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...
An increase in minimum purse payouts for all finishing positions was approved by The Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (MTHA) in coordination with The Maryland Jockey Club (TMJC) on Mar. 19, it was announced on Sunday. The MTHA Board of Directors approved the measure after a recommendation from the MTHA Purse Committee, which includes representatives from the TMJC. The changes took effect starting with races on Mar. 21 at Laurel Park and will remain in place through the summer meet, which ends on June 28. The structure will then be reviewed...
Despite several cold and snowy weather-related cancellations, more race days and higher available and paid purses were amongst the positive economic trends year over year for the month of February. 230 race days (+5.02%) led to over $79,562,309 (+8.57%) of paid out purses last month spread over 2,001 races (+4.76%). Field size remained largely the same, dropping just slightly from 7.98 in 2025 to 7.78 this year while wagering was also down a bit from $771,126,687 to $756,813,375 (-1.86%). Average wagering per race day was the most noticeable decrease, with...