Saratoga

A federal judge at 5 p.m. Wednesday granted trainer Bob Baffert a preliminary injunction in his lawsuit against the New York Racing Association (NYRA) that will allow him to race at New York's three major tracks pending the resolution of the case. In a civil complaint filed by Baffert June 14, the seven-time GI Kentucky Derby-winning trainer had alleged that NYRA's banishment of him since May 17 over the issue of his repeated equine drug violations violates his constitutional right to due process. That same day he moved for an...

5th-SAR, $100k, Msw, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 3:21 p.m. ET Split divisions of juvenile filly sprinters get the Saratoga baby race season underway on opening day Thursday, with this latter half appearing to be clearly the saltier spot on paper. Heads turned when a filly by thus-far unheralded freshman sire Valiant Minister hammered for $360,000--120 times the Bridlewood Farm resident's stud fee--at OBS April, but one viewing of OUTFOXED's breeze-show effort quickly explains why. The dark bay barreled through a powerful :20 4/5 quarter-mile work, sparking a bidding war that...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Once again, Saratoga opens its world-renowned race meet with the question: How many? During the COVID-19 summer of 2020, the issue was whether there might be some loosening on the ban on spectators during the 40-day season. That never happened, though a limited number of owners were allowed to see their horses run, and some of the world's best Thoroughbreds played to a oh-so quiet empty house at America's oldest race track. With restrictions completely lifted in New York State in time for the 153rd season,...

A total of 210 yearlings by many of the world's top stallions have been cataloged for the 100th renewal of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, to be held Monday and Tuesday, Aug. 9 and 10, in Saratoga Springs, NY. Evening sessions begin each night at 6:30 p.m. The Saratoga Sale is the first major North American yearling sale to be held as many as 100 times. The boutique event was canceled last summer owing to the COVID-19 outbreak, marking the first time since World War II that the sale had not...

With a pair of blowout wins already on her resume headed by Belmont's Astoria S. June 3, Happy Soul (Runhappy) sets her sights on Saratoga's opening day co-featured GIII Schuylerville S. She has been working in company with her Wesley Ward-trained 4-year-old stablemate and GISW Kimari (Munnings). "Visually, Kimari is a better horse, but she's doing it with speed to spare as well," Ward said. "She has had some nice works underneath her and she's come to handle it quicker than I thought." Mainstay (Astern {Aus}), a half-sister to last...

Golden Pal (Uncle Mo), off since posting a visually impressive score in the GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Keeneland Nov. 6, returns to action in Thursday's opening day GIII Quick Call S. at Saratoga. Last term's narrow G2 Norfolk S. runner-up at Royal Ascot June 19 and ultra-sharp Skidmore S. winner at the Spa Aug. 21 was recently purchased privately by Mrs. John Magnier, Michael B. Tabor, Derrick Smith and Westerberg from breeder Randall Lowe. He is the 1-2 morning-line favorite. "He's doing really well. We're excited about...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY--Precisely 52 weeks ago, King's Tavern co-owner Jason Fitch valiantly tried to be at least a little bit positive about the prospect of a racing season without spectators across Union Avenue at Saratoga Race Course. Closed for three months by the COVID-19 lockdown, King's had reopened in mid-June at the partial-capacity limits of the time. While just being able to operate was better than nothing for Fitch and his brothers and partners, Adam and Patrick, he acknowledged it was going to be a difficult summer without the thousands...

Shadwell Stable's undefeated Malathaat (Curlin), last seen winning the GI Kentucky Oaks Apr. 30, turned in a four-furlong work in :49.96 (22/36) over the dirt training track at Belmont Park Sunday ahead of an expected tilt at the July 24 GI Coaching Club American Oaks. "She went great. I'm really pleased with the way she's doing," said trainer Todd Pletcher. "She worked well with a big, strong gallop out. We'll probably have one breeze at Saratoga and she'll be ready to go." Also working from the Pletcher barn was WinStar...

A pair of runners from the barn of trainer Chad Brown tuned up for expected starts in the July 17 GI Diana S. with works over the inner turf course at Belmont Park Sunday morning. Lemista (Ire) (Raven's Pass) went five furlongs in a bullet 1:01.80 (1/10) outside of stablemate Pocket Square (GB) (Night of Thunder {Ire}), who completed the drill in 1:01.89 (3/10). Peter Brant's Lemista, a two-time group winner in Ireland last year, opened her stateside campaign with a late-closing runner-up effort in the GIII Beaugay S. last...

The Wesley Ward-conditioned Bound for Nowhere (The Factor) and Golden Pal (Uncle Mo) each turned in breezes over the Belmont turf course Thursday morning in advance of the expected arrival of Tropical Storm Elsa, with each being pointed towards turf sprint stakes during the early part of the Saratoga meet. Also owned by Ward, Bound for Nowhere came from well back to defeat an unlucky Imprimis (Broken Vow) in Keeneland's GII Shakertown S. Apr. 3 and was last seen finishing third to Casa Creed (Jimmy Creed) after setting the majority...

Alleging "hypocrisy" and "backdoor" tactics on the part of defendant New York Racing Association (NYRA) to "vindictively target" Bob Baffert, attorneys for the seven-time GI Kentucky Derby winning trainer supplied a federal judge with a 434-page "memo" Wednesday in support of trying to get the court to overturn a NYRA-imposed ban on Baffert. NYRA's exclusion of Baffert from Saratoga Race Course, Belmont Park and Aqueduct Racetrack was mandated May 17 by the association because of the Hall of Fame trainer's repeated equine medication violations in other jurisdictions. The voluminous electronic...

Like tens of thousands of racing fans in the Northeast, I became addicted to Harvey Pack when he began broadcasting his "Pack at the Track" radio program during the 1970s. Anyone who could get away with the kind of the totally 'Noo Yawk' attitude he put forth in a sport that always prided itself on being serious about its "Sport of Kings" sobriquet had to be someone who could probably get away with anything--and for the most part, that's what Harvey Pack did. When I first met him in the...