Horse Racing

Gervais Racing's American Man (Maclean's Music) was overshadowed on paper and on the tote by 'TDN Rising Stars' presented by Hagyard Munnings Challenge (Munnings) and Doublecents (Goldencents), but capitalized on a stalk-and-pounce trip to win for the second time in three career appearances. The $120,000 KEESEP yearling turned $475,000 OBS April breezer led throughout to graduate at first asking as the favorite at Oaklawn Mar. 17, but any chances of another speed try were dashed when he was bothered at the break of a first-level allowance in Hot Springs Apr....

Billionaire attorney John Morgan met with the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association (FTBOA) leadership at their headquarters in Ocala on Thursday to outline his vision for the sustainable future of Florida Thoroughbred racing and breeding, the organization said in a Friday press release. Morgan has formed a Delaware corporation to advance the state's last remaining permit owned by Ocala Thoroughbred Racing, a wholly owned subsidiary of the FTBOA. The entity is working with third parties to identify business models that will anchor robust purses and awards in Marion County...

Prime Aurora (Mind Control) became the first winner for her New York-based freshman sire (by Stay Thirsty) with a towering debut performance at Gulfstream Park Friday afternoon. Sent off the 57-10 fourth choice in a field of eight--of which seven were making their first trip to the races--the homebred did not break especially well from gate two, but did not have to expend too much energy to move into a striking position behind pacesetting favorite Lamdara (Core Beliefs) and the once-raced Melody Queen (Volatile) behind a quarter in :21.63. Full...

In a Zoom call with members of the racing media, NYRA lifted the curtain Friday regarding the drop in Computer Assisted Wagering play after the racing organization put certain "guardrails" in place intended to limit the wagers of the CAW players. In July 2021, NYRA became the first racing organization in the United States to establish a timing restriction for CAW activity, shutting off the win pool to CAW players with two minutes to post. A more significant step was taken in Dec. 2025 when CAW players were not allowed...

It was the most literal of dream scenarios. The thing is, it had happened before. From time to time, Valerie Mastromonaco will have a dream--always about a horse--and then something will happen to bring it to life. Nothing dramatic, most of the time. True, once she dreamed that a particular horse in the barn had a problem, and unfortunately turned out to be right. But she doesn't take the phenomenon too seriously, as a rule; nor expect anyone else to do so. "I've no theories," she says. "I just think...

Six days after Decisive Win made light work of his first two-turn test en route to 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard honors at Santa Anita, Flying Dutchmen Breeding & Racing's Where Luck Lives (f, 3, Nyquist--Holiday Soiree, by Harlan's Holiday) made all the running to take a salty first-level allowance Thursday evening at Churchill Downs to also earn 'Rising Star' laurels. Exiting a defeat of next-out 'Rising Star' Movie Night (Speightstown) in a sloppy Keeneland maiden Apr. 3, the $725,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga purchase caught a flyer from gate five...

In the latest salvo amid an oftentimes confusing chain of events that have played out across Pennsylvania's racing industry the last couple of months, the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (PTHA) issued a statement Thursday denying allegations the organization had failed to provide adequate support for the nine trainers at Parx Racing who were told last month by track management they would be denied stalls at the track, but were given no reasons as to why. "The information that is being provided is one-sided and fails to reflect the immediate and...

For 60 days straight over the winter at Will Walden's Palm Meadows base in Florida, MGISW Rhetorical (Not This Time) underwent a different kind of training. Instead of being turned out for the off-season like so many horses, his trainer decided that it was time to unveil a new project where skills like dressage would be emphasized. The work that the gelding put in over those months has paid off and now the New York-bred Horse of the Year owned by Gary Barber, Cheyenne Stable and Wachtel Stable will point...

Seven 3-year-old males have assembled to contest the annual renewal of the GIII Penn Mile Stakes over the turf on Friday evening. Look for D J Stable's MSW Alpyland (Vekoma) to garner quite a bit of interest by the betting public. Starting back in January, the gelding captured a pair of black-type wins when he took home the hardware in the Dania Beach Stakes at Gulfstream Park and in the Columbia Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. The Mark Casse trainee finished fourth in the GI American Turf Stakes on the...

Monmouth Park and the connections of last year's champion male sprinter, Book'em Danno (Bucchero), are negotiating to get the five-year-old New Jersey-bred gelding to race at Monmouth on Friday, July 17, which is the day before the track's premier event, the GI Haskell Stakes. Dennis Drazin, the chairman and chief executive officer of Darby Development LLC, which operates Monmouth, disclosed the plans during Wednesday's New Jersey Racing Commission meeting. Drazin explained that the initiative would involve a special day in Book'em Danno's honor, with the aim of promoting the overall...

Despite broad Thoroughbred industry support, those who seek to keep the slaughter pipeline active are flexing their muscles in Washington D.C. in the hopes of trying to kill progress. One such group is the Public Lands Council (PLC), a nonprofit representing cattle and sheep farmers who graze herds on public land. The National Thoroughbred Alliance sent a letter to the PLC's executive director Kaitlynn Glover, reprinted below for industry awareness, after a PLC publication indicated their active opposition to the Van Drew--Titus Amendment which passed last week, calling these accomplishments...

8th-CD, $127k, AOC ($125k), 3yo, 6f, 4:22 p.m. A pair of big-figure 'TDN Rising Stars' presented by Hagyard from the back end of the meet at Oaklawn Park square off here with an eye on bigger and better down the road. Novogratz Racing Stables' MUNNINGS CHALLENGE (Munnings) showed sharp early speed on Mar. 1 debut before settling for second, but took them all the way last time Apr. 11, defeating Doublecents (Goldencents) by five resounding lengths, good for a 94 Beyer Speed Figure. He is a son of Novogratz's outstanding...