Horse Racing

Monmouth Park riding legend Joe Bravo won't go for his 14th Monmouth Park riding title this season. He's boycotting the Jersey Shore track over the state's new riding crop law. (Image: Pat Healy Photography)

Monmouth Park Threatens Jockeys with Ban if They Skip Opening Day

- 3 min read

Monmouth Park management fired the latest salvo in the New Jersey track’s ongoing battle with its jockeys when it said riders refusing to accept mounts for Friday’s opening day will be forbidden from riding at Monmouth Park for the duration of the meet. This latest salvo, coming hours before Tuesday’s […]

With no Charlatan in the gate, Knicks Go becomes a likely favorite for the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap on the June 5 Belmont Stakes undercard. (Image: Coady Photography)

Cox Calls a New Play for Knicks Go — The Met Mile

- 2 min read

Even Brad Cox understands how the avoid Bob Baffert game is played, which explains why he moved his star older horse, Knicks Go, to the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap. That June 5 race is the first-among-equals Grade 1 on the Belmont Stakes undercard. Cox originally targeted Knicks Go for the […]

Trainer Leonard Powell, seen here with jockey Rafael Bejarano after the pair won the Cougar II Handicap at Del Mar in 2018, put in a record $150,000 claim for a 3-year-old filly Saturday. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Trainer Powell Puts In Santa Anita Park Record $150K Claim on Filly

- 2 min read

Trainer Leonard Powell set a Santa Anita Park claiming record last Saturday when he put in a $150,000 claim for Nimbostratus, a 3-year-old French-bred filly. Powell’s claim destroyed the previous record of $125,000, set in 1997. Santa Anita fielded three $100,000 claims this meet — remarkable numbers, even at one […]

The 153rd Belmont Stakes anchors three of NYRA's six, two-day special wagers Belmont Stakes weekend at Belmont Park. (Image Chelsea Durand/NYRA)

NYRA Offers Wagering Menu Smorgasbord for Belmont Stakes Weekend

- 2 min read

The New York Racing Association unveiled its wagering menu for the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, headlined by a two-day Pick 6 that begins Friday, June 4, and ends with the 153rd Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 5. The NYRA’s wagering menu includes six, two-day wagers incorporating many of the Belmont […]

With his Kentucky Derby-champion mount Medina Spirit out, John Velazquez will ride Rombauer in the June 5 Belmont Stakes. (Image: AP File Photo)

Velazquez Takes Rombauer’s Reins for the Belmont, No Midnight Bourbon

- 2 min read

With no Medina Spirit, Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez will take Rombauer’s reins for the June 5 Belmont Stakes. The Daily Racing Form reported that trainer Mike McCarthy grabbed Velazquez’s services for the Belmont. He’ll take the reins from Flavien Prat, who returned to the horse he rode in […]

Monmouth Park could offer fixed-odds wagering during its upcoming season if a bill passed in the state assembly makes its way to Gov. Phil Murphy's desk. (Image: Sarah Andrew)

New Jersey Assembly Passes Fixed-Odds Horse Wagering Bill

- 3 min read

New Jersey horseplayers tackling the upcoming Monmouth Park season received a gift from the state’s Assembly on Friday when that body voted 74-0-1 to permit fixed-odds wagering at Jersey’s racetracks. That sends the bill to the state senate. Should it clear that body, as expected, it goes to Gov. Phil […]

If Flavien Prat celebrates after the Belmont, he'll do it on a different horse than Preakness winner Rombauer. Prat takes the reins of Hot Charlie for the Belmont Stakes. He rode Hot Rod Charlie in the Kentucky Derby. (Image: Patrick Smith/Getty)

Belmont Musical Jockeys: Prat Trades Rombauer for Hot Rod Charlie

- 3 min read

Trainer Doug O’Neill, who proved his nimbleness by quickly securing Flavien Prat’s jockey services for the Kentucky Derby, proved them once again for the Belmont Stakes. He said Prat will ride the Derby’s third-place runner in the June 5 Belmont Stakes. That, of course, means Michael McCarthy needs to find […]

The Woodbine Racetrack gates open June 18. The Canadian track was shuttered due to a provincial COVID-19-related stay-at-home order issued in April. (Image: Woodbine Entertainment)

After Provincial COVID Shutdown, Woodbine Opens its Gates June 18

- 2 min read

The resumption of horse racing in Canada has a finish line, with Thursday’s announcement that Woodbine Racetrack will open for Thoroughbred racing on Friday, June 18. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the suburban Toronto track and its Standardbred sister track, Woodbine Mohawk Park, remained shut down under Government of Ontario […]

Charlatan illustrated his breakaway speed in last December's Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita Park. He came out of a bullet workout with a setback that shelves the 4-year-old colt indefinitely. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Charlatan Goes Back on the Shelf With Undisclosed Setback

- 2 min read

Charlatan, the dynamic Bob Baffert trainee and multiple Grade 1 winner, suffered an undisclosed setback during a recent workout and will be sidelined indefinitely. The Daily Racing Form reported the news Thursday. They quoted a text from Sol Kumin, one of Charlatan’s owners in the multi-group consortium that owns the […]

Malibu Moon was the grandson of one Kentucky Derby winner and the sire of another. He died of an apparent heart attack Tuesday afternoon. (Image: Spendthrift Farm)

Standout Sire Malibu Moon Dies of Apparent Heart Attack

- 3 min read

Malibu Moon, the grandson of a Kentucky Derby winner and the sire of another one, died late Tuesday of an apparent heart attack in his Spendthrift Farm stall. He was 24. The prolific sire of 126 black-type winners and 51 graded stakes winners was one of the most influential sires […]

