California

When condition book three for the Santa Anita winter/spring meet came online Jan. 29, conspicuously absent were any races for Thursday, Feb. 6. Track officials confirmed Friday that racing has in fact been canceled for that afternoon, meaning there will be no live Thursday programs until Feb. 27. In January it was announced that the track would be dark Feb. 13 and 20. There is holiday racing scheduled for Monday, Feb. 17. The California horse population has been on the decline for some time and the local product has faced...

Golden Gate Fields has cancelled racing for the rest of the week after repairs from a gas leak in the area surrounding the track damaged the facility's hot water system. In addition to affecting food and beverage at the track, the issue impacts backstretch workers and the track is installing portable hot water showers for them during the repair process. "There is no concern of a gas leak at Golden Gate Fields," said David Duggan, Vice President & General Manager, Golden Gate Fields. "Unfortunately, there was a leak in the...

Bob Baffert has two strong chances to win his sixth edition of the GIII Sham S. Saturday with Authentic (Into Mischief) and Azul Coast (Super Saver). A $350,000 KEESEP buy, Authentic graduated at first asking sprinting at Del Mar Nov. 9, earning an 87 Beyer Speed Figure in the process. His stablemate Azul Coast also donned cap and gown at first asking, albeit going a mile at Los Alamitos Dec. 8. The Richard Baltas-trained Taishan (Twirling Candy) boasts the second highest Beyer in the field, registering an 81 for his...

Given events at Santa Anita in the spring, it was understandable that Del Mar racing secretary David Jerkens approached the track's annual summer meet with both hope and a certain amount of trepidation. In the end, the track achieved what Jerkens called "unprecedented"--the entire seven week, 36-card meet played out with zero race-day fatalities. That works out to 0 for 2,372 starts. Of the four catastrophic injuries sustained during morning training, two were the result of a freak accident involving a loose horse. It's important to note that these numbers...