Tag: California Horse Racing

Imperador (right) used this victory over Arklow to win the Grade 2 Calumet Turf Cup at Kentucky Downs. That earned the Argentinian colt a berth in the Breeders' Cup Turf he will pass up. (Image: Coady Photography)

Breeders’ Cup Early Scratches Include Turf Contender Imperador

We’re still eight days out from Day 1 of the 2021 Breeders’ Cup and six pre-entry horses already scratched, a group led by Kentucky Turf Cup winner Imperador. He pulled out of the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf, one of five Thursday scratches from the Nov. 5-6 two-day racing festival […]

This year's Breeders' Cup wagering menu offers an all-turf Pick 4, mandating you pick the winners of four of the top Breeders' Cup grass races. (Image: K.C. Allred/San Diego Union-Tribune)

Breeders’ Cup Betting Menu Offers a Healthy Smorgasbord of Wagers

The Breeders’ Cup unveiled its 2021 wagering menu on Wednesday, adding a new All-Turf Pick 4 and a third Pick 5 to Saturday’s betting smorgasbord. Along with the wagering menu, officials for the Nov. 5-6 racing festival at Del Mar announced the official race order. Friday’s first day features 10 […]

Bob Baffert's star 3-year-old filly Private Mission heads to the Breeders' Cup Distaff after Sunday's convincing victory in the Grade 2 Zenyatta Stakes at Santa Anita Park. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Baffert Makes Santa Anita Park His Personal Playground — Again

Two weeks ago, Bob Baffert made what appeared to be a head-scratching decision, keeping star 3-year-olds Medina Spirit and Private Mission home in California. That, instead of running the pair against their age group rivals in Parx Racing’s two marquee races, the Pennsylvania Derby and the Cotillion. And yet again, […]

Tripoli has two victories and a second in his last three races. This includes this win in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic. He carries value-laden 3/1 odds into the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Awesome Again Pits ‘Youngster’ Medina Spirit Against His Elders

Medina Spirit is considered one of the “kids” in the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes, a change in status from what his consideration would have been, had he run in last week’s Pennsylvania Derby. From one of the fellow 3-year-olds in that race, to one of the kids in Saturday’s […]

Mo Forza won back-to-back Del Mar Miles, illustrating why he is one of the best turf milers in North America. He seeks validation there as the 6/5 favorite in Saturday's City of Hope Mile at Santa Anita Park. (Image: Coolmore)

Standout Miler Mo Forza Likely the Best Turf Horse Under Your Radar

Mo Forza built himself quite the career running under your radar. One of the best turf milers in the country – or the world, according to trainer Peter Miller – is also one of the best horses you’ve probably never bet. If you have, you’re undoubtedly relishing the windfall this […]

Idol (front) caught Express Train at the wire to win March's Santa Anita Handicap. He returns for the first time in seven months for Saturday's Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita Park. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Idol Worship: Big ‘Cap Winner Returns for Awesome Again Stakes

The last time we saw Idol, he was literally catching a Train – Express Train – who Idol ran down and passed just before crossing the wire of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap. That half-length victory in one of the California track’s flagship events came on March 6, nearly […]

The Breeders' Cup takes its Challenge Series to bettors with its Breeders' Cup Challenge Pick 6 this weekend at Belmont Park and Santa Anita Park. (Image: Breeders' Cup)

Inaugural Breeders’ Cup Challenge Pick 6 Gives Bettors Their Challenge

The New York Racing Association is adding a Pick 6 with a twist this weekend, playing host to the inaugural two-day Breeders’ Cup Challenge Pick 6 that features six races from the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series. All six races coming to bettors from Belmont Park and Santa Anita Park are […]

Opening Day for Santa Anita Park's 16-day Autumn Meet brings four stakes races and plenty of ways to wager on them. The California track unveiled its wagering menu. (Image: Santa Anita Park)

Santa Anita Park’s Hot Take: Low Takeout for Win-Place-Show Bettors

Santa Anita Park unveiled the wagering menu for its 16-day Autumn Meet opening on Friday, with one of the biggest features being the lowest takeout on win-place-show bets among any major American racetrack. The suburban Los Angeles track’s takeout on the most common wager in North American racing is 15.4%. […]

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Controversial Kentucky Derby champion Medina Spirit may return to the gate for the first time since May 15 at Saturday's Grade 3 Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Derby Champion Medina Spirit May Return Saturday for Shared Belief

Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit, who hasn’t run since finishing third in the May 15 Preakness Stakes, could be back this Saturday for the Grade 3 Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar. According to the Daily Racing Form, the Bob Baffert-trainee’s return is contingent on a Monday workout for the […]

United captured the Eddie Read Stakes on this Del Mar turf last month. He is one o the favorites in the Del Mar Handicap, which anchors this week's all-stakes Cross Country Pick 5. (Image: Benoit Photo)

From Saratoga and Del Mar, Cross Country Pick 5 Lives Up to Its Name

This week’s New York Racing Association Cross Country Pick 5 truly lives up to its name, putting out an all-graded stakes wager from Saratoga and Del Mar. The sequence includes three Grade 1s and two Grade 2s from the two tracks, located on opposite ends of the US. As usual, […]

Flavien Prat rode Going Global to all four of her US stakes victories. That streak goes to the test Saturday in the Grade 2 San Clemente at Del Marl. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Going Global Does Just That, Brings Four-Race Win Streak to Del Mar

Going Global began her racing career finishing fourth, 12th, and 13th in a trio of summer races in her native Ireland. There was nothing distinguishing her from the countless other 2-year-old fillies dotting Irish racetracks. This changed last November when Going Global broke her maiden in an Irish Handicap race […]