Horse Racing

Owner Brook Smith admits that his wager--a $10,000 Derby Future Wager bet on Tiz the Bomb (Hit It a Bomb) at 10-1--was not the smartest bet he's ever made. But that's not the point. The bet was meant to raise awareness for the Backside Learning Center at Churchill Downs and, who knows, perhaps make over $100,000 for an organization that is meeting the many needs of the track's backstretch workers. Smith, who operates the Rocket Ship Racing, LLC, stable, has been a longtime supporter of the backstretch center and helped...

According to statistics released Feb. 4 by Equibase, wagering on North American racing during the first month of the new year totaled $942.6 million, a decrease of 1.82% from the corresponding figure from 2021, while owners raced for purse money of better than $82 million combined, a whopping 15.48% more than the $71.1 million from 12 months ago. Despite the wintry weather that annually claims its fair share of programs and a pause in racing in Maryland owing to track maintenance, the number of race days increased fractionally last month...

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 Tokyo and Chukyo Racecourses, the second of which hosts the oft-productive G3 Kisaragi Sho for the classic crop of 2022: Saturday, February 5, 2022 3rd-CKO, ¥9,900,000 ($86k), Maiden, 3yo, 1900m CHARITABLE THOUGHT (c, 3, Nyquist--Relaxing Green, by Formal Gold) finished...

Prominent North American owner/breeder Charles Fipke was represented by his first winner in Japan when the newly turned 3-year-old filly Kana Tape (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) ran out an impressive three-length winner of a newcomers' event going 1800 meters on turf at Tokyo Racecourse Sunday afternoon. Sent off the narrow second favorite at odds of 3-2, the bay filly jumped well from gate two for top rider Takeshi Yokoyama and tracked pacesetting Mozu Cleopatra (Jpn) (American Pharoah) from close up in second. Felt for as the field entered the final...

by Alan Carasso Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), a graduate of the unique Hong Kong International Sale, took his record to five-from-five with a tough victory over pacesetting California Spangle (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) in Sunday's HK$12-million Hong Kong Classic Mile, the first of three legs of the 4YO Series in the jurisdiction. The Irishman (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}) rallied from midfield to finish a clear third. Winner of five of his six starts, California Spangle--the top-rated galloper in the field--crossed and cleared his rivals from barrier 13 and set a reasonable...

Forbidden Kingdom (American Pharoah) upset the highly touted Bob Baffert trio to register a front-running victory in Santa Anita's GII San Vicente S. Saturday. Longshot What in Blazes (Straight Fire) burst from the outside post in this five-horse affair with the rest of the field breaking in tandem to his inside. Forbidden Kingdom sprinted up the fence to take command with Grade I winner Pinehurst (Twirling Candy) and his stablemate McLaren Vale (Gun Runner) tracking from about a half-length back through a :21.86 opening quarter. 'TDN Rising Star' Doppelganger (Into...

Alphabet Soup (Cozzene--Illiterate, by Arts and Letters), who won a memorable renewal of the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Woodbine in 1996, died Jan. 28 at Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Farm in Georgetown, Kentucky, due to chronic kidney disease. The oldest living Classic winner, the gray was 31 years old and had been pensioned at the farm since 2015. Bred in Pennsylvania by Southeast Associates, Alphabet Soup was trained by David Hofmans for Georgia B. Ridder and came to hand at four in 1995, winning the GII Del Mar Budweiser...

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 Chukyo and Tokyo Racecourses: Saturday, January 29, 2022 4th-CKO, ¥11,400,000 ($99k), Newcomers, 3yo, 1400m CUTE VILLAIN (f, 3, Arrogate--She Be Wild, by Offlee Wild) is the latest foal out of the Eclipse Award-winning juvenile filly of 2009 and cost Katsumi...

4th-Tampa Bay Downs, $25,000, Msw, 1-26, 4yo/up, f/m, 6f, 1:12.62, sy, 7 3/4 lengths. NETTE NETTE (f, 4, Empire Maker--Vaulcluse {SW}, by A.P. Indy), a $950,000 Keeneland September graduate, made the trip up from South Florida and splashed home to debut as a much-the-best winner. Away in mid-division as the even-money pick, the a half-sister to Lukes Alley (Flower Alley), Ch. Older Horse-Can, GISW-US, MGSW-Can, $795,122; and to once-beaten 'TDN Rising Star' Arrifana (Curlin), SW & GSP, $230,400, tugged Pablo Morales to the front after the completion of a quarter-mile....

A full and eclectic field of 18 older gallopers is set to face the starter for Thursday's SAR1.5-million (£295,933/€354,288/US$400,000) Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup (King's Cup) going the metric 10 furlongs at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh, offering the winner a guaranteed spot in the field for the US$20-million G1 Saudi Cup Feb. 26. The King's Cup marks the Saudi debut for American-bred Saiydabad (Blame), a close fourth behind St Mark's Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) in last year's G1 Qatar Prix du Jockey Club and winner of the...

Tickets for the 2022 Keeneland spring meet, to be held Apr. 8-29, will go on sale to the public beginning at 9 a.m. ET, Tuesday, Feb. 15. Similar to last year, all general admission, grandstand and dining tickets must be pre-purchased online through Keeneland's official online ticket office at tickets.Keeneland.com or on the Keeneland Race Day app. Also on sale beginning Feb. 15 are dining and general admission tickets for Kentucky Derby Day at Keeneland Saturday, May 7. The 15-day spring meet offers racing Wednesdays through Sundays. Keeneland will be...

1/ST, owners of the Pegasus World Cup, will partner with Irish technology company Equine MediRecord to digitize veterinary records for this year's event, to be held this Saturday, Jan. 29, at Gulfstream Park. The Equine MediRecord platform that will be used allows for the full veterinary history of the horse to be collected digitally and recorded securely. Use of this platform will be mandatory and will provide all entrants, trainers and veterinarians with a user-friendly system to comply with the strict medication protocols for this year's event. Once the records...