Horse Racing

Up Her Sleeve (Mastery) benefited from a perfect trip to become the first winner for her well-regarded Claiborne Farm-based sire (by Candy Ride {Arg}) in the Gulfstream opener Saturday afternoon. Sent off at 19-1 off a distant last of four in a rained-off maiden on debut June 30, the bay filly was one of the first away, but came back to Wilmer Garcia to sit third rounding the first turn, as odds-on Royal Rocker (Noble Bird) led them along. Hugging the rail down the backstretch, she was asked for a...

Officials at Ellis Park have announced the creation of the Tri-State S., an overnight stakes worth $60,000 for males 3-year-olds and upward at the distance of one mile over the main track. The race will be carded Aug. 7 and will share the program with a trip of turf stakes as part of the Kentucky Downs Preview Weekend at the Henderson, Kentucky, track. "This fills a void for older males going long on dirt," racing secretary Dan Bork said. "We have the Good Lord for sprinters, and the mile distance...

Godolphin's once-beaten Maxfield (Street Sense), the impressive 3 1/4-length winner of Churchill's GII Stephen Foster S. when last seen June 26, tuned up for his next appearance in the Aug. 7 GI Whitney S. with a half-mile breeze over the Oklahoma training track Friday morning that was timed in :49.09 (14/46). Working in the company of stablemate Longpants Required (New Year's Day), the son of Velvety (Bernardini) covered his first two furlongs in :25.3 and was out five-eighths of a mile in 1:01.1 according to NYRA clockers. "I just wanted...

The 25th season of Thoroughbred racing at Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie just outside of Dallas concluded July 11 with handle figures their largest since 2006. The figures do not include last year's pandemic season. Daily merged (i.e. live, on-track plus export) handle totaled $1,693,866 for the 48-day meet, while a daily average of $1,459,096 in export handle. On-track fans wagered $234,770 daily, the most since 2018. Average daily attendance on weekends and holidays for the meet was just over 4,000 per day, just a 4% decline from 2019....

The summer season in Japan customarily sees that country's heaviest turf hitters awaiting major late summer and early fall, and a pair of American-bred runners should have a say in the outcome of this weekend's two major races at group level on the turf. Cafe Pharoah (American Pharoah), winner of this year's G1 February S. going a mile over the Tokyo dirt track (video) and one of 14 winners from 18 Japanese starters for his sire, switches to the grass for Sunday's $709,167 G3 Hakodate Kinen over the metric mile...

The 2020/2021 racing season in Hong Kong concluded July 14, with the Hong Kong Jockey Club reporting turnover in excess of HK$130 billion (£12.1b/€14.2b/US$16.7b) for the first time. A total of 88 meetings--one more than last season--were conducted between September and July, with no programs lost to the coronavirus. The HKJC staged 835 races at Sha Tin and Happy Valley Racecourses, and took 206 races from overseas for simulcasting purposes. Total turnover was HK$136 billion, representing a 12.1% increase over last season. The HKJC is the single largest taxpayer in...

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 Hakodate and Kokura Racecourses. A pair of US-breds see action at group level on the turf this weekend, as Lotus Land (Point of Entry) contests the G3 Chukyo Kinen (1800m), while Group 1 winner Cafe Pharoah (American Pharoah) tries the...

Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), third in the GI Kentucky Derby and runner-up to Essential Quality (Tapit) when last seen in the GI Belmont S. June 5, was installed the 6-5 morning-line favorite and was assigned gate four in a field of seven sophomores for Saturday's $1-million GI TVG.com Haskell S. at Monmouth Park. Flavien Prat has the call for trainer Doug O'Neill. "I think it sets up perfectly for us," Greg Hahn, whose Roadrunner Racing campaigns Hot Rod Charlier in partnership with Boat Racing LLC, William Strauss and Gainesway Stable,...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Once again, Saratoga opens its world-renowned race meet with the question: How many? During the COVID-19 summer of 2020, the issue was whether there might be some loosening on the ban on spectators during the 40-day season. That never happened, though a limited number of owners were allowed to see their horses run, and some of the world's best Thoroughbreds played to a oh-so quiet empty house at America's oldest race track. With restrictions completely lifted in New York State in time for the 153rd season,...

Edited Press Release The U.S. House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to consider the fiscal year 2022 Department of Labor Appropriations bill Thurs., July 15, and language within the bill could devastate the H-2B visa program. The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) is urging industry members to contact their Representative immediately and ask for this language to be removed from the bill. The language of concern appears on pages 46-50 of the bill and would make the H-2B visa program difficult for many employers to use. Specifically, the draft bill would:...

Having secured champion 4-year-old honours in 2019-2020, courtesy of his sweep of the local Triple Crown, Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro) capped a perfect 5-year-old campaign by being named the Horse of the Year in Hong Kong during ceremonies held Tuesday evening at Happy Valley Racecourse. Bred in Queensland by Asco International Pty Ltd., Golden Sixty--an A$120,000 Magic Millions Gold Coast yearling turned NZ$300,000 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run breezer, took his overall winning streak to 14 during the season and to 17 from 18 overall, using his trademark...

Doug Hatten, the agent for Monmouth-based jockey Carlos Montalvo, confirmed that the track stewards have informed his rider that he should be in attendance for a hearing Friday in which he will be asked to explain why he went to the whip aboard race winner M I Six (Mission Impazible) in the first race Sunday. On the far turn, Montalvo clearly struck his horse, which was noted in the footnote of the chart for the race, which read: (M I Six) had the rider go to the whip three times."...