Horse Racing

Starting Jan. 1, horses leaving the Santa Anita starting gate in a stakes race will do so without the anti-bleeding medication, Lasix. (Image: Santa Anita)

California Bans Lasix for Virtually all Stakes Races

Starting with the upcoming Santa Anita Park and Golden Gate Fields winter/spring meets, California became the latest state to ban the use of Lasix in the majority of stakes races. The California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) unanimously approved the terms of an agreement between the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) […]

Outadore led the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf until the final eighth. He makes his dirt debut in Friday's Springboard Mile at Remington Park. (Image: Coady Photography)

Springboard Mile Takes Would-Be Derby Hopefuls Off the Beaten Path

Outadore and Cowan aren’t atop anyone’s Kentucky Derby betting lists. Nor is the Springboard Mile at Remington Park atop anyone’s top-tier Derby preps. But, the Oklahoma track’s top juvenile stakes race does offer yet another glimpse at 2-year-olds chasing Derby points. The $200,000 Listed stakes Springboard Mile headlines a 13-race, […]

The quality of racing at Ascot remained strong as ever. But the storied track faces economic challenges in 2021. (Image: Eclipse Sportswire)

Ascot CEO Sees Social Distancing, Close Financial Troubles for Track

The chief executive of Ascot, Britain’s most popular racetrack, said he expects more financial pain from the global COVID-19 pandemic, and that he doesn’t expect a return to normalcy until 2022. Guy Henderson, Ascot’s CEO, said he anticipates a “significant pre-tax loss in 2021” as one-time pandemic insurance payments cease, […]

Awesome Again sired 14 Grade 1 stakes winners and progeny who earned more than $98 million. A great racehorse in his own right, Awesome Again died Tuesday at 26. (Image: Adena Springs)

Awesome Again, Champion and Sire of Champions, Dies at 26

Awesome Again, who went from champion horse to prolific sire of champions, died suddenly at Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Farm in Kentucky. He was 26. The cause of death is unknown, but a full necropsy and veterinary report is pending, according to an announcement from Old Friends founder and President, […]

English horse owner-trainer David Evans is under fire for giving one of his horses a racist name. (Image: Getty)

BHA Reviewing How Horse with Racist Name Got Into Wolverhampton Starting Gate

British racing’s ruling body vowed to reexamine its review process for accepting racehorse names after a horse with a racist name slipped through the process and ran at Wolverhampton on Saturday evening. Somehow, the British Horseracing Authority missed vetting a horse named Jungle Bunny. Going off at 50/1 in the […]

Outadore comes into Friday's Springboard Mile off his third-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. (Image: Coady Photography)

This Weekend’s Stakes Feature Derby Preps, Return of Ex-Derby Prodigy

The pre-Christmas lull before the graded stakes storm doesn’t mean there aren’t any graded stakes in this weekend’s racing slate. Nor does it mean this weekend misses good storylines or top-shelf horses. Take the Los Alamitos Futurity and the Mr. Prospector, your two graded stakes this weekend. Curious about potential […]

Prime Factor became a prime Kentucky Derby futures bet after he and Irad Ortiz Jr. blitzed a Gulfstream Park maiden field by 7 3/4 lengths. (Image: Ryan Thompson/Coglianese Photo)

Prime Factor Becomes Choice Derby Futures Pick After Debut Romp

There were no high-profile stakes races for 2-year-olds last weekend, a fact that didn’t prevent high-profile movement in this week’s Kentucky Derby futures odds. The highest-profile movement came from a new entry to the front rank of Derby prospects, the aptly named Prime Factor. Before his 8-¾-length victory in his […]

Klopp waits to be reloaded into the gate for Saturday's final race at Newcastle. Moments later, the race started without him, causing seven horses who finished that race to be withdrawn from the restart. (Image: The Sun)

Seven Horses Withdrawn at Newcastle After Starter Snafu Forces Restart

In a moment fitting perfectly into 2020’s surreal archives, Newcastle’s final race on Saturday turned into a Monty Python skit after the race’s starter prematurely started the race while one horse was still being reloaded into the gate. The false start resulted in seven of the race’s 13 horses being […]

Ryan Moore and Danon Smash took the Hong Kong International Sprint by a half-length. That gave Moore the HKIR riding Grand Slam, victories in all four HKIR events. (Image: Hong Kong Jockey Club)

Ryan Moore Grand Slams His Way to Rare Hong Kong International Feat

Jockey Ryan Moore joined select company on Saturday, completing the Hong Kong International Racing Grand Slam by winning the Hong Kong International Sprint aboard Japanese horse, Danon Smash. That gave Moore the Hong Kong International Races double. Earlier, he captured his third Hong Kong Vase aboard Aidan O’Brien’s Mogul. But […]

Tax captured the Harlan's Holiday Stakes at Gulfstream Park for his first victory since he and Irad Ortiz Jr. won this Jim Dandy stakes 17 months ago. (Image: Chelsea Durand/NYRA)

This Tax Return Pays Off in Harlan’s Holiday Stakes Romp

His return wasn’t inevitable, but Tax season is here again. Making only his third start in his 4-year-old season, Tax romped to victory in Saturday’s Grade 3 Harlon’s Holiday Stakes at Gulfstream Park. He tore away from the field en route to a 4-½-length victory over 10/1 shot, Eye of […]

Factor This won the Muniz Memorial Classic at Fair Grounds in record time. He's looking for his fourth Grade 2 win in as many tracks at Saturday's Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale Stakes. (Image: Lou Hodges/Hodges Photography)

