Tag: horse racing

Arlington Park faces a very uncertain future heading into what is likely its final high-profile turn. That's Saturday's Grade 1 Mr. D Stakes, a race formerly known as the Arlington Million. (Image: Coady Photography)

Arlington Park’s Mr. D Stakes May Send Iconic Race Into the History Book

The Mr. D. Stakes is the race made famous by another name – the Arlington Million. When you’re the first horse race offering a seven-figure purse, you want that “Million” in the title. At this point in what is a bittersweet, likely final running of the race formerly known as […]

Adayar's Epsom Derby prance and his victory in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes skipped him to a share of the top spot in the latest Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings. (Image: Reuters)

Knicks Go Fast-Breaks Into Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings

Knicks Go picked a good time to win his fourth career Grade 1 race, using last Saturday’s Whitney Stakes victory to claim the top spot among American horses in the latest edition of the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings for 2021. In the rankings compiled by the International Federation of […]

Got Stormy won the 2019 Fourstardave Handicap. She finished second in last year's event. But she's 10/1 to win her second in three years at Saturday's lone Grade 1 at Saratoga. (Image: Benoit Photo)

We’ve Seen Got Stormy Pour Past Her Rivals Before

Plucky mare Got Stormy takes on the boys in a Grade 1 race headlining Saratoga’s Saturday card and, yes, this scenario sounds more than a bit familiar. Just change the principals, the surface, and the starring distaff runner, but yes, next verse, similar to the first. Last week, we saw […]

Trainer Jorge Navarro became the highest-profile defendant pleading guilty in a wide-ranging, government indictment. He faces up to five years of prison and millions of dollars in restitution payments. (Image: Gulfstream Park)

Disgraced Trainer Navarro Pleads Guilty to Horse Doping Charge

Trainer Jorge Navarro, one of the central figures in the blood doping and drug adulteration scandal that rocked horse racing in a long-running scheme starting in 2016, changed his plea to guilty Wednesday. In doing so, Navarro could spend up to five years in prison. Navarro changed his plea from […]

Running for a tag, like on this Oaklawn Park claimer, is the tricky foundation of horse racing. And trainers at Del Mar are claiming horses at a rate threatening a 16-year-old record. (Image: Sarah Andrew Photo)

Staking A Claim: The Name of Del Mar’s Racing Game This Summer

One of Del Mar’s mottos is “cool as ever,” a saying that doesn’t apply to the claiming department for this summer season. The track where the “turf meets the surf,” to borrow another Del Mar phrase, became the track where the claim game is hotter than ever. For the first […]

Mandaloun, who finished second to Medina Spirit in the Kentucky Derby, is is unlikely to race the remainder of the year after being diagnosed with a sore hind foot. (Image: Alton Strupp/Courier Journal)

Sore Foot Grounds Stellar Sophomore Mandaloun for Remainder of Year

Asterisk-wearing Kentucky Derby runner-up and Haskell Stakes winner Mandaloun will miss the remainder of the 2021 season, due to a sore hindfoot. The Daily Racing Form first reported the news. It quoted Juddmonte Farms racing manager Garrett O’Rourke, who said Mandaloun’s X-rays came back negative for any major damage. He […]

Del Mar opens its racing week Thursday with a $1.1 million Jackpot Pick 6. That seven-figure Pick 6 pays if a unique ticket picks winners in the last six races. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Del Mar’s Jackpot Pick 6 Runs North of $1.1 Million

The star of Del Mar’s Thursday card isn’t any of the Thoroughbreds on the track. It’s the Jackpot Pick 6, which ventured north of $1 million after bettors failed to crack the single-ticket code for 12 consecutive days. Thursday’s Single Ticket Jackpot Pick 6 sits at $1,127,460. It sits there […]

Luis Saez and Bella Sofia set the curve in the Test Stakes, winning the Grade 1 by 4 1/4 lengths on a record-handle Whitney Day card at Saratoga. (Image: Coglianese Photos)

Whitney Day Produces Record Handle, Another Knicks Go Romp

Knicks Go, Bella Sofia and State of Rest enjoyed Grade 1 victories on Saratoga’s Whitney Day card. And the New York Racing Association enjoyed a record, all-sources handle for that Whitney Day card. That record all-sources handle came in at $36,820,234, surpassing last year’s take of $35,796,435 that came without […]

Bodexpress captured last year's Grade 1 Clark Stakes at Churchill Downs. That older-horse race is the only Grade 1 on the track's September or Fall Meet schedule. (Image: Coady Photography)

Churchill Downs Announces September, Fall Meets Stakes Schedule

Churchill Downs will offer only one Grade 1 event during its September and Fall Meets. But, even as interesting as the Grade 1 Clark Stakes is on the day after Thanksgiving, there are other races further down the class food chain worth some serious attention. Those races are the track’s […]

Trainer Steve Asmussen (center) celebrates with his family and connections of Stellar Tap, who gave the trainer his record 9,446th victory Saturday at Saratoga. (Image: Chelsea Durand/NYRA Photo)

