Santa Anita
Santa Anita's popular Runhappy Santa Anita Derby Day 5K Run & Walk returns following a two-year absence on Derby Day, Saturday, Apr. 9, with 5K post time at 8 a.m. Deferred for the last two years due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Derby Day 5K has long been a springtime happening for participants ranging in ages from five years to 90-plus years of age. "We are thrilled that the Runhappy Santa Anita Derby Day 5K Walk and Run is back, after two years due to the pandemic," said Pete Siberell, Santa...
Every week, the TDN publishes a roundup of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky. Here's a primer on how each of these jurisdictions adjudicates different offenses, what they make public (or not) and where. California Track: Santa Anita Date: 03/23/2022 Licensee: Liparit Gharibyan, owner Penalty: Reinstatement of good standing Violation: N/A Explainer: Owner Liparit Gharibyan, having complied with the provisions of California Horse Racing Board rule #1876 (Financial Responsibility--$146.13 to So. Cal. Equine Foundation) is restored...
TVG, the New York Racing Association, Keeneland and Santa Anita will team with Hall of Fame jockeys who are members of the Jockeys' Guild and other prominent racing personalities to raise money for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF) Sunday, Apr. 10 for the fourth annual telethon to raise money for the PDJF. The event will be broadcast on both TVG and America's Day at the Races on FS2 in collaboration with NYRA and FOX Sports. After missing 2020 due to the pandemic, the popular event returned in 2021 and...
Leading Southern California dirt mares As Time Goes By (American Pharoah) and Merneith (American Pharoah) have been retired from racing, trainer Bob Baffert told Daily Racing Form. Twice a Grade II winner last year as a 4-year-old, Coolmore's As Time Goes By retires on a three-race winning streak and picked up the first Grade I victory of her career last out in the Beholder Mile S. Mar. 5 at Santa Anita. A half-sister to Grade I winners Will Take Charge (Unbridled's Song) and Take Charge Indy (A.P. Indy) out of...
Top GI Kentucky Derby contender Messier (Empire Maker), recently transferred from Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert to his former assistant Tim Yakteen, breezed six furlongs Sunday for a start in the GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby Apr. 9 in a bullet 1:11.40, fastest by nearly three seconds of five recorded works at the distance. "He worked lights out," Yakteen said of Messier. "We had Johnny [Velazquez] work him and he'll ride him in the Santa Anita Derby. He gave us a thumbs up. The horse looked great, although he...
2nd-Santa Anita, $67,500, Msw, 3-26, 3yo/up, 6 1/2f, 1:16.48, ft, 10 lengths. HIGH CONNECTION (c, 3, Connect--Forest Legend, by Forest Camp), sent off at 7-5, was hustled out of the gate from his rail post and took the early lead. Setting the pace through a quarter in :21.86 and a half in :44.96, he skipped away in upper stretch and powered home a 10-length winner. Pioneering Papa (Classic Empire) chased throughout and was second. High Connection was a $75,000 KEESEP yearling and a $290,000 OBS March juvenile (:10 flat). Forest...
6th-SA, $67K, Msw, 3yo/up, 1m, 6:38 p.m. ET With a race under his belt, BLETCHLEY PARK (Nyquist) looks to move forward in his second career start Sunday for trainer Bob Baffert. The bay colt, purchased for a sale-topping $2.6 million from the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Park Sale (:9 4/5), was a close second behind Happy Jack (Oxbow), who has since gone on to place third in the GII San Felipe S. Bletchley Park is the first foal to race from the Smart Strike mare Spinning Wheel who, while not a...
Every week, the TDN publishes a roundup of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky. Here's a primer on how each of these jurisdictions adjudicates different offenses, what they make public (or not) and where. CALIFORNIA Track: Santa Anita Date: 03/11/2022 Licensee: Donald Palmer, owner Penalty: Suspended license Violation: Failure to appear at hearing Explainer: Owner Donald Palmer (DBA: Live Your Dream Racing), having failed to respond to written notice to appear before the Board of Stewards...
Veteran rider Joe Bravo, who moved his tack last year from New Jersey to California, has been named the recipient of Santa Anita's 2022 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award. The Woolf Award recognizes those riders whose careers and personal character compliment the sport of Thoroughbred racing. It can only be won once and is voted on by jockeys nationwide. Bravo will be honored in a Runhappy winner's circle ceremony at Santa Anita Sunday, Mar. 27. "It really is an honor to now be part of this circle of riders, joining...
Baoma Corporation's Eda (Munnings), making her first start since winning the GI Starlet S. last December, went wire-to-wire to win the GIII Santa Ysabel S. by a half-length over her late-closing stablemate Under the Stars (Pioneerof the Nile) at Santa Anita Sunday. Sent off at 3-1, Eda stepped right out to the early lead as even-money favorite Under the Stars sat just off her flank while racing three wide down the backstretch with Ain't Easy (Into Mischief) to her inside. Jockey Juan Hernandez asked Eda for more approaching the quarter-pole...
Flavien Prat is in the right place at the right time in Southern California. Young and gifted, he dominates the circuit in a way no jockey has in years. He picked up his 60th win of the meet Saturday, 25 more than runner-up Juan Hernandez. He won three stakes on the card, giving him 15 for the meet. And he rides for just about all the top barns on the circuit, most notably Bob Baffert. It's far, far from broke, but Prat is intent on fixing it. On Saturday, he...
A trial on the long-gestating legal battle between trainer Jerry Hollendorfer and The Stronach Group (TSG), along with its subsidiary owners of Santa Anita Park, is scheduled for Apr. 4 in the County of Los Angeles Superior Court of California. The bifurcated non-jury trial, however, is focused on a single declaratory relief cause of action against TSG, encompassing the proper legal interpretation of the race-meet contract between the California Thoroughbred Trainers (CTT) and Santa Anita, and excludes some of Hollendorfer's broader causes of action. That second part of this bifurcated...