Horse Racing

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 Tokyo Racecourses, the latter of which hosts the best race on the planet this weekend, Sunday's G1 Yasuda Kinen, featuring 2018 Horse of the Year Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) as well as US-bred G1SW Mr Melody...

Pleasantly Perfect (Pleasant Colony--Regal State, by Miswaki), who completed a historic Breeders' Cup four-timer for trainer Richard Mandella in the 2003 GI Classic and went on to sire a trio of top-level winners, passed away Wednesday in Turkey. He was 22 years old and died of natural causes. Bred in Kentucky by Clovelly Farms, Pleasantly Perfect was purchased by Gerald Ford's Diamond A Racing Corp. for $725,000 at the 1999 Keeneland September sale. Turned over to Mandella, the strapping bay won back-to-back runnings of the GII Goodwood Breeders' Cup H....

Early nominations to the GI Del Mar Debutante, to be contested Sunday, Sept. 6, and the GI Runhappy Del Mar Futurity, scheduled for closing day, Monday, Sept. 7, close Friday, June 12. Both races are run over the distance of seven furlongs. The nomination fee for both races is $250, with no additional or sustaining fees required. Nomination forms can be downloaded here for the Debutante and the Futurity and can be returned to the Del Mar racing office via email at nominations@dmtc.com. Forms may be faxed to (858) 794-1049...

When it comes to training racehorses, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott has pretty much seen it all over the past half a century. In 2019, however, Churchill Downs served as a backdrop for a rare first for the Hall of Famer, who captured his first GI Kentucky Derby with 'TDN Rising Star' Country House (Lookin At Lucky). Fast forward a year and Mott closes in on another personal first, namely his 5,000th career win, which places him seventh overall, and fourth among leading active trainers. "I am proud of...

It's been 15 years since Deep Impact (Jpn) (Sunday Silence) added the G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) to his resume on his way to taking out the 2005 Japanese Triple Crown. Now, with 2019 Japanese champion juvenile colt Contrail (Jpn), he has a colt that could clinch that title too, as the Yoshito Yahagi trainee polished off a full field of 17 rivals and saluted by three lengths in the 2020 Tokyo Yushun. Sunday's Derby score gifted Deep Impact with his third-straight Derby winner and sixth in total. With his...

With Del Mar's annual summer meet looming large on the horizon, news out of the track has arrived thick and fast this week. On Thursday, Del Mar announced that it plans to begin racing a week earlier than scheduled on July 10--pending approval from the California Horse Racing Board--and that the predominantly three-day race weeks will end with a four-day race week on Labor Day, Sept. 7. On Friday, the track announced its $5.5-million stakes schedule, which this year includes a GI Kentucky Derby stepping-stone in the shape of the...

The Oklahoma Training Track at Saratoga Race Course will open for training Thursday, June 4, with the barn area set to open to horsemen beginning Tuesday, June 2, officials at the New York Racing Association (NYRA) announced Friday. Both the training track and the Whitney viewing stand are to remain closed to the public and access will be restricted to essential personnel licensed by NYRA and the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC). In consultation with the NYSGC and state and local public health officials, NYRA has implemented a comprehensive...

Our sport can, and should, always seek continuous improvement. Take last Saturday, [May 23]'s first race at Churchill Downs as an example. Trainer Thomas Drury Jr. had two starters in the race--Step Ten, making his career debut and Baby White Sox, who would make his first start for Drury, but his third start overall, having run twice for Joe Sharp in 2019, the last of those starts coming in mid-September. While Step Ten is shown as having five published works, one most recently at Churchill and four at the Skylight...

During his daily press briefing on the coronavirus pandemic in New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy announced that horse racing in the state can return, spectator-free, as early as next week. Sticking to its original plan, Monmouth Park will conduct its first day of live racing Friday, July 3. "We're incredibly thankful to Governor Murphy for letting us get back to work," said Dennis Drazin, Chairman and CEO of Darby Development, LLC, operators of Monmouth Park. "This is welcome news for horsemen and even better news for New Jerseyans. "The Governor...

So that's why they had to split the GI Arkansas Derby. One division apiece for Kipling's "twin imposters,"--Triumph and Disaster. Though we've all felt otherwise, from time to time, Lady Luck is as proportionate as she is indiscriminate in her dealings with Thoroughbreds. If Bob Baffert is better placed to absorb the loss of a servant as talented as Nadal (Blame), only a barn of such depth could have achieved the level of Triumph, in the first place, to have meanwhile registered a commensurate sequel of Disaster. It's not the...

Indiana Grand Race Course will host a 94-day meeting in 2020, beginning Monday, June 15 through Wednesday, Nov. 18, on a Monday-Thursday schedule, after the Indiana Horse Racing Commission formally approved the schedule Thursday. There will also be four special Saturday programs for Quarter Horses only over the course of the meet. Also approved was a Pick 5 wager on the final five Thoroughbred races each day which will offer takeout of 11.99%, believed to be the lowest takeout on any wager in the country. The Pick 5 will be...

Trainer Chad Brown was trackside at Belmont Park Thursday morning to oversee turf workouts for a pair of top-class distaffers. Working in company were eFive Racing's Rushing Fall (More Than Ready) and Peter Brant's Fifty Five (Get Stormy), who were each clocked a half-mile in a leisurely :50.48. The conditioner said that both mares would make an appearance on the much-anticipated opening day of the Belmont spring/summer meeting next Wednesday, June 3. They both worked fine and will be entered for the [GIII] Beaugay [S.]," Brown told the NYRA notes...