Saratoga

It's often been said that, no matter how hard the sport works to become safer, there will never come a time when there are zero fatalities. Unfortunately, that's probably true. But at the recently concluded Del Mar meet, not a single horse suffered a fatal breakdown during a race. Not once did a horse break a leg, crumple to the ground and then have to be euthanized behind a curtain blocking the view of a horrified public, the story making its way into the newspapers or the local news and...

The promising 2-eary-old filly Kenwick (Bernardini) may have won in Pennsylvania, but her pedigree shouts Lexington KY from the very rooftops of two local neighborhoods. Kenwick is a central residential area of the city, while Bell Court, as in the dam's name, is an almost adjacent zone, closer to downtown. Both areas have an Old America feel to them: nothing fake, nothing too gentrified, just authentic, with a touch of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" ambiance. There is in fact a small theatre in the Bell House in Bell Court: the...

In this series, the TDN takes a look at notable successes of European-based sires in North America. This week's column is highlighted by the victory of the Classic-placed Lindy at Kentucky Downs, formerly the "Dueling Grounds", in Southern Kentucky.   Le Havre Filly Wins in Kentucky The French Classic-placed Lindy (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) won a Kentucky Downs affair for Everest Racing and trainer Brendan Walsh on Thursday (video). Part of the Ecurie La Vallee Martigny Earl breeding programme, Lindy was knocked down to Ghislain Bozo's Meridian International for €90,000...

Edited Press Release A new Track Surface Advisory Group, comprised of members who will be deployed by HISA to analyze dirt, turf and synthetic surface consistency at Thoroughbred racetracks across the U.S., was formed Thursday. "This Group is crucial to ensuring that HISA can support local experts working to make the surfaces on which Thoroughbreds compete as safe as possible," said HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus. "HISA is committed to using all resources at its disposal to help tracks under our jurisdiction meet our Racetrack Safety standards. This group of track...

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. After working in company with his elder graded stakes-placed stablemate Slip Mahoney (Arrogate) in an Aug. 19 move for trainer Brad Cox over the Oklahoma training track, there was plenty of chatter behind Air of Defiance (c, 2, Quality Road--Faypien, by Ghostzapper) heading into his Saratoga debut. Despite proving no match for the jaw-dropping 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light) across Union Ave. six days later,...

Trainer Gary Contessa, who sprang a 21-1 upset in the opening-day GIII Schuylerville S., brought the curtain down on the 2023 Saratoga season with another shocker when 54-1 outsider Nutella Fella (Runhappy) ran down the field late to take the GI Hopeful S. Monday in upstate New York. Fractious behind the gate and away slowly, Nutella Fella was well back in last as a four-way speed battle developed up front. After tacking onto the rest of the field approaching the three-eighths pole, Nutella Fella was committed to an inside run...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The next two runnings of the GI Belmont S. could be held at Saratoga Race Course, New York Racing Association President and CEO David O'Rourke said Sunday. NYRA would make the temporary switch of the oldest race in the Triple Crown series to America's oldest track during a massive re-construction undertaking at Belmont Park. In mid-June, Patrick McKenna, NYRA's vice-president for communications, said that the 2025 Belmont S. might be held at Saratoga Race Course. While noting that a final decision has not been finalized, O'Rourke...

The Davis clan dominated Sunday's second race at Saratoga as members of the family swept the first four spots under the wire for a "Davis superfecta." Katie Davis rode the winner of thee $30,000 maiden claimer, Danny Gargan-trainee Bon Adieu (Ghostzapper), finishing seven lengths ahead of Mim (Practical Joke), ridden by her brother Dylan. Embraceable Gal (Midnight Lute) was next and was ridden by Trevor McCarthy, who is Katie Davis's husband. Sweet Liberty (Bellamy Road) was fourth and was ridden by Jackie Davis, the sister of Katie and Dylan. The...

It was always billed as a potential match race in Saratoga's closing weekend feature for the 2-year-old fillies. And so it came down to GIII Adirondack winner Brightwork (Outwork) and 'TDN Rising Star' Ways and Means (Practical Joke) in a stretch duel. In the end, experience won out and Brightwork kept her perfect record intact with a gusty effort to win Sunday's GI Spinaway S. A flashy maiden winner at Keeneland over G2 Queen Mary S. winner Crimson Advocate (Nyquist), Brightwork earned her next win in stakes company with a...

Just a few miles from where her freshman sire stands at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds, Soloshot had an auspicious start to her career when the daughter of Solomini wired the field to break her maiden by 7 3/4 lengths on Aug. 27 at Saratoga. Trained by George Weaver, the filly was a $290,000 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic purchase for Bregman Family Racing, Jackpot Farm and Swinbank Stables. Fast and Frisky, another daughter of Solomini, completed the exact with Soloshot in the New York-bred juvenile contest and later on the same card, another...

At the conclusion of racing on Monday, Saratoga will have handled about $800 million for the meet, the third highest handle figure ever for the track. On-track attendance once again topped one million, and was officially at 1,055,543 after Saturday's GI Jockey Club Gold Cup Day card with two racing days to go. Yet, by just about any measure, it was not a good meet. Saratoga came into 2023 with the wind at its back. Every year the racing seemed to get bigger, the handle would grow and more and...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - A narrow loser in her debut on Aug. 6, Klaravich Stables's 2-year-old chestnut filly Weigh the Risks (Mendelssohn) showed grit again Sunday to break her maiden in the first race of the afternoon at Saratoga Race Course. At the end of a nose-to-nose battle through the stretch with Appellate (Constitution), Weigh the Risks reached the wire first with the margin of victory listed as a head. Appellate's Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano claimed foul, alleging interference in the stretch of the 1 1/16 miles turf...