Horse Racing

Forget Junes in years past. Forget the top hat and tailcoat. Forget the long airline flight to London. Forget the face mask and gloves. It's a new world in 2020 for those who love top-quality horse racing and believe that "mass follows class" on both sides of the Atlantic. Now in the light of COVID-19, the unique Royal Ascot meet will take place on the same heath behind closed doors for the first time since 1711, when Queen Anne decreed that the beautiful flatland just a mile or so from...

There was a popular aphorism making its rounds through social media in the early stages of the Coronavirus pandemic. "Check on your friends in Lexington; March Madness and Keeneland are cancelled." It's true, Lexington natives experienced a shocking few days early in March when the cancellation of Keeneland's annual Spring Meet occurred just days after the announcement that there would be no NCAA basketball tournament. And while racing fans were certainly disappointed that there would be no tailgating on The Hill or a sunny Saturday afternoon shared between 30,000-some attendees...

Sent off the 35-100 favorite in Sunday's 1000-meter Chairmen's Day Plate at Hong Kong's Sha Tin Racecourse, Chancheng Prince (Carpe Diem) made light work of four other rivals to score by 3 1/4 convincing lengths (video). The event was restricted to so-called griffins, Southern Hemisphere 2-year-olds and Northern Hemisphere 3-year-olds that are unraced prior to their arrival in Hong Kong. With second-leading rider Joao Moreira taking the reins for the first time, the gray colt hopped slightly at the start, then raced prominently on the stands' rail. Sent into the...

Sprinting for the first time in her career, Gingham (Quality Road) was the recipient of a supremely confident Mike Smith ride and jumped out of the ground at the eighth pole, rolling past her chief market rival Been Studying Her (Fast Anna) to register an impressive victory in Saturday's Angels Flight S. at Santa Anita. Not surprisingly beaten for speed and last after breaking from gate one, the $420,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase rode the rails into the stretch while in hand. Been Studying Her struck to the lead approaching...

In an effort to ensure that all health and safety protocols are in place, officials at Ellis Park in Henderson, Kentucky, announced that they are moving back the scheduled opening day of the season from June 28 to July 2. "We were going to be open one day and then be dark for three days, before picking back up on July 2," said Jeff Inman, Ellis Park's general manager. "Just waiting until July 2 gives us additional valuable time to institute all the safety protocols involved with staging horse racing...

Commissioner (A.P. Indy--Flaming Heart, by Touch Gold), the sire of 22 winners from his first crop including the Grade III-winning Island Commish, has been acquired by HRH Prince Saud bin Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud for his new farm in Saudi Arabia. The deal was brokered by Andrew Cary of Cary Bloodstock in Lexington. Bred and raced by WinStar Farm and trained by Todd Pletcher, Commissioner-a member of the final crop for his legendary sire-was beaten four lengths into second by Tonalist (Tapit) in the 2014 GII Peter Pan S....

In these contentious times, at least the cavaliers of the turf seem to clinging to suitably knightly ethics. Last weekend, Honor A.P. (Honor Code) and Code Of Honor (Noble Mission) made a righteous stand on either coast; and Saturday's main event, the GI Ogden Phipps S., now adds Point Of Honor (Curlin) to this overflow of rectitude. In her case, however, the duplication of honors would primarily encompass trainer George Weaver, whose success with Vekoma (Candy Ride {Arg}) in the Carter H. at Belmont last weekend was his first at...

With divisional heavies the likes of Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute), Serengeti Empress (Alternation) and the comebacking Eclipse Award winner Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) all eye-balling a potential clash in the GII Fleur de Lis S. at Churchill Downs in two weeks' time, Saturday's GI Ogden Phipps S. may lack a 'marquee' name, per se, but it remains a competitive affair that offers the winner a fees-paid berth into the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff at Keeneland Nov. 7. Ollie's Candy (Candy Ride {Arg}), winner of last year's GI Clement L. Hirsch S.,...

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, Hanshin and Tokyo Racecourses: Saturday, June 13, 2020 8th-TOK, ¥14,360,000 ($134k), Allowance, 3yo/up, 2000mT LOUD AND CLEAR (c, 3, Giant's Causeway--Melody Maiden, by Saint Ballado) improved for a solid debut fourth over this distance Apr. 4 to graduate last...

Sent off as the 12-5 second choice to his slightly more accomplished stable companion Ete Indien (Summer Front), Sole Volante (Karakontie {Jpn}) was dropped out the back early by Luca Panici, but came with a flying finish in the final furlong to defeat longshot Jesus' Team (Tapiture) by 3/4 of a length in what could be a prep for the GI Belmont S. in New York in 10 days' time. Drawn widest in a field scratched down to six, Sole Volante flopped out of the gates and was content to...

5th-Gulfstream, $44,000, Msw,6-10, 2yo, f, 5fT, :56.65, fm. AMANZI YIMPILO (IRE) (f, 2, No Nay Never--Honourably {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}), who amassed a concise, but promising worktab up at Palm Meadows, led past every pole for a popular debut success Wednesday at Gulfstream. Pounded into 3-5 favoritism, the $300,000 Keeneland September acquisition was not the quickest away from the inside stall, but mustered speed up the rail for Mario Pino to lead after a furlong. Prompted to her outside by 16-1 Tequa (Dialed In) for the run around the turn,...

Weekend-long contract negotiations that were supposed to result in a last-ditch effort to salvage the 2020 meet at Arlington Park did not result in a deal that was acceptable to both the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (ITHA) and track management. The chief sticking point, as it has been since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, is Arlington's insistence on a two-year contract, while the ITHA wants to ink terms for only one year. As a result, the Illinois Racing Board (IRB) on Monday morning declined to vote on awarding race...