Horse Racing

Looking every bit the 3-2 morning-line favorite for the GI Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park on Saturday, Renegade (Into Mischief) strode out of paddock schooling with top marks shortly before noon on Thursday. The colt had that, 'Take the test, don't let the test take you' sort of look. Renegade's trainer Todd Pletcher has won the Hot Springs track's signature race five times, but it hasn't been since 2018 when Magnum Moon (Malibu Moon) took the prize. Of course, that hero was campaigned by Robert and Lawana Low, who happen...

Injuries and a suspension levied by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) have limited Paco Lopez's mounts over the last several months, but he is healthy again, has served his suspension and is ready to resume his career. Lopez will begin his comeback on Apr. 1 at Tampa Bay Downs, reports his agent, Jose Garcia. Lopez received a six-month suspension from HISA Sept. 23. In announcing the suspension, HISA issued a statement, which read: "The suspension stems from Mr. Lopez's violation of the terms of his conditional reinstatement, related...

HOT SPRINGS, Ark.--If you are looking for the best seat in the house for the GI Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park this weekend, then chances are brothers Luke and Cole Jones piloting their drones have their gimbals locked on shooting the perfect A-roll. As long as the weather holds off, the Jones boys go vertical for every race during Oaklawn's meet, which is all part of the larger show in Hot Springs. Tracks have deployed this aerial technology for a couple of years now, but it's primarily been restricted to...

Thoroughbred Charities of America (TCA) has received a generous grant from an anonymous donor to provide backpacks and school supplies for children of backstretch workers across the country, the non-profit said in a Thursday release. With more than 2,500 backpacks filled with essential school supplies, TCA plans to distribute the gift to 33 racetrack chaplaincies. Those organizations will deliver them directly to families over the summer so that kids can be ready for the school year. Click here to learn more.

Keeneland's Spring Meet will feature expanded national television coverage of major races during the first two Saturdays of the season, and debut a range of digital tools and wagering enhancements designed to provide horseplayers with information and betting opportunities, the track said via a press release on Thursday. Fans can watch the entire meet through Keeneland's livestream, available on Keeneland.com, the Keeneland YouTube channel and the Keeneland Race Day app. Throughout the Spring Meet, racing fans can turn to FanDuel TV for daily coverage beginning at noon ET. In addition,...

HOT SPRINGS, Ark.--Bearing witness to Thoropedo Anna (Fast Anna) putting on a show down the stretch at Oaklawn Park in the 2024 edition of the GII Fantasy Stakes before she became a champion was a special moment in her career. The track will honor the now-retired mare on Friday with a bobblehead giveaway, which in no uncertain terms equals immortality. On Friday in Hot Springs, the latest batch of 3-year-old fillies will take to the track in the Fantasy and chase a cut of the $1 million purse, plus a...

Joel Cunningham has joined Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners as vice president of communications, bringing more than two decades of experience in marketing, brand strategy and communications within the Thoroughbred industry, the syndicate said in a press release on Thursday. "Joel brings a unique combination of strategic vision, creative leadership, and deep industry understanding," said President and Founder of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners Aron Wellman. "His experience building and leading high-level communications and brand strategy will be invaluable to the team and our partners. We're excited to welcome him." Cunningham spent the last...

With a victory in Saturday's $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup--a fait accompli in the eyes of many--reigning Japanese Horse of the Year and GI Breeders' Cup Classic hero Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) would leap-frog Hong Kong superstar Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) as the world's richest racehorse with over $36 million in career earnings, accomplished in the space of just 15 races. Heady stuff. Unfathomable stuff, really. And to think that the 5-year-old is out of a mare that fetched just $8,000 as a yearling, well, you just...

Though his best form in America is over a mile, Wathnan Racing's Tumbarumba (Oscar Performance) has successfully negotiated a step up in trip in his last couple of appearances in the desert and 6-year-old gelding has well and truly earned his chance at Saturday's $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup going the 2000 meters, his first try at the trip. One of just 837 horses foaled in Louisiana in 2020, Tumbarumba is a four-time stakes winner going eight furlongs, half of those since his acquisition by Wathnan in the summer of...

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 Chukyo Racecourse: 2nd-CKO, ¥11,280,000 ($71k), Maiden, 3yo, 1900m AMERICAN DANCE (f, 3, Gun Runner--Miss Stormy D, by Tapizar), a $425,000 Keeneland September yearling, is the first foal to the races for her dam, a wide-margin stakes winner on the California...

It's what keeps everyone going: the chance that somewhere out there may be a single horse capable of transforming your whole career. For most, of course, the quest yields no more than near-misses: horses that don't quite work out, for one reason or another, but that hopefully show enough to get you noticed, keep you in the game. Every now and then, however, somebody turns up a real game-changer. Every now and then, along comes Mage. Before turning up the 2023 GI Kentucky Derby winner, Ramiro Restrepo's eligibility to describe...

His name is Immortal Wink (Gimmeawink) and after a career that spanned nine years and 142 races, most of them in Puerto Rico, he was done. He was 10 and had suffered through the kind of wear and tear that is typical with horses who run so often, last so long and wind up at the bottom tier of the sport. He would never go on to a second career, at least one that is typical for a retired Thoroughbred. He just wouldn't be able to do it. But there...