In an exhibition of pure sprinting prowess, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum's Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) brought all his power to bear on his rivals on Friday to register back-to-back successes in Goodwood's G2 King George Qatar S. Despite the contrasting ground conditions to the easy turf he encountered 12 months ago and the obvious questions posed by defeat in the June 19 G1 King's Stand S. at Royal Ascot, the bay attracted heavy support as the 8-11 favourite and was in front before he had raced two...
The 17th edition of the Claiming Crown, held Saturday at Gulfstream Park, generated total handle of $10,118,000--up 0.57% from 2014 despite rainy conditions which caused four races to be taken off the turf. Gulfstream was hosting the event for the fourth year. "We're extremely pleased with the success of Saturday's Claiming Crown," said P.J. Campo, General Manager of Gulfstream Park and Vice President of Racing for The Stronach Group. "We had big fields and tremendous participation from horsemen throughout North America. We're confident the numbers would have been even more...
Riley Mott, the son of Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, has come a long way in the 3 1/2 years he has been training on his own. He's already won more than 100 races and collected a pair of Grade I wins, including World Beater (Oscar Performance)'s score in last year's GI Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes. And now it looks like he'll have a starter in this year's GI Kentucky Derby. In winning the Virginia Derby, the Mott-trained Incredibolt (Bolt d'Oro) earned enough points to guarantee himself a spot in...
In the ongoing battle between HISA and Churchill Downs Inc., HISA fired the latest shot Tuesday, ordering Churchill to pay it $5,024,848.56, plus interest in the amount of $250,631.77. In documents released Tuesday by HISA, the authority charged that if CDI does not comply with the order it will no longer be able to simulcast races from any of its tracks to out-of-state locations starting Mar. 27. The legislation that created HISA allows it to revoke a tracks simulcasting privileges if HISA believes a track is in violation of its...
On May 22, the HISA Board of Directors will take a vote that could result in the ban of Lasix in all races. Any decision made by the Board, whether to keep the rules as they are, or to enact a full ban, must be unanimous. In response, five trainers and Eric Hamelback, the CEO of the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, signed a letter imploring HISA to continue to allow the use of the medication in most races. Trainer Ron Moquett was among those signing the letter. To...
While the war raging in the Middle East has caused uncertainty and danger throughout the region, it appears that most among the group of U.S.-based horses that had been planning on running on the Mar. 28 GI Dubai World Cup card will make the trip to the United Arab Emirates and continue to prepare for one of the world's richest days of racing. "We're making plans and arrangements as if the world were normal," said David Fiske, the racing manager for Winchell Thoroughbreds, which owns Dubai World Cup hopeful Magnitude...
In this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast, Joe Bianca, Brian DiDonato and Bill Finley welcome Jon Green from DJ Stables. Green co-authors the TDN's popular tax column, Proven Strategies, with his father Len Green as part of the accounting firm The Green Group. Their stable will send out A Thread of Blue in this weekend's $1 million Jockey Club Derby at Belmont. The quartet discusses the Saratoga and Del Mar meets, TDN Rising Stars, how the first-crop sires are faring, and the upcoming Keeneland September Sales.