Horse Racing
Sweet Rebecca, dubbed a 'TDN Rising Star' off her Gulfstream debut March 10, made her first start for John Stewart's Resolute Racing Sunday in the Memories of Silver S. at Aqueduct. Moved from Brendan Walsh to Chad Brown following her private sale, the full-sister to Sweet Melania stepped into stakes company and was well-backed, jumping at odds of 1-2 with Tyler Gaffalione in the saddle as he was on her debut. Kept in mid-pack fourth while clearly eager to be closer to the front, Sweet Rebecca stayed covered up behind...
HONG KONG, CHINA -- Relentless rains in Hong Kong's New Territories over the last week gave way to a rare dry day on Saturday, offering a sliver of hope that Sunday's FWD Champions Day meeting might take place on a surface that was sufficiently sound or at least drying out so as to leave a reasonably even playing field. The precipitation was back in the overnight hours on Sunday, never really more than a steady shower, but enough to turn the Sha Tin turf officially yielding. Three-time Hong Kong Horse...
6th-Keeneland, $110,000, Alw, 4-26, (NW1X), 4yo/up, 6f, 1:09.68, ft, 5 3/4 lengths. MULLIKIN (c, 4, Violence--Tulira's Star {GSP}, by Congrats) broke his maiden at third asking by 10 1/4 lengths at Churchill Downs last May, was the runner-up to GSW Ryvit (Competitive Edge) in the Maxfield S. at Ellis Park in July and capped his year with a fourth-place finish over the same surface at the end of that month. Laid off since, the dark bay returned as the 2-1 second choice here. Mullikin was the speed of the speed...
1st-LRL, $47K, Msw, 3-5yo, 6f, 12:25 p.m. ET. Three-year-old WRIGHTSVILLE (Candy Ride {Arg}) was initially purchased by Brady Bloodstock for $300,000 at the 2021 Keeneland November Sale. Then, the dark bay was taken home by SF, Starlight and Madaket at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale for $610,000, which was the top price for his sire's offspring that year. Out of an unraced dam, the Brittany Russell trainee counts as a half-brother GSW Durante (Distorted Humor). TJCIS PPS
HONG KONG, CHINA -- According to the Hong Kong Observatory, the city's weather forecast agency, about 230 millilitres of rain had fallen between the first of the year and Apr. 25. Of that amount, fully 200 mls have been recorded since the first of this month and the vast majority of that has occurred this week, as rain--at times heavy enough to completely obscure the top of the Sha Tin straight course--thunder and lightning have been just this side of relentless. The considerable precipitation has the connections of Hong Kong's...
Eclipse and Sovereign Award winner Channel Maker (English Channel), who now resides at Old Friends Farm in Georgetown, Kentucky, is among the Thoroughbred inductees to the Class of 2024, the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame said in a release late Wednesday. Across six categories--Male and Female Horse, Builder, Jockey, Trainer and Veteran--a 20-person election committee voted on the list of finalists. Channel Maker was a stalwart multiple grade I stakes winner who amassed almost $4 million in earnings over 56 career races--46 of which were graded North American ones....
Keeneland has supplemented the 2-year-old Cheval de Guerre (Caravaggio) to Friday evening's April Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale, which will begin at 6:30 p.m. ET., the auction house said in a release early Friday morning. Consigned by Kenneally Racing, agent, the colt will sell as Hip 135 from Barn 18. The first foal out of Champagne Diet, a winning daughter of Declaration of War, the gray is from the family of multiple Grade I winners Winter Memories (El Prado {Ire}) and Memories of Silver (Silver Hawk). On the turf...
5th-Turf Paradise, $30,000, Msw, 4-25, 2yo, 5f, :59.17, ft, 1 1/4 lengths. DANCING PORKY (c, 2, Honor A. P.--Morning Dance, by Broken Vow) recorded the first worldwide winner for his Lane's End freshman sire Honor A.P. (by Honor Code), who has 80 foals of racing age to his credit. The juvenile, who debuted at Turf Paradise and finished third Apr. 11, was sent off as the 1-2 choice here. Though the colt started slowly, around the far turn he got into gear. Driving down the lane, Dancing Porky crossed the...
2nd-Keeneland, $77,839, Msw, 4-25, 2yo, 5 1/2fT, 1:03.29, fm, neck. INTO DIAMONDS (c, 2, Into Mischief--Diamond Sparkles {GSP}, by War Front) was overlooked by the betting public at odds of 6-1 for his debut here. The bay settled mid-pack up the backstretch as the tone was set by fellow firster Cheval de Guerre (Caravaggio). Trying to get involved around the far turn, the colt fanned four wide at the top of the lane and uncorked a bid to catch the leader. With a final push just the before the wire,...
Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. Among this week's rulings, trainer Candelario Villamar has been suspended 15-days and fined $1,000 after his trainee, Olivia's Choice, tested positive for capsaicin when finishing third at Turf Paradise on Feb. 26. A Class B controlled medication under HISA, capsaicin is the active ingredient in chilli peppers causing burning and irritation, and can be found in topical analgesics. Trainer Valorie Lund has been banned seven days and fined...
The much-anticipated documentary "The New York Times Presents: "Broken Horses" will debut on the FX Network Friday at 10 p.m ET and will begin streaming on Hulu next day. What follows is a review of the documentary. You probably haven't seen the FX documentary "The New York Times Presents: "Broken Horses" yet, but, then again, you have. Be it from 60 Minutes, HBO's Real Sports, the Washington Post or in the pages of the New York Times, the story of horse racing's problems has been told numerous times. It's not...
Headed by the renamed $2.5 million GIII Nashville Derby Aug. 31, Kentucky Downs will stage six races worth at least $2 million apiece, including supplements for registered Kentucky-breds, at this year's seven-day race meet which runs Aug. 29 and 31 and Sept. 1, 5, 7, 8 and 11, the track said in a Wednesday release. The Kentucky Downs condition book features purses scheduled to total $35 million, including $16 million in Kentucky-bred money. The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on Tuesday approved Kentucky Downs's purse enhancement request from the Kentucky Thoroughbred...