Aqueduct

This past weekend we were three weeks out from America's most historic and important horse race, and all was quiet on the GI Kentucky Derby front. Too quiet, in fact. Compared to pro and college team sports, which have expanded their wild-card and play-in formats to capitalize on the immediacy of games with win-or-go-home playoff berths on the line, the lead-up to the Derby has silently shifted in the opposite direction. Instead of maximizing the relevancy of making the final cut as the sport's main event nears, racing rolls out...

Live racing on Wednesday, Apr. 23 has been added to the spring meet at Aqueduct Racetrack, the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) announced via press release Friday. Following the cancellation of live racing on Sunday, Mar. 30, NYRA, the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (NYTHA) and New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. (NYTB) requested and have received formal approval from the New York State Gaming Commission to conduct live racing on Apr. 23 at Aqueduct. The Aqueduct spring meet, which features 13 stakes worth $2.8 million in total purses, continues...

by Jim Reisler, Edited Press Release Courtesy of NYRA For Laurie Scott of the Great Strides Equestrian Foundation, the biggest impact of escorting a group of teenage students to Saratoga Race Course as part of the New York Racing Associations, Inc. (NYRA)'s Leg Up! program, didn't happen on the day of their visit. The impact came days later when Scott realized the students were still buzzing about the races and meeting people from across NYRA--and most of all, about the range of job opportunities in horse racing. "What really hit...

Ballerina d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro) is heading to the big dance. The Rodeo Creek Racing colorbearer, off as the 3-5 favorite, outslugged a very game Early On (Union Rags), to deliver a nose victory for trainer Chad Brown in Saturday's GIII Gazelle Stakes at the Big A, good for 100 points on the road to the GI Kentucky Oaks. Ballerina d'Oro sat a perfect trip beneath Dylan Davis and traveled nicely in an inside fourth through fractions of :24.10 and :48.36. Tipped out on the far turn, she rolled up three...

7th-Aqueduct, $86,000, Alw (C)/Opt. Clm ($80,000), 4-4, 4yo/up, 1m, 1:35.23, ft, 1/2 length. STAR OF WONDER (c, 4, Uncle Mo--Starship Warpspeed, by Congrats), a half-brother to Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil), MGISW, $2,777,458, delivered as the even-money favorite in his 4-year-old debut here. The 'TDN Rising Star' was off to a slow start, but recovered nicely to advance into fourth through an opening quarter in :23.11. Locked and loaded but stuck in traffic approaching the quarter pole, Star of Wonder found racing room along the rail as they straightened for home and kicked...

The final weekend of major preps for both the GI Kentucky Derby and the GI Kentucky Oaks got a few extra days tacked on as significant rain around Lexington pushed Keeneland to delay their spring racing features back to Monday and Tuesday next week. While the races will be missed as part of Saturday's action, there is certainly no void as Santa Anita and Aqueduct both offer their final stops on the Road the Kentucky Derby. The 1 1/8-mile GI Santa Anita Derby features a small yet mighty field with...

After having to cancel Sunday's card at Aqueduct due to concerns that excessive noise from an event at the adjoining Resorts World Casino created unsafe racing conditions, the New York Racing Association has asked the casino company to pay them back. "NYRA will seek reimbursement from Resorts World on behalf of the people impacted by the cancellation, most notably the horsemen and women who were deprived of racing opportunities on Sunday," said NYRA Vice President, Communications Pat McKenna. The event, the "March Madness Car and Bike Show," was held in...

Sunday's eight-race card at Aqueduct was abandoned due to 'unacceptable noise levels' from an event being held at the neighboring Resorts World Casino, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) announced via press release. The 'March Madness Auto and Bike Show' reportedly generated noise levels which would potentially create unsafe racing conditions, and despite repeated attempts from NYRA to rectify the problem, the casino was unable to make the necessary adjustments to allow racing to continue. There was no advance notice that the event could become an issue. As a result,...

7th-Colonial Downs, $100,000, (R), Hcp, 3-14, 4yo/up, 7f, 1:20.03, ft, 2 1/2 lengths. BOOK'EM DANNO (g, 4, Bucchero--Adorabella, by Ghostzapper) was clearly the showstopper here as the field scratched down to just three from 11 horses, and he made his 2025 bow a winning one. Last seen running fifth in a salty GII Cigar Mile Handicap Dec. 7, he'd been winless since claiming the Listed Jersey Shore Stakes by a nose in mid-July at Monmouth Park. He'd hit the board in the GIII Perryville and GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial...

Dual Eclipse winning trainer Brad Cox is drawing up intended targets for Flood Zone's (Frosted) next start after the colt took home the GIII Gotham Stakes at the Big A last weekend. The trainer said that possibilities include the Mar. 29 running of the GI Florida Derby and also two races scheduled for Apr. 5--the GII Wood Memorial Stakes at Aqueduct and the GII UAE Derby at Meydan. Flood Zone stablemate and GI Florida Derby contender Tappan Street (Into Mischief) continues to tune up at Payson Park. Most recently, the...

Kendrick Carmouche has been named the winner of the 2025 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award after a nationwide vote by his fellow riders. The award, which has been presented annually by Santa Anita Park since 1950, honors riders whose careers and personal character earn esteem for the individual and for the sport of Thoroughbred racing. "Twenty five years of living as a professional jockey and living as a son to a jockey, this award means that the pavement that I have put down in the industry has been shown to...

Legion Racing's Drexel Hill (Bolt d'Oro) overcame a stumble at the start to post a rallying score in Saturday's Listed Busher Invitational, a one-turn mile for sophomore fillies, at Aqueduct Racetrack. In victory, the Whit Beckman trainee secured 50 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points, joining stablemates Simply Joking (Practical Joke)--campaigned by Grantley Acres, Ryan Conner and Berkels0813--and Grantley Acres' homebred Her Laugh (Practical Joke) as contenders for the 'Lilies for the Fillies' on the first Friday in May at Churchill Downs. In Saturday's one-turn test, Drexel Hill was returning from a...