In an exhibition of pure sprinting prowess, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum's Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) brought all his power to bear on his rivals on Friday to register back-to-back successes in Goodwood's G2 King George Qatar S. Despite the contrasting ground conditions to the easy turf he encountered 12 months ago and the obvious questions posed by defeat in the June 19 G1 King's Stand S. at Royal Ascot, the bay attracted heavy support as the 8-11 favourite and was in front before he had raced two...
The 17th edition of the Claiming Crown, held Saturday at Gulfstream Park, generated total handle of $10,118,000--up 0.57% from 2014 despite rainy conditions which caused four races to be taken off the turf. Gulfstream was hosting the event for the fourth year. "We're extremely pleased with the success of Saturday's Claiming Crown," said P.J. Campo, General Manager of Gulfstream Park and Vice President of Racing for The Stronach Group. "We had big fields and tremendous participation from horsemen throughout North America. We're confident the numbers would have been even more...
Injured in a spill Thursday at Gulfstream, Irad Ortiz Jr., will not ride through Sunday, reports his agent Steve Rushing. Mike Welsch of the Daily Racing Form was the first to report that Ortiz would be out through the remainder of the weekend. "He's just really body sore," Rushing told the TDN via text. "He's going to take a few days off and will, hopefully, return next week." Ortiz was scheduled to ride in seven races Saturday at Colonial Downs, including in four stakes races. Five of his seven mounts...
Jockey Serafin Carmona remained hospitalized at CHI-St. Vincent in Hot Springs following a spill in Thursday's ninth race at Oaklawn Park. Carmona, riding for the first time at Oaklawn this season and with five wins to his credit, was aboard 84-1 Balandeen Storm (Balandeen) in a state-bred maiden $50,000 claimer and was making a move on the far turn when he was shut off and clipped heels, throwing Carmona to the ground. The horse got up and jogged away before being caught by the outrider and was vanned off the...