Steve Asmussen Gallops Past North America’s Training Record

Steve Asmussen used Saturday’s Whitney Day at Saratoga as his record-breaking canvas, becoming North America’s winningest Thoroughbred trainer by claiming his 9,446th career race. That leapfrogged the 14-year-old mark of 9,445 set by the late Dale Baird. Stellar Tap did the honors for the Hall of Fame trainer. Owned by […]

Leave Knicks Go and Joel Rosario along and they wire the field, as they did in last year's Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. The 5-year-old is the 6/5 favorite to beat a small but deep field in Saturday's Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga. (Image: Coady Photography)

The Whitney: Quality Over Quantity Makes This the Year’s Best Race

The cliché “quality over quantity” washes over this year’s Grade 1 Whitney Stakes at Saratoga like the wake from Knicks Go’s last race. It floods the zone like Maxfield’s last two outings and Silver State’s last trip around Belmont Park. If you’re going to send only five horses around Saratoga’s […]

Bolshoi Ballet put on a textbook stretch drive to win the Belmont Derby. The Irish colt tries for the second leg of NYRA's Turf Triple series Saturday in the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby. (Image: Janet Garaguso/Coglianese Photos)

Will Bolshoi Ballet Allow O’Brien to say ‘Eight is Enough’ at Saratoga?

Bolshoi Ballet will attempt to rectify an oversight that’s as mystifying as it is counterintuitive by becoming Aidan O’Brien’s first winning horse at Saratoga. It defies logic that O’Brien, Europe’s most decorated trainer and one of the best horsemen in the world, has never sent a horse to the Spa’s […]

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed a long-awaited bill legalizing fixed-odds wagering on his state's horse races. The bill faces regulatory issues with two state regulating agencies before being implemented. (Image: AP File Photo/Seth Wenig)

New Jersey Governor Signs Fixed-Odds Wagering Bill

After a 45-day delay, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy finally signed the Fixed Odds Wagering Act into law, opening the windows for fixed-odds wagering on horse racing in the state. Don’t make a beeline for the Jersey Shore just yet, however. Implementation requires regulatory approval from the New Jersey Racing […]

Mr Wireless called up this nearly four-length Indiana Derby victory last month. He returns as the 9/5 morning-line favorite for Saturday's Grade 3 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park. (Image: Coady Photography)

West Virginia Derby Returns, Bringing Bourbonic and Mr. Wireless Back

The West Virginia Derby is back after a year’s hiatus. And so are Mr. Wireless and Bourbonic, who headline Saturday’s Grade 3 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park. The two 3-year-olds provide the recognizable names for the 1 1/8-mile race, which skipped 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions. Those created logistical […]

Grade 1 winner Dayoutoftheoffice suddenly retired from racing Wednesday. She won three of her six career races, including two graded stakes. (Image: Lauren King)

Star 3-Year-Old Dayoutoftheoffice Makes it Permanent, Retires Suddenly

Dayoutoftheoffice, one of the best juvenile fillies of 2020 and a Grade 1 winner, retired Wednesday, three days before she was set to run in Saturday’s Grade 1 Test Stakes at Saratoga. The winner of last year’s Grade 1 Frizette Stakes at Belmont Park, Dayoutoftheoffice just clocked a bullet 59-second […]

At 5.25/1, Uncharacteristic captured the Manitoba Derby on a record wagering day at Assiniboia Downs. Horseplayers wagered more than $2.5 million on the card, with more than $1.4 million going toward a Jackpot Pick 5 (Image: Twitter/@staylorsports)

Record Handle Chases Manitoba Derby Day Jackpot Pick 5

Nobody picked a unique winning ticket for Monday’s Manitoba Derby Day Jackpot Pick 5, which didn’t prevent horseplayers from wagering a record $2,542,309 on Assiniboia Downs’ Manitoba Derby Day card. The cash avalanche included a record $1,488,795 coming in on the Jackpot Pick 5. That cash chased a $1 million […]

Unbeaten Life Is Good expects to return for the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Aug. 28 at Saratoga. Likely foes include Jackie's Warrior, Drain the Clock and Following Sea. (Image: Horsephotos)

How Strong is This? Life Is Good Returning Against Jackie’s Warrior

It takes a lot to upstage the Grade 1 Travers Stakes, but undefeated Life Is Good facing standout one-turn artist Jackie’s Warrior in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Handicap could be the best race on the Aug. 28 Travers Day card at Saratoga. According to the Daily Racing […]

Monomoy Girl (6) lost this duel to Letruska (inside) in April's Grade 1 Apple Blossom. The Champion Older Female hasn't run since and isn't expected back until December. (Image: Coady Photography)

Recovering Monomoy Girl Doubtful for Breeders’ Cup Distaff Defense

While she returned under tack to WinStar Farm, defending Breeders’ Cup Distaff champion Monomoy Girl is doubtful for this year’s Breeders’ Cup. The two-time event champion and current Champion Older Female has been out since mid-April, recovering from muscle strains and hamstring issues. BloodHorse reported that Monomoy Girl isn’t expected […]