Horse Racing

The 2022 Road to the Kentucky Derby begins Sept. 18 at the home of the Derby: Churchill Downs. (Image: Churchill Downs)

Suspended Baffert Not Invited to Join 2022 Kentucky Derby Trail

When the Road to the 2022 Kentucky Derby begins Saturday, Sept. 18, the trail to the Run for the Roses will proceed without the trainer synonymous with Derby success: Bob Baffert. Churchill Downs announced in a Friday statement that no Derby qualifying points will be awarded to “any horse trained […]

Joel Rosario and Pixelate won Monday's Mint Million at Kentucky Downs. That was one of 13 victories for Rosario this week, breaking the previous meet record of 12. (Image: Coady Photography)

Rosario Makes 13 a Lucky Number, Sets Kentucky Downs Riding Record

Joel Rosario broke the Kentucky Downs meet victory record on Thursday, piloting two winners on the day’s card for his 12th and 13th victories of the meet. The 13 wins eclipsed the previous record of 12, set by Rafael Bejarano in 2004. Florent Geroux tied that mark in 2015 and […]

The unique Santa Anita Park hillside turf course returns for at least four stakes races during the track's Autumn Meet in October. (Image: Zoe Metz Photography)

Santa Anita’s Popular Hillside Turf Course Returns for Opening Weekend

Even with three Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” Challenge Series events headlining Santa Anita Park’s Autumn Meet opener, the iconic track’s famous hillside turf course could seize the day’s attention. That unique and popular course returns to the forefront for the Friday, Oct. 1 opening day. It provides the […]

Jockey Tiago Pereira rode Tripoli to Horse of the Meet honors at Del Mar. Tripoli won the Grade 1 Pacific Classic and helped owners Hronis Racing take its sixth Del Mar owners title and fourth in the last five years. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Del Mar Wrap: Nothing Average About Record Average Daily Handle

Del Mar closed its 82nd summer season with a track record for daily average handle, watching horseplayers wager an average of nearly $18.4 million each day of the 31-day meet. That surpassed last year’s daily average of $17.3 million, which came without fans in the stands thanks to the pandemic. […]

Racing milestones, standout horses, riders and trainers and a record handle. The 2021 Saratoga meet had it all this summer. (Image: Saratoga.com)

Saratoga Closes the Gates On a Record Handle, Memorable Moments

Saratoga cracked $800 million in all-sources wagering handle for the first time in its storied history, ending its most successful summer meet with $815,508,063 in all-sources handle. That represented a 15.6% increase over the track’s previous record of $705,343,949 set in 2019. Saratoga set its new record last Wednesday, with […]

Nobody has looked Flightline in the eye at the end of his first two races. He won a Sunday Del Mar allowance optional claimer by 12 3/4 lengths, clocking the best Beyer Speed Figure by an American horse this year. (Image: West Point Thoroughbreds)

As Del Mar’s Pick 6 Pool Soars, Flightline Proves He’s Still an Ace

Sunday’s penultimate day of Del Mar’s summer season not only brought a six-figure rollover to the track’s elusive Jackpot Pick 6, but the re-emergence of one of the country’s sprinting stars in Flightline. While horseplayers were setting the betting table for what figures to be a $6 million-plus pot for […]

Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. salutes Wit after piloting the 2-year-old to an eight-length Sanford Stakes victory in July. Wit is the 7/5 favorite to win the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes on Saratoga's Monday closing card. (Image: Janet Garaguso/Coglianese Photos)

Remain Hopeful About Juvenile Derby Candidates in the Hopeful Stakes

By several hours, the Hopeful Stakes get the honor of being the first Grade 1 of the year for 2-year-old males. That means it gives horseplayers the first glimpse of possible 2022 Kentucky Derby contenders. In this edition of the 117-year-old, seven-furlong sprint on Saratoga’s closing day, you get 11 […]

Pappacap impressed in both his races, including this stalking victory in the Grade 2 Best Pal. He is a strong contender to win Monday's Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Del Mar Futurity Gives You Derby Prospects Worth Watching

The Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity is another one of those races carrying a heavy Bob Baffert flavor. The Hall of Fame trainer won the Futurity a record 14 times, including seven consecutive victories between 1996 and 2002. That’s not surprising when you consider it’s one of the top 2-year-old […]

New York bettors now have access to Kentucky Downs' six-day meet. The entity signed an 11th-hour agreement with the New York Racing Association opening up wagering to New York bettors. (Image: Coady Photography)

Kentucky Downs, NYRA Reach Agreement, New York Wagering Welcome

One day before Kentucky Downs begins its six-day meet, the track reached an agreement with the New York Racing Association that opens up wagering to NYRA’s markets and platforms. The late agreement means NYRA, its racetracks and its NYRA Bets advance deposit wagering (ADW) platform can access the track’s races. […]

Expect Somelikeithotbrown to factor into Monday's Grade 3 Mint Million at Kentucky Downs. His trainer, Mike Maker, is the track's all-time leader in three categories: wins, starters and earnings. (Image: Bill Denver/Maryland Jockey Club)

Stakes Winners Somelikeithotbrown, Du Jour Find Path to Kentucky Downs

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott brings Du Jour and Mike Maker brings Somelikeithotbrown from New York to Kentucky Downs for two of the track’s biggest opening weekend races. Mott, Kentucky Downs’ leading trainer in 2005 and the No. 3 all-time trainer with 27 victories, sends Du Jour into Sunday’s […]

Happy Saver (right) shakes pursuer Mystic Guide in deep stretch of last year's Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup. Happy Saver seeks to be the 11th repeat champion of one of the New York Racing Association's most historic events. (Image: Chelsea Durand/NYRA)

