Today's Edition:  Record-Setting $1.4M Justify Filly Leads The Way at OBS · Baeza Set for Summer Showdown · Royal Ascot Coverage 2

Churchill Downs

Kentucky HBPA Sues Over Lasix Phase-Out

The Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (KHBPA) filed a lawsuit in Franklin County Circuit Court May 15 to stop the planned Lasix phase-out in the state. Natalie Voss of the Paulick Report first reported the news on Thursday. The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, Keeneland Association, and Churchill Downs, Inc., are the defendants. "The KHBPA and its members will be harmed if Keeneland's and Churchill's illegal acts are allowed to go forward, as it will impact the conduct of races that horses owned and trained by its members may participate...

[ Read More ]
May 23 Insights

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency WELL-BRED BERNARDINI DEBUTS AT CHURCHILL 3rd-CD, $79K, Msw, 3yo, 6 1/2f, 2:00p.m. Colts Neck Stables' SHADOW BOAT (Bernardini) makes his career bow in this spot for trainer Jorge Duarte, Jr. The $80,000 KEESEP buy is a half-sibling to GI Breeders' Cup F/M Turf victress and millionaire Shared Account (Pleasantly Perfect), who is the dam of GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Sharing (Speightstown), who makes her 3-year-old debut in Saturday's Tepin S.; and SW Riley's Choice (Distorted Humor). Shadow Boat...

[ Read More ]
Kantharos 2-Year-Old Colt Sharp on Debut at Churchill Downs

1st-Churchill Downs, $75,449, Msw, 5-22, 2yo, 4 1/2f, :51.76, ft. COWAN (c, 2, Kantharos--Tempers Flair {SP}, by Smart Strike), a $185,000 KEESEP yearling buy, RNA'd for $385,000 after breezing an eighth in :10 at OBSMAR earlier this spring. The chestnut fired a four-furlong bullet in :46 2/5 (1/90) at Keeneland May 2 and wasn't much of a secret at 3-5 here. Drawn on the fence, Cowan was hustled to the front beneath Ricardo Santana, Jr., but was hounded to his outside by the slow-starting Sheriff Bianco (Speightster), who made a...

[ Read More ]
Brisnet.com Triple Crown Throwdown: Matt Winn

Ed DeRosa of Brisnet.com takes on TDN's Steve Sherack and Brian DiDonato as they handicap Triple Crown prep races plus the big three races themselves. The three will make $100 Win/Place bets in the preps and $200 Win/Place bets in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont. Highest bankroll at the end wins. DeRosa - Arkansas Derby Results - Charlatan (+$270) scored at short odds, but Silver Prospector was seventh in the second division. Bankroll: $2545. GIII Matt Winn S. - Hoping the 10-1 price holds on Ny Traffic, who feels...

[ Read More ]
This Side Up: Derby Wildcards Start Churchill Reconnaissance

They're still trying to figure out what to do about the U.S. Open. In March, much like Aqueduct, Flushing Meadow found itself requisitioned as a temporary hospital. As that facility is dismantled and disinfected, however, the USTA must decide whether to stick to their original schedule, behind closed doors; or postpone the tournament, and perhaps move it somewhere like Indian Wells. American tennis is fortunate, at least, that its premier annual engagement with a mass audience is entrusted to a body guided only by the long-term interests of the overall...

[ Read More ]
Maxfield Back for Meaningful Matt Winn

A few weeks ago, the GIII Matt Winn S. was added as a points race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, reconstituted when Churchill Downs relocated the 2020 'Run for the Roses' to Sept. 5. The race took on added importance earlier this week, when officials at Belmont Park announced that its marquee race, the GI Belmont S., would be the first of this year's Triple Crown races and take place June 20. Saturday's first graded stakes of the season beneath the Twin Spires therefore takes on added importance...

[ Read More ]
Open Letter to the Industry: #FreeDataFriday – Churchill Offering Free Past Performances

by Thoroughbred Idea Foundation BettorIQ's recent podcast, "A Sports Betting Education," featured professional bettor Rob Pizzola, who was asked what might motivate him to model or wager on a new sport. "First and foremost, what does the market looks like?...Ultimately, that's the first thing. The second is what data is available. Is it public data? Is it private? Do I have to purchase it? is it reliable? You want to talk about emotions in sports betting, the instability you have to deal with, with some of the data I have...

[ Read More ]
Undefeated Maxfield Ready for Comeback in Matt Winn

Maxfield's stall sits across from Barn 42's office, where trainer Brendan Walsh can keep a close eye on his star pupil at his Keeneland base. It's been a whirlwind of an early career for the Godolphin-owned colt, but he is now primed to make his sophomore debut this Saturday in the $150,000 GIII Matt Winn S. The son of Street Sense launched his juvenile season last year by breaking his maiden on debut before going on to take the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity by over five lengths. But then three...

[ Read More ]
Not This Time Gets First Winner With Hancock Filly's Tenacious Score at Churchill

1st-Churchill Downs, $76,680, Msw, 5-21, 2yo, f, 4 1/2f, :51.26, ft. HOPEFUL PRINCESS (f, 2, Not This Time--More Than Magic, by More Than Ready) ran to a worktab littered with bullet breezes and won a dogfight in the stretch to become the first winner for her freshman sire (by Giant's Causeway) in the Thursday opener at Churchill. Tipping her hand in the morning early and often, including a best-of-47 bullet half-mile from the gate in :48 flat Apr. 10 at Keeneland, the dark bay was knocked down to 29-10 from...

[ Read More ]
America's Day at the Races to Air Churchill Meet on FS1

America's Day at the Races, produced by the New York Racing Association Inc. in partnership with FOX Sports, will be the exclusive broadcast platform of the 26-day Churchill Downs spring meet, which continues through June 27. The coverage, which will air this week on FS1/FS2 from Thursday through Monday, will offer 30 hours of coverage from Churchill Downs and Tampa Bay Downs. America's Day at the Races also returns to NYRA's regional platform, MSG+. Saturday's programming will also include Talking Horses, hosted by Andy Serling, with a special half-hour edition...

[ Read More ]
Thursday's Insights: Pair of American Pharoah Juveniles Debut in Churchill Opener

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 1st-CD, $79K, Msw, 2yo, f, 4 1/2f, post time: 1:00 p.m. ET Trainer Wesley Ward will look to get his juvenile mojo back when he saddles Magic Cap Stable's firster TEQUILA QUEEN (AMERICAN PHAROAH). The daughter of graded stakes winner Agave Kiss (Lion Heart) was a $325,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling. Triple Crown winner American Pharoah will also be represented in the race by Winchell Thoroughbreds' Mad Maddy. The first foal out of the unraced Tiger Tale (Tale of the Cat), the Steve Asmussen trainee was...

[ Read More ]
Midnight Bisou Penciled In for Fleur de Lis

Bloom Racing Stable LLC, Madaket Stables and Allen Racing LLC's Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute), last seen finishing a bang-up second in the inaugural $20-million Saudi Cup in Riyadh Feb. 29, is tentatively scheduled to resume the American portion of her career in the GII Fleur de Lis S. at Churchill Downs June 27. The 5-year-old mare worked five furlongs in a leisurely 1:02.80 at Keeneland Friday, May 15, before vanning to Churchill Downs over the weekend. "All of her breezes up until the other day were designed to get some...

[ Read More ]