Horse Racing

Acknowledging that Rich Strike (Keen Ice) will soon be "officially" retired," owner Rick Dawson said Thursday that he has been talking to stallion farms in both Kentucky and New York and hopes to strike a deal shortly so that his 2022 GI Kentucky Derby winner will be available for the upcoming breeding season. "The only reason I haven't officially announced his retirement is that I'm waiting to come to an agreement for stallion rights," Dawson said "Then I can do it all at once, make the announcement that he has...

May Day Ready (Tapit), the runner-up in last Friday's GI John Deere Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar, will make her next start in the G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies at Kyoto Racecourse in Japan Dec. 8, according to a tweet on X by her trainer Joseph Lee. Lee posted, "After discussing May Day Ready's future with Mr. and Mrs. Doyle and George Barnes @katierichfarms, the decision has officially been made to ship her to JAPAN to run her in the G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies on December 8th." The...

The Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.) recognized the top Thoroughbreds at the 2024 Dutta Corp United States Eventing Association's (USEA) Young Event Horse (YEH) East Coast Championships, held Oct. 17-18, 2024, in Elkton, Maryland, at Fair Hill, the Jockey Club of America said in a Thursday press release. Emily Bradford won the 5-year-old championship title riding her Thoroughbred mare Rose Traveler (registered as Rossie'slastdance), securing a victory over 41 other 5-year-old horses of all breeds. The pair were also awarded the T.I.P. high point Thoroughbred award. Rossie'slastdance, who was unraced, is...

Outgoing Kentucky State Senator Damon Thayer has been named the recipient of the 2024 Warner L. Jones Jr. Horseman of the Year Award by the Louisville-based Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners (KTO), which will be presented on Saturday, Nov. 23 at the Kentucky Derby Museum, the organization said via a release Thursday morning. The KTO's Warner Jones award recognizes individuals for outstanding contributions to Kentucky racing and sharing the passion exemplified by Jones, who spent 50 years on the Churchill Downs board, including eight as chairman during the track's resurgence in the...

8th-Churchill Downs, $132,695, Alw, 11-6, (NW2$X), 3yo/up, 7 1/2f, 1:28.66, sy, head. LIBERAL ARTS (c, 3, Arrogate--Ismene {MSW, $236,990}, by Tribal Rule) entered the Triple Crown trail with a 2 3/4-length score in this track's GIII Street Sense Stakes last fall ahead of a third to future GI Kentucky Derby hero Mystik Dan (Goldencents) in the GIII Southwest Stakes Feb. 3. Sixth, placed eighth, in the GI Arkansas Derby Mar. 30, the gray was last seen finishing a well-beaten sixth in the Apr. 13 GIII Stonestreet Lexington Stakes, his final...

It was quite a few days for Canadian-based trainer Kevin Attard. On Saturday, he won his first Breeders' Cup race with Moira (Ghostzapper) in the GI Maker's Mark Filly & Mare Turf and some 48 hours later she went through the ring for $4.3 million. Knowing he'd have plenty to say, we invited Attard to join us on this week's TDN Writers' Room Podcast presented by Keeneland. He admitted that saying goodbye to the best horse he has ever trained was difficult. "Well, right now it's extremely difficult, no doubt...

Tickets for the 90th Opening Day at Santa Anita Park on Thursday, Dec. 26 are now available online, the track said via a press release on Wednesday. The day will include an array of events and entertainment, plus racegoers will receive a free 2025 wall calendar which features the 13 top moments in the history of Santa Anita as voted on by the public. With a first post set for 11:00 a.m. PT, general admission is available for $10, and premium box seats and Loge Box Seats are also available...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. This week's rulings include three lengthy suspensions. Trainer Francisco Ramos has been banned for two years and fined $25,000 after his trainee You're a Dandy (Mizzen Mast) who finished second at Hawthorne Feb. 14, tested positive for the bronchodilator Clenbuterol. According to a final decision by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), Ramos apparently requested a B sample analysis but did not pay for it, which meant...

9th-CD, $120,000, Msw, 2yo, 1m, post time: 4:55 p.m. ET OH MONACO (Curlin), a $650,000 purchase by John Stewart's Resolute Racing out of last year's Keeneland September sale, is a son of Byrama (GB) (Byron {GB}), winner of the GI Vanity Handicap on synthetic and a dual stakes winner and multiple graded-placed performer on the grass. The mare's two winners to date include this colt's full-brother Known Agenda, third in the GII Remsen Stakes in 2020 and victorious in the GI Curlin Florida Derby the following spring. Known Agenda now...

According to a posting on the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) website, top California trainer Phil D'Amato has had a horse test positive for the banned substance methamphetamine. The 4-year-old filly Thebestisyettobe (Ire) (Elzaam {Aus}) tested positive following an Aug. 1 workout at Los Alamitos. Before HIWU/HISA made changes to its rules regarding its Anti-Doping Medication and Control program, D'Amato would have been facing a suspension of up two years. Over time and in the face of criticism that it was charging trainers who had horses test positive for...

National Treasure, the three-time Grade I-winning son of Quality Road, has been retired from racing and will take up residence at Eric & Tamara Gustavson's Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, where he will stand stud in 2025 for an introductory fee of $40,000 S&N, according to a post on the farm's website. A classic winner of the GI Preakness Stakes and victor in this year's GI Pegasus World Cup and GI Metropolitan Handicap, National Treasure is now available for inspection by appointment. Spendthrift acquired the breeding rights to the colt,...

Three Chimneys has named the stud fees for the latest additions to their stallion roster in GISW Gun Pilot (Gun Runner), who will stand for $17,500 LFSN, and GISW Newgate (Into Mischief), who is set at $20,000 LFSN, according to a press release from the farm on Wednesday morning. A Three Chimneys homebred, Gun Pilot campaigned in the colors of owner Gonçalo Torrealba. Earlier this season, the 4-year-old captured the GI Churchill Downs Stakes, which made him one of 10 Grade I winners and 13 millionaires for his champion sire....