Horse Racing

Strangely enough, the beginnings of my horse racing journey are tied to a racing-related contest put on by one of the local grocery chains in suburban Chicago in the 1970s where you'd watch a short clip at 6:57 p.m. and try to match your ticket for a can of Spam or something of the like. A few years later, a neighbor three doors down (kryptonite?) campaigned a mare called Diablo Morn with trainer Jerry McGrath, no great shakes (she finished her career 2-32, I just looked), but it gave me...

In response to the TDN series 'How I Got Hooked on Horse Racing,' we received the following letter from a former Thoroughbred owner who offers his own anecdotes about Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas. I really enjoyed Christina Bossinakis's professional profile in the Thoroughbred Dailey News today. Her history with D. Wayne Lukas hit a cord with me. I am a retired businessman, University of Wisconsin-Madison grad, and long-ago owner of a horse trained by D. Wayne Lukas. In 1986, I had a horse named Hurdy Gurdy Man that...

In this continuing series, Alan Carasso takes 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 Chukyo and Kyoto Racecourses: Saturday, December 7, 2024 5th-CKO, ¥13,720,000 ($91k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1400m RAINBOW LUCKY (JPN) (f, 2, Quality Road--Wholehearted, by Awesome Again) is the first foal from her stakes-winning dam and was acquired by Yushun Company in...

It takes a pretty serious animal to earn $2 million in any racing jurisdiction, let alone accomplishing that feat in a place like Hong Kong. The urban environment is not for every horse--to that end, the Hong Kong Jockey Club operates their state-of-the-art satellite facility in Conghua [shung-pha] on the Chinese mainland--and it takes a special horse to thrive there. Chancheng Glory (Mor Spirit) has done just that over the course of the last 18 months or so. Bred in Iowa by Allen Poindexter, the 4-year-old gelding has won seven...

Fasig-Tipton has catalogued 670 entries for its December Digital Sale, which opened Thursday and will close in stages beginning on Tuesday, Dec. 10, the auction house said in a Thursday press release. On offer (hips 1-305) are horses of racing age, racing/broodmare prospects, solely broodmare prospects, weanlings, and yearlings, which cuts off on Tuesday, Dec. 10, beginning at Noon ET. A selection of broodmares, (hips 306-end) will conclude Wednesday, Dec. 11, beginning at Noon ET. "This is the largest digital catalogue ever compiled worldwide," said Leif Aaron, Fasig-Tipton director of...

1/ST CONTENT has formed a partnership with American Racing Channel, a leading South American distributor which holds the rights to Hipódromo Nacional de Maroñas and Las Piedras Racetrack in Uruguay, the company said via a press release on Thursday. The outlet owned by 1/ST, which includes media and content companies, plans to broadcast live racing events from the two tracks with the intent to reach a global fanbase in their homes and through mobile devices. Grupo Codere, the international operator for Hispanic markets, has already agreed to integrate exclusive fixed-odds...

How did we get hooked on this sport? We all have stories about how our love affair developed and blossomed. The TDN reached out to numerous notable people in the industry to get their stories to find out how they got hooked and stayed hooked on the sport. Michael Dubb, owner My introduction to racing really occurred as an accident as horses were not on my radar when I was a 16-year-old kid mowing lawns after school and on weekends. At one particular house where I cut the grass I...

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) has canceled live racing on Thursday at Aqueduct Racetrack due to high winds forecast to impact New York City throughout the day, the track said in a release early on Thursday morning. The National Weather Service called for sustained high winds on Thursday with gusts approaching 50 mph. As of 8:00 a.m. ET., New York City is under a high wind advisory. As a result of these conditions, NYRA canceled the eight-race card. The Big A will remain open for simulcasting. Live racing...

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) has increased the purses of 10 Aqueduct winter meet stakes by $25,000 as the 49-day schedule features a total of 20 either black-type or graded races worth $3.1 million, the track said in a press release on Wednesday. The meet, which opens Wednesday, Jan. 1 and continues through Sunday, Mar. 30, includes $25,000 purse increases for the Busanda, Ruthless, Damon Runyon (NYB), East View (NYB), Say Florida Sandy (NYB), Broadway (NYB), Correction, Gander (NYB), Maddie May (NYB) and the Jimmy Winkfield will be...

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) has formed a multi-year partnership with the Ed Brown Society to assist young people of color pursue careers in the racing industry, the NTRA said via a Wednesday release. "The NTRA is thrilled to partner with the Ed Brown Society to help encourage diversity in the Thoroughbred racing industry," said NTRA President and CEO Tom Rooney. "We look forward to mentoring the Ed Brown Scholars as they get their start in this amazing industry." Together with NTRA and its other partners, the Ed Brown...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. NEW HISA/HIWU STEWARDS RULINGS The following rulings were reported on HISA's "rulings" portal and through the HIWU "pending" and "resolved" cases portals. Resolved ADMC Violations Date: 12/03/2024 Licensee: Jesus Esquivel, trainer Penalty: For both cases, Disqualification of Covered Horse's Race results, including forfeiture of all purses and other compensation, prizes, trophies, points, and rankings and repayment or surrender (as applicable); a fine of $500; imposition of 1.5 Penalty...

On the back of a victory aboard Pour Moi (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) for Coolmore and trainer Andre Fabre in the G1 Investec Epsom Derby in 2011, a then 20-year-old Mickael Barzalona took up a short-term contract to ride in Hong Kong, bringing up a single winner from 42 rides. Now all of 33 years of age, the Frenchman experienced the other end of the spectrum to take out the valuable Longines International Jockeys' Championship (IJC) before a packed house at Happy Valley Racecourse, book-ending the four-race competition with victories en...