Happy Saver Leads Chase Toward Jockey Club Gold Cup History

The Jockey Club Gold Cup trophy carries the names of four Triple Crown winners: Gallant Fox (1930), Whirlaway (1942), Citation (1948) and Affirmed (1979). You’ll find Hall of Famers like Man o’ War (1920), Hill Prince (1950), Sword Dancer (1959), Buckpasser (1966), Damascus (1967), Forego (1974), John Henry (1981), Easy […]

War Like Goddess captured her third consecutive graded-stakes with this commanding victory in the Grade 2 Glens Falls. She goes for her first Grade 1 score in Saturday's Flower Bowl Invitational. (Image: Coglianese Photos/NYA)

War Like Goddess Smelling Like Roses Going into Flower Bowl

As is his MO, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott brought War Like Goddess along slowly, guiding the 4-year-old filly through the class pyramid with care and an eye toward building confidence. So when War Like Goddess won three consecutive races – and 5-of-her-first-6 – Mott realized she is ready […]

Flashiest and Abel Cedillo rallied from sixth entering the stretch to win the Oceanside Stakes on Del Mar's July 16 opening-day card. He is one of the favorites in Saturday's Grade 2 Del Mar Derby. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Flashiest Wants to Go Forward in his Back-Up Race

Trainer Leonard Powell’s comments about Flashiest entering a deep Del Mar Derby field is more an indictment on Flashiest’s last race than an indictment on Saturday’s Grade 2 Del Mar Derby. “The Saratoga trip didn’t work out as we had planned, definitely not,” Powell told Del Mar. “Maybe if he […]

Due to a contract impasse, horseplayers at the three NYRA tracks, including Saratoga, won't be able to bet on Kentucky Downs races during the all-turf track's six-day meet. (Image: Kentucky Downs)

Kentucky Downs Shuts Out NYRA Bettors

Due to a contract impasse, bettors at New York Racing Association tracks and NYRA Bets account holders won’t be able to wager on the upcoming Kentucky Downs meet. That shuts out the country’s fourth-largest advance deposit wagering (ADW) platform from access to the six-day, all-turf boutique meet. Kentucky Downs opens […]

The unique-to-America Kentucky Downs turf course offers the biggest pari-mutuel payouts of any US track. It begins its short, six-day season Sunday. (Image: Coady Photography)

Kentucky Downs: Short Meet, Small Track, Big Pari-Mutuel Payouts

Kentucky Downs, one of the biggest sleeper tracks in the country from a betting standpoint begins, its season on Sunday. With a six-day card, sleeping on the sleeper track means you’ll likely miss something from a wagering standpoint. Kentucky Downs offers the best pari-mutuel payouts of any track in the […]

Del Mar's Bing Crosby Season once again goes heavy on turf stakes. Track officials wrote 11 of its 12 graded-stakes races for  the grass. (Image: Del Mar Thoroughbred Club)

Del Mar’s Bing Crosby Season Sings a Grassy Stakes Tune

Del Mar renewed its emphasis on turf racing for its Bing Crosby Season, announcing a stakes schedule going deep on the seaside track’s Jimmy Durante Turf Course. Aside from the Nov. 5-6 Breeders’ Cup returning to Del Mar for the first time since 2017, the track features 18 stakes races. […]

Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit won his third race of 2021 with this 1 1/4-length victory in the Shared Belief Stakes over Rock Your World. The two sophomores may see each other for the fourth time this year in either the Pennsylvania Derby or Awesome Again Stakes. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Medina Spirit Edges Rock Your World in the Shared Belief

Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit returned to racing for the first time in 3 ½ months on Sunday, capturing the Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar. Along the way, Medina Spirit turned a trick no other Bob Baffert-trained horse has ever done. “For what this horse has gone through, he’s […]

Justin Mustari became the youngest winner of the National Horseplayers Championship. The 26-year-old Des Plaines, Ill. resident outlasted 563 entries to win the most prestigious handicapping contest in the country. (Image: Horsephotos)

Catching 19/1 Lightning in a Bottle Makes Mustari Youngest NHC Winner

Justin Mustari will remember the name Rose’s Crystal every day for the rest of his life. He’ll remember it every time he walks into his new house and looks at the Eclipse Award on the mantle. And he’ll remember the name of the filly who made him the youngest champion […]

Assistant trainer Laura Moquett, the wife of trainer/co-owner Ron Moquett, was the only one who galloped Whitmore during his storied career. The 8-year-old Champion Sprinter retired Saturday. (Image: Richard Rasmussen/Sentinel-Record)

Popular Champion Sprinter Whitmore Retired from Racing

Popular and petulant sprinter Whitmore was retired from racing on Saturday, ending a remarkable career culminating in his naming as 2020 Champion Sprinter of the Year. Whitmore finished fifth of eight in Saturday’s Grade 1 Forego Stakes at Saratoga. Sensing something was wrong with the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Sprint champion, […]

Firenze Fire bit off more than he could chew, savaging Forego Stakes rival Yaupon in deep stretch. Yaupon survived the sudden savaging, winning as the 2/1 favorite. (Image: Skip Dickstein)

Essential Quality Leads Chalk Parade to Travers Day Winner’s Circle

On a chalky betting day where favorites beat a path to the Saratoga winner’s circle, the New York Racing Association announced an all-sources Travers Day handle of $51,381,515. That came from a paid crowd of 44,507, which generated an on-track handle of $9,406,526. This provided an obvious boost from last […]