Malathaat, seen here gaining on her Kentucky Oaks rivals, won't do the same against the boys in the Belmont Stakes. She needs to eat extra oat buckets to gain weight for the summer campaigns. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Undefeated Malathaat Won’t Tease the Boys in the Belmont Stakes

- 2 min read

Without a Triple Crown storyline, race fans were salivating at the prospect of filly Malathaat jumping into the Belmont Stakes pool and tangling with the boys in the final jewel of the Triple Crown. But connections for the undefeated filly said Tuesday she will pass up the Belmont. Instead, the […]

Trainer Bob Baffert's travails continued Monday, when the New York Racing Association suspended him from racing at any of its Thoroughbred tracks. (Image: Luke Sharrett/Getty)

NYRA Temporarily Suspends Trainer Bob Baffert From its Tracks

- 3 min read

Adding to the fallout from Kentucky Derby champion Medina Spirit’s post-Derby positive medication test, the New York Racing Association temporarily suspended Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert from entering horses for any of the association’s races. The ban extends to Baffert horses occupying stall space at Belmont Park, Aqueduct Racetrack, […]

Midnight Bourbon could be one of only two horses to run all three 2021 Triple Crown races.(Image: AP Photo)

Belmont Stakes Field Remains in Flux as Connections Ponder Options

- 3 min read

While the Belmont Stakes field remains an early work in progress, several trainers with possible sights on the final jewel of the Triple Crown have either indicated interest or put their horses through workouts with that June 5 race in mind. The Belmont Stakes field of possibles starts with Kentucky […]

Rombauer trainer Mike McCarthy, jockey Flavien Prat and owners John and Diane Fradkin hoist the Woodlawn Vase replica after Rombauer's Preakness Stakes victory Saturday. The colt heads to Belmont Park for a likely date in the June 5 Belmont Stakes. (Image: AP Photo/Will Newton)

Rombauer Comes out of Preakness Well, Belmont Stakes Likely Next

- 3 min read

While Rombauer’s trainer, Mike McCarthy, headed west back to his California base, his newly minted Preakness Stakes champion left Pimlico Race Course early Monday morning for a northerly destination. That destination? New York’s Belmont Park. “We will go ahead and go to Belmont. We will get there and see how […]

Rombauer and Flavien Prat captured the 146th Preakness Stakes with a closing flourish that belied their 11/1 odds. It was Prat's second Triple Crown race victory, following his promoted Kentucky Derby win aboard Country House in 2019. (Image: AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Improbable Rombauer Turns in a Vintage Preakness Performance

- 5 min read

Rombauer, the horse named after a vineyard, now goes by the new name: Preakness Stakes champion. And Rombauer, the horse named after the Napa Valley vineyard, wasn’t supposed to run the Preakness because he wasn’t supposed to run the race that got him into the Preakness. He wasn’t supposed to […]

It's been a wild week for Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness Stakes morning-line favorite Medina Spirit. But the colt has no idea what controversy is. (Image: Maryland Jockey Club)

It’s Been A Spirited Week: Breaking Down the 2021 Preakness Stakes

- 9 min read

Before we break down the field for the second jewel of the Triple Crown, we’ll dispense with the news everyone waited for concerning Saturday’s 146th Preakness Stakes from Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. Both Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit and Concert Tour passed their three pre-race drug tests, meaning they […]

When Stablemates Clash in the Triple Crown

When Stablemates Clash in the Triple Crown

- 4 min read

You’re a Hall of Fame trainer bringing talented stablemates into the Preakness Stakes. You’re balancing the dynamics of caring and feeding different owners and their oft-demanding needs. But you’re also balancing the needs, strategies, and dynamics of your horses. You’re Bob Baffert, who brings Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit and […]

Midnight Bourbon brings one of the most consistent records and running styles into Saturday's Preakness Stakes. His owner, Ron Winchell, seeks his farm's first American Classic title. (Image: Maryland Jockey Club)

Will Preakness Bettors Drink a Toast to Consistent Midnight Bourbon?

- 4 min read

While Bob Baffert’s speed tandem of Kentucky Derby champion Medina Spirit and Concert Tour suck all the oxygen out of the 146th Preakness Stakes, there’s Midnight Bourbon being Midnight Bourbon. As Medina Spirit’s medication soap opera plays out and Derby passer Concert Tour captures attention as possibly only the third […]

Maryland-bred Jaxon Traveler returns to his home state as the favorite for the Grade 3 Chick Lang Stakes. The one-time 60/1 futures choice to win the Kentucky Derby found a different path to success. (Image: Maryland Jockey Club)

Taking the Shorter Trail, Jaxon Traveler Puts the Odds in His Favor

- 3 min read

Last November, Jaxon Traveler occupied the fast lane of Kentucky Derby prospects. At 60/1, he kept double-digit futures odds company with the likes of 45/1 Highly Motivated, 50/1 Hot Rod Charlie, 75/1 Midnight Bourbon, and 75/1 Keepmeinmind. Jaxon Traveler’s odds were lower than Hidden Stash and Super Stock (both 100/1). […]

Trainer Bob Baffert and his prize Triple Crown charge, American Pharoah. In the wake of Baffert's latest failed medication test, Spendthrift, the large Kentucky breeding farm removed some horses from Baffert's barn. (Image: Susie Raisher/NYRA)

Breeding Goliath Spendthrift Farm Pulls Horses from Baffert’s Barn

- 3 min read

The fallout from trainer Bob Baffert’s latest failed medication test took a troublesome turn for the Hall of Fame conditioner when breeding colossus Spendthrift Farm removed several horses from his barn. The Daily Racing Form reported that Spendthrift’s Following Sea was transferred to Todd Pletcher’s barn. Along with that, Spendthrift […]

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