Churchill Downs
Coming off one of the most talked about performances of the year, Gamine (Into Mischief) is headed back to the barn of Bob Baffert, who will wait a few weeks before deciding what's next for the 3-year-old filly. Nothing could have overshadowed the win in the GI Belmont S. by Tiz the Law (Constitution), but Gamine came close in the GI Acorn S. With John Velazquez aboard, she won by 18 3/4 lengths and her time for the mile, 1:32.55, shattered the stakes record (video). Her effort earned a 110...
For the second consecutive day--and for the fourth time in two weeks--the Illinois Racing Board (IRB) on Friday had to put off voting on the fate of the nearly two-month overdue 2020 season at Arlington International Race Course. That's because the track and the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (ITHA) still can't come to terms on a signed contract for the meet, which is a requirement before the commission can award race dates. What has been a tense negotiating process for the better part of nine months (with four blown IRB-mandated...
3rd-Churchill Downs, $77,248, Msw, 6-19, 2yo, 5f, :57.49, ft. JACKIE'S WARRIOR (c, 2, Maclean's Music--Unicorn Girl, by A. P. Five Hundred) topped off a concise worktab with a bullet half-mile from the gate in :47 1/5 (1/35) at Keeneland June 9 and was made the 21-10 second favorite on debut. Hustled along early to contest the pace from the inside, Jackie's Warrior was taken hold of by Ricardo Santana, Jr. at the 3 1/2-furlong pole and switched out into the two path. Despite having lost some momentum in so doing,...
The last shall be first; and the longest, shortest. Insofar, that is, as we have a Triple Crown series at all. This year, to many, the GI Belmont S. is just another mile-and-eighth GI Kentucky Derby prep, conveniently loaded with qualifying points. For those deigning to line up, however, an asterisk is a perfectly acceptable price for becoming a 152nd consecutive name in the annals of the oldest Classic, extending all the way back to Ruthless at Jerome Park. The modern ruthless can perhaps be found at Churchill Downs instead--albeit...
The postponement of the GI Kentucky Derby from May to September forced a reworking of the Road to the Kentucky Derby points races, both at home and abroad. The Japanese component of the series, which offers the highest points-getter an automatic berth in the gate at Churchill Downs, has been extended by two races, and the first of those, the G3 Unicorn S. (1600m), is set for Sunday afternoon at Tokyo Racecourse. A pair of American-bred imports, each undefeated in two career appearances, figure to dominate the market. Cafe Pharoah...
Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency WELL-BRED LIVE OAK FILLY DEBUTS AT GP 2nd-GP, $65K, Msw, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 12:30p.m. Live Oak homebred LOVED GLOBALLY (Uncle Mo) makes her career bow in this juvenile test. Her second dam is Grade I-winning millionaire My Typhoon (Ire) (Giant's Causeway), who is a daughter of European Highweight Urban Sea (Miswaki) and a half-sister to the mighty Galileo (Ire); champion Sea the Stars (Ire); ad MG1SW Black Sam Bellamy (Ire). This is also the family of Group 1 winner Bracelet (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}). Wesley...
A deal for a 30-date race meet spanning July 23-Sept. 30 at Arlington International Race Course was being finalized on Wednesday with the goal of having a signed contract between the track and the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (ITHA) in place prior to Thursday morning's Illinois Racing Board (IRB) meeting, during which the late and curtailed 2020 season could be approved. On Wednesday afternoon, Arlington issued a notice on Twitter that read, in part, "Arlington and the ITHA have reached a tentative agreement for the 2020 and 2021 race meets....
An attorney for Gary and Mary West argued in a federal appeals court teleconference Tuesday that a 2019 dismissal of their civil rights lawsuit pertaining to the disqualification of Maximum Security (New Year's Day) in the GI Kentucky Derby should be overturned on the basis that a Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) regulation should not pre-empt a state statute that gives power to courts to review final orders of agency determinations. "If this decision of the district court is not reversed, what it means is that the stewards' decision to...
The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a July 2 start to the Ellis Park racing season. The meet had originally been scheduled to begin June 28 and Tuesday's vote also approved the extension of the Churchill Downs meeting by one day to now end on the 28th. Ellis Park general manager Jeff Inman said the track had requested the delay to have more time to institute all the safety protocols involved with staging horse racing in the COVID-19 era. Ellis Park is making up for not...
Jrita Young Thoroughbreds' Man in the Can (Can the Man) will be aimed at the July 11 GII Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland following his allowance score as the 5-2 favorite at Churchill Friday (video). "That sure was an impressive turn of foot," trainer Ron Moquett said of his charge's 1 1/2-length victory in the nine-furlong event. "I wasn't expecting him to go off as that big of a favorite, but he ran against some stiff Arky-bred competition in his last couple of starts at Oaklawn. I think the...
Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 10th-CD, $79K, Msw, 3yo/up, 5 1/2fT, 5:50p.m. Brendan Walsh unveils a half to talented turf sprinter Four Wheel Drive (American Pharoah) at Churchill Downs Sunday in BORN GREAT (Scat Daddy). Four Wheel Drive opened his account with three straight victories last season, capped by a win in the GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint S. The $260,000 KEENOV buy is out of stakes winner and former 'TDN Rising Star' Funfair (More Than Ready). Duplicity (Into Mischief), a $350,000 OBSMAR buy, was run down late after...
The Churchill Downs Foundation has launched the Relief for Equine Industry Needs ("R.E.I.N.") to assist members of the racing community that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, it was announced Friday. The R.E.I.N. Fund will specifically address the needs of backstretch communities by providing meals, micro-grants and financial assistance with emergency needs as well as the fulfillment of essential care for horses. One of the earliest supporters of the R.E.I.N. Fund has been trainer Jack Sisterson, who announced in early May that he would donate a portion of his...