T. D. Thornton
T.D. Thornton is a Boston-based journalist with more than three decades of experience covering Thoroughbred racing as a reporter, announcer and broadcaster. He is the author of the award-winning book Not by a Long Shot—A Season at a Hard-Luck Horse Track (2007). He also authored My Adventures with Your Money: George Graham Rice and the Golden Age of the Con Artist (2015), which details the audacious career of a 1900s racing tipster who later bilked the nation blind as a stock swindler.
Hawthorne Bankruptcy Auction Could Happen By August
June 17, 2026
The aim is to find a buyer who wants it for a racino A lawyer representing Hawthorne Race Course in the track's Chapter 11 bankruptcy attempt to restructure between $100 and $500 million in debt told the Illinois Racing Board (IRB) on Wednesday that the track's ownership has asked a federal judge for a time [...]
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For Second Time in Two Years, Fifth Circuit Rules HISA Enforcement Provisions Are Unconstitutional
June 11, 2026
Nearly one year after being tasked by the Supreme Court of the United States to re-examine a 2024 ruling that the Horseracing and Safety Integrity Act (HISA) is partially unconstitutional, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Thursday issued a new opinion that essentially came to the same conclusion that the three-judge [...]
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The Week in Review: Aesthetics Outnumbered Asterisks, and Saratoga Shined as Temporary Belmont Host
June 7, 2026
Some 3 1/2 years ago, when the New York Racing Association (NYRA) first announced that the GI Belmont Stakes would be relocated to Saratoga Race Course during the extensive renovation of Belmont Park, there was plenty of hand-wringing about whether or not the three-year move to a different track and a cutback in distance from [...]
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TDN Belmont Stakes Preview: And The Winner Is…
June 4, 2026
The field for the GI Belmont Stakes, ranked in “likeliest winner” order (program number after each horse's name). 1) RENEGADE #4 (c, Into Mischief–Spice Is Nice, by Curlin). O-Robert Low, Lawana L. Low, and Repole Stable; B-Robert Low & Lawana Low (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. Sales history: $975,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP. Lifetime record: GISW, 6-2-3-1, [...]
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Anti-HISA Lawsuit By Three States Asks For Yet Another Go Before Supreme Court
June 2, 2026
The states of Oklahoma, West Virginia and Louisiana-which for the past five years have been unable to prove their allegations that the Horseracing and Safety Integrity Act (HISA) is unconstitutional at either the United States district court, federal appeals court, or the Supreme Court levels-are now petitioning the Supreme Court for a yet another chance [...]
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If Money Is Right, Sprint Champ Book'em Danno Could Race At Monmouth On Day Before Haskell
May 28, 2026
Monmouth Park and the connections of last year's champion male sprinter, Book'em Danno (Bucchero), are negotiating to get the five-year-old New Jersey-bred gelding to race at Monmouth on Friday, July 17, which is the day before the track's premier event, the GI Haskell Stakes. Dennis Drazin, the chairman and chief executive officer of Darby Development [...]
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Facing $200k Shortfall, NJ Breeders' Assn. Fails to Gain Commission Approval to Cut Incentives
May 27, 2026
A proposal floated by the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association of New Jersey (TBA) that would have significantly cut the cash awards the organization pays to the state's horse breeders and owners failed to gain approval at Wednesday's New Jersey Racing Commission (NJRC) meeting. The measure, which was accompanied by the disclosure that the TBA has been [...]
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Week in Review: 'Off the Fence' Angle Favors Renegade in Belmont Stakes
May 24, 2026
The historically unrewarding inside post position–now winless in 41 years–kept Renegade from being favored in the GI Kentucky Derby. But the adverse gate draw and some jostling both after the break and in the final stages didn't keep this hard-charging Into Mischief colt from barreling home with a tenacious late run that, in many years, [...]
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New York Pension Fund For Backstretch Workers Enters 56th Year
May 21, 2026
The New York Backstretch Employees Pension Trust has a bit of a “well-kept secret” shroud to it. Even longtime Thoroughbred owners who compete on the New York Racing Association (NYRA) circuit are sometimes unaware that a pension fund exists for the backstretch workers, and that 2% of the purses at Aqueduct Racetrack, Belmont Park and [...]
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Q&A: Ramón A. Domínguez On His New Role Helping Jockeys Succeed In Second Careers
May 20, 2026
A three-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey and a member of the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame, Ramón A. Domínguez has been retired since 2013, when he suffered a traumatic brain injury in a racing accident. He has since devoted his time to helping causes like the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and New York Race [...]
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TDN Preakness Preview: And The Winner Is…
May 14, 2026
The field for the GI Preakness Stakes, ranked in “likeliest winner” order (program number after each horse's name). 1) INCREDIBOLT #12 (c, Bolt d'Oro–Sapphire Spitfire, by Awesome Again). O-Pin Oak Stud LLC; B-Deann Baer & Greg Baer DVM (KY); T-Riley Mott. Sales history: $75,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP. Lifetime record: GSW, 6-3-0-0, $498,681. Last start: 6th [...]
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The Week in Review: Revamped Triple Crown Can Work, Even with Quirks
May 10, 2026
With a healthy GI Kentucky Derby winner bypassing the GI Preakness Stakes for the second straight year and only two starters out of the 18-horse Derby likely to be entered on Monday, the long-debated realignment of the Triple Crown race spacing is edging more toward “when” than “if.” It could happen as soon as 2027, [...]
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