Fort Lauderdale Stakes Makes the Grade as Great Handicapper’s Race

Somehow, the Fort Lauderdale Stakes slipped through the grading cracks. How else to explain Saturday’s $200,000 turf battle at Gulfstream Park being “only” a Grade 2? With this field – eight of the 10 horses in Saturday’s Fort Lauderdale are stakes winners, six of those graded – the Fort Lauderdale […]

Gulfstream Park is pondering installing a synthetic track, like this Polytrack Del Mar used from 2007-14. The new surface would take stress off Gulfstream Park's turf course. (Image: San Diego Union-Tribune)

Gulfstream Park Considering Going the Synthetic Track Course

Gulfstream Park officials are considering adding a synthetic Tapeta track to its dirt and turf courses, a move that would make the Florida track the first racecourse in North America to offer three different surfaces: dirt, turf, and synthetic. Aidan Butler, The Stronach Group’s COO, told Thoroughbred Daily News they […]

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, you won't be able to walk to the Santa Anita Park window to bet and cash winning tickets. But the Southern California track has you covered with a smorgasbord of wagers on its upcoming Winter/Spring Meet. (Image: Mario Tama/Getty)

No Spectators? No Problem as Santa Anita Offers Myriad of Wagers

Santa Anita Park unveiled a betting menu for its upcoming Winter/Spring Meet that includes North America’s lowest takeout on win-place-show bets, and its popular 20 cent Rainbow Pick Six Jackpot wager. The iconic Southern California track announced a 15.43% takeout on all $2 win, place, and show wagers. That’s the […]

Mutamakina (4) edged Traipsing to win the Long Island Stakes. Both horses are trained by Christophe Clement, who won the Aqueduct training title. (Image: Chelsea Durand/Coglianese Photo)

Aqueduct Records Daily Handle Increase During Shortened Fall Meet

Aqueduct continued the trend of spectator-free racetracks racking up handle increases, reporting a 12.8% increase in average daily, all-sources handle for its just-completed fall meet. The New York Racing Association announced Aqueduct checked in with an average daily handle of $9,261,276. This daily increase came despite a drop in overall […]

Instilled Regard won his first graded stakes race on the turf in the Ft. Lauderdale Stakes last December. He turned into a standout turf horse over his career. (Image: Ryan Thompson/Coglianese Photo)

Instilled Regard Reinvents Himself Again, Retires to Stud

Instilled Regard, a horse who illustrated the upside of redefining himself, retired Tuesday, his owners OXO Equine LLC announced. And, according to OXO Equine, Instilled Regard already has his first date. That would be Blue Prize, the three-time Grade 1-winning Argentinian mare. She is currently in foal to Into Mischief, […]

Kendrick Carmouche still hasn't come down from his first Grade 1 win, piloting True Timber to the Cigar Mile winner's circle last Saturday. Carmouche won his first NYRA riding title during Aqueduct's fall meet. (Image: Eclipse Sportswire)

Carmouche Breaks Into Big Time with First NYRA Riding Crown

Between 2008 and 2011, Kendrick Carmouche won seven riding titles at Parx, outside Philadelphia, staking his claim as that track’s dominant jockey and earning a spot in its Hall of Fame. But that was at Parx; a nice track, but a track out in the riding provinces. Now, Carmouche is […]

Bodexpress became a YouTube sensation for dumping jockey John Velazquez at the start of the 2019 Preakness Stakes. But the horse matured into a Grade 1 winner before his sudden retirement. (Image: John McDonnell/Washington Post via AP)

Preakness Punchline Turned Clark Stakes Winner Bodexpress Retired

Bodexpress, who went from comedic punchline to Grade 1 winner, was retired late Sunday night, nine days after the biggest win of his career. Trainer and part-owner Gustavo Delgado tweeted out a message late Sunday night that the colt suffered “a career-ending injury.” That injury was described as a swollen […]

Brooklyn Strong splashed home by a neck in Saturday's Grade 2 Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct. This earned the 2-year-old gelding an odds cut on both Circa Sports and William Hill Nevada's Kentucky Derby Futures Boards. (Image: Eclipse Sportswire)

In a New York Minute, Brooklyn Strong Moves Up Derby Futures Board

They ran the Remsen Stakes, a Grade 2 race for 2-year-olds at Aqueduct on Saturday. Forget that the Remsen hasn’t produced a Kentucky Derby winner in 25 years because, despite that, the race impacted this week’s Kentucky Derby futures markets. How big an impact? Not only did Remsen winner Brooklyn […]

Knicks Go's record-setting win in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile marked one of November's racing highlights. Handle dipped slightly during the month year over year. (Image: Eclipse Sportswire)

Despite Breeders’ Cup, Betting Handles Down During November

Despite the betting bonanza that is the Breeders’ Cup, November’s Thoroughbred betting handle dipped more than 6% from its 2019 numbers according to Equibase’s monthly report on Economic Indicators in Thoroughbred Racing. The drop can be attributed to an 8% dip in Breeders’ Cup handle from its record numbers in […]

Princess Noor won two graded stakes races in her short career, including the Chandelier Stakes at Santa Anita Park. That career ended Saturday after the juvenile filly suffered an injury. (Image: Benoit Photo

Standout Juvenile Princess Noor Retired After Suffering Leg Injury

One day after she was pulled up in the Starlet Stakes, standout 2-year-old filly Princess Noor was retired with a soft-tissue injury. Zedan Racing, Princess Noor’s owner, broke the news about the $1.35 million purchase in a statement issued Sunday morning. “She’s a star and a very talented filly,” Zedan […]