Horse Racing

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 and Hakodate Racecourses: Sunday, June 12, 2022 2nd-HAK, ¥9,900,000 ($74k), Maiden, 3yo, 1700m SWEET ZAZ (f, 3, Nyquist--Century Park, by General Meeting) was beaten double digits into 12th when debuting in a nine-furlong turf event in March, but switches...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 5th-BEL, $90K, Msw, 2yo, 5fT, post time: 5:13 p.m. ET Ranlo Investments' TALKIN PHAROAH (American Pharoah) acquitted himself well enough in his 4 1/2-furlong bow over the Keeneland main track, finishing a well-backed runner-up Apr. 20, but a surface switch is in the offing, and with good reason. The bay colt is the first foal to the races from the Randall Lowe-bred Just Talkin (Midshipman), five times placed in sprint stakes company--four of those on the grass--and a full-sister to the outstanding GSW and GI...

Celebrity chef Bobby Flay has acquired an interest in recent GIII Peter Pan S. romper and 'TDN Rising Star' We the People (Constitution), who figures to be one of the top betting choices in Saturday's GI Belmont S. on Long Island. The famed restaurateur also bought into Creator (Tapit) ahead of his Belmont victory in 2016. Flay joins an ownership group that consists of WinStar Farm, CMNWLTH and Siena Farm on the Rodolphe Brisset trainee. "I'm thrilled to join the We the People team," said Flay. "I have been an...

American Thoroughbreds raced for purse money in excess of $125 million during the month of May, an improvement of more than 17% over the corresponding figure from 2021, according to figures released Monday by Equibase. During the month, bettors put $1.41 billion through the windows, representing a fractional decrease from last year. Over the course of 399 race days in May--the precise number from 12 months ago--purse money averaged $313,461, up from the $267,712 in 2021. With five months in the books, gamblers have wagered over $473 billion, a healthy...

The New York State Gaming Commission has articulated the security protocols it has established for this weekend's Belmont Stakes Festival. Horses running in the GI Belmont S. will be subject to continuous, 72-hour 'dedicated watch' by experienced security personnel. One guard will be stationed full-time for every Belmont S. entrant. Horses running in the GI Metropolitan H. will be under 'intensified watch,' by six to eight security personnel conducting mobile surveillance and direct horse checks at least three times a shift from 72 hours up to 30 hours prior to...

The D. Wayne Lukas-trained Ethereal Road (Quality Road) has a quarter crack and will not ship to New York for Saturday's GI Belmont S., the New York Racing Association announced Monday. A maiden winner in his second start around two turns this past January, the $90,000 Keeneland September graduate ran a monster race to be second in the GII Rebel S. before finishing off the board in the GI Toyota Blue Grass S. and GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. on consecutive weekends in April. Nevertheless, Ethereal Road was entered for the...

The 18-day Autumn meet at Santa Anita will feature a total of 26 stakes races, including five 'Win and You're In' qualifying races for the 2022 Breeders' Cup to be held at Keeneland Nov. 4 and 5. Fifteen of the stakes are contested at the graded level. The meet begins Friday, Sept. 30 and the opening weekend is set to be highlighted by 11 of the stakes races, seven of which are graded. The Saturday, Oct. 1 program includes the GI Awesome Again S. (WAYI) for older handicappers headed towards...

Walkathon got the jump on odds-on McKulick and kept finding in the lane to make the grade and stay unbeaten on gras while becoming jockey Julien Leparoux's 1000th winner at Churchill Downs. Having finished second and fourth in her second and third starts, respectively, sprinting on the main track, Walkathon was runner-up in a rained-onto-Tapeta Gulfstream route Feb. 13. She resurfaced to graduate over the Keeneland turf Apr. 22, and was flattered when the next two finishers came back to earn their own diplomas. The Whitham homebred was coming off...

4th-Monmouth, $56,925, Msw, 6-4, 3yo/up, 6f, 1:10.94, ft, 4 1/4 lengths. PASS AND STOW (c, 3, Medaglia d'Oro--Paola Queen {GISW, $431,490}, by Flatter) was hammered down to 3-2 favoritism for this unveiling and ran to the money with an impressive debut score. Away alertly from his rail draw, the Don Alberto homebred seized the early advantage, dueling through a :22.86 opening quarter and :46.18 half-mile. Opening up on his foes turning for home, the bay strode clear with ease down the lane to graduate by 4 1/4 lengths. Peter Brant's...

Having been scratched from the GIII Soaring Softly S. last weekend, 'TDN Rising Star' Haughty (Empire Maker) was re-routed for Friday's $150,000 Penn Oaks at Penn National and may have been a touch ring-rusty, but proved far too classy for her four overmatched rivals. A bit hesitant to load and on edge waiting for the gates to spring, the 2-5 chalk was tugging for her head as they raced under the wire with a circuit of the soft-rated turf course to travel as 60-1 outsider and turf debutante Irie Empress...

Facing a July 1 federal mandate to get all licensed personnel and actively racing Thoroughbreds registered in accordance with the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA), representatives from that organization's Authority team fielded questions from industry participants Friday in an online "town hall" forum, where the most pertinent query had to do with whether horses will get scratched if their online HISA registrations are incomplete by that deadline. The short answer, according to the HISA Authority's chief executive officer, Lisa Lazarus, is yes. But her slightly longer explanation tells us...

Andiamo a Firenze (c, 2, Speightstown--My Every Wish, by Langfuhr) bossed what appeared on paper to be a well above-average group of state-bred maidens to become the newest 'TDN Rising Star' for his outstanding WinStar Farm-based stallion. A close relation to connections' GISW Firenze Fire--by Speightstown's son Poseidon's Warrior ($2,730,350)--the Mr Amore homebred was away like a shot from the inside stall and set a strong pace in advance of the debuting and well-backed filly Danseur d'Oro (Bolt d'Oro), covering the opening quarter in :22.49 over a sloppy main track....