Horse Racing

'TDN Rising Star' Smile Happy (Runhappy) and Zandon (Upstart), one a graded winner in their second trip to the races and the other unlucky not to achieve the same, meet for their respective sophomore debuts in Saturday's GII Risen Star S. at the Fair Grounds. The Risen Star is the first of 16 races that comprise the 'Kentucky Derby Championship Series' and offers Kentucky Derby points on a 50-20-10-5 scale. A $185,000 purchase out of the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase, Smile Happy was the recipient of an inside-out ride...

Having suffered a shock defeat when last seen in the G1 Stewards' Cup--his first in over 30 months--Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro) will have atonement on his mind when he goes in search of back-to-back victories in the G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000mT) Sunday afternoon at Sha Tin Racecourse. There was plenty to play for in the Stewards', as Golden Sixty had taken his winning streak to 16 with a second consecutive success in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile in December and had the chance to draw...

Edited Press Release The Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission (OHRC) became the first in North America to adopt a rule which emulates the globally-recognized Category 1 interference philosophy at a Feb. 17 meeting. The amended rule changes the consideration of stewards when determining interference. The exact wording of the amended rule is below: "If the Stewards determine a hHorse or its rider has caused an interference and finished in front of the Horse it interfered with, and if not for the interference the Horse would have finished behind the horse it...

Edited Press Release Officials at Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) have announced that Nate Simon has been named Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of the company. He will be responsible for providing strategic technology leadership and services. Simon replaces Ben Murr who was promoted to President of TwinSpires and Online Gaming in January. Simon joined CDI in 2011 as Vice President of Operations for the Company's United Tote division before his promotion to President of United Tote in 2012. During that time, Simon was accountable for over 200 employees...

Affirmed Success (Affirmed--Towering Succes, by Irish Tower), a three-time Grade I winner at seven and eight furlongs and back-to-back winner of the GIII Poker H. on the turf, was euthanized Feb. 16 at Old Friends in Georgetown, Kentucky. He was 28 years old and according to attending veterinarians, was suffering from chronic hoof infections. A homebred for Al Fried, Jr. and trained throughout by Rich Schosberg, Affirmed Success won the first three starts of his career and was third to Awesome Again in the 1997 GII Jim Dandy S., but...

Sacred (GB) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}), Cheveley Park Stud's winner of the G2 Hungerford S. and G3 Nell Gwyn S. last year, stays in training with William Haggas as a 4-year-old in 2022. Sacred was among the top of her generation at two when runner-up in the G2 Queen Mary S., G2 Lowther S. and G2 Flying Childers S., and the only blip on her 2021 CV came when she was seventh in the G1 1000 Guineas. "Sacred is to remain in training as she only raced on three occasions...

Twelve months ago, Efforia (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}) posted an authoritative success in the G3 Kyodo News Service Hai en route to a victory in the G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) and ultimately Japanese Horse of the Year honours. While it remains to be seen whether Danox Inc.'s Danon Beluga (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) can ascend to similar heights, the bay colt stamped himself as one to watch with a 1 1/2-length defeat of narrowly favoured Geoglyph (Jpn) (Drefong) in Sunday's 1800-metre test at Tokyo. The third betting choice at...

6th-Gulfstream, $53,000, (S), Msw, 2-11, 3yo, 6f, 1:10.09, ft, 13 lengths. KLUGMAN (c, 3, Practical Joke--Polyester, by Tiz Wonderful) debuted with a sound runner-up effort Jan. 7 and was 3-5 to go one better in this spot. Soon in front beneath Rafael Hernandez, the $140,000 OBS October yearling was held together on the turn, was given his cue off the home 'coroner' and dominated from there, running up the score to the tune of a baker's dozen on the wire before galloping out with good energy. The winner is a...

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 weekend running at Hanshin, Kokura and Tokyo Racecourses. Sunday's group-level action at Tokyo includes the G3 Kyodo News Hai featuring 3-year-old colts out Canadian Horse of the Year Lexie Lou (Sligo Bay {Ire}) and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies' Turf runner-up Coasted (Tizway),...

Peter Brant's progressive Bleecker Street (Quality Road) saved her best for last, as she split rivals decisively and shot past odds-on 'TDN Rising Star' Lady Speightspeare (Speightstown) inside the final eighth of a mile to cause a 7-1 surprise in Saturday's GIII Endeavour S. at Tampa, remaining perfect in four starts in the process. Content to linger in the latter third of the field and riding the rail as the once-beaten Lady Speightspeare prompted longshot Katama Princess (Malibu Moon) through comfortable early fractions, the $400,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga acquisition continued to...

A significant milestone in British history is reached on Sunday as the Queen becomes the country's first monarch to reign for 70 years. Throughout that time, Her Majesty has remained a fervent supporter of the Turf. In the first of a three-part series, John Berry looks back at the Queen's strong ties to horseracing. Racing, the king of sports, has been the sport of kings and queens since the dawn of time. In Great Britain, the monarch's love of the sport can be traced back at least 500 years to...

John G. Dooley, a fixture in the announcer's box at numerous Midwest tracks, has been tabbed to replace Bill Downes as the voice of racing at Horseshoe Indianapolis Race Course, the former Indiana Grand Racecourse. Eric Halstrom, the vice president and general manger of the track, revealed the news in a tweet Friday afternoon. A native of Staten Island, New York, Dooley graduated from St. John's University on Long Island and served as an intern at the Meadowlands and at the New York Racing Association before accepting his first announcer's...