Horse Racing
Cannon Thoroughbreds homebred Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute), winner of last year's GIII Cecil B. DeMille S. during this track's Bing Crosby meeting last December, returns to the seaside oval as the likely favorite in Sunday's GII LaJolla H. The race is the middle leg of Del Mar's 3-year-old turf series which concludes with the GII Del Mar Derby over nine furlongs Sept. 6. Disappointing when no better than fourth as the 13-10 favorite in the Eddie Logan S. at Santa Anita Dec. 29, the bay colt was a pacesetting...
When signing for a $340,000 Uncle Mo filly at this year's OBS March Sale, Dennis O'Neill, noted bloodstock advisor and brother of trainer Doug O'Neill, told the TDN's Steve Sherack that he "kept telling [owner] Paul [Reddam] that she was my female Nyquist." The April foal, now named Get On the Bus, looks a live chance on debut as she breaks from the rail in Friday's GII Sorrento S. at Del Mar. The April foal, produced by a winning half-sister to G1 Dubai World Cup hero African Story (GB) (Pivotal...
With the outposted Roderick (Into Mischief) scratching in favor of a start in Saturday's GII Best Pal S. at Del Mar, a field of 10 is set to face the starter for Friday's GII Saratoga Special S.,headed by a trio of promising 'TDN Rising Stars.' Trainer Steve Asmussen, already a four-time winner of the Special, sends out Stonestreet homebred Cazadero (Street Sense), who looks to take his record to a perfect three-for-three. The May foal, a son of MSW & GISP Wild Gams (Forest Wildcat), set a pressured early pace...
Woodbine Entertainment, in conjunction with Kraft-Heinz Canada, have announced the launch of the Heinz Challenge, six-week series during which a Thoroughbred jockey from Woodbine will be paired with a harness driver from Woodbine Mohawk Park to compete for a charitable donation of $5,000 from Woodbine. The series will be broadcast live during 'Racing Night Live' on TSN. The four competing jockeys are Rafael Hernandez, Kazushi Kimura, Justin Stein and Emma-Jayne Wilson, while the participating drivers are Jody Jamieson, Bob McClure, Doug McNair and Louis-Philippe Roy, who replaces the injured James...
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 Niigata and Sapporo Racecourses: Saturday, August 8, 2020 1st-NII, ¥9,680,000 ($92k), Maiden, 2yo, 1600mT KITTEN'S WALTZ (f, 2, Air Force Blue--Dances With Kitten, by Kitten's Joy) was bet down to 6-1 for her 1400-meter debut at Hanshin July 18 and...
Max Player (Honor Code), who ran on nicely to complete the trifecta in the GI Belmont S. June 20, turned in his final serious work Monday morning ahead of a rematch with Tiz the Law (Constitution) in Saturday's GI Runhappy Travers S. at Saratoga. Owned by George Hall and SportBLX Thoroughbreds, Max Player breezed five furlongs in 1:01.55 over the Belmont training track. "We worked him in company head and head with another horse and they went five-eighths in 1:01.2. It was just a maintenance breeze," said trainer Linda Rice....
This is the fourth installment in a series highlighting racetrack photographers. Around 1960, a funeral director decided he'd had enough of the cold Chicago winters, so he uprooted his family to Phoenix to ply his trade in a warmer clime. Upon arrival, Jack Coady, Sr. learned his Illinois mortician's certification didn't match Arizona's requirements, so he set out to look for another line of work. He liked photography and caught on with the Arizona Republic newspaper. On one of his very first assignments, he was sent to shoot the races...
Officials at Harrahs Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, LA, have announced an across-the-board purse increase of $1,500 per race beginning Saturday, Aug. 8 and continuing through the end of the meet Wednesday, Sept. 23. "We thank our local horsemen for their support since the live racing season began on June 6," said David Heitzmann, director of racing at Harrah's Louisiana Downs. "This has been a very challenging year due to COVID-19, so we are pleased to reward these hard working men and women with a purse increase of $1,500 across...
Vanishing Point (Tapit), a full-brother to two-time Eclipse Award and three-time Grade I winner Unique Bella, was very green, but very good in his racecourse debut Sunday afternoon at Sapporo Racecourse, leading every step of the way en route to a seven-length tally. The mount of perennial leading jockey Christophe Lemaire, the son of GI Breeders' Cup Ladies' Distaff heroine Unrivaled Belle (Unbridled's Song) jumped alertly from the widest gate in the field of seven and was switching back and forth across his leads while establishing the front passing under...
The long-term future for Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI) to continue racing in Illinois involves selling its Arlington International Racecourse land for another purpose and transferring the corporation's racing license to another location. Bill Carstanjen, the chief executive officer of CDI, outlined the gaming company's desire to rid itself of Chicago's premier Thoroughbred venue in a July 30 conference call with investors. His comments came six days after Arlington's delayed 2020 season opening (because of the pandemic and a bitter contract dispute with local horse people) and one day before 2021...
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 Niigata and Sapporo Racecourses, including the racecourse debut of a well-related son of Tapit: Saturday, August 2, 2020 7th-NII, ¥14,360,000 ($137k), Allowance, 3yo/up, 1800m NILE RIVER (c, 3, American Pharoah--Jeweliana, by Smart Strike), a $235K Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling turned $775K...
10th-Saratoga, $72,000, Msw, 7-29, 3yo/up, f/m, 5 1/2fT, 1:02.63, fm. ZERO TO SIXTY (f, 3, American Pharoah--Cat Moves {GISW, $315,350}, by Tale of the Cat) eased out to 7-1 after being as low as 5-1 and kicked it in an eighth of a mile from home to graduate in sparkling fashion in the Wednesday finale from Saratoga. Drawn widest in the field of nine, the $320,000 Keeneland September was beaten for speed and raced in the latter half of the field for the opening furlong before advancing outside into midpack...