Horse Racing

Officials at Santa Anita Park have made the proactive decision to cancel the program scheduled for this Thursday, Dec. 30, given a weather forecast that calls for additional significant rainfall in and around the track. The two turf races scheduled for Sunday's opening day card--the GI American Oaks and GII Santa Anita Mathis Brothers Mile S. and GIII San Gabriel S.--were transferred to the main track owing to the underfoot conditions. Racing will continue Friday, Dec. 31. The three turf stakes scheduled for Friday have been pushed back to the...

3rd-FG, $40k, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2fT, 3:01 p.m. Tom Amoss unveils the latest racing age addition to the Bertie family with pricey BARONNE (Into Mischief) taking to the starting gate in a turf sprint. Out of Bashful Bertie (Quiet American), herself a half to MGSW Hurricane Bertie (Storm Boot) and a full to graded-stakes winner/producer Allamerican Bertie, the colt brought $200,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale from agent AI Pike. A year later, as a 2-year-old going through the Fasig-Tipton Timonium sale (:10 1/5), he RNA'd for $420,000 from...

Queen Goddess was trying dirt for the first time, but looked right at home with an easy wire-to-wire victory in the GII American Oaks--which was automatically downgraded after it came off the turf Sunday at Santa Anita. Kicked straight into the lead by Juan Hernandez, Queen Goddess assumed command after the opening furlong and cut out the running while racing a bit off the inside turning down the backstretch. Moving comfortably through a half in :47.62, the dark bay filly lobbed them along comfortably as she began to work clear...

Flightline (Tapit), who had given hints of greatness while opening his career with two supremely easy victories, officially arrived with an eye-popping victory in the GI Runhappy Malibu S. at Santa Anita Sunday. For Bill Farish of co-owner Woodford Racing, the Malibu result confirmed the faith his team has had in the colt all along. "We hoped to win this, but to do this against this kind of field, this was the real class test for him and I think he answered it the way we thought he would," Farish...

Sent off the 1-2 chalk to close a successful sophomore season, Repole Stable's Never Surprised (Constitution) likely earned a spot in the field for the GI Pegasus World Cup Turf with a sparkling front-running success in Sunday's Tropical Park Derby, the same event used as a springboard to Pegasus success by stablemate Colonel Liam (Liam's Map) early this year. Exiting a big-figure victory in the Gio Ponti S. at Aqueduct last month, Never Surprised wasted no time getting to the front, but was made to work for it by longshot...

4th-Santa Anita, $68,000, Msw, 12-26, 3yo/up, 6 1/2f, 1:16.11, ft, 1/2 length. SHAAZ (c, 3, Uncle Mo--Miss Ocean City, by Mineshaft), the better fancied of a pair of debuting 3-year-olds for trainer Bob Baffert, overcame his inexperience and overhauled his barnmate Hopkins (Quality Road) in the dying strides to graduate by a half-length Sunday at Santa Anita. The $1.1-million topper from the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, Shaaz was not the quickest away and lingered in the latter third of the field as Hopkins set a fast pace...

The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), for years a vocal proponent of federal legislation to bring the sport under a single governing entity, announced in a press release Thursday morning that it has been unable to reach an agreement to become the enforcement agency for the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, the broad non-profit umbrella established by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act. "After months of negotiations, we have been unable to enter an agreement in line with the requirements of the Act, and one which would have given us...

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 and Nakayama Racecourses. Sunday's Boxing Day program at Nakayama features the world's biggest betting race annually, the G1 Arima Kinen, in which Chrono Genesis (Jpn) (Bago {Fr}) will look close her career on a winning note in defense of...

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 Nakayama and Hanshin Racecourses. The latter hosts Sunday's G1 Asahi Hai Futurity, which includes the offspring of such North American notables as Canadian Horse of the Year Lexie Lou, Land Over Sea, Dust and Diamonds and My Jen: Saturday, December...

By Len Green, CPA and John Wollenberg, CPA In horse racing, the contest is not over until the horse crosses the finish line. The same is true with maximizing your tax deductions and minimizing your taxes. For those who think it is too late to save on your 2021 taxes, we are here to tell you, it is not! With over 40 years' experience saving our clients taxes along with our knowledge of the new tax laws, we are confident the following information will help you as you approach the...

by Alan Carasso Making the final appearance of her illustrious career, Japan's Loves Only You (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) displayed the same refuse-to-lose attitude that carried her to a history-making success in last month's GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat in Sunday's G1 Longines Hong Kong Cup, at HK$30 million the richest of the four events that make up the 'Turf World Championships'--the Longines Hong Kong International Races. Glory Vase (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), one of three Japanese winners in 2019, took...

Reddam Racing homebred Slow Down Andy (Nyquist) upset 'TDN Rising Star' and last-out GIII Bob Hope S. winner Messier (Empire Maker) Saturday with a decisive score in the GII Los Alamitos Futurity S. A debut winner against fellow Cal-breds going 5 1/2 panels at Santa Anita Oct. 9, he was a close second in Del Mar's seven-furlong Golden State Juvenile S. Nov. 5 and was dispatched at 5-1 in this first try around two turns and against open company. Away a step slow from the outside stall in this field...