Horse Racing

Cooey (Girvin) was all the rage from a pari-mutel perspective in Friday's eighth race from Santa Anita, but the more lightly regarded first-time starter Our Moonlight (f, 2, Tapit--Mannerly, by Unbridled's Song) confronted the odds-on choice a sixteenth of a mile from the wire and rolled home to an impressive 2 3/4-length victory to become yet another 'TDN Rising Star' for her all-conquering sire. Off at 8-1 from a 6-1 morning line with Cooey taking the lion's share of the action at 4-5, Our Moonlight--a $325,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase--was...

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 Saturday running at Nakayama Racecourse: Saturday, December 28, 2024 5th-NKY, ¥13,720,000 ($87k), Newcomers, 2yo, 2000mT SPARKLE NOVA (JPN) (f, 2, Authentic--Magic Fountain, by War Front) is the second foal to the races out of a daughter of 2014 G1 Darley Irish Oaks winner...

A full field of 18 juveniles heads to the post for the final Group 1 event on the JRA calendar, Saturday's Hopeful Stakes over the metric mile and a quarter at Nakayama Racecourse. And the entrants will be looking to join an honour roll that includes the likes of future luminaries such as Epiphaneia (Jpn), Rey de Oro (Jpn), Saturnalia (Jpn) and Contrail (Jpn), who would go on to secure the Triple Crown the following season. As recently as last weekend, the Hopeful form received the best kind of advertisement...

Sunday's ¥170 million (US$1.08 million) Toyko Daishoten is the lone Group 1 race on the calendar staged on the tracks of the National Association of Racing, but the 2000-metre event has lured the top five or six dirt horses in Japan and given the depth of the field, the horse that proves victorious should be able to make a case for challenging the recently retired G1 Champions Cup repeated Lemon Pop (Lemon Drop Kid) for champion dirt horse of 2024. The globetrotting Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) makes just...

An announced on-track crowd of 41,562 welcomed the return of live racing to Santa Anita Thursday afternoon, the largest non-weekend or holiday crowd on opening day since 1990 and biggest opening-day crowd in eight years, track officials said late Thursday. Total all-sources handle of more than $21.4 million was the third-highest in track history for an opening-day program and marked a 17.4% increase over 2023. It was the fourth time in the last seven years that handle exceeded $20 million. "Our Racing Office offered an exceptional program, the owners and...

Contrary to statements given to the Gulfstream Park press office by trainer Ignacio Correas IV, Merriebelle Stable and Resolute Racing's Grade I winner Didia (Arg) (Orpen--Delambre {Brz}, by Rainbow Corner) has not been retired from racing and is currently resting at Resolute Farm, part-owner John Stewart said on X late Thursday. Stewart did indicate that the mare would be forced to miss a defense of her title in the GIII Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf. "It has been a rough couple of days for @resracingky," Stewart posted. "There...

A victory in the GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup can lead even the most disciplined connections to call an audible, deviating from a more conservative approach in favor of a start in a race as alluring as the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf just weeks later. But trainer Cherie DeVaux and the Lael Stables of Roy and Gretchen stuck to their guns and sent the enormously talented She Feels Pretty (Karakontie {Jpn}) to California for the American Oaks, another chance at age-restricted Grade I glory while putting...

Firming into 13-5 favoritism in the final few clicks of the tote, Raging Torrent (Maximus Mischief) found his best stride well off the inside entering the final eighth of a mile and staved off a late challenge from 2024 GI Santa Anita Derby winner Stronghold (Ghostzapper) to win Thursday's GI Malibu Stakes, the traditional opening-day feature at the Great Race Place. Drawn widest in a field reduced to six with the early scratchings of Senior Officer (Into Mischief) and GI Breeders' Cup Sprint runner-up Bentornato (Valiant Minister) due to a...

Trying nine furlongs for just the second time in his career and looking to protect a perfect mark over the Santa Anita turf course, Cuyathy LLC's Johannes (Nyquist) was given a supremely confident steer by Umberto Rispoli and was really only asked to finish up to post a soft victory in Thursday's GII San Gabriel Stakes. Crunched into long odds-on favoritism to improve on his hard-nosed runner-up effort behind More Than Looks (More Than Ready) in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile down at Del Mar on Nov. 2, the homebred...

2nd-SA, $60K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, post time: 2:30 p.m. ET SAN SABA (Justify) topped last year's Fasig-Tipton October Sale on a bid of $725,000 and has drawn the outside in this field of seven. John Velazquez has the call aboard the May 8 foal, whose dam Arienza (Giant's Causeway) finished second in the 2011 GII Fantasy Stakes. The latter is a daughter of 2002 Horse of the Year and treble champion older female Azeri (Jade Hunter), the dam of the talented MGSW/GISP Wine Princess (Ghostzapper) and granddam of GSW Smokin'...

The Dubai Racing Club has announced a new partnership with Churchill Downs which will see the Louisville-based operation sponsor the AED300,000 ($81,660) UAE 2000 Guineas Trial (allowance) to be held Friday, Jan. 3, 2025, at Meydan Racecourse. The 2024 renewal was won by the Michael Costa-trained Ma Yetal (Flameaway). Commenting on the partnership, Erwan Charpy, Manager, Racing Operations & International Relations for Dubai Racing Club, said: "We are constantly inspired by our leaders to set the bar higher and in working with international partners such as Churchill Downs, we are...

5th-Gulfstream, $40,000, Msw, 12-22, 2yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 1:40.01, fm, 3 3/4 lengths. NOW VOYAGER (f, 2, Uncle Mo--Dream Awhile {GSW-USA, MSP-Fr, $247,689}, by War Front) carrying the colors of Joseph Allen went off as the 2-1 favorite for this unveiling. The bay tracked a pair of leaders into the first turn and settled nicely as the field raced up the backstretch. Poised to pounce around the far turn, the filly was given her cue and she roared into the lane like a jumbo jet. The homebred sealed the deal...