Aqueduct

Distaffers and Juveniles in the Spotlight Sunday

With two graded events for distaffers and four for juveniles, including including four Breeders' Cup qualifiers, Sunday is basically Saturday part two from coast-to-coast. The day's main event is the GI Juddmonte Spinster S. at Keeneland, a "Win and You're In" event, where champions Malathaat (Curlin) and Letruska (Super Saver) face off yet again. 'TDN Rising Star' Malathaat looks to make amends for a solid third in last year's GI Breeders' Cup Distaff and she enters off a win in Saratoga's GI Personal Ensign S. Aug. 27. Letruska, who won...

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More Than Ready's Pleasant Passage Goes Gate-to-Wire in Miss Grillo

Front-running Pleasant Passage dug in resolutely Saturday to  honor her recently deceased sire and stamp her ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Up in time to belie longer than 15-1 odds on debut at Saratoga Aug. 21, she employed opposite tactics here under new pilot Irad Ortiz, Jr., taking her five rivals along through fractions of :23.81, :49.77 and 1:14.98 over the yielding going. Free Look took a run at her to try and secure a ninth Miss Grillo trophy for Chad Brown, but Pleasant Passage stiff-armed...

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Into Mischief's Life Is Good Wires Woodward

'TDN Rising Star' Life Is Good (Into Mischief), backed like he couldn't lose the GI Woodward S. at Belmont at the Big A, was briefly challenged by longshot Law Professor (Constitution) before ultimately shutting the door on that foe and splashing home a 1 1/4-length winner Saturday. The winner's stablemate Keepmeinmind (Laoban) was third in the four-horse affair. Perfect in three prior Stateside starts this season, with a lone blemish a fourth in the G1 Dubai World Cup in March, the China Horse Club and WinStar Farm representative was a...

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Both Coasts Host Sunday Stakes Showdowns

By J.N. Campbell While U.S. television sets await a rainy French Arc Day in the morning, both the right and left North American coasts will emcee three graded stakes races apiece, as Sunday afternoon comes calling. The Big A and The Great Race Place (Aqueduct and Santa Anita, in case you were stationed under a rock) host. The former is accommodating Belmont's Fall Meet, while "Big Sandy" undergoes an extreme makeover tunnel edition; while the latter is back in business under the picturesque mountains and ray filled sun in SoCal....

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Oct. 1 Insights: Half to Yaupon Debuts at the Big A

5th-BAQ, $95K, Msw, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 3:05 p.m. EDT Allen Stable's $575,000 KEESEP acquisition LIMITS OF POWER (Good Magic) makes his career bow in this spot for trainer Chug McGaughey. Out of GISP Modification (Vindication), the dark bay is a half-brother to Grade I-winning sprinter and new Spendthrift stallion Yaupon (Uncle Mo), as well as MGSP Sawyer's Hill (Spring At Last). He breezed a best-of-153 half-mile in :47 flat on the Belmont training track two works back Sept. 17. Chad Brown unveils another pricey graduate of that auction in $475,000...

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Weekly Rulings: Sept. 19-Sept. 26

Every week, the TDN publishes a roundup of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky. Here's a primer on how each of these jurisdictions adjudicates different offenses, what they make public (or not) and where. With the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) having gone into effect July 1, the TDN will also post a roundup of the relevant HISA-related rulings from the same week. California Track: Los Alamitos Date: 09/22/2022 Licensee: Francisco Orduna-Rojas, jockey Penalty: One-day...

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Faith in Humanity Leads Brown Sweep of Pebbles

Klaravich Stables' Faith in Humanity (Fr) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), the lightest-raced filly in Sunday's GIII Pebbles S. at Belmont at the Big A, proved her inexperience was no issue as she led home a Chad Brown trifecta in just her third career start. Debuting as a 7-5 favorite going two turns on the Monmouth turf July 24, the bay pressed the pace and edged away late for a 1 1/4-length graduation. Stepped right into stakes company, she went clear in the stretch of the restricted Riskaverse S. Aug. 25...

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Sunday Insights: Juveniles Kick Off Card in Ozone Park

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 1st-BAQ, $95k, Msw, 2yo, 1m, post time: 1:00 p.m. ET A well-bred bunch of 2-year-old males gets the Sunday program off to a competitive beginning at Aqueduct. BIG WICKS (Medaglia d'Oro), a $575,000 graduate of last year's Keeneland September sale, is part of an entry that is favored at 2-1 on the morning line and is a son of Sovereign Award-winning 3-year-old filly Leigh Court (Grand Slam), a two-time graded winner for the late Eugene Melnyk who was purchased by Speedway Stables for an even...

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33 Stakes on Tap For Aqueduct Fall Meet

The 2022 fall meet at Aqueduct Racetrack will offer 33 stakes, 10 of them graded events, worth a total of $6.375 million. As previously announced, the Belmont Park fall meet will be held at Aqueduct due to the construction of vehicular and pedestrian tunnels designed to provide access to the Belmont Park infield. The Belmont at the Big A meet will begin on Thursday, Sept. 15 and continue through Sunday, Oct. 30. Following the conclusion of Belmont at the Big A., the 29-day Aqueduct fall meet will run from Friday,...

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Week in Review: Is Classic Best Fit for Life Is Good?

'TDN Rising Star' Life Is Good (Into Mischief) got the job done Saturday in the GI Whitney S. at Saratoga, which probably means that a start in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic is on his schedule. The Whitney was a "Win and You're In" race for the Classic and has traditionally been one of the most important preps for the season-ending $6-million race. If trainer Todd Pletcher and owners WinStar Farm and the China Horse Club play this one by the book, the Classic is where they will end up....

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Dave O'Rourke Joins the TDN Writers' Room

NYRA President and CEO Dave O'Rourke joined this week's TDN Writers' Room to discuss an exciting upcoming weekend of racing in Saratoga and the recent announcement that the 2022 Belmont Fall Meet will be held at Aqueduct Racetrack.

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Belmont Park Fall Meet to be Held at Aqueduct Racetrack

The traditional fall meet at Belmont will instead be held at Aqueduct and kick off Sept. 15, the New York Racing Association announced Thursday. It is anticipated that racing will return to Belmont for the 2023 spring meet. The switch to Aqueduct will allow NYRA to undertake the first phases of what could be a major renovation of Belmont Park. Tunnels have been constructed at Belmont that will give construction vehicles access to the infield. The tunnels will also pave the way for pedestrians to have access to the infield....

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