Horse Racing

3rd-Colonial Downs, $73,600, Msw, 7-18, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 1:18.46, gd, 6 1/2 lengths. CHANNEL THE MUSIC (c, 2, Maclean's Music--Empress Eleanor, by Empire Maker) finished a closing third on debut over a muddy main track at Monmouth Park June 22. In career start number two, the colt broke alertly, settling just off the speed up the backstretch. Making steady progress around the far turn, the even-money favorite took command at the top of the stretch, kicking away from rivals when called on for his best. Runner-up American Tapit (American Pharoah)...

6th-Saratoga, $90,000, (S), Msw, 7-18, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 1:06.47, ft, 2 3/4 lengths. ROCK IT ROB (c, 2, Maxfield--Miss Vigilance, by War Pass) got the better of an early pace duel with favored Cerro Rico (Yaupon), put that one away in upper stretch and kicked on nicely to become the fourth individual winner for his first-crop sire (by Street Sense) Friday afternoon at Saratoga. Bet into 19-10 from a 4-1 morning line, the $95,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-Bred yearling was hustled away from gate four by Jose Ortiz and flashed...

Some of the most highly anticipated races during the summer season are the 'baby' races during the boutique meetings at Saratoga and Del Mar and at Ellis Park, which attract its fair share of high-priced juveniles from a variety of top national outfits. Summer Breezes, sponsored by OBS Sales, highlights debuting and stakes-entered 2-year-olds at those meetings that have been sourced at the breeze-up sales earlier in the year, including links to their under-tack previews. Here are the horses entered for Saturday at Saratoga, Ellis Park and Del Mar. Saturday,...

The TDN always strives to remain scrupulously non-partisan and confines its occasional attention to the world of politics to such opportunities and concerns that directly affect the Thoroughbred industry. Recently, for instance, we spent time with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as he stepped in to support the campaign against decoupling in that state. A few days ago, Chris McGrath was given the opportunity to sit down with the Governor of the Bluegrass State itself, Andy Beshear, a figure increasingly on the national radar as a potential White House contender in...

SARATOGA SPRINGS - The first six days of Saratoga have been hot. As in really hot. Blast furnace type hot. Trainers have felt it. Jockeys. Patrons. New York Racing Association executives. Parking attendants. Everybody. And, of course, the horses. But the stars of the show have been watched very carefully by those entrusted to take care of them. Some horses, like people, can't stand the heat. "Some horses can be extreme sweaters," trainer Gary Contessa said on yet another steamy Saratoga morning on Thursday outside his barn at the Oklahoma...

Kentucky-based trainer Garry Wayne Simms, Sr. passed away on Tuesday, July 15, 2025 after a 15-year bout with cancer. He was 73. A conditioner and the owner of Garry Simms Racing, his obituary on the Ratterman Funeral Home site described him as having had a passion for developing Thoroughbreds. The post says he was one of only three trainers to win the Debutante Stakes and Bashford Manor Stakes at Churchill Downs in the same year. He achieved that feat in 2012 with Blueeyesintherein (Magna Graduate) and Circle Unbroken (Broken Vow)....

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 Kokura and Hakodate Racecourses: Saturday, July 19, 2025 5th-KOK, ¥14,250,000 ($96k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1200mT OUT THE LAW (c, 2, Tiz the Law--Davida, by Animal Kingdom) is closely related to Social Code (Constitution), twice stakes-placed in Canada this season, and is...

Some of the most highly anticipated races during the summer season are the 'baby' races during the boutique meetings at Saratoga and Del Mar and at Ellis Park, which attract its fair share of high-priced juveniles from a variety of top national outfits. Summer Breezes, sponsored by OBS Sales, highlights debuting and stakes-entered 2-year-olds at those meetings that have been sourced at the breeze-up sales earlier in the year, including links to their under-tack previews. Here are the horses entered for Friday at Saratoga and for opening day of the...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. The following rulings were reported on HISA's "rulings" portal and through the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) "pending" and "resolved" cases portals. Among this week's rulings, Bonnie Lucas has been banned for 60 days and fined a total of $8,000 for violating the rules on intra-articular joint injections within a specified standdown time prior to a timed workout or race. For the 47 horses that had been...

One day after an arbitrator ruled that Phil Serpe would be suspended for two years in a contested clenbuterol positive case from last summer at Saratoga Race Course, the 66-year-old trainer was back in federal court Tuesday seeking to renew his request for a preliminary injunction in his nine-month-old lawsuit against the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). At the same time, Serpe's legal team also wasted no time in filing an immediate appeal with the FTC to have his July 14 Horseracing Integrity...

The 4-5 favorite on the morning line Journalism (Curlin) was out on the Monmouth Park racing strip first thing Wednesday morning as the colt makes his final preparations for Saturday's 58th running of the GI NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes, the track said via a Wednesday press release. The Michael McCarthy-trainee arrived on Tuesday evening after an uneventful transcontinental flight from his Southern California base, jogged one mile around the oval under regular exercise rider Marc Witkowski. "I've been galloping horses my whole life. I've been on Grade I winners. He...

Some of the most highly anticipated races during the summer season are the 'baby' races during the boutique meetings at Saratoga and Del Mar and at Ellis Park, which attract its fair share of high-priced juveniles from a variety of top national outfits. Summer Breezes, sponsored by OBS Sales, highlights debuting and stakes-entered 2-year-olds at those meetings that have been sourced at the breeze-up sales earlier in the year, including links to their under-tack previews. Here are the horses entered for Thursday at Saratoga. Thursday, July 17, 2025 Saratoga 6,...