Santa Anita

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 10th-SA, $67K, Msw, 3yo, 6fT, 8:09 p.m. Breaking from the far outside post in the nightcap at the Great Race Place, NUCLEAR (Justify) looks to start earning back some of his $1,550,000 price tag with a turf debut for trainer John Sadler. Out of GIII Schuylerville S. runner-up True Feelings (Latent Heat), the colt is a half-brother to SW Feeling Mischief (Into Mischief) and GSP Royal Act (American Pharoah) while Metro, his 2-year-old half-brother by Quality Road, outshone his brother in sales ring by bringing...

'TDN Rising Star' Newgate (Into Mischief), the winner of last Saturday's GIII Robert B. Lewis S. at Santa Anita under Frankie Dettori, has been diagnosed with a minor hock issue that will prevent him from making a start in the GI Kentucky Derby. The news of the injury was announced on Twitter early Friday by Tom Ryan, the managing partner of one of the colt's owners, SF Racing LLC. "His prognosis to return is excellent," Ryan wrote. "We look forward to seeing him back this summer." Ryan also wrote that...

After a two-year break due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Santa Anita's 53rd annual Charity Basketball Game versus Holy Angels Middle School will return to La Salle High School in Pasadena Thursday, Feb. 16. A distinguished group of Hall of Fame Jockeys will be on-hand beginning at 6:30 p.m. to sign posters and other memorabilia in the La Salle gym. Retired legends Laffit Pincay, Jr. and Gary Stevens will be available, as well as active Hall of Famers Kent Desormeaux, Victor Espinoza, Mike Smith and John Velazquez. Admission to the game...

In a sport often built upon uncertainty, the latest renewal of the GIII Robert B. Lewis S. offered one foregone conclusion--a Bob Baffert-trained 3-year-old would emerge victorious. With only four horses--all trained by Baffert--going postward in Saturday's sophomore feature at Santa Anita, Newgate (Into Mischief) was most fancied of the quartet, with Arabian Lion (Justify) given a 2-1 chance over Worcester (Empire Maker) at 5-2. Accompanied by famed European rider Frankie Dettori, the favorite was held under restraint in last by about 2 1/2 lengths as Arabian Lion and Hard...

Saturday's graded stakes races stretch out from coast to coast and feature significant GI Kentucky Derby implications, but not entirely for the reasons we've come to expect. In South Florida, it is business as usual for the Derby preps while on the West Coast all things Kentucky Derby took an unprecedented turn. On the heels of a very successful GI Pegasus World Cup weekend, Gulfstream Park offers a tremendous card with five graded races, including the 34th running of the GIII Holy Bull S. named for the Hall of Famer...

The main takeaway from last year's California purse and handle numbers is one of stasis, with no significant movement in any one direction compared to 2021. A roughly 2.5% increase in the number of California races run in 2022 over 2021 is framed against a half-percentage point decrease in purses and an even smaller fraction of a percentage decrease in all-source handle. "It was like holding serve in 2022," said Bill Nader, newly minted president and chief executive officer of the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC), which once again put...

Bob Baffert has certainly taken his lumps ever since it was discovered that Medina Spirit (Protonico) tested positive for a banned substance in the 2021 GI Kentucky Derby. He was hit with a 90-day suspension from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, the New York Racing Association banned him for a year and Churchill Downs banned him for two years. Though Baffert is still fighting the Churchill ban, in all likelihood, he will not be allowed to start a horse in this year's Derby, which would be the second straight year...

Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman's Havnameltdown set all the fractions and held stablemate and co-favorite Faustin at bay to the wire to win the GII San Vicente S. by 1 1 /2 lengths at Santa Anita Sunday. Off a tad awkwardly from his inside post, Havnameltdown recovered quickly to pull himself to the early lead and was in control after a quarter in :22.46, with longshot Man Child (Creative Cause), the lone non-Baffert runner in the four-horse field, in close attendance. The bay colt inched further clear entering...

According to an Associated Press report, 1/ST Racing, which owns Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita, intends to bring the Pegasus format to the California in 2024. "I'd really love to see that we bring it to the West Coast," 1/ST President and CEO Belinda Stronach told the AP. "That will probably happen in 2024. What we did this year for 2023 was said, 'OK, we have a number of great race days, let's coordinate those better and call it the 1/ST Racing Tour and recognize great achievements within our own...

Whenever a day at the races can be turned into an "event," the fans and the bettors turn out in droves, and there's no better example of that than the Pegasus World Cup Day card at Gulfstream. Highlighted by the GI Pegasus World Cup, the day has become among the most important on the calendar for 1/ST Racing, which owns Gulfstream, and this year's handle could once again top the $40 million mark. 1/ST Racing CEO of Racing Aidan Butler will be among those responsible for putting on a good...

An additional 100 supplemental entries have been added to Fasig-Tipton's Winter Mixed Sale, which will be held Feb. 6 and 7 in Lexington. These latest entries, which are catalogued as hips 466-565, include: stakes winner and graded-placed Diamond Wow (Lookin at Lucky), a 4-year-old who is consigned as a racing/broodmare prospect by Grovendale Sales, agent. Grovendale also consigns 5-year-old stakes winner Por Que No (Wicked Strong), who is also offered as a racing/broodmare prospect. Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services will consign a yearling by Constitution out of Light of a Star, who...

Practical Move (Practical Joke), upset winner of the GII Los Alamitos Futurity Dec. 17, returned to the worktab for the first time since at Santa Anita Saturday morning, drilling a half-mile in a strong :47.80 (7/60). Trainer Tim Yakteen told the Santa Anita press office that the bay colt--bred by Chad Brown and Head of Plains Partners--'moved well' in the work. "Well give him a few more works and see where we're at, but we're looking at sometime in late February or early March," said Yakteen. "We have a few...