Horse Racing

Some of the most highly anticipated races during the summer racing season are the 'baby' races during the boutique meetings at both 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 Thursday at Saratoga: Thursday, August 10, 2023 Saratoga 5, $88k, 2yo, f,...

"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." --Daniel Patrick Moynihan Letters to the editor are, by definition, opinions. You can disagree with an opinion, but you can't exactly say it's wrong. But when "facts" that are not facts are offered in support of an opinion, that is disinformation. The writer of the July 26, 2023, Thoroughbred Daily News letter to the editor slamming HISA could be the poster child for that. Over the past week I reviewed his criticisms with executives with HISA and HIWU...

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and the Jockeys' Guild have announced that they have created a Steering Committee to recommend and develop programming in support of the mental health and wellness of jockeys. The announcement comes on the heels of a symposium held last week in Saratoga. The Steering Committee will be co-chaired by Ambassador Earle Mack, a businessman, philanthropist, former U.S. Ambassador to Finland and Thoroughbred owner and breeder, and Dr. Yuval Neria, a professor of Clinical Medical Psychology at Columbia University Medical Center and Director of...

Wednesday's four flat races carded for the grass at Saratoga will be contested on the main track, according to a tweet from the New York Racing Association. The third race for state-bred 2-year-old filly maidens will retain its original distance and be run over 5 1/2 on the dirt. Originally scheduled for a mile and three furlongs an optional claimer/second-level allowance will now be run at a mile and a quarter on the main track as race four. Race six for open 2-year-old filly maidens will go at 5 1/2...

Luis Saez will ride Mage (Good Magic) in the upcoming GI Travers S., it was announced Tuesday afternoon in a tweet from trainer Gustavo Delgado, Sr. He replaces Javier Castellano, who won the GI Kentucky Derby aboard the colt and also guided him to a third-place finish in the GI Preakness S. and a runner-up effort in the GI Haskell S. Saez rode Mage to a second-place finish in the GI Florida Derby. Saez opted to ride Tapit Trice (Tapit) in the Derby for trainer Todd Pletcher. Tapit Trice finished...

Some of the most highly anticipated races during the summer racing season are the 'baby' races during the boutique meetings at both 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 Sunday at Saratoga, Ellis and Del Mar: Wednesday, August 9, 2023 Saratoga...

Amid the speed-filled tempo of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale this week, it's all about equine and human partnerships for Gandharvi Racing as they add Case Clay as a Business Consultant to their team. Mind you, this isn't about making a splash or just putting together some haphazard deal. No, the intent behind this organization's latest move tunnels much deeper into the recesses of history. As the saying goes, Rome wasn't built in a day. Neither was a racing stable. Like city-planning in the ancient world or otherwise, success just...

A six-start maiden, Maltese Falcon (Ire) (Caravaggio) was nevertheless dispatched as the public's choice for Sunday's GIII La Jolla H. and duly obliged with a perfect-trip graduation. Neatly drawn in stall three in a field of eight in this final prep for the GII Del Mar Derby, the 105,000gns Tattersalls Autumn Horses In Training purchase found a good spot at the fence right on the back of a sedate tempo set jointly by Agency (Bolt d'Oro) and Justin's Legacy (Justify). Juan Hernandez was content to allow Maltese Falcon to bide...

Sent off the third betting choice at just shy of 4-1, Red Route One (Gun Runner) sustained a run for the better part of the final five furlongs and shot past the dueling pacesetters to give his owner Winchell Thoroughbreds a third win and trainer Steve Asmussen a sixth success in the GIII West Virginia Derby. Outrun early, the homebred was third-last to make the first turn as Iowa Derby first-past-the-post One In Vermillion (Army Mule) and West Coast Cowboy (West Coast)--fifth in Altoona--eyeballed one another through honest splits. Red...

Blue Rose Farm's GI Belmont S. hero Arcangelo (Arrogate) tuned up for the Aug. 26 GI Travers S. with a five-furlong breeze over the Saratoga main track that was timed in 1:00.21 Sunday morning. The gray colt was accompanied to the track by trainer Jena Antonucci on horseback and was put through his paces by Javier Castellano. Arcangelo galloped out a full half-mile after completing his move and was clocked in 1:26 1/5 for seven furlongs, 1:39 for the mile and out nine panels in 1:53. "It was a little...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY -- Trainer Jena Antonucci could have easily stepped aside Sunday morning and passed on a question about Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic)'s catastrophic injury in Saturday's GI Test S. That's not how she handled it. After commenting on how pleased she was with the way her GI Belmont S. winner Arcangelo (Arrogate) worked five furlongs in 1:00.21 Sunday morning, Antonucci turned to how trainer Melanie Giddings has to deal with the loss of her star filly. "I get chills," Antonucci said, then paused to compose herself. "Any...

Set for a debut at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club on Sunday afternoon, Julias Dream (Flameaway) gave her freshman sire something to cheer about as she came home a newly-minted 'TDN Rising Star'. Taking to the grass, the chestnut filly at 6-1 odds shot to the lead up the backstretch and held sway around the far turn. Into the stretch, Julias Dream went on comfortably to win by 5 1/2 lengths and stop the clock at :56.97 over fellow first timer Avoir (More Than Ready). The winner's dam is a half-sister...