Horse Racing

Edited Press Release The Maryland Jockey Club announced Friday strict protocols for jockeys intending to ride during Preakness weekend, Oct. 1-3, at Pimlico Race Course. All jockeys intending to ride during the weekend must arrive at Pimlico's drive-up COVID-19 testing site located just outside of the Hayward Avenue stable gate no later than 72 hours prior to their first riding assignment: Monday, Sept. 28 by 10 a.m. for Thurs., Oct. 1 Tuesday, Sept. 29 by 10 a.m. for the Friday, Oct. 2 Wednesday, Sept. 30 by 10 a.m. for Sat.,...

Sackatoga Stables' Tiz the Law (Constitution) returned to the worktab for the first time since finishing second to Authentic (Into Mischief) as the favorite in the Sept. 5 GI Kentucky Derby, breezing a half-mile in an easy :50.07 with regular exercise rider Heather Smullen in the irons. "It was a nice, easy work," trainer Barclay Tagg said. "I wasn't looking for much. I just wanted him to go out there and stretch his legs. He hadn't done anything in three weeks." Prior to his hard-trying runner-up effort in the Derby,...

Saturday's GI Rodeo Drive S. at Santa Anita offers the winner an all-expenses-paid trip to the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Keeneland Nov. 7, and Lady Prancealot (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}) figures a slight favorite against six familiar faces. Winner of the GI American Oaks over this course and distance last December, Lady Prancealot has done her California-based shuttle stallion proud this season, despite not having her picture taken. Fourth to the in-form Keeper Ofthe Stars (Midnight Lute) in the GII Buena Vista S. over a mile...

Twice in its last seven runnings, the GI Awesome Again S. has produced the winner of the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, with Mucho Macho Man (Macho Uno) and Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky) completing the double in 2013 and 2018, respectively. Just a field of five faces the starter this weekend for the nine-furlong test--a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the Classic--but the two marquee horses have legitimate claims at Keeneland in six weeks' time. Maximum Security (New Year's Day), whose topsy-turvy championship sophomore season saw him miss a start...

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 Saturday running at Chukyo Racecourses. Sunday's action features the return to the races of Contrail (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), who preps for the final leg of the Japanese Triple Crown in the G2 Kobe Shimbun Hai: Saturday, September 26, 2020 4th-CKO, ¥13,400,000 ($127k),...

California racing regulators, who have long sought measures that would limit the use of the whip, announced Monday that a set of more restrictive rules will be implemented starting Oct. 1. The rules were approved June 11 at a meeting of the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) ,but could not go into effect until undergoing a regulatory review process. The new rules will bring about three major changes: (*) Riders cannot use the crop more than six times during a race, excluding showing or waving the crop or tapping the...

'TDN Rising Star' Pneumatic (Uncle Mo), last-out winner of the Aug. 15 Pegasus S. at Monmouth Park, breezed five furlongs in company in a bullet 1:00.85 over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga Monday morning as he continues towards a start in the GI Preakness S. at Pimlico Oct. 3. With exercise rider Angel Garcia up, Pneumatic went in fractions of :12, :23.80, :36 and galloped out three-quarters of a mile in 1:15. "On this track, that's about as good as horses work," said Scott Blasi, assistant to trainer Steve...

Keeneland and the majority owners of Kentucky Downs have made application for a racing license and have proposed the construction of a state-of-the-art racing facility and associated track extension in Kentucky. The proposed facilities, to be located in Corbin and Williamsburg, would feature live Standardbred racing as well as historical racing machines. "Horse racing is an extremely vital part of the Commonwealth's economy," said Ron Winchell, who owns, controls and manages Kentucky Downs with Marc Falcone. "With the addition of a new race track and related amenities in southeastern Kentucky,...

Stablemates Maximum Security (New Year's Day) and 'TDN Rising Star' Improbable (City Zip) will face one another in Saturday's GI Awesome Again S. at Santa Anita, trainer Bob Baffert has confirmed. Baffert had earlier discussed shipping Maximum Security to New York for the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, but instead will race him this weekend in his own backyard. Via text, Baffert said he thought the race was a good fit for both horses because he likes the spacing and the fact that no one has to ship. The Jockey...

While the marquee horses and seven-figure fireworks are long since in the rear-view mirror when the Keeneland September Sale--the largest of its kind in the world--reaches its later books, there are still horses to be sold, even as the demand for those youngsters could begin to wane. Several years ago, in an effort to drum up interest in the latter stages of the sale, officials at the Lexington auction house began mining smaller, off-the-beaten-path markets, and those efforts have borne fruit in places like Russia, where Lyudovik (Constitution) became the...

Dirty Dangle (Not This Time), who defeated Souper Munnings (Munnings) in a five-furlong maiden on the synthetic track Aug. 16, became the second black-type winner for her freshman sire (by Giant's Causeway), jumping out of the ground in the final eighth of a mile to take Saturday's Woodbine Cares S. One of the first to break the line, the $8,000 Keeneland September yearling turned $25,000 OBS March breezer pulled a bit but came back to jockey Sheena Ryan to sit just in behind a trio of front-runners. Favored Illegal Smile...

Starship Jubilee (Indy Wind) bested the boys and earned a spot in the gate for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile with a victory in the GI Ricoh Woodbine Mile Saturday. Settling in fourth off the rail as Admiralty Pier (English Channel) clocked an opening quarter in :23.66, pilot Justin Stein checked Starship Jubilee for a stride, but they maintained their position with War of Will (War Front) running in tandem with her through a :46.14 half-mile. Shadowing the 2019 GI Preakness S. hero's advance towards the front approaching the far...