Horse Racing
After four straight appearances against open turf sprinters, Godolphin's Star of Mystery (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) returns to her own age group as the likely odds-on favorite for Sunday's GIII Quick Call Stakes at Saratoga. A two-time winner and Group 2 placed at two in England, the homebred filly wintered in Dubai, defeating a very good horse in the form of Ponntos (Ire) (Power {GB}) in the G2 Blue Point Sprint Jan. 26 before finishing second in the G3 Nad al Sheba Turf Sprint on Super Saturday and third to California...
Oaklawn Park President Louis Cella will deliver the keynote address at the 2024 Global Symposium on Racing at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort this December. Under Cella's leadership, Oaklawn has consistently expanded its racing footprint by lengthening the racing schedule, building a $100-million casino/hotel and by introducing fan-friendly entertainment options, leading to increased attendance and handle. "Under Mr. Cella's leadership, Oaklawn expanded their racing season into December while keeping both their on-track and simulcasting business strong," said Robert Hartman, Race Track Industry Program Chair. "Their racing product continues to strengthen as...
Twirling Queen (Twirling Candy) made it four wins from as many starts as a 3-year-old and remained perfect in two appearances on the grass, posting a comfortable victory in Friday's Coronation Cup Stakes at Saratoga. With 9-5 morning-line favorite Star of Mystery (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) scratching in favor of Sunday's GIII Quick Call Stakes, the Coronation Cup shaped a more open affair, and Twirling Queen put herself right into the mix early just off the pace disputed by Ever So Sweet (Ire) (Calyx {GB}), the 9-4 choice, and Toupie (Uncle...
Chad Brown has won the GI Diana Stakes seven times in its last eight runnings and, well, the odds say that right about 5:45 p.m. Saturday, that will be eight out of the last nine. That's because the Mechanicville native will send out half of the 10 runners for the first elite-level contest of the Saratoga meeting. Strength, indeed, in numbers, but a quintet also not short on quality. Chili Flag (Fr) (Cityscape {GB}) is perhaps the antithetical European import for the barn in the sense that she required three...
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 Sunday running at Fukushima Racecourse: Sunday, July 14, 2024 5th-FKS, ¥13,720,000 ($87k), Newcomers, 2yo, f, 1800mT COSMO QUEEN BEE (JPN) (f, 2, McKinzie--Baruta {Brz}, by Crimson Tide {Ire}), a $70,000 in-utero purchase by Big Red Farm at the 2021 Keeneland November Sale, is...
Fasig-Tipton has catalogued 300 entries for its New York Bred Yearlings sale, scheduled for Sunday and Monday, Aug. 11 and 12, in the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion in Saratoga Springs, New York, the auction company said in a release early Friday. The Sunday session will begin at 7 p.m. ET, and the Monday session will begin at noon ET. "This sale annually showcases the best of the New York-bred yearling crop," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. "The New York-bred program grows stronger every year, and in 2024 over $65 million...
C Two Racing Stable and Mathis Stables' The Queens M G (Thousand Words) provided her freshman sire (by Pioneerof the Nile) with a second juvenile stakes winner Thursday afternoon, returning $91 to her backers for a convincing 2 3/4-length victory in the Listed Schuylerville Stakes on opening day at Saratoga. The dark bay triggered a similarly hefty mutuel when graduating at first asking at Keeneland in April, but she flopped home last of seven as the 21-10 favorite behind Whatintheliteral (Lord Nelson) in the local June 6 Astoria S. after...
A director of an independent accounting firm hired by the Arizona Racing Commission (AZRC) to audit the financials of Turf Paradise as part of the track's three-year permit application testified at a Thursday meeting that if $24 million in federal and state subsidies from the COVID-19 pandemic gets backed out of the equation, Turf Paradise has operated at a net loss for the past three years. Sean Tanner, a certified public accountant who specializes in forensic accounting with Keegan Linscott & Associates, further told the AZRC that based upon projections...
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY -- It's a tossup as to what is the biggest sporting event this weekend for trainer Jeremiah Englehart. The choices are these: the $175,000 GIII Sanford Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday or the Vermont Lacrosse Classic two and a half hours away in the town of Essex. Come again? Englehart will do double duty because three of his five kids are in the lacrosse travel tournament. He wont miss that. And he can't be absent from the Spa because he has to to saddle Mo...
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY -- Missing from action for two months, but certainly not forgotten, beaten GI Kentucky Derby favorite and 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light) is ready to make his comeback. Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said the Repole Stable homebred is set to resume competition in the GI Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park on July 20 with stablemates Mindframe (Constitution) and Tuscan Sky (Vino Rosso). Mindframe is making his first start since finishing second in the GI Belmont Stakes on June 8. Tuscan Sky won the...
Having saddled more than 500 winners on synthetic surfaces in his multiple graded stakes-winning career, Kevin Attard said his interest was piqued last week when the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) said in a release it would be utilizing an all-weather Tapeta track as its exclusive winter racing surface at the new Belmont Park when it opens in 2026. "It's definitely something I've contemplated for a bit now. The fact that a synthetic track is going in there is a little bit more enticing for myself and I'm sure...
Some of the most highly anticipated races during the summer racing season are the 'baby' races during the boutique meetings at Saratoga and Del Mar and at Ellis Park, which attract its fair share of high-priced offspring from a variety of top national outfits. Summer Breezes highlights debuting 2-year-olds at those meetings that have been sourced at the breeze-up sales earlier in the year, with links to their under-tack previews. To follow are the horses entered for Friday at Saratoga: Friday, July 12, 2024 Saratoga 6, $80k, 2yo, (R), 5...