Keeneland

The finalists and runners-up for the 2025 Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards have been chosen in the seven categories as the program celebrates its 10th anniversary, according to a Wednesday press release posted on co-sponsor Godolphin's website. The 2025 ceremony will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 21, in Lexington, Kentucky. Finalists and their guest will enjoy a variety of activities, including a tour of a local horse farm, a stallion show, the ceremony dinner with an afternoon of racing the following day at Keeneland. The shortlist judging panel--the first of two--met...

Many involved with the sport probably know little about trainer Librado Barocio. But that could be about to change. His small stable has been on fire as of late and it recorded a milestone when Lovesick Blues (Grazen) upset his better known rivals to win the GI Bing Crosby Stakes Saturday at Del Mar. For the trainer who has been training off and on since 1999, it was his first Grade I win. How did it feel? That was among the questions our team asked Barocio when he joined us...

When Sedburys Ghost (Shaman Ghost) burst from the pack to capture the Plate Trial Stakes at Woodbine a week ago, the gelding gave his owner/breeder Yawen Wu her first stakes victory and has the Canadian engineer dreaming of her first trip to the King's Plate. After finishing fourth in the 1 1/16-mile GIII Marine Stakes in June, Sedburys Ghost was given just a 7-1 chance to win the Plate Trial at an extra half-furlong July 20. Wu admitted she wasn't sure herself how the strapping chestnut would do in the...

Most racing fans know Gabby Gaudet from her job at FanDuel TV, where she was one of that network's top talent. It sounds like a dream job, but Gaudet has found one that she thinks will be even better. It was announced last week that Gaudet was named the new Director of Communications at Keeneland. She sat down recently with the TDN to discuss her new job and why she decided to trade in her microphone.    TDN:  The Keeneland job looks like a great job. It's a very prestigious...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Through 14 days of Saratoga's season, Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher's 2-year-olds are getting the job done. Pletcher picked up his fifth victory in the top-level $100,000 maiden special weight races Sunday when Tapit's Legacy (Tapit) cruised to a five-length victory in the third race under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez. Pletcher has a 5-2-2 record from 15 starters in the open $100,000 races, a win percentage of 33 with a 60 percent finish in the top three. Last season, Pletcher won four of...

There aren't many American trainers who win a two-year-old grass maiden at Churchill Downs and immediately think that the obvious next stop is the Group 1 Prix Morny at Deauville at the end of August. But Wesley Ward isn't like most American trainers. For one thing, he's tried it four times. Won three. Finished second the other time. He'll take his fifth tilt at the Morny on August 24 when he sends Outfielder (Speightstown) over to Deauville for just his second lifetime start. Ward is known for thinking outside the...

Gabby Gaudet has been named the new Director of Communications at Keeneland, the organization announced Thursday. A respected voice in Thoroughbred racing with more than a decade of national media experience, Gaudet will oversee Keeneland's strategic communications efforts. In this role, she will serve as a key spokesperson and guide the organization's messaging and earned media strategy across multiple platforms. Gaudet joins Keeneland from FanDuel TV, where she has been a lead racing analyst and reporter since 2019, covering premier events such as the Triple Crown and the Breeders' Cup...

Taylor Made Farm-based freshman sire Knicks Go (Paynter) is responsible for two Stateside winners and dual Russian scorer Siradin and doubled his European tally, with a fourth winner overall, when Nick Bauer's Listed Chesham Stakes sixth Tailgunner Joe shed maiden status at the second attempt in Wednesday's Download The Raceday Ready App Restricted Maiden Stakes at Catterick. Recovering from a tardy start to race on the front end after the initial strides of this seven-furlong heat, the 11-8 favourite was rowed along rounding the home turn and kept on relentlessly...

4th-ELP, $100K, Msw, 2yo, 1mT, 2:16 p.m. ET. A $500,000 buy during Keeneland September, PIASTRI (Not This Time) gets behind the wheel for L & N Racing and Robert Zoellner. The Steve Asmussen trainee is out of SP Boule (Exchange Rate), who herself was purchased for $160,000 by Rhianon Farms at the 2020 Keeneland November Sale while in-foal with current 4-year-old filly Thorny (Violence). Boule is a half-sister to GSW Tide of the Sea (English Channel) and her own grand dam is MGISW Tates Creek (Rahy), who is responsible for...

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...

A good ranch horse was worth its weight in gold. They needed to be able to withstand long hours navigating rocky, unforgiving terrain beneath the blazing Arizona sun. With six to eight cowboys riding out daily at H and E Ranch, there never seemed to be enough horses to meet demand. So Elena Crim set out to breed her own stock. She focused on producing sound, sturdy Quarter Horses that could not only tolerate the harsh conditions, but thrive in them. As it turned out, Crim's lifelong passion for horses...

Tom Lacy, the renowned breeder of Persian Force who is famed for providing Pat Smullen with his start in racing during his time as a trainer, has died. He was 89.  Lacy rode 50 winners as a jockey and found only Arkle and Flyingbolt too good aboard Height Of Fashion in two Irish Grand Nationals.  As a trainer, he sent out hundreds of winners from his yard in Rhode, County Offaly, spearheaded by Ingabelle, who went on to become a hugely important foundation mare at Ballylinch Stud. But it was...