Saratoga

The Fashionable Fillies Luncheon will head west for the first time this year, landing on Mar. 8, at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation announced Thursday. The traditional summer luncheon will again be held in Saratoga Springs, with both events benefiting the foundation. Hosted in Santa Anita's Chandelier Room, the March event will include cocktails, lunch, and the opportunity to shop from local vendors. All proceeds will be earmarked by the foundation to benefit the backstretch community in Southern California. "The Fashionable Fillies Luncheon...

The New York Racing Association's 2019 all-sources handle was $2,108,126,369. Also, for the first time in history, the Saratoga meet generated more than $700 million in all-sources handle at $705,343,949. Inclement weather forced the full cancellation of seven race days and partial cancellation of six cards during the year. As a result, there were 217 race days in 2019 at NYRA tracks with average daily handle of $9,714,868 compared to 2018 when 219 days of racing resulted in a daily average of $9,650,267. The 2019 season featured 2,000 races at...

News Analysis When NYRA reached the halfway point of its 2019 Saratoga meet Wednesday, all-sources handle was $320,684,714, or 2.3 percent higher than the number posted after the 20th racing day a year earlier. While that may seem like only a minor increase in handle, the number is more impressive than it may look on paper. For several reasons, comparing Saratoga 2019 vs. 2018 is like comparing pineapples to watermelons, but there is a key factor involved in those numbers that tells you just how well NYRA has broken out...

Arlington's GI Secretariat S., contested at a mile and a quarter since 1985, has been turned back in distance to a one-mile event this year, and drew a competitive nine-horse field for Saturday's running at the Chicago area oval. True to form, Chad Brown has a pair of imposing runners in Peter Brant's Fog of War (War Front) and e Five Racing Thoroughbreds and Mike Ryan's Valid Point (Scat Daddy). Fog of War, who followed up a debut victory with a popular score in the GI Summer S. at Woodbine,...

Magic Dance (More Than Ready), the TDN Rising Star who stumbled at the start of the GII Adirondack S. at Saratoga Sunday, sustained a bone bruise in her left front leg in the incident and will be off for an undetermined amount of time, according to her trainer, Steve Asmussen. "It was a result of the stumble that she had in the Adirondack which broke the skin in the back of her left front ankle," said Asmussen from Saratoga Friday morning. "It was quite a significant stumble. She actually burned...

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) announced the passing of the longtime director of horsemen's relations Carmen Barrera, who died unexpectedly Thursday in Saratoga Springs, New York. She was 60. Barrera joined NYRA in 1978, the same year that her uncle Laz Barrera campaigned Triple Crown winner Affirmed, and began her career at NYRA in guest services as a white cap before moving to horsemen's relations. She spent 41 years at NYRA in total. Her father, Luis, was a trainer as well, campaigning Summing to victory in the 1981...

Long Weekend (Majesticperfection), an impressive five-length debut winner going five furlongs at Churchill Downs June 23, takes on seven rivals in Saturday's GII Saratoga Special S. The field that day included subsequent jaw-dropping 'TDN Rising Star' Dennis' Moment (Tiznow), who clipped heels early and lost his rider. "It's not so much the [6 1/2 furlongs] distance, it's more [facing] a higher-caliber field," trainer Tom Amoss said. "We think he's a good horse, but for that to be true, he has to show it on Saturday. That's the concerns of ours--how...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - The countdown to next year's inaugural Saudi Cup officially began Wednesday evening with a gala organized by the race's officials in the walking ring at the Fasig-Tipton sales grounds in Saratoga. The race, scheduled to be run next Feb. 29 at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh, will be run over 1800 meters of the dirt track and will be worth $20 million--making it the world's richest race. The field will have a maximum of 14 runners, with $10 million going to the winner. Hosted by television...

SARATOGA SPRINGS N.Y.--While Tapit ran the ring during Monday's session with the two top-priced yearlings, it was Curlin day at Fasig-Tipton's Saratoga Selected Yearlings Sale Tuesday with a trio of colts by the Hill 'n' Dale stallion reaching seven figures. Hips 174 and 153 topped the session and the sale at $1.5 million and Hip 159 tied Monday's Tapit topper, Hip 80, at a cool $1 million. "It's really pretty simple: quality sells," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. "We had a remarkable group of horses on offer tonight and the...

The Curlin show continued Tuesday evening at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale when another son of the leading sire brought a co-topping $1.5 million from the partnership group of West Point, Woodford, Siena, Valdes Singleton, Sandbrook and Freeman. Consigned by Stone Farm, agent, Hip 174, the first foal out of GSW & MGISP America (A.P. Indy), was bred in Kentucky by B. Flay Thoroughbreds. This is the extended female family of bluehen mare Better Than Honour. A Curlin colt out of Chilean champion & MG1SW Wapi (Chi) (Scat Daddy) (Hip...

"Inside the Winner's Circle, Presented by Keeneland" is a series showcasing graduates of the Keeneland September sale who have gone on to achieve success on racing's biggest stages. When Covfefe (Into Mischief) arrived at Brad Cox's barn at the Fair Grounds to begin training for her 2019 campaign, the trainer could have circled just about any race on his calendar. He had a talented, fast, well-bred filly and might have entertained thoughts of trying the GI Kentucky Oaks. But what makes Cox one of the fastest rising stars in his...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - The Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Selected Yearlings Sale opened its two-day run at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion Monday evening, with a pair of yearlings by Tapit causing the biggest fireworks during a session which produced slight increases in both average and median compared with the auction's 2018 opener. "It was an outstanding opening session of the 2019 Saratoga sale," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. "I thought we saw very competitive bidding throughout the evening. There was a lot of strength and a lot of diversity in...