Churchill Downs
NYRA will partner with Churchill Downs to host a Cross Country Pick 5 Saturday. The wager will include action from both Belmont Park and Churchill, with live coverage of all the races in the sequence available with America's Day at the Races on FS1 and MSG+. Belmont will be the site of the sequence's first two races, starting with the GIII Westchester S. in Race 7 at 4:32 p.m. Following will be the GIII Intercontinental in Race 8 at 5:04 p.m. Action will then switch to Churchill for Race 9...
Bloodstock agent Alistair Roden has already found Canadian owner Terry Hamilton a pair of future graded stakes winners at bargain prices and he may have hit the trifecta following the smashing debut victory by Tobys Heart (Jack Milton) Thursday at Churchill Downs. Roden signed the ticket on future Grade I winner Heart to Heart (English Channel) for $25,348 at the 2012 Canadian Yearling Sale and Spooky Channel (English Channel), winner of the GIII W.L. McKnight S. in January, was a $10,000 purchase at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton October sale. The agent...
8th-Churchill Downs, $74,691, Alw (NW3$X)/Opt. Clm ($80,000), 6-4, 3yo/up, f/m, 7f, 1:22.58, sy. GUARANA (f, 4, Ghostzapper--Magical World, by Distorted Humor), a multiple Grade I-winning 'TDN Rising Star', made a successful return to the races Thursday at Churchill, stalking the pace and drawing off to an easy allowance victory to kick off her 4-year-old season. Dominating on debut last April at Keeneland to the tune of a 14 3/4-length romp at 4-5, the bay validated that effort with a scintillating six-length score in the GI Acorn S. at Belmont and...
King Guillermo (Uncle Mo), 'TDN Rising Star' Pneumatic (Uncle Mo) and two-time graded-stakes winning filly Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) are the marquee names among 22 3-year-olds that have been made eligible for the 2020 Triple Crown series at the late closing stage. The late additions to the three-race series, which this year begins with the GI Belmont S. June 20, take the total number of Triple Crown nominees to 369, pending late mail. Victoria's Ranch's King Guillermo entered the 3-year-old discussion with his 49-1 upset of Sole Volante (Karakontie {Jpn}) in...
Tobys Heart (Jack Milton), broke last, made a sustained move from the rear of the field, steadied on the turn and ran greenly in the stretch, yet still romped by a distance to become the latest 'TDN Rising Star' Thursday at Churchill. Showing an upbeat worktab for trainer Brian Lynch highlighted by a half-mile breeze over the local main track in :47 1/5 (5/84) May 23, the $45,000 OBS March buy was supported at the windows throughout and ended up as a close 17-5 third choice behind firsters from the...
In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. Nautilus (c, 2, by Cairo Prince--Pantanal, by Congrats) has every right to move forward with a race under his belt following a better-than-it-looked fourth on debut behind a blowout 'TDN Rising Star' performance from Cazadero (Street Sense) at Churchill Downs May 29. Drawn on the fence in that five-furlong affair, the $130,000 OBS March breezer (:10) was quickly outsprinted while under a ride and raced in tight quarters...
As the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) closes in on the three-month mark without being able to generate money via historical horse race (HHR) gaming and on-track wagering, Bill Landes III, the chairman of the fund's advisory committee, warned in a public teleconference meeting Wednesday that the money that gets allocated to pay a portion of purses on the state's racing circuit is running dangerously low. Although no specific dollar amounts were mentioned about how dry the funding is because of the recent COVID-19 business closures, a real-life example of...
Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency GUARANA RETURNS AT CHURCHILL 8th-CD, $85K, Opt. Clm. ($80K), 3yo/up, f/m, 7f, 4:46p.m. Dual Grade I winner and 'TDN Rising Star' GUARANA (Ghostzapper) makes her seasonal bow Thursday beneath the Twin Spires. Demolishing the field in her debut by 14 3/4 lengths in the slop at Keeneland last April, the bay followed suit with another dominant win in Belmont's GI Acorn S. in June. Capturing the GI CCA Oaks at Saratoga next out July 21, she was second when last seen in the GI Cotillion...
Franklin (Ky) Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate has denied a motion by the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (KHBPA) that sought a temporary injunction that would have kept Churchill Downs and Keeneland from running Lasix-free 2-year-old races. Wingate also granted a motion from the defendants to dismiss the case for "lack of standing." Much of the KHBPA's case resolved around its assertion that only the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) could make rules regarding Lasix. The ban on the medication at the two Kentucky tracks were house rules, written...
The Week in Review, by Bill Finley Arlington Park announced last week that the 2020 meet has been canceled at least through July 5, which hardly came as a surprise. No one was expecting the track to open any time soon. The bigger question for now is: will Arlington ever race again? When Arlington reopened in 1989 after the grandstand was destroyed by a fire, it seemed positioned to be among the most successful tracks in the country for decades to come. Richard Duchossois built a fabulous, grandiose racetrack, one...
Bell's the One (Majesticperfection) sprung the upset in the GIII Winning Colors S. Saturday at Churchill Downs with Grade I-winning 4-5 favorite Mia Mischief (Into Mischief) finishing third. The 13-1 shot sat well back off the pace in sixth as the speedy Break Even (Country Day) zipped through an opening quarter in :21.28 with Mia Mischief stalking from second. Bell's the One launched a four-wide bid turning for home as Mia Mischief did her best to keep up with the pacesetter. The chalk began to falter and Break Even valiantly...
Cazadero (Street Sense) was a bit chilly on the board at 5-1 for this unveiling, but proved the betting public wrong with a 'TDN Rising Star'-worthy graduation. The Stonestreet homebred broke on top and was hounded by Knicks Front (Outwork) through a :22.12 first quarter. A bit wide off the turn for home, the dark bay slammed the door on his foe in the stretch, cruising clear with ease to win by 8 3/4 lengths. Barbara Banke's operation purchased the winner's MGSW & GISP dam Wild Gams for $1-million at...