Gate to Wire

Equibase has added new gate-to-wire timing to all racing result charts, the company announced Thursday. The gate-to-wire times will be in addition to the fractional and official final times already included in charts. Per their report, gate-to-wire times include the run-up distance, which is the untimed, extra distance horses travel from the starting gate to the designated point where the official race distance begins and the timer starts. Official final times do not include the run-up distance, which can vary from zero feet up to a sixteenth of a mile...

When Dubai welcomed the world to old Nad Al Sheba Racecourse for the first time in 1996, 'America's Horse' Cigar repelled what seemed an inevitable challenge from compatriot Soul of the Matter to help cement His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Makoum's goal of creating a worldwide Thoroughbred spectacle in the Emirates. The eyes of the racing public were on sprawling Meydan Racecourse Saturday for the 30th renewal of the G1 Dubai World Cup Sponsored By Emirates--at $12 million now worth three times original pot--and Japan's Horse of the...

Bobby Flay and James Ventura's Crudo (Justify) confirmed his readiness for Saturday's GI Belmont Stakes with a four-furlong work in :48.86 (4/17) over the Oklahoma training track Sunday in Saratoga. Last-out winner of the Sir Barton Stakes, the colt worked in company with GI Woody Stephens Stakes contender Gate to Wire (Munnings). He broke off about one length back and traveled to the outside of Gate to Wire as NYRA clockers timed him through splits of :12 4/5, :24 4/5, and out in 1:01 3/5 and 1:14 3/5. "I thought...

Whitham Thoroughbreds LLC's Burnham Square (Liam's Map), who last captured the GIII Holy Bull Stakes Feb. 1, breezed five furlongs in 1:01.05 (2/13) Saturday morning at Palm Meadows in preparation for next Saturday's GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park. The Ian Wilkes-trained colt finished the workout at Gulfstream's satellite training facility in Palm Beach County on even terms with stablemate Into Champagne (Into Mischief), who finished second in the GII Davona Dale Stakes and third in the GII Gulfstream Park Oaks last year, before galloping out with energy....

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher is in the process of making plans for a trio of stable stars which includes the Florida-based River Thames (Maclean's Music), Gate to Wire (Munnings) and Locked (Gun Runner). WinStar Farm and CHC Inc.'s undefeated 3-year-old colt and 'TDN Rising Star' River Thames bounced out of his Feb. 1 optional claiming allowance victory in good order and will have plenty of options moving forward said Pletcher. The New York-bred bay romped by 6 1/2 lengths as the favorite going one mile in 1:36.34 on...

Repole Stable's 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light), expected to vie for favoritism in next Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar, turned in his final breeze Friday ahead of the $7-million centerpiece of championship weekend, going a half-mile in :48.98 over the Oklahoma training track. With his regular work rider Danny Wright in the irons, the homebred began his work slightly behind a workmate, drew alongside at the entrance to the stretch and was in front at the line before galloping out five furlongs in 1:02 1/5....

Tickets, please! Keeneland's fall meet has the turnstiles primed Friday and that means the featured GI Darley Alcibiades Stakes will fill the apron on what promises to be massive weekend with some 30 graded races across North America--half of which have Breeders' Cup implications. The signature top-level race at the site of the Old Keene Farm was named for a foundational mare who was bred at Hal Price Headley's Beaumont--where modern-day Mill Ridge resides. Alcibiades won the 1930 Kentucky Oaks for Headley, who was one the Keeneland Association's founders and...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - It was quite easy for Donegal Racing to come up with a name for Gate to Wire (Munnings), who turned in an eye-catching debut performance Friday. "He looked fast," said Donegal CEO Jerry Crawford. Gate to Wire has lived up to his appearance in training and showed his speed in the opener at Saratoga Race Course, while posting a 1 3/4 -length victory in the $100,000 maiden special weight for 2-year-olds. Though he did not lead every step of the way, Gate to Wire, with leading...