Breeders' Cup

Breeders' Cup President and Chief Executive Officer Drew Fleming was named to Sports Business Journal's 2022 40 Under 40 Class. The 40 Under 40 list is a prestigious annual recognition of the best young talent in sports business from across the United States. Fleming's inclusion on this year's list marks the first time an executive working in the sport of horse racing has ever been named a Sports Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree. The 2022 awardees will be honored Tuesday, Nov. 15 at a celebration in New York City....

Keeneland began its official countdown to this year's Breeders' Cup at Tandy Park in Lexington Thursday at a ceremony attended by Breeders' Cup President and CEO Drew Fleming, Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton, Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin, Breeders' Cup Festival Chair Kip Cornett, and GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic winning trainer Brad Cox. "We're excited to officially begin our countdown to the 39th running of the Breeders' Cup World Championships this fall in our hometown of Lexington," said Fleming. "We're so grateful to work alongside leaders like Mayor Gorton,...

Wesley Ward is busy gearing up for the upcoming race meet at Keeneland, but in recent years the seven-time leading trainer at the historic track keeps himself further occupied in the springtime with his side gig as a stallion owner and manager. GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Hootenanny resides at Ward Ranch just across from the Keeneland grounds. The son of Quality Road was Ward's first Breeders' Cup winner in 2014. When the bay needed a new home in 2019, his former trainer didn't hesitate to take him in....

Tickets for the 2022 Breeders' Cup World Championships will go on sale to the public Monday, May 9, at noon ET at BreedersCup.com/2022, Breeders' Cup announced Monday. The best horses from around the world are set to return to historic Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky. Nov. 4 and 5 for the 39th annual running of the year-end championship meet. This year will mark the third time the World Championships have been held in the Horse Capital of the World following the event's first running at Keeneland in 2015 and...

GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Knicks Go (Paynter) was honored as 2021 Maryland-bred Horse of the Year during the fifth annual Renaissance Awards held virtually throughout the week of Feb. 28. The awards, which are a collaborative effort between the Maryland Horse Breeders Association, Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and Maryland Jockey Club, were presented through the MHBA's social media accounts. Also honored were champion 2-year-old male Joe (Declaration of War), champion 2-year-old filly Luna Belle (Great Notion), champion 3-year-old male Jaxon Traveler (Munnings), champion 3-year-old filly Street Lute (Street Magician),...

Triple Group 1-winning sprinter Glass Slippers (GB) (Dream Ahead) has been tested in foal to Dubawi (Ire) for her first mating, owner/breeder Bearstone Stud revealed on Twitter on Thursday. Trained by Kevin Ryan, Glass Slippers won three black-type races culminating in the G1 Prix de l'Abbaye at three. She added the G1 Flying Five S. the following season and, after missing by a neck to Wooded (Fr) in her l'Abbaye title defense, shipped to Keeneland to win the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. Glass Slippers finished third in three starts...

Carlo and Priscilla Vaccarezza won a $1.06-million jury award in a California court Feb. 25 over a veterinary malpractice and negligence lawsuit against the Equine Medical Center and Dr. Vince Baker, who is the longtime attending veterinarian for trainer Bob Baffert. The case dates to the 2014 Breeders' Cup and a filly the Vaccarezzas owned and trained, Little Alexis. The couple alleged that she was mistreated by Baker for a lump on her jugular vein and cleared to race. Not only did Little Alexis finish ninth in the GI Filly...

The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance's Off to the Races online auction, which closed Feb. 10, raised $35,125. From Jan. 28 to Feb. 10 the public had the opportunity to bid on experience packages on 12 major race days in 2022 and 2023. Each experience package offered a unique itinerary of horse racing-related bucket list activities and tickets to the specified race day(s). In total, 23 donors contributed to the 12 experience packages offered in the TAA's Off to the Races auction: 1/ST, America's Best Racing, Anne's Washington Inn, Breeders' Cup Ltd.,...

The chart of the GII Risen Star S. run Saturday at the Fair Grounds will show you that the race was won by Epicenter (Not This Time) and that runner-up Smile Happy (Runhappy) was never a serious threat to win. It's just that there is a lot more to this story. Expectations were high for Smile Happy coming into the Risen Star. He was 2-for-2 last year and his win in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. came at the expense of Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway) and White Abarrio (Race...

Café Pharoah (American Pharoah) returned to the winner's circle for the first time since landing the 2021 G1 February S. in the 2022 version, and became the second horse to win two editions after Copany Rickey (Jpn) (Gold Allure {Jpn}) in 2014/15. A "Win And You're In" for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic in November, the 1600-metre race saw the Noryuki Hori-trained runner draw off by 2 ½ lengths from T M South Dan (Jpn) (South Vigorous), with the popular white filly Sodashi (Jpn) (Kurofune) ran third, another half-length back....

The performances by Japanese-based Loves Only You (Jpn) and Marche Lorraine (Jpn) at the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar last November has been voted the 2021 FanDuel Racing-NTRA Moment of the Year based on the results of 3,000 votes cast via Twitter and an online poll, according to the National Thoroughbred Racing Association Thursday. The FanDuel Racing-NTRA Moment of the Year will be recognized at the 51st Annual Eclipse Awards presented by 1/ST Racing, FanDuel Racing Group and the NTRA at Santa Anita Park at 8:30p.m. Feb. 10....

A thief broke into Wesley Ward's home in Versailles, Kentucky Tuesday morning and walked off with 12 trophies, including many that the trainer received at the Royal Ascot meet. The story was first reported by the Lexington TV station WLEX. The robber did not seem inclined to clear out Ward's house or take such valuable items as his laptop and desktop computer. Rather, only the 12 trophies were taken while several others were left behind, including Eclipse Award trophies. The thief took only the Ascot trophies and the trophy won...