Horse Racing

Juddmonte Farms's Laurel River (Into Mischief) has been removed from consideration for the $20-million G1 Saudi Cup on Feb. 22 after picking up a minor injury that will require 'two weeks' rest', according to a tweet from racing personality Nick Luck, who was first to report the news. "Just a knock apparently, but it prevented him from getting in a critical workout before traveling," Juddmonte USA's General Manager Garrett O'Rourke said in a text message. "Will wait for the Dubai World Cup." Trained by Bhupat Seemar, the homebred 7-year-old demolished...

With the 2025 breeding season upon us, the TDN staff is once again sitting down with leading breeders to find out what stallions they have chosen for their mares, and why. Susan Anderson is involved in every aspect of the industry as an owner, breeder, and trainer. She runs Point Of View Farm in Ohio, where she bred 'TDN Rising Star' GSW Jonathan's Way (Vekoma), who currently sits in eighth on the 'Road to the Kentucky Derby' leaderboard with 15 points. Anderson shares her 2025 mating plans, including for her...

My Racehorse's newly crowned Eclipse champion sprinter Straight No Chaser (Speightster) breezed five furlongs in :59 flat (3/98) over the Santa Anita main track Sunday morning and is set to board the first of two flights Tuesday which will carry him to Saudi Arabia for the $2-million G2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint (1200m) on Feb. 22. Hall of Famer John Velazquez has the return call. "We gave him a little company just to kind of get him to relax and settle off a horse and he did it really nicely and...

Reverting to front-running tactics for the first time since winning her maiden in impressive fashion at Saratoga last August, Tracy Farmer homebred La Cara made every pole a winning one in Saturday's Suncoast Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, besting favored Her Laugh, who lost her race at the break but ran on courageously in the final stages. As opposed to Her Laugh, who was playing up in stall six and missed the kick by a good four lengths, La Cara hit the ground running and took the field into the...

Stretching out to two turns for Saturday's Sam F. Davis Stakes, downgraded to listed status but still offering 20 points to the winner on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, WinStar Farm and CHC Inc.'s John Hancock (c, 3, Constitution--Scribbling Sarah, by Freud) would not be denied in the early march to the First Saturday in May. The chestnut earned a solid 81 Beyer Speed Figure in leading every step of the way to break his maiden at first asking over three-quarters of a mile locally on Jan. 8 and...

3rd-Oaklawn, $110,000, Msw, 2-8, 3yo/up, f/m, 6f, 1:10.50, ft, 8 lengths. NUIT MAGIQUE (f, 4, Arrogate--Twixy, by Mutakddim) made an eyecatching move to split horses three furlongs from home and widened through the final eighth of a mile to graduate by eight impressive lengths Saturday afternoon at Oaklawn Park. Pegged at morning-line odds of 9-2, the $255,000 Keeneland September yearling turned $1-million Fasig-Tipton Midlantic topper, off at 14-5, was under a hustling ride early on from Nik Juarez and was no better than midfield through the opening exchanges before improving...

3rd-Tampa Bay Downs, $32,000, Msw, 2-8, 3yo, f, 6 1/2f, 1:16.07, ft, head. CASSIAR (f, 3, City of Light--Nellie Cashman {GSW, $349,839}, by Mineshaft), one of four first timers who made the gate, the filly proved best when it mattered most. Overlooked as a 12-1 shot here, the longshot exited the outside gate and was up near the pace rolling towards the far turn. Salted (Tapit) assumed control around the far turn, but the 3-year-old was moving within striking distance. In the shadow of the wire, Cassiar poked her head...

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' President and Founder Aron Wellman advised via text Saturday morning that 'TDN Rising Star' Locked (Gun Runner), the two-back winner of the GII Cigar Mile Handicap and recent runner-up in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes, will pass up an invitation to the G1 Saudi Cup Feb. 22 and instead will focus on a domestic campaign for 2025. "While we appreciate the gracious invite and the purse money is tempting, we're going to focus on a domestic campaign, with our near-term goal being the Big 'Cap,"...

After fielding a team of four for last year's $20-million G1 Saudi Cup, a maximum of three horses and as few as just one horse already on the ground in Riyadh, could make up the American challenge for the 2025 renewal to be contested Saturday, Feb. 22 at King Abdulaziz Racetrack on the outskirts of the Saudi capital. Three of the four horses that took part in last year's running were each possible for a return trip, but none will ultimately travel. Last year's winner Senor Buscador (Mineshaft) was to...

Looking to make a statement after a more-than-solid start to his career at the Big A last summer when he ran a game second to GSW Mentee (City of Light), Colloquial (Vekoma-- Terminology, by Bernardini) graduated over the same strip on Friday afternoon and earned himself a 'TDN Rising Star' in the process. TDN's Racing Editor Steve Sherack highlighted the initial effort by Colloquial in his 'Second Chances' series in December. In the seventh race at Aqueduct June 15, Mentee looked in firm control at the quarter pole, but the...

The U.S. Virgin Islands's Department of Sports, Parks, & Recreation Department has formally closed the Clinton E. Phipps Racetrack on the island of St. Thomas until further notice after at least seven horses were euthanized last year, according to a press release from the agency on Friday. In an article on Thursday, Jan. 30, the TDN reported that breakdowns occurred starting in May, but the St. Thomas/St. John Horse Racing Commission (STT/STJ HRC) was regulating cards without anti-doping laws in effect nor had the surface undergone professional testing. Alongside these...

I recently finished reading a book called "The Horse God Built: The Untold Story of Secretariat, The World's Greatest Racehorse" by Lawrence Scanlon. Figuring to maybe get a new tidbit or two about the great horse, I was astonished at how it really was more of a pilgrimage of someone becoming a passionate fan. It covered a lot of information about "Big Red" (or "Super Red" if you feel the former belongs to Man o' War), but what was much more interesting was how it provided a look at the...