Del Mar

Lane's End Farm helped raise nearly $50,000 for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF) with the auction of 20 hand-crafted surfboards, each individually designed to highlight the nursery's stallion roster. The surfboards were created in partnership with the Cornett advertising agency and the Torrance, California-based Chili Surfboards. Prior to being auctioned off to the highest bidders, the surfboards were on public display at Breeders' Cup partner hotels in the Del Mar area as well as the racetrack over Breeders' Cup weekend. John Velazquez, Mike Smith, Drayden Van Dyke and Victor...

All samples collected from 2021 Breeders' Cup horses have been cleared by the Kenneth L. Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory at the University of California, Davis. All horses competing in Breeders' Cup races this past weekend at Del Mar were tested for TCO2 levels in blood. Post-race testing was performed for prohibited drugs on the first four finishers in all Breeders' Cup races and any additional random horses selected by the stewards consistent with California Horse Racing Board protocol. Post-race testing was done on both blood and urine samples. The...

The biggest story when it comes to the ban of Lasix in the Breeders' Cup is that there was no story. It was, simply, a non-factor. A total of 148 horses competed in this year's Breeders' Cup, all of them running Lasix-free. There were no reports of any horses being in distress or bleeding from the nostrils. I did not hear of one trainer blaming a defeat on the ban of the diuretic. Nor did I hear of or read about any trainers saying they were passing the Breeders' Cup...

GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint runner-up Go Bears Go (Ire) (Kodi Bear {GB}) and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf fifth Hello You (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) have both exited their Del Mar starts well and are pointing to 3-year-old campaigns. Trainer David Loughnane was pleased with his Group 2 winners, with Go Bears Go taking the G2 Railway S. earlier this year and Hello You winning the G2 Rockfel S. at Newmarket. The colt will be aimed for the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot, while Hello You...

This year's Breeders' Cup revealed itself as a microcosm of the current state of North American racing: An inability to dodge off-track dysfunction (Friday) paired with sensational on-track action (Saturday). Luckily, the corking performances unleashed over the course of the two-day thrill show were emphatic enough to spark more than a few exhilarating expectations for 2022. That will make it a touch easier to endure an entire winter of wincing at the oft-repeated social media meme "for purse money only" while simultaneously wondering if the presumed juvenile champ will even...

Edited Press Release Total all-sources common-pool handle for the two-day Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club was $182,908,409, a new record for the two-day event. The total represents a 4.7% increase over the prior record of $174,628,986 set when the event was held at Santa Anita Park in 2019 and a 14% increase from the total handle of $160,472,893 at the 2020 event held at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, KY. Total common-pool handle on Saturday's 12-race Breeders' Cup card was a record $121,562,392. All sources common-pool...

DEL MAR, CA - With all eyes on defending champion and 2-5 favorite Gamine (Into Mischief) and star 3-year-old Bella Sofia (Awesome Patriot), it was Ce Ce (Elusive Quality) who came rolling over the top in the stretch to upend Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint at Del Mar. Last year's Filly & Mare Sprint heroine Gamine, looking to become only the second two-time winner of the race following Groupie Doll (Bowman's Band), went to the front, as expected, and was shadowed by GI Longines Test S. heroine...

The California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), Del Mar Thoroughbred Club and Breeders' Cup issued a collective statement Saturday regarding the incident at the gate prior to the start of Friday's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, which results in the eventual winner, Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), ultimately being withdrawn from pari-mutuel pools and competing for purse money only. The statement, in its entirety, reads: "The CHRB, Del Mar, and Breeders' Cup officials reviewed the circumstances of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf last night and again this morning. "The CHRB determined...

For Godolphin and trainer Charlie Appleby, not to mention the betting public, the lead up to Friday evening's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf could not have been more of a roller coaster. Godolphin's two charges, rail-drawn Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and GI Summer S. winner Albahr (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) to his immediate outside, stepped into the gate the top two wagering choices. But the latter, who had already been acting up before loading, reared in the gate and was briefly cast, perhaps bothering Dakota Gold (Freud) to his outside...

DEL MAR, CA - Following the unfortunate vet scratch of speedy morning-line favorite and 'TDN Rising Star' Jack Christopher (Munnings), unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Corniche (Quality Road) had things his own way on the front end and ran to the money as the 7-5 favorite for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert in Friday's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Del Mar. Drawn widest of all in post 11, the $1.5-million OBS April topper shot out to the front beneath "Big Money" Mike Smith and cleared the field heading into the first...

In the 1997 Breeders' Cup not far away at old Hollywood Park, trainer Christophe Clement made a favorable impression with his first-ever starter at the championships, sending out Allen Paulson's Flag Down (Deputy Minister) to a sound third-place effort behind Chief Bearhart (Chief's Crown) in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf. Thirty-nine starters had represented the stable in the 22 years since, each walked back to the barn a defeated animal. You couldn't have faulted the Frenchman if he'd begun to feel a bit like the late Bobby Frankel, who saddled...

DEL MAR, CA - During an interview in these pages earlier this week, Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen described returning to Del Mar--the site of Gun Runner's 2017 GI Breeders' Cup Classic victory--with a member of his first crop favored for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies as "dreaming." The dream run certainly continued for L and N Racing and Winchell Thoroughbreds' Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) Friday, capping a perfect four-for-four championship season with a powerhouse, 5 1/4-length, wire-to-wire performance in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Juju's Map (Liam's Map),...