Del Mar

Trainer Bob Baffert has accounted for seven of the last 11 winners of the GIII Bob Hope S., including two of the final three renewals when the race was known as the Hollywood Prevue S., and three out of the last four during the Bing Crosby meet capped by 'TDN Rising Star' Messier (Empire Maker) 12 months ago. It would appear that this year's running also goes through the Baffert shedrow, which sends out three of the seven entrants. Havnameltdown (Uncaptured) is the most accomplished of the trio and is...

Every week, the TDN publishes a roundup of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky. Here's a primer on how each of these jurisdictions adjudicates different offenses, what they make public (or not) and where. With the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) having gone into effect on July 1, the TDN will also post a roundup of the relevant HISA-related rulings from the same week. California Track: Del Mar Date: 11/10/2022 Licensee: Steve Knapp, trainer Penalty:...

   Sent right to the front after a fast beginning by jockey Flavian Prat, FAIZA (Girvin--Sweet Pistol, by Smart Strike), a $725,000 2-year-old purchase out of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale, hooked up early with Teena Ella (War Front) and outlasted her rival to earn 'TDN Rising Star' status on debut. The pair kept the pace honest, covering the first quarter in :21.92 as Teena Ella, the daughter of four-time champion Beholder, stuck a head in front and the top two pulled several lengths clear of the rest of the field....

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 6th-DMR, $70K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 6:00 p.m. SULLY (Uncle Mo), a $700,000 yearling at last year's Keeneland September Sale, debuts for trainer John Shirreffs and owner CRK Stable Sunday. Second dam Grazie Mille is responsible for a pair of 'TDN Rising Stars' in GISW and top-10 freshman sire Mo Town (Uncle Mo) as well as GII Chandelier S. third Justique (Justify). The bay just missed a bullet in his most recent work, going four furlongs at Santa Anita in :46 4/5 (2/71) and picks up...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency                4th-DMR, $70K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, 5:00 p.m. The third foal out of four-time champion Beholder (Henny Hughes), TEENA ELLA (War Front) debuts Saturday for the same connections as her dam, owner/breeder Spendthrift Farm and trainer Richard Mandella. Beholder, herself out of blue hen Leslie's Lady (Tricky Creek), is a half-sister to the likes of GISW & top-10 freshman sire Mendelssohn (Scat Daddy) as well as GISW & perennial leading sire Into Mischief (Harlan's Holiday). The first of...

The Breeders' Cup Future Stars Friday card at Keeneland set an all-sources handle record for the first day of championship weekend when $66,141,766 was wagered on the 10-race card. That figure was a 7% increase from the previous record of $61,696,893 set last year at Del Mar. It was the fifth time the Breeders' Cup carded five juvenile races for its Future Stars Friday card since the event expanded to its two-day format in 2007. Friday's on-track attendance was 39,851. On-track handle was $7,504,265.

Veteran trainer Howard Zucker, a well-respected Southern California horseman, passed away Thursday at USC Keck Hospital in Los Angeles at age 74. Based in New York prior to coming to Southern California in 1980, Zucker trained for a brief time for NBA Lakers owner Jerry Buss. Born May 20, 1948, Zucker saddled his last winner July 24, as his 3-year-old filly Gracelund Gray (Goldencents) won at Del Mar. Affable and a dedicated Yankees fan, Zucker was also a staunch advocate for the horse, evidenced by his multiple leadership roles with...

A 2023 race dates template for the Northern California circuit came closer to being finalized at Thursday's California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) meeting, with commissioners unanimously voting to largely mirror the framework of the 2022 schedule. The lone exception was that the board held off on a decision on whether Ferndale (Humboldt County Fair) would once again have to run its second of two weeks of racing at the end of August against overlapping competition from the commercial licensee Golden Gate Fields. That part of the vote was parsed out...

The legal fallout from The Stronach Group's (TSG) decision to ban trainer Jerry Hollendorfer from its facilities in June of 2019 moved onto the San Diego County Superior Court earlier this month, with a hearing in the case between the trainer and the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB). The hearing Oct. 8 concerned two writs of mandate that Hollendorfer filed against the CHRB constituting an oftentimes complicated and convoluted legal knot essentially surrounding which entity--the tracks or the state agency--have the ultimate jurisdiction to bar the trainer from participating in...

Race caller Larry Collmus will return for the third time, calling the majority of Del Mar's upcoming Bing Crosby Season, which runs from Nov. 11 through Dec. 4. John Lies will handle the mic for the first weekend, Nov. 11-13. "We're so fortunate that we again can call on the services of a first-class announcer like Larry," said Del Mar's president and COO, Josh Rubinstein. "Not only does he do an exceptional job for us in the announcer's booth, but he's a plus for our side on the social media...

The Breeders' Cup is always a bit more interesting when underdog horses from smaller circuits are in the mix, and both Slammed (Marking) and Tyler's Tribe (Sharp Azteca) have the potential to bring outsized attention to their respective breeding programs in New Mexico and Iowa when they run in the Nov. 4 and 5 championships. In the entire history of the Breeders' Cup dating to 1984--out of a pool of 4,344 horses--those two states have accounted for just one state-bred starter each. Slammed will represent New Mexico, and you could...

The California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) on Thursday approved a 2023 schedule for the Southern California circuit that largely mirrors this year's version. A final vote on the Northern California schedule was put off until the CHRB's October meeting. But one new idea floated for the NorCal circuit during the Sep. 15 meeting could involve the Cal Expo state fair meet running either twilight or night programs next year. Concerns over dangerously high temperatures during July, when Cal Expo is expected to receive its three-week block of dates, were cited...