Tag: horse racing

Trainer Bob Baffert's Merneith tested positive for an excessive amount of a cough syrup ingredient. (Image: Coady Photography)

Merneith, Another Baffert Charge, Tests Positive for Banned Substance

The California Horse Racing Board revealed that another one of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s charges, Merneith, tested positive for a banned substance. Merneith tested positive for dextromethorphan, a common ingredient found in human cough syrups. The test came after Merneith finished second in the fourth race at Del […]

Once beleagered Santa Anita Park has not had a racing fatality in 2020. (Image: Harry How/Getty)

Santa Anita Park Enjoys Fatality-Free Fall Meet

Santa Anita Park, which became a poster track for horse fatalities after a nightmarish 2018-2019 season, completed its Autumn Meet without a racing or training fatality. The iconic Southern California track just concluded its 16-day Autumn meet, sending 1,106 horses racing over the dirt track and turf course. In addition, […]

Uncle Mo, the standout 12-year-old stallion, bucked the trend of stud-fee reduction. Coolmore American increased his fee, while lowering most of its roster for 2021. (Image: Coolmore America)

Coolmore Lowers Stud Fees on Triple Crown Winners AP and Justify

Following breeding farm trends in this depressed economic climate, Coolmore America’s Ashford Stud lowered its fees on the majority of its roster, including Triple Crown winners American Pharoah and Justify. American Pharoah, the 2015 Triple Crown champion, will stand for $100,000. That’s a 42.8% reduction from his $175,000 fee in […]

Even without spectators, Keeneland managed more than $148.2 million in handle during its just-concluded Fall Meet. It plays host to the Breeders' Cup in two weeks. (Image: David Coyle/Team Coyle)

Keeneland Wraps Fall Meet with Modest Handle Decline

With the Breeders’ Cup looming in two weeks as Keeneland’s worldwide close-up, the Lexington, KY, track ended its Fall Meet Saturday with a modest 7.5% drop in all-sources handle from 2019. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Keeneland ran its 17-day Fall Meet without spectators. Yet the track recorded $148,229,708 in […]

Going into Gulfstream Park West's ninth race Sunday, nine tickets were still live for the Rainbow 6. One ticket survived, good for nearly $250,000. (Image: @jasonblewitt30/Twitter)

Lone Horseplayer Finds Gold with $249,204 Rainbow 6

A single bettor picked the lock of Gulfstream Park West’s 20-cent Rainbow 6 Sunday, cashing the lone winning ticket for $249,204. This followed on the heels of Gulfstream Park West’s sister track – Santa Anita Park – yielding a nearly half-million dollar Rainbow 6 last week. The Gulfstream Park West […]

Decorated Invader owns four stakes victories on four different tracks. He leads the field in the Grade 2 Hill Prince Sunday at Belmont Park. (Image: West Point Thoroughbreds)

Decorated Invader Looking for More Wins at Less Distance in Hill Prince

Those extra three-sixteenths of a mile Decorated Invader tackled in his last race apparently did what few other horses could do to the standout 3-year-old — slow down the son of noted sire Declaration of War. This explains why Decorated Invader cuts back to a mile for Sunday’s Grade 2 […]

The payouts for Santa Anita's eighth race Friday. This produced a single winning Rainbow 6 ticket worth more than $450,000. (Image: Santa Anita Park's Twitter)

Single Bettor Hits Santa Anita Park’s Rainbow 6 for $450,706

A horse named New Heat brought new riches to one lucky ticket holder who held the lone winning ticket for $450,706.96 in Friday’s Santa Anita Park 20 cent Rainbow 6 Jackpot. New Heat went off at 14/1 in the maiden special weight eighth race. The 3-year-old, Cal-bred daughter of Unusual […]

Stradivarius Searches Again for the Right Note in Long Distance Cup

The British Champions Long Distance Cup is where dominance ended for Stradivarius last year. And after his seventh-place finish in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, the British Champions Long Distance Cup is where Stradivarius seeks to regain it this year. And bettors think he will. The standout Irish stayer […]

The scene for the 2021 Pegasus World Cup day won't be as crowded as it was in 2018. But Gulfstream Park will allow fans inside for its Championship Meet that begins Dec. 2. (Image: John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

Gulfstream Park Will Allow Limited Fans Inside for Championship Meet

Gulfstream Park announced Monday it will allow fans inside for its Championship Meet, which begins Dec. 2 at the South Florida track north of Miami. Bill Badgett, the executive director of Florida racing for track owner The Stronach Group, told Thoroughbred Daily News Gulfstream Park will cap attendance at 50% […]

Frankie Dettori and Enable were No. 1 a remarkable 14 times in 17 races together. The star 6-year-old mare retired Monday. (Image: Sandown Park)

