Today's Edition:  Record-Setting $1.4M Justify Filly Leads The Way at OBS · Baeza Set for Summer Showdown · Royal Ascot Coverage 2

Saratoga

'Photo Finish' Exhibition Opens Nov. 2 in von Stade Gallery

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame's fourth annual Photo Finish exhibition will open in the von Stade Gallery Wednesday, Nov. 2. The exhibit's images will also be available on the Museum's website. Photo Finish features selected amateur and professional photographs that document the entire racing experience, from the farm and the backstretch to the winner's circle. Photographers from 17 states and Ireland are represented in the exhibit. Remi Bellocq, Alicia Hughes, Sally Jeffords, and Tod Marks, served as the judges for Photo Finish, providing representation from the...

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'23 Dates for Northern California Edge Closer to Finalization

A 2023 race dates template for the Northern California circuit came closer to being finalized at Thursday's California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) meeting, with commissioners unanimously voting to largely mirror the framework of the 2022 schedule. The lone exception was that the board held off on a decision on whether Ferndale (Humboldt County Fair) would once again have to run its second of two weeks of racing at the end of August against overlapping competition from the commercial licensee Golden Gate Fields. That part of the vote was parsed out...

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Week In Review: Another Milestone For Kentucky Downs

Another record was set Saturday at Kentucky Downs when $21,065,982 was wagered on the 12-race card. Perhaps even more impressively, Kentucky Downs out-handled Del Mar, where $19,423,928 was bet. Del Mar ran 11 races on Saturday. That a wagering record was set was hardly a surprise considering that the card at Kentucky Downs was also the best ever offered at the sport's most unique racetrack. There were six graded stakes on the card and five of them were worth $1 million. The average field size was 11, the type of...

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Weekly Stewards and Commissions Rulings, Aug. 29 – Sept. 4

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. With the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) having gone into effect on July 1, the TDN will also post a roundup of the relevant HISA-related rulings from the same week. California Track: Del Mar Date: 09/02/2022 Licensee: Keron Thomas, owner Penalty:...

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Leave No Trace 'Outworks' Rivals in Spinaway

WellSpring Stables' Leave No Trace (Outwork), overlooked at 14-1 stepping up from restricted maiden company, proved best in Sunday's GI Spinaway S. at Saratoga to give trainer Phil Serpe his first top-level success since 1993. Bought for just $40,000 as a Fasig-Tipton Midlantic October yearling, the dark bay scored a professional 2 3/4-length victory while wrapped up later against auction price-restricted foes here July 20. That effort earned a co-field best 77 Beyer, but Irad Ortiz, Jr. departed to ride Aunt Shirley (Justify) in here and Leave No Trace drifted...

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The Lieutenant, Justify's Ill-Fated Half-Brother, Represented By First Winner At Saratoga

Nearly three years following the tragic slaughter of The Lieutenant, as well as three other stallions located at Haras Barlovento in Peru, where he was standing for the 2019 southern hemisphere season, the New York-based half-brother to Triple Crown champion Justify (Scat Daddy) was represented by his first winner at Saratoga. A graded stakes winner who retired with a 4-2-1 record from 15 starts and $345,882 in earnings, The Lieutenant stood just a single season at Sequel Stallions New York where he bred a reported 46 mares before shipping south...

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Five of Six Have Hopeful Claims

The curtain falls on the 40-day Saratoga meeting Monday afternoon with a field of six set to head to the post for the GI Hopeful S. And a legitimate case can be made for all but one of the juvenile colts signed on. Half of the Hopeful field have already been accorded 'TDN Rising Star' honors and Gulfport (Uncle Mo) could well go favored for Steve Asmussen and the Heiligbrodts. The $275,000 Fasig-Tipton July purchased could not have looked better in his first two career outings--a seven-length debut at 1-2...

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“She's a Special One,” George and Karen Russell on Superstar Broodmare Pappascat

Boppy O (Bolt d'Oro) was greeted by an ecstatic winner's circle as he circled back to the Saratoga grandstand after his 23-1 upset in the GIII With Anticipation S., but he had another cheering squad celebrating from his birthplace in Reddick, Florida. His breeders George and Karen Russell of Rustlewood Farm were out with friends as the juvenile colt made his turf debut, but they didn't hesitate to huddle around their phone at the dinner table so they could watch the race live. "We were thinking it would sure be...

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Speightstown's Olympiad Triumphs in JCGC

Grandview Equine, Cheyenne Stable and LNJ Foxwoods's Olympiad (Speightstown), a head-scratching fourth in the GI Whitney S., bounced back with a powerful performance in Saturday's 'Win and You're In' GI Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga. The 8-5 favorite jumped well from his inside draw and sat a perfect, stalking trip in second behind longshot pacesetter Tax (Arch) through fractions of :24.54 and :49.70. Racing in between rivals as last year's GI Cigar Mile H. winner Americanrevolution (Constitution), one of four entered for Todd Pletcher, continued to draw closer heading...

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Bolt d'Oro's Instant Coffee Brings A-Game in Unveiling

8th-Saratoga, $105,000, Msw, 9-3, 2yo, 7f, 1:22.77, ft, 3/4 length. INSTANT COFFEE (c, 2, Bolt d'Oro--Follow No One {SP}, by Uncle Mo), let go at a tick under 15-1 while breaking from the rail, had to be coaxed from the gate, but he chased along well from sixth from the inside down the backstretch. Just off that fence coming through the bend and three wide into upper stretch, he took a narrow advantage just inside the eighth pole, brushing with Arthur's Ride (Tapit) as the pair battled to the wire....

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Justify Colt Becomes Latest Rising Star at the Spa

Rosedown Racing Stables LLC's Champions Dream (Justify--Dancinginherdreams, by Tapit) entered this unveiling with sparking clocker reports and lots of buzz, and made his $425,000 OBS March price tag and 6-5 odds on the tote look like value as he earned 'TDN Rising Star' status Saturday at The Spa. Just a $25,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by G.W. and Karen Parrish's Parrish Farms--reportedly due to concerns about his feet--the grey blossomed into a $425,000 OBS March juvenile off a sharp :20 4/5 breeze. Turned over to Danny Gargan, the son of...

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Sunday Insights: Debuting Carla Bred On Wildly Successful Cross

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 1st-DMR, $80K, Msw, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, post time: 4:00 p.m. ET Michael Petersen and Willow Grace Farm, who campaign last year's GI Del Mar Debutante winner Grace Adler (Curlin) in partnership, team up for the Sunday opener at Del Mar with $950K Keeneland September acquisition CARLA (Medaglia d'Oro). The February foal is the first produce from Naples Princess (Distorted Humor), a full-sister to SW Banker's Buy and a half to SW City Dweller (Carson City) and SW Glacken's Gal (Smoke Glacken), the dam of...

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