thoroughbreds

The 2-year-old sales season gets underway Tuesday with the start of the two-day Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March Sale. Hips 1-316 sell Tuesday and Hips 317-635 go under the hammer Wednesday. "I have been very pleased with the horses we have seen on the grounds," said Tod Wojciechowski, OBS director of sales. "The interest from buyers has been very good." He added, "We have been able to add another level of horse that maybe doesn't fit the upper-echelon price range, but are very good horses. March is a key sale...

Billy Koch was unanimously elected board president of the California Retirement Management Account (CARMA), a non-profit organization that provides funding for retirement of California-raced Thoroughbred horses. Koch is founder and managing partner of Little Red Feather Racing. "Retirement of our horses is an absolute priority," said Koch. "These amazing animals are the sole reason any of us are in this game and they deserve every ounce of our support once their racing careers are over. This responsibility falls on owners, trainers, jockeys, players, ADW providers, and our racetrack partners. Organizations...

Before he was caught up in the probe into performance-enhancing drugs in horse racing and arrested for selling and shipping adulterated and misbranding drugs, Scott Robinson was living large. He drove a Lamborghini and his on-line businesses that the government has charged were selling PEDs were pulling in millions. There was never any shortage of customers. "I sold to everybody," said Robinson, who added that he had "thousands of customers," and not just in horse racing. Robinson said his products were bought by individuals using them with camels, racing greyhounds,...

The Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale gets underway at 10 a.m. Tuesday with the first of four sessions. The sale was originally scheduled to kick off Monday, but was delayed due to a winter snow storm in Lexington, which also pushed back the ship in date. The 1,631-horse catalogue is comprised of broodmares, racing/broodmare prospects, newly turned yearlings, horses of racing ages and stallions/stallion prospects. "It is a very solid catalogue with a lot of depth," said Cormac Breathnach, Keeneland's Director of Sales Operations. "The January Sale catalogue...

The City of Aiken Parks, Recreation and Tourism will host the 14th annual Breakfast at the Gallops Friday, Mar. 18, beginning at 8 a.m. at the Aiken Training Track. Local trainers will be on hand to talk to participants about the various training methods used at Aiken. Those in attendance should enter the Two Notch Road entrance closest to Audubon Drive. Vehicles must stop for all horses. A light breakfast begins at 8 a.m. This year's guest speaker is Caton Bredar. Tickets for Breakfast at the Gallops are $20 each...

Woodbine's 2021 Thoroughbred season produced an all-sources handle of $505,348,339, the third-highest season total in Woodbine Thoroughbred history. For the second consecutive season, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a shortened season as the 2021 Woodbine Thoroughbred meet did not begin until June 12. Originally scheduled for 133 race dates, the 2021 season included 99 race days, three more than last year, and 946 races contested. Despite the delayed start, the 2021 season topped $500 million in all-sources handle, propelled mightily by Woodbine's highest single-season foreign wagering handle ever of $420,666,755. The...

Emeric Biaudis has joined the I Want The Winner team in the role of business development. Biaudis, who is from a family of Purebred Arabian and Thoroughbred breeders, has a Masters in Equine Science and Business (MESB) from the agricultural college of Dijon and a Masters in Sports Management. His role will entail participating in the development of the IWW platform, setting up new functionalities, corrections and adaptation of computer systems. In addition, he will also be in charge of identifying interesting Purebred Arabian profiles for the platform. "I have...

Over 35,000 Thoroughbreds have now been digitally tattooed, Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau (TRPB) announced Thursday. The digital tattoo is an electronic authentication confirming the identity of a horse by a trained TRPB technician. "Every racing 2-year-old, every 3-year-old and a significant share of 4- year-olds have digital tattoos and by the end of 2021, we estimate that 75% of Thoroughbreds will enter the racetrack paddock with a digital tattoo," said J. Curtis Linnell, executive