Tapeta

Reef Runner (The Big Beast), winner of the G2 1351 Turf Sprint in February at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh and fourth in the Mar. 28 G1 Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan, is expected to make his stateside return in the June 6 GI Jaipur Stakes at Saratoga. The 5-year-old gelding had his first work since returning from the Middle East Saturday, going four furlongs in :46.90 (1/19) over the Tapeta at Gulfstream. "He looks fantastic," said trainer David Fawkes. "I nominated him for the Jaipur. We're coming. He traveled...

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) and Woodbine Entertainment have joined forces to create the Empire Trillium Series, a 14-race program of stakes races restricted to horses foaled in New York or Canada worth $3.2 million in total purses, the pair announced Tuesday. The Empire Trillium Series will begin at the new and reimagined Belmont Park with eight stakes to be contested between December 2026 and February 2027 on the one-mile Tapeta course. "NYRA looks forward to partnering with Woodbine Entertainment in this unique venture to create additional black...

The nearly four-year rebuild of the new Belmont Park is scheduled to hit a significant milestone by the end of February, when training on the innermost Tapeta track is set to open. Glen Kozak, the New York Racing Association (NYRA)'s senior vice president of operations and capital projects, delivered that news nugget Friday as part of a broader overview of the track's $455-million reimagining during a meeting of the New York State Franchise Oversight Board (FOB). Before delving into details, Kozak underscored an overall message of "on schedule [and] on...

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) released its 2026 racing schedule Thursday, a calendar which includes 196 live race days spread across Aqueduct Racetrack, Saratoga Race Course and the new Belmont Park. Additionally, NYRA has reached a multi-year agreement with the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (NYTHA) and New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. (NYTB) designed to provide racing participants with additional certainty regarding racing opportunities and underscores NYRA's commitment to year-round racing during the transition to a re-imagined Belmont Park. Accordingly, NYRA has established the foundation of a 2027...

The GI Kentucky Derby aspirants Paladin (Gun Runner) and Renegade (Into Mischief) have a nice little rivalry going after facing each other twice in the span of seven weeks at Aqueduct. Even though the Chad Brown-trained Paladin ($1.9 million FTSAUG) has bested the Todd Pletcher-trained Renegade ($975,000 KEESEP) both times-once via DQ on Oct. 17, and an outright win Saturday in the GII Remsen Stakes-the two colts might not be as far apart as their records indicate. Paladin (owned by Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Brook Smith, Peter...

Parx will begin installing a new turf course in March with the goal of racing on it by late summer 2026. There has been no grass racing at Parx since September 2024. In August of that season the course was closed after a catastrophic equine injury during a stakes resulted in a euthanization, triggering a safety review by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA). The track was cleared to reopen by HISA within several weeks, with Parx agreeing to put new protocols and maintenance procedures in place. But another...

Multiple graded stakes winner Arzak (Not This Time--Delightful Melody, by Tapit) has been purchased by Amsterdam Two Farm in Middleburgh, New York, where he will retire to stud for a fee of $6,000, with special consideration to approved mares. A $575,000 OBS Spring 2-year-old in 2020, Arzak won the 2023 GII Woodford Stakes and 2024 GII Shakertown Stakes on the grass at Keeneland and he was also runner-up behind Cogburn (Not This Time) in the 2024 GI Jaipur Stakes. He won the 2022 GIII Jacques Cartier Stakes and Thorncliffe Stakes--where...

Let go at odds of 24-5 shipping down from Saratoga to debut going a mile on the Presque Isle Tapeta track, the well-related The Big Con (GB) (c, 2, Dark Angel {Ire}--Nakuti {Ire}, by Mastercraftsman {Ire}) made an eye-catching sweep for the lead when asked fully three furlongs from home and shot away from four overmatched rivals to graduate by a highly impressive eight lengths en route to 'TDN Rising Star' honors. Top local jockey Pablo Morales looked to be asking the 115,000gns Tattersalls October graduate for some speed to...

Maryland's Fair Hill Training Center will replace its seven-furlong Tapeta Footings track this summer, an upgrade from one of the synthetic surface's earliest installations to the company's newest iteration Tapeta 13. Work is slated to begin in mid-July and take approximately six weeks, depending on weather and other factors. Fair Hill, home to approximately 700 Thoroughbred racehorses in 18 privately owned barns, was founded in 1983 with a seven-furlong wood-chip track and upgraded to include a one-mile dirt track shortly thereafter. The wood chips were replaced 19 years ago with...

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) announced Friday that it has reached an agreement with Woodbine after it conducted an investigation into a rash of equine fatalities in the fall of 2024. Woodbine did not contest the AGCO findings. Between Oct. 28 and Dec. 15, 19 horses sustained injuries while racing and training over Woodbine's synthetic surface. Ten of those horses had to be euthanized. Two horses died on Nov. 9 and the remainder of that day's card was cancelled. The breakdowns were not expected as Woodbine's Tapeta...

Helped by race-fitness on Friday, Ka Kui Ho's Glittering Legend (GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}) proved too strong in the Listed Burradon Stakes to emulate the win of his half-brother Megallan (GB) (Kingman {GB}) in the Newcastle feature. This looked a deep renewal of the mile contest staged on the Tapeta, with last year's G2 Royal Lodge Stakes runner-up Royal Playwright (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) and Lordship Stud's TDN Rising Star Bowmark (GB) (Kingman {GB}) in attendance and the focus was sharply on the latter who started as the...

Kevin Plank has listed the 400-acre Sagamore Farm in Reisterstown, Maryland for $22 million, according to a report in The Baltimore Sun. "It's time for the next steward to carry the torch and continue its legacy for generations to come," said Plank, who purchased the historic property for $4.99 million in 2007 with plans to operate a Thoroughbred breeding and racing operation. The Under Armour founder discontinued breeding and training on the property in 2020 and announced plans to use the land to grow corn and rye for his Sagamore...