Tag: horse racing

Irad Ortiz Jr. picked up his 3,000th career victory Thursday at Gulfstream Park. (Image: Lauren King/Coglianese Photos)

With Suspension Looming, Ortiz Wins His 3,000th Race

In a 24-hour span, jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. epitomized the topsy-turvy, runaway rollercoaster nature of his chosen sport, claiming his 3,000th victory one day after receiving a five-day suspension for reckless riding. Ortiz captured his 3,000th victory Thursday at Gulfstream Park, piloting Order and Law to the winner’s circle in the […]

Saudi Arabia's King Abdulaziz Racetrack and the Saudi Cup open this week's Cross Country Pick 5. (Image: Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia/Neville Hopwood)

Saudi Cup Opens This Week’s International Cross Country Pick 5

The $20 million Saudi Cup, a.k.a. the world’s richest race, opens this week’s opportunity for horseplayers to get rich via the New York Racing Association’s Cross Country Pick 5. This week’s five-race sequence takes on a cross-global flavor. It features races from the home of the Saudi Cup — King Abdulaziz Racetrack […]

Tuesday morning, Churchill Downs' workers literally take down the sign marking Medina Spirit's 2021 Kentucky Derby victory. (Image: Coady Photography)

Mandaloun Illustrates New Sign of the Times at Churchill Downs:

Churchill Downs officials wasted little time putting cosmetic touches on what they hope is a concrete decision. On Tuesday, the track’s staff replaced Medina Spirit’s nameplate with the now-official 2021 Kentucky Derby champion: Mandaloun. The 3-year-old Kentucky Derby king is dead — literally in the late Medina Spirit’s case, and […]

Envoutante captured her last race, the Grade 2 Falls City, by a geared-down six lengths. She makes her fifth attempt at an elusive Grade 1 win in the Beholder Mile at Santa Anita March 5. (Image: Coady Photography)

Envoutante Seeks Elusive Grade 1 Breakthrough in Beholder Mile

Envoutante has always been a filly who was good, but often not quite good enough to break through at the highest levels. Trainer Kenny McPeek attempts to change that by sending the now 5-year-old mare to Santa Anita Park’s Grade 1 Beholder Mile. “Envoutante is going to work next Friday […]

Wells Bayou hasn't run an allowance race since this January 2020 victory at Oaklawn Park. He leads a field of familiar names into a Presidents Day allowance at Oaklawn. (Image: Coady Photography)

Look Who’s Back for This Loaded Oaklawn Park Allowance: Wells Bayou

Oaklawn Park wrote Monday’s featured eighth race as a $101,000 allowance. But judging by the familiar names in the one-mile allowance, this race does a credible impression of a stakes race. There’s Wells Bayou, making his second comeback from physical issues that cost him much of his 3-year-old and 4-year-old […]

Rombauer reeling in and rolling past Midnight Bourbon in last year's Preakness Stakes was one of the top stories of 2021's racing season. We'll know who picks up the Preakness baton for 2022 May 21 at Pimlico Race Course. (Image: Skip Dickstein)

Pimlico’s Preakness Weekend Schedule: Two Days, 16 Stakes

Pimlico Race Course announced the schedule for the May 20-21 Preakness weekend: a slate featuring 16 stakes – 10 graded – worth $3.8 million. Headlining that weekend, of course, is the 147th running of the $1.5 million Preakness Stakes, the second jewel of America’s Triple Crown for 3-year-olds. The 1 […]

Cafe Pharoah won the first 2022 Breeders' Cup Challenge Series race for the flagship Breeders' Cup Classic. His victory in the Group 1 February Stakes at Tokyo Racecourse earned him a "Win and You're In" berth. (Image: JRA Photo)

Café Pharoah Earns First 2022 Breeders’ Cup Classic Berth

Yes, February seems to be rather early to discuss qualifying for November’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, but Japan’s Café Pharoah became the first horse to qualify for the Breeders’ Cup’s marquee race when he won Sunday’s February Stakes at Tokyo Racecourse. Café Pharoah’s defense of his 2021 February Stakes title in […]

Barraza, the 2/1 favorite in the Grade 3 San Simeon figures to be on plenty of bettor's tickets in Sunday's Rainbow Pick 6 mandatory payout at Santa Anita. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Mandatory Rainbow Pick 6 Payout Means Solving Salty San Simeon

Santa Anita Park features a mandatory payout in its 20-cent Rainbow Pick 6 Sunday and a salty stakes race could decide the fate of a pool expected to hit $5 million. With no single ticket hauling in the $664,316 Rainbow 6 pool Saturday, that amount carries over into Sunday. Based […]

Letruska's victory in last January's Grade 3 Houston Ladies Classic opened the gate on an incandescent, Eclipse Award-winning season. After Breeders' Cup disappointment, the 6-year-old mare opens her 2022 season at Saturday's Royal Delta Stakes at Gulfstream Park. (Coady Photgraphy)

Eclipse Award Winner Letruska Ready for Her 2022 Return

The last time we saw Letruska, she was more human and less equine machine. The next time we’ll see the newly minted Eclipse Award winner is next Saturday at Gulfstream Park for the Grade 3 Royal Delta Stakes. The 6-year-old warmed up for her first race since the Nov. 6 […]

Happy Soul made many many folks happy with this 11 1/2-length dissection of the Astoria Stakes last June. The Wesley Ward trainee comes in as the 9/5 favorite for Saturday's Dixie Belle Stakes at Oaklawn Park. (Image; Coglianese Photo/Chelsea Durand)

Ward is Whistling Dixie With Latest Sprint Star Happy Soul

You don’t usually see Wesley Ward holding court at Oaklawn Park. But the renowned trainer of younger horse carries an open secret that he hopes Happy Soul can broadcast to horseracing fans Saturday in the Listed Dixie Belle Stakes. That secret? Yes, Ward usually holds court at Keeneland or Royal […]

Epicenter's success in winning December's Gun Runner here and finishing second in January's Lecomte at Fair Grounds should serve him well in Saturday's Grade 2 Risen Star. (Image: Hodges Photography/Lou Hodges Jr.)

