Horse Racing

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 opening day of the traditional summer meet at Saratoga....

Magnitude did not disappoint the hopefuls as he took the Iowa Derby stylishly at Prairie Meadows on Saturday evening. Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack's story this week on the colt's return to the races post-surgery reported that trainer Steve Asmussen was "dreaming big" about the Winchell-owned runner's prospects. The reason had something to do with the stellar result from the GII Fasig-Tipton Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds in mid-February when the 3-year-old won by 9 3/4 lengths with a 108 Beyer to boot. Prior to that, Magnitude had broken...

The white-hot Flavien Prat conjured up one final lunge from distant second favorite Fionn (Twirling Candy) and nabbed long-odds on choice Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) right on the wire to take out Saturday's $500,000 GI Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. It was the fifth victory on the program for the reigning Eclipse Award-winning jockey. Opulent Restraint (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) won the break and stepped away to open a clear lead turning down the back from Totally Justified (Justify) and a three-wide Nitrogen, as Prat settled Fionn in the...

When last seen at Saratoga, Godolphin's Think Big (Twirling Candy) was struggling home a well-beaten seventh as the heavy favorite in the GI Jaipur Stakes over 5 1/2 furlongs on June 7. Trying a turf mile for the first time in Saturday's GIII Kelso Stakes, the homebred overcame some trouble when 'TDN Rising Star' Donegal Momentum (Uncle Mo) stumbled and somehow managed not to go down three furlongs from home, then knifed through inside of favored Intellect inside the final sixteenth of a mile to register a mild upset at...

4th-Saratoga, $110,000, Alw, 7-5, (NW1$X), 3yo/up, f/m, 7f, 1:23.18, ft, 4 1/4 lengths. RAGTIME (f, 3, Union Rags--Burmilla {GSW, $170,285}, by Storm Cat) who was named a 'TDN Rising Star' when breaking clear to graduate by 3 3/4 lengths at first asking during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival on June 6, made her first start against winners a victorious one during Saturday's third day of the July 4th Racing Festival, shooting clear in the final eighth of a mile to take her record to two powerful wins from as many...

7th-ELP, $100K, Msw, 3yo/up, 6 1/2f, 3:42 p.m. ET. INTEGER (Candy Ride {Arg}) makes his first start for St. Elias, West Point, Don Alberto, Woodford and CJ Stables. An $800,000 buy at the 2023 Keeneland September Sale, the Steve Asmussen trainee is the lone foal out of GSW Magic Star (Scat Daddy), who sadly passed away in 2022. The gelding's second dam is GI Matron Stakes heroine Meadow Breeze (Meadowlake), whose half-brother is GI Arkansas Derby champ Overanalyze (Dixie Union). Set for his unveiling is Snowdrift (Medaglia d'Oro) and the...

'TDN Rising Star' Sassy C W (Yaupon) went gate to wire to take the Prairie Gold Lassie at Prairie Meadows on Friday. The filly already shot fireworks off when she debuted a winner at Churchill Downs in late April. Her 5 1/4-length win earned her that coveted 'Rising Star' badge and it marked her as the 45 cents on the dollar favorite coming into the Astoria Stakes at the Spa June 5. The 2-year-old did not disappoint her backers then either as she wired the field. Once again garnering the...

SARATOGA SPRINGS--When Neil Poznansky, sitting on the back of GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont Stakes champion Sovereignty (Into Mischief), saw jockey Junior Alvarado early Friday morning, he wore a wide smile. "How'd I do?" Poznansky said. Alvarado grinned back. No answer necessary. Sovereignty did what Poznansky, Alvarado and Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott wanted to see as he had his second work since winning the Belmont last month. Working in company with 4-year-old stablemate Jefferson Street (Street Sense), Sovereignty and Poznansky, Mott's assistant, covered four furlongs in :48.99...

Jay Goodwin, the former stallion sales director at Walmac Farm, will be the new account manager for Vinery Sales and Silver Springs Training, according to a press release from the sales company on Friday. Goodwin moved to Lexington in 2005 and gained sales experience through working with several top consignment agencies. He continues to own and operate his own Good Win Farm in Paris, Kentucky where he manages several client's mares and foals in addition to his own broodmare band. "Jay is a high integrity, high energy guy, with decades...

Wagering dipped compared to a year ago in June, but so did the number of race days, according to information released by Equibase on Friday. Total wagering of $956,784,146 on races during the month represented a 7.18% decrease over the same period from 2024, while available purses of over $114 million were lower by 5.87%. The figure of over $110 million for paid purses in June was also down by 5.95%. As for the total number of race days, they also decreased from 408 to 380 (-6.86%) and the number...

For decades now, Japanese buyers have frequented American bloodstock sales, eagerly snapping up racing and breeding stock of the highest quality to help grow the domestic Thoroughbred industry. By any metric, the undertaking has been a smashing success, given not only the performance of Japanese-based runners on foreign soil, particularly over the last six to eight years, but also the strength of the Japanese bloodstock markets. The Japanese Racing Horse Association (JRHA)'s annual Select Sale is a mostly insular affair, but American owner Mike Repole is always ready to think...

The United States Supreme Court punted on Monday the constitutionality of the Horseracing and Safety Integrity Act (HISA) back down the legal ladder, requiring three different federal appeals courts to reconsider their earlier decisions on the matter in light of a fresh ruling by the highest court in the land. The Supreme Court's Friday decision in Federal Communications Commission (FCC) vs. Consumers' Research saw a 6-3 majority of justices essentially dismiss an argument that the agency delegated too much authority to a private company to administer the program. With this...