Horse Racing

Highly Motivated makes his anticipated 2021 debut in Saturday's Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct. (Image: Coglianese Photos)

Weekend Stakes: History at Santa Anita, Derby Preps on Both Coasts

This weekend’s stakes lineup features one of the most iconic races in American horse racing, the Santa Anita Handicap. But even that event, technically Santa Anita Park’s Saturday headliner, may get overshadowed on its own card by a Grade 2 Kentucky Derby prep, the San Felipe Stakes. Featuring two of […]

Irad Ortiz Jr. usually throws his punches on the track with his riding skill. He was fined $1,000 for throwing them at fellow rider Paco Lopez after Friday's fourth race at Gulfstream Park. (Image: Ryan Thompson/Coglianese Photos)

When Jockeys Fight: Leading Rider Ortiz Fined $1,000 for Starting Brawl

In a rare episode of When Jockeys Fight, Gulfstream Park stewards fined leading jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. $1,000 and put him and brawling partner Paco Lopez on probation after the two riders fought following Friday’s fourth race at Gulfstream. The Daily Racing Form first broke the story. According to the […]

After Jose Ortiz pointed the way to a stretch victory in the Fountain of Youth, Greatest Honour reached his lowest Kentucky Derby odds mark to date. He's 7/1 at Circa Sports, 5/1 at William Hill Nevada. (Image: Lauren King/Gulfstream Park)

Derby Futures: Just When You Thought the Favorites Can’t Go Lower

As the calendar turns to March – a mere two months out from the Kentucky Derby – Circa Sports and William Hill Nevada pared 53 horses from their Derby futures boards. There are 150 horses remaining. The value on many of the favorites? The books sliced that away long ago. […]

After their resounding Southwest Stakes victory, Essential Quality and Luis Saez point to either the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland or the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn. (Image: Coady Photography)

What’s Next on the Derby Trail for Essential Quality, Greatest Honour?

Essential Quality and Greatest Honour came out of their weekend Kentucky Derby prep victories none the worse for their victorious efforts. And, their respective trainers have already plotted their next stops on the Derby trail. Essential Quality, who splashed through the Oaklawn Park slop for a 4 ¼-length victory over […]

Monomoy Girl warms up for Sunday's Bayakoa Stakes at Oaklawn Park. She goes for her 14th win in 16 races as a prohibitive favorite. (Image: Coady Photography)

The Monomoy Girl Farewell Tour Opens at Oaklawn’s Bayakoa

Again, when you’re handicapping a Monomoy Girl race, like Sunday’s Grade 3 Bayakoa Stakes at Oaklawn Park, it’s best to put the pen down. Instead, pick up your attention and simply watch. Betting on Monomoy Girl, especially in a race like this, lacks value. For horse racing fans, however, it […]

One of the Kentucky Derby futures favorites, Greatest Honour is the 9/5 morning-line favorite to win Saturday's Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park. (Image: Ryan Thompson/Coglianese Photography)

Drinking From This Fountain of Youth Often Portends Derby Dreams

Once you get past the obvious, that Greatest Honour is clearly the favorite to add the Fountain of Youth to his Gulfstream Park Kentucky Derby prep resume, this race opens up a wealth of other storylines. Can Fire At Will handle dirt as well as he handled turf? Is Prime […]

Undefeated Essential Quality makes his 3-year-old debut in Saturday's Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park. He's the 3/2 favorite in the Grade 3 Kentucky Derby prep.  (Image: Oaklawn Park)

Southwest Stakes: Answering One Question Picks Your Winner

From a betting standpoint, Saturday’s Grade 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park lacks value. Do you want 3/2 Essential Quality or 8/5 Jackie’s Warrior? There are five other horses in the field, but this isn’t a rhetorical question. From a watching standpoint, the 1 1/16-mile Southwest lacks nothing. How can […]

Monomoy Girl won four races in 2020, including this victory in the Grade 1 La Troienne at Churchill Downs. You can buy microshares in her starting next month for $46. (Image: Jamie Newell/TwinSpires)

MyRacehorse Offers Shares of Monomoy Girl for $46

This is the essential lure of MyRacehorse Stables for horse racing fans. Starting early next month, you can own a piece of Monomoy Girl for the price of a tank of gas or a nice bottle of wine. MyRacehorse Stable paid $300,000 to Spendthrift Farm for 51% of the racing […]

Vequist surged past Dayoutaththeofffice to win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and earn Champion 2-Year-Old Female. She opens her 2021 campaign Saturday in the Grade 2 Davona Dale at Gulfstream Park. (Image: Darron Cummings/Associated Press)

Champion Vequist Out to Prove She’s More Than a Debutante

If Vequist was a human being, she’d be the daughter of an established, well-to-do family. She’d be a debutante before winding up at one of those Eastern colleges at which the scions of America’s top families often find themselves. Instead, Vequist – who makes her 3-year-old debut in Saturday’s Grade […]

Fire At Will proved he is great on grass with this Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf win. Can he give favorite Greatest Honour a dirt duel in Saturday's Fountain of Youth? (Image: Coady Photography)

Weekend Stakes: Third Time Should be Oaklawn Park’s Charm

This weekend’s stakes card gives us another shot at seeing the 2021 debuts of Essential Quality, Jackie’s Warrior, and Monomoy Girl. After two weather postponements over the past two weekends, Oaklawn Park finally gets a thumbs-up from Mother Nature. That means the Arkansas track finally gets to turn loose its […]

As one of North America's top sires, Uncle Mo mated with 257 mares in 2020. Under a new rule by The Jockey Club, Uncle Mo's last 117 foals would not be registered as Thoroughbreds. (Image: Coolmore America)