Risen Star Brings Rising Stars, Rising Stakes to Kentucky Derby Trail

WIth a nod to Winston Churchill, Saturday’s Grade 2 Risen Star signals both the beginning of the end and the end of the Kentucky Derby trail’s beginning. The prelims are over and we’re now at the beginning of the win-and-you’re-in stretch of the Derby trail. That’s because the 1 1/8-mile […]

Olympiad, seen here winning a January Gulfstream Park allowance, is the tepid 3/1 favorite in Saturday's Grade 3 Mineshaft Stakes at Fair Grounds. (Image: Coglianese Photos/G. Sonny Hughes)

Somebody Will Dig Up An Elusive Stakes Win in the Mineshaft

Lost in the Fair Grounds wash of Saturday’s Grade 2 Risen Star and Rachel Alexandra, two respectable preps for the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks, respectively, is an intriguing Grade 3 race featuring several familiar names — the Mineshaft Stakes. Wondering what happened to Derby dark-horse O Besos? He’s here. […]

Ashford Stud, the home of Triple Crown-winning stallions American Pharoah and Justify, was one of three breeding farms challenging The Jockey Club's breeding limits. The Jockey Club rescinded the rule. (Image: Ashford Stud)

The Jockey Club Blinks on Controversial Breeding Rule, Rescinds Limit

Running into a stiffening headwind of opposition, The Jockey Club rescinded its controversial rule limiting the number of mares bred per stallion Thursday. The rule limiting stallions born in 2020 or later to a maximum of 140 mares in a calendar year was adopted in May 2020. The Jockey Club […]

Sprinter Diamond Oops makes his first start since finishing eighth in the Keeneland Turf Mile in October. He's one of the marquee names in the five NYRA Cross Country Pick 5 this weekend. (Image: Coglianese Photos/Lauren King)

Veteran Runners Headline This Week’s NYRA Cross Country Pick 5

Two familiar veteran runners pop up in this week’s New York Racing Association Cross Country Pick 5 wager, a bet encompassing races at Aqueduct, Tampa Bay Downs and Oaklawn Park. The first recognizable name for casual horseplayers and fans is Diamond Oops, who makes his 7-year-old debut in the third […]

Smile Happy finished as the 8/1 individual favorite for the third consecutive Kentucky Derby Future Wager (KDFW) pool. (Image: Keeneland/Coady Photography)

KDFW Pool 3: Smile Happy, All Other 3-Year-Olds Favored Yet Again

There was a familiar look to the Kentucky Derby Future Wager (KDFW) Pool 3 that emphasized the Bob Baffert factor is alive and well – and that Smile Happy doesn’t have to run to draw money. Once again, “All Other 3-Year-Olds” – a.k.a. the field – closed as the betting […]

Flightline won't have Flavien Prat's services for the foreseeable future. The standout Thoroughbred is out indefinitely with a hock injury. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Injury Sidelines Star Sprinter Flightline Indefinitely

Flightline, horse racing’s undisputed star of 2022, will miss an undetermined amount of 2022 with what is believed to be a strained right hock. The Daily Racing Form reported the news Saturday, quoting trainer John Sadler saying that while X-rays were negative, the star sprinter’s gait was “not perfectly normal.” […]

Classic Causeway and his front-running style come into the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes as the 3/1 morning-line favorite. (Image: Kentucky West Racing)

The Sam F. Davis: A Derby Prep Where Also-Rans Matter

Tampa Bay Downs’ first stop on the Kentucky Derby trail, Saturday’s Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes is one of those races where you’re best served paying more attention to the horses outside the winner’s circle. Take last year. Candy Man Rocket won the race in typical Davis fashion. He […]

An extensive necropsy into what caused Medina Spirit's sudden death in December turned up inconclusive. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Necropsy Reveals No Definitive Cause of Death for Medina Spirit

An extensive necropsy performed on Kentucky Derby champion Medina Spirit could not determine a definitive cause of death in the late 3-year-old colt, according to a release issued by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB). The CHRB’s statement said the postmortem examination of Medina Spirit, performed by five members of the […]

Joel Rosario and Knicks Go rode off with a combined three Eclipse Awards at Thursday night's Eclipse Awards ceremony at Santa Anita Park. Knicks Go won Horse of the Year and Champion Older Male Eclipses, while Rosario won his first Jockey of the Year Eclipse. (Image: Coglianese Photos/Ryan Thompson)

Knicks Go Rides Off With 2021 Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year

True to his running style, Knicks Go broke out to a big lead and proved uncatchable, capturing the Eclipse Award for 2021 Horse of the Year when the Eclipse Awards were announced Thursday night at Santa Anita Park. The now-6-year-old horse received 228 votes out a possible 235 first-place votes […]

Lone Rock's first Oaklawn Park stakes victory came in this Tinsel Stakes score in December. He is the 3/1 morning-line favorite in Saturday's Grade 3 Razorback Handicap. (Image: Coady Photography)

Lone Rock Becomes a Solid Choice in a Deep Razorback

This time last year, Lone Rock was preparing for a mid-level allowance race at Oaklawn Park. He was three months away from being claimed for $40,000 after a November race at Churchill Downs. Now, the gelding is two days away from racing for a chunk of a $600,000 purse in […]