman on the racetrack. But as one of several Thoroughbreds to portray Seabiscuit in the 2003 film of that name, he was a star on the screen. The 24-year-old gelding died Thursday of complications […]

Kendrick Carmouche and 72/1 Bourbonic won the 2021 Wood Memorial in the slowest time since 1952. NYRA wants to boost the prestige of the once-front-row Kentucky Derby prep by raising the purse if a Grade/Group 1 winner enters the April 9 race. (Image: Joe Labozzetta/Coglianese Photos)

Aqueduct Announces Derby Prep Purse Twist to Spring Stakes Schedule

The first Grade 1 of the New York Racing Association’s 2022 season, and the possibility of a boosted purse in the track’s flagship Kentucky Derby prep, headline Aqueduct Racetrack’s Spring Meet stakes schedule. The 15-day spring meet opens Thursday, March 31, and runs through Sunday, April 24. Aqueduct’s Spring Meet […]

Hit the Road clocked a sub-1-minute five-furlong workout at Santa Anita Park last Saturday. He may race for the first time since October in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Will Hit the Road Go on the Road for the Pegasus World Cup Turf?

Hit the Road really tried living up to his name during the second half of the 2021 racing campaign. And trainer Dan Blocker tried getting his newly minted Grade 1 winner on the road — and on the track. He’ll finally hit that long and windy road in next weekend’s […]

Concert Tour seeks a return to the form he showed last spring at Santa Anita Park. He finished last in his first race in eight months. (Image: Zoe Metz)

Cox Frustrated by Concert Tour’s Single Gear

Brad Cox knows the rules of engagement, which doesn’t make Concert Tour’s last-place finish in last weekend’s Fifth Season Stakes at Oaklawn Park any easier to digest. Losing by 15 lengths as the 3/2 favorite in the nine-horse Fifth Season field does, however, come with reinforced lessons. One of which being, […]

Kentucky Jockey Club winner Smile Happy opens as the 8/1 individual favorite for the Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 2. That pool opens Friday and runs through Sunday. (Image: Coady Photography/Churchill Downs)

All Other 3-Year-Olds Claim Favorite Status on KDFW Pool 2

The second of five pools for the Kentucky Derby Futures Wager (KDFW) opens Friday at noon ET with All Other 3-Year-Olds (aka the field), carrying 7/5 favorite odds. Meanwhile, the individual Pool 2 favorite comes from a trainer not usually seen with Derby favorites. That would be Kenny McPeek, whose […]

Brickyard Ride defended his title in the Cal Cup Sprint on Cal Cup Day at Santa Anita Park. The track enjoyed its best handle: $17.2 million, since 2007. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Cal Cup Day Puts Several Older Horses, One Sophomore, On Bettors’ Radar

Standout performances by the likes of Brickyard Ride, Legg Galore, and Aligato carried Santa Anita Park to its best Cal Cup Day handle since 2007: an all-sources pari-mutuel handle of more than $17.2 million. “We were very pleased with field size and the tremendous response from our fans nationwide,” Santa […]

The 51st Eclipse Awards winners will be announced Feb. 10. Sixteen of the 17 finalist categories were announced Saturday. (Image: NTRA)

Few Surprises Revealed as Eclipse Award Finalists Announced

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association, National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, and the Daily Racing Form announced the finalists for the 2021 Eclipse Awards on Saturday. The list of finalists did not include Horse of the Year candidates, for which Knicks Go is a virtual certainty. Instead, finalists in 16 of […]

NYRA plans restoring the historic Wilson Chute to Saratoga this summer. That will allow dirt races like this one to run over a mile on the main track. (Image: NYRA/Coglianese Photo)

NYRA Bringing Back Historic Wilson Chute to Saratoga Race Course

The New York Racing Association (announced plans to return the Wilson Chute, one of Saratoga Race Course’s historic racing landmarks for the 2022 summer meet. Restoration of the Wilson Chute will allow the NYRA to write one-mile dirt races on Saratoga’s main track. The Wilson Chute hasn’t been used since […]

Rated R Superstar won the 2019 Essex Handicap for one of his nine wins in 56 races. The 9-year-old gelding will start his season at the FIfth Season Stakes Saturday at Oaklawn. (Image: Coady Photography)

Rated R Superstar Not Ready to Retire at Age 9

The “R” in Rated R Superstar’s name doesn’t stand for “retired.” Not even as a 9-year-old millionaire who is scheduled to open his season in Saturday’s Fifth Season Stakes at Oaklawn Park. The one-mile, $150,000 Fifth Season is for older horses, a category Rated R Superstar fits rather nicely. Even […]

Colonel Liam leads the way into the Jan. 29 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational. He won the Grade 1 race last year. (Image: Ryan Thompson/Coglianese Photos)

Defending Champion Colonel Liam Headlines Pegasus Turf Invite List

As the defending champion, Colonel Liam returns from a seven-month hiatus as the top invitee for the $1 million Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational. He heads an 18-horse invite list for the Jan. 29 race at Gulfstream Park. The Pegasus World Cup Turf and its sister race, the […]

Champagne Stakes winner and frown-row Kentucky Derby prospect Jack Christopher is still at least two weeks away from returning after shin surgery, according to one report. (Image: Susie Raisher/Coglianese Photos)

Top Prospect Jack Christopher Questionable for Kentucky Derby

Trainer Chad Brown told the Thoroughbred Daily News that his star 3-year-old, Jack Christopher, may not be ready for the Kentucky Derby. If Jack Christopher can’t answer the bell for the prep season, this would remove one of the current front-rank horses from the May 7 Derby. He’s currently the […]

This is what a $1.2 million winning Rainbow 6 ticket looks like. One lucky bettor solved Gulfstream Park's Rainbow 6 wager by picking six winners on Friday's card -- one day before a mandatory payout day. (Image: TwinSpires)

One Bettor Cracks Gulfstream Park’s Rainbow 6 Puzzle for $1.2 Million

One lucky/sagacious – depending on your perspective – bettor solved Gulfstream Park’s 20-cent Rainbow 6 Friday for more than $1.2 million courtesy of one of the longest shots in the field: Canelo. The 4-year-old gelding was making only his second career start in Friday’s 10th race, coming off a Dec. […]