Three Powerful Breeding Farms Sue The Jockey Club Over Stallion Cap

Three of Kentucky’s most powerful breeding farms filed suit in US District Court on Tuesday, seeking to end The Jockey Club’s stallion cap rule that limits stallions born in 2020 or later to 140 mares a year. The plaintiffs, Spendthrift Farm, Ashford Stud, and Three Chimneys Farm, also listed two […]

Arlington Park, located in the Chicago suburbs, is one of North America's top race tracks. Owner Churchill Downs Inc. put it up for sale Tuesday, imperiling its racing future. (Image: Arlington Park)

Churchill Downs Puts Iconic Arlington Park on the Sales Block

Churchill Downs Incorporated announced Tuesday that Arlington Park, one of North America’s most iconic race tracks, and the home of the Arlington Million, is up for sale. Through commercial real estate company CBRE Group, CDI opened the market for the 326-acre Arlington Heights, Ill., property, located in Chicago’s northwest suburbs. […]

Historical Horse Racing (HHR) machines are now legal in Kentucky again. That state's governor, Andy Beshear, signed SB 120 Tuesday, redefining pari-mutuel wagering to include HHR machines. (Image: Katherine Jones/Idaho Statesman)

Kentucky Governor Signs HHR Bill, Keeps the Machines On

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear signed Senate Bill 120 Tuesday, legalizing historical horse racing machines and protecting the economic impact they have on the state’s signature equine industry. For now, that ends the legal saga on whether the slot-like machines meet the definition of pari-mutuel wagering. Introduced in January by State […]

Mishriff and David Egan pulled off a stand-up rally against Mike Smith and Charlatan to win the $20 million Saudi Cup. Charlatan's trainer, Bob Baffert, was pleased with his runner-up finish. (Image: Andrew Parker/Grosskick Racing)

Charlatan Comes Out of Gutsy Saudi Cup Finish Ready for More

The day after Charlatan finished a game, but beaten, second to England’s Mishriff in the $20 million Saudi Cup, his trainer Bob Baffert gushed about what transpired on the other end of the world. “He ran a big race,” Baffert told Santa Anita Park’s Ed Golden on Sunday morning. “He […]

Life Is Good, who won January's Sham Stakes with the fastest Beyer Speed Figure of any 3-year-old, clocked a bullet 59.6-second workout last Saturday. Both trainer Bob Baffert and racing writer and historian Jon White called his talent "freaky." (Image: Benoit Photo)

White Goes Beyond Black and White Breaking Down Derby Prospects

When it comes to Kentucky Derby prospects, Jon White makes things simpler than they really are. To the author of Santa Anita Park’s morning line and a regular television presence on XBTV, breaking down Derby prospects in February begins with three elements. “You’re looking for horses who give the indication […]

Prince Bandar bin Khalid Al Faisal, the chairman of the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia, said in a Saturday TV interview he hopes the final dispersal of the 2020 purse will happen soon. (Image: Doug De Felice/Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia)

Saudi Cup Official Said 2020 First-Prize Payout Near Resolution

In a short television interview before Saturday’s Saudi Cup, Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia Chairman Prince Bandar bin Khalid Al Faisal said the final $10 million purse distribution for the 2020 Saudi Cup should come within six weeks. Prince Bandar addressed the elephant in the room regarding the world’s richest […]

Trainer Bob Baffert called Charlatan's Malibu Stakes win 'pure brilliance.' He would take more of that from his 9/5 favorite in Saturday's $20 million Saudi Cup. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Let’s Cut to the Saudi Cup Chase: It’s Charlatan vs. Knicks Go

The best-case scenario for the connections of every Saudi Cup horse not named Knicks Go or Charlatan is easy to comprehend, if not easy to realize. It goes something like this. Leaving from Post 5, Joel Rosario sends Knicks Go out like a shot. From Post 9, Mike Smith and […]

Umberto Rispoli is one of the top riders in North America. The Italian jockey won't ride in the Saudi Cup due to changing COVID-19 testing protocols. (Image: Hong Kong Jockey Club)

New COVID Protocols Scratch Saudi Cup Jockeys Rispoli, Velazquez

Star jockeys Umberto Rispoli and John Velazquez lost their mounts for Saturday’s $20 million Saudi Cup after Saudi race organizers abruptly changed their COVID-19 testing protocols. That takes Rispoli off Max Player and removes Velazquez from Tacitus. Rispoli had three mounts on the Saudi Cup card, including Cowan in the […]

Saratoga's 40-day 2021 meet features 76 stakes races. The upstate New York track runs Wednesday-Sunday most weeks during the summer. (Image: NYRA)

Saratoga Adds Two Grade 1s to Stakes-Loaded 2021 Meet

The tradition-rich Saratoga Race Course meet just picked up two more tradition-rich races for its 40-day summer meet, which the New York Racing Association announced Friday. The $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup and the $600,000 Flower Bowl move from Belmont Park to the Spa, where they will anchor Saratoga’s […]

Mucho Unusual usually does well at Santa Anita, where she owns six of her seven career victories. She leads a strong 10-deep field in Saturday's Grade 2 Buena Vista Stakes. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Mucho Unusual Takes Her Usual Path to Buena Vista Stakes Gate

Like her father, who put himself out there against the best horses of his era, Mucho Unusual dodges nobody. Put a graded stakes race out there for fillies and mares, and Mucho Unusual is a usual suspect. Better yet, put it on the Santa Anita Park turf, where the California-bred […]