Horse Racing

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum's Godolphin was honored with the Eclipse Award as the outstanding owner in North America for the fifth consecutive year and seventh overall, and for the fourth time in a row was also crowned North America's outstanding breeder during Thursday's ceremonies.  Godolphin-owned runners posted 104 victories from 460 starts (22.6%) during the year and their runners finished in the top three in 52% of their appearances while earning better than $20 million. Horses bred by Godolphin bankrolled $23.2 million and no fewer than 10 Grade...

A perfect six-for-six against her own sex in 2024, 'TDN Rising Star' Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) was a slam-dunk choice for top 3-year-old filly honors. Both 3-year-old divisional winners sold at Fasig-Tipton. Sierra Leone topped the 2022 Saratoga Sale on a bid of $2.3 million while it required just $40,000 to purchase Thorpedo Anna out of the Fasig-Tipton October Sale a few months later. Thorpedo Anna, a leading candidate for Horse of the Year honors, is the first American champion for her sadly departed stallion, also a son of Darley...

Riding professionally since late 2023, Erik Asmussen took home the Eclipse as the nation's leading apprentice in 2024. The young rider collected his first jockey's title at the Grand Prairie, Texas track where he topped the standings with 48 wins. In his early twenties, Erik is the younger brother of fellow Oaklawn-based rider Keith J. Asmussen, but lest we forget that their father Steve rode and so did their grandfather Keith. Cash Asmussen had a celebrated career himself during the 1980s and 1990s, which included being named a five-time champion...

On Thursday at Santa Anita, one of the leading GI Kentucky Derby prospects, Journalism (Curlin), worked for the first time since he got his picture taken in the GII Los Alamitos Futurity Dec. 14. Out of graded-stakes winner Mopotism (Uncle Mo), the 3-year-old colt drilled a half mile in :49.80 seconds for trainer Michael McCarthy. In pool three of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager last weekend, Journalism closed at odds of 20-1 to win this year's 'Run for the Roses.' Journalism rolled to a 3 1/2-length victory under Umberto Rispoli...

In advance of the 2025 Pegasus World Cup, 1/ST and the Ed Brown Society have extended their initial three-year partnership to provide opportunities for young people of color to gain industry exposure through internships and scholarships, the owners of Gulfstream Park said in a Thursday release. This year 1/ST will provide $50,000 in funding to cover all costs associated with the paid internship program enabling the Ed Brown Society to identify, recruit and place qualified students. On Saturday at the Pegasus World Cup, the third race will be dedicated to...

The Jockeys and Jeans Great American Stallion season auction with all proceeds going to help former jockeys who have suffered catastrophic, career-ending injuries, opens bidding on Thoroughbred seasons on Monday, Jan. 27 at 9 a.m. ET and ends Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 8 p.m. ET, the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF) said in a Thursday press release. "Stallion donor contributions of a season has had a significant impact, helping to provide crucial support to injured riders," said PDJF President Nancy LaSala. "The auction is an opportunity to showcase our sports...

Early nominations for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds to become eligible for the 2025 Triple Crown close Monday, Jan. 27 with a $600 payment, a press release from Churchill Downs said on Thursday. Nominations and payments to the 2025 Triple Crown series can be made through the portal by clicking here. Horses can also be nominated during the late phase with a $6,000 payment due Monday, Apr. 7. The final opportunity for eligibility is through a supplemental nomination fee due at entry time for each Triple Crown race: GI Kentucky Derby ($200,000), GI...

Fifty days since his last mount, when he was suspended by HISA for striking a horse in a malicious manner following a race at Parx, Paco Lopez will return Saturday at Laurel, where he will have three rides. They include the mount on Hawkstone (Catalina Cruiser) in the Spectacular Bid Stakes. "I'm feeling good and I've been working very hard to be ready for my comeback," he said. Lopez was aboard National Law (Constitution) in a maiden special weight race at Parx for trainer Jorge Duarte Jr. The horse bore...

Fasig-Tipton has catalogued an additional 28 entries, which includes GISW Unbridled Mo (Uncle Mo), to its upcoming Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale, to be held on Monday, Feb. 3 in Lexington, Kentucky, according to an auction company press release on Thursday. These newest entries to the sale are catalogued as hips 376-403. Unbridled Mo (Hip 401), winner of the GI Apple Blossom Handicap and a multiple graded stakes winning millionaire on the racetrack, is a half-sister to GSW Unbridled Essence (Essence of Dubai). She is offered as part of the dispersal...

GISW Finnegans Wake (Powerscout {GB}) will shift from stud duty in Northern California to stand the 2025 breeding season at Wolfpaw Stables in Bear River, Wyoming, according to a press release from the farm on Thursday. The move to Wyoming comes at a time when racing in the northern part of California has undergone drastic changes over the past year. Finnegans Wake heads to a state where historical horse racing as a funding source for the sport is on the rise. A stallion with currently four crops to his credit,...

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running at Chukyo and Nakayama Racecourses: Saturday, January 25, 2025 3rd-CKO, ¥11,850,000 ($76k), Newcomers, 3yo, 1400m BLUE AROMA (f, 3, American Pharoah--Comical, by Into Mischief) is the first foal from her dam, winner of the 2019 GIII Schuylerville Stakes, second in the...

MGSW Blueskiesnrainbows (English Channel) at the age of 16-year-old passed away due to complications from colic last week, Marcinda Mitchell, DVM from Sunlight Farm and Bad Boy Racing said in a Thursday press release. Blueskiesnrainbows was campaigned by Bad Boy Racing (Kelly Mitchell) and Whizway Farms (Stan Whisenant). During his racing career he was conditioned by Hall of Famers Bob Baffert and Jerry Hollendorfer. According to Equibase, Blueskiesnrainbows made 28 starts, got his picture snapped seven times and took home $672,552 in earnings. His wins on dirt at Southern California...