During the 127th Warrenton Horse Show in Virginia the inaugural $7,500 William E. "Bill" Graves Memorial Thoroughbred Hunter Derby, sponsored by Gainesway Sales Company, will be held on Thursday, Sept. 3, according to a press release from the show on Monday. The event will be a two-round hunter derby class at the three foot height and is open to any Thoroughbred horse. Warrenton plans to continue to hold the Back From the Track hack, the Too Slow to Go hack, the Thoroughbred Hunter Division--2'6'" or 2'9", the $2,500 Take2 Thoroughbred...
HOT SPRINGS, Ark.--The mercurial Louis I. Kahn said that, "The sun never knew how great it was until it hit the side of a building." For something a touch more vernacular, the master architect was still no less pithy when he reminded us that, "Architecture is the thoughtful making of spaces." Oaklawn Park, ever the innovator in the world of horse racing, has faithfully scooped up Kahn's architectural spirit. They have put thought into a blueprint that can change their backside for the future and it starts in the form...
In the ongoing battle between HISA and Churchill Downs Inc., HISA fired the latest shot Tuesday, ordering Churchill to pay it $5,024,848.56, plus interest in the amount of $250,631.77. In documents released Tuesday by HISA, the authority charged that if CDI does not comply with the order it will no longer be able to simulcast races from any of its tracks to out-of-state locations starting Mar. 27. The legislation that created HISA allows it to revoke a tracks simulcasting privileges if HISA believes a track is in violation of its...
Looking to build on an open-lengths allowance victory first off a December absence back on Feb. 11, Three Chimneys Farm's Igniter (Volatile) remained perfect at three with a popular victory in Saturday's $135,000 Jimmy Winkfield Stakes at Aqueduct. Sent off as the 3-5 chalk, the homebred was the first to break the line, but was overtaken on the front end by chief market rival Easy Decision (Charlatan) through an opening quarter in :22.78. Joined to his outside by 8-1 Time To Roll (Not This Time), leaving him in a somewhat...
Shadwell Stable's Ezum (Essential Quality), a speed-and-fade ninth at longshot odds on seven-furlong debut at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 7, was pounded into even-money favoritism stretching out to a mile Saturday at Colonial Downs and treated his rivals to a 19 1/2-length beating. Soon in front for Flavien Prat, the $485,000 Keeneland November weanling angled down towards the inside and made the running one off the fence while doing it through comfortable fractions up front. Prat held his mount together into the final three furlongs and when he edged ever...
Strawberries and cream. Chocolate and peanut butter. Horse racing and making movies? One of those is clearly not like the others, but Librado Barocio has managed to meld the two into a successful career, both behind the camera and, courtesy of the 8-year-old gelding Lovesick Blues (Grazen), more recently in front of the camera. That's because he's been fielding numerous questions and granting frequent interviews about the horse that not only provided him with a maiden win at the Grade I level in the summer of 2025, but has also...
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 is one horse of interest for this Saturday running at Hanshin Racecourse: 5th-HSN, ¥11,280,000 ($71k), Maiden, 3yo, 1800m AIR ALCINA (f, 3, Gun Runner--Nokaze, by Empire Maker) is a half- or full-sister to six winners including Group 2 scorer Air Almas (Majestic Warrior), three-time listed winner and Group 3-placed...
The Florida Legislature's 2026 regular session concluded with decoupling legislation again failing to reach Governor Ron DeSantis's desk, according to a press release from the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association on Friday. HB881 passed the House but companion bill SB1564 never received a hearing in the Senate. A special session is expected to finalize the state budget. Lonny Powell, the FTBOA's CEO, said in a statement that, "Decoupling has stalled again. Once more, the FTBOA and our industry partners defended Florida's Thoroughbred industry. We thank the industry partners who...
Our existing industry "members," for lack of a better encompassing term, need to come together and agree on a unifying mission statement. This could happen around The Jockey Club Chairman Everett Dobson's "big table". Why not a mission statement similar to the Breeders' Cup for our industry, like this: "To provide safe, healthy, fair, and high-integrity environments for our horses and fans, and owners and bettors to compete in, at all levels, of our sports entertainment industry." Why be similar to the Breeders' Cup? The Breeders' Cup is not only...
At the OBS March Sale, trainer Michael McCarthy confirmed that his prize pupil Journalism (Curlin) continues to work well out in California as the colt prepares for his 4-year-old debut. "He's training great," McCarthy told TDN. "I don't see a whole lot of difference in him this spring compared to last. He's holding his weight well. Obviously, he's put some on since having a little bit of a break. He's training forwardly." McCarthy said that Journalism has drilled two good half-mile works at Santa Anita Park. "We're going to work...
Serena's Song, the 3-year-old filly champion in 1995 and the winner of 11 Grade I stakes races, passed away peacefully Wednesday at Denali Stud, where she spent her entire post-racetrack career. She died 25 days before her 34th birthday, but was officially considered 34 at the time of her death. Inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2002, she won 18 of 38 starts and recorded 17 grades stakes wins. Her finest hour came when she defeated males to capture the 1995 GI Haskell Invitational...
5th-FG, $54K, Msw, 3yo, f, 6f, 3:45 p.m. ET. SHE'S OUR TEN (Constitution) will carry the colors for Lee Searing and C R K when she is unveiled under trainer Peter Eurton at Fair Grounds on Friday. The dark bay initially went to Hidden Brook for $215,000 at the Fasig-Tipton October Yearling Sale before being purchased by C R K for $675,000 during OBS April last year. Out of MSP Quality Heat (Quality Road), the filly's lone siblings are an older half-brother by Nyquist and a younger half-sister by Not...