Two-Time Horse of the Year Champion Enable Retires

Record-breaking mare Enable retired on Monday when her Juddmonte Farms connections announced she would begin her breeding career next year. The announcement came in a written statement from Juddmonte Farms early Monday. The statement announced that Enable’s first date next spring is with the stallion Kingman. “After consulting her trainer […]

Serengeti Empress gets one more opportunity to duplicate her victory here in the Ballerina Stakes. She'll head to the breeding shed after the Breeders' Cup. (Image: Chris Rahayel/NYRA)

Serengeti Empress, McKinzie Take Different Paths to Breeding Shed

Serengeti Empress has one more race before the breeding shed awaits. McKinzie is headed to stud immediately. And so drops the curtain on two of the more prominent Thoroughbreds of the last three years. Serengeti Empress will make her final start in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint Nov. […]

Unbeaten in three races, including this Saratoga Special win, Jackie's Warrior is the favorite for Saturday's Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park. (Image: Coglianese Photo)

Champagne Stakes Uncorks Juvenile Horses in Vintage Race

The Champagne Stakes dates to 1867, making this a vintage race if there ever was a non-American Classic vintage race. Yet, it holds its vintage status while turning loose 2-year-olds upon the racing world. Call it a vintage race with fledgling racers. But while you’re at it, call Saturday’s Grade […]

Sistercharlie won her sixth consecutive race at last year's Flower Bowl. That is one of four Grade 1 races on Belmont Park's Saturday card. (Image: Coglianese Photo/NYRA)

Belmont Park Takes the Stakes Spotlight This Weekend

Two weeks ago, Santa Anita put on a stakes-packed weekend card that sent seven horses to various Breeders’ Cup races. This weekend, Belmont Park captures the spotlight, featuring five graded stakes races on Saturday, including four Grade 1s. Among Belmont Park’s 11 Saturday races are four Breeders’ Cup “Win and […]

Authentic and John Velazquez's Kentucky Derby stretch duel with Tiz the Law came in front of an empty Churchill Downs. Yet, a September Derby boosted the month's and quarter's racing handle. (Image: Horsephotos/Getty)

September Derby Brings Bettors, Handle Boost to Racing Economic Totals

A September Kentucky Derby produced stronger third-quarter numbers in 2020 vs. 2019, according to the Equibase Economic Indicators in Thoroughbred Racing. Horseplayers wagered more than $3.2 billion in the third quarter. That represents a 12.7% bump from 2019’s figures of $2.92 billion. At the same time, America’s most wagered upon […]

Swiss Skydiver trainer Kenny McPeek congratulates jockey Robby Albarado for winning the 145th Preakness Stakes. That complicates McPeek's Breeders' Cup plans for his star filly. (Image: Mitch Stringer/USA TODAY)

Winning Preakness Complicates Swiss Skydiver’s Breeders’ Cup Plans

She’s run with the boys. Now, with her Preakness victory last Saturday, Swiss Skydiver beat the boys. So what’s the next challenge for one of the great North American fillies of her generation? That would be the Nov. 7 Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland. That much, we know. But what are […]

Swiss Skydiver got her head in front of 3/2 favorite Authentic to win a Preakness Stakes stretch duel for the ages. (Image: Nick Wass/AP Photo)

Swiss Skydiver Wins Epic 2020 Preakness Stakes Amid Plunging Handle

Not even one of the most exciting Preakness finishes in memory prevented a 48.7% drop in betting handle from 2019’s record figure, according to Equibase. Pimlico’s 12-race Preakness handle checked in at $51,252,631, a nearly 50% drop from last year’s $99,852,653 record handle. That 2019 handle came on a 14-race […]

Who says horses don't play to the camera? Authentic's playful side came out earlier this year outside his barn. Just don't expect him to play around at Pimlico during Saturday's Preakness Stakes. (Image: MyRacehorse.com)

Speed, Breeding, Competitive Fire Produces an Authentic Champion

When he races, Authentic doesn’t show a lot of patience on the track. He’s developed a well-earned reputation as the proverbial front-runner, a horse who likes the lead and a horse who relishes a challenge. This, however, contrasts with the connections and background of the Kentucky Derby champion and 9/5 […]

Love, seen here winning the Epsom Oaks in July, will likely race in America next. Trainer Aidan O'Brien scratched the standout 3-year-old filly from the Arc de Triomphe Thursday. (Image: Bill Selwyn/Reuters Pool)

Love Conquers None After O’Brien Scratches Star Filly From Arc

With rain pelting the Paris area and more expected this weekend, trainer Aidan O’Brien scratched standout 3-year-old filly Love from Sunday’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. In so doing, O’Brien dropped the favorite’s tag on two-time Arc champion Enable. O’Brien’s decision came after weather forecasts predicted more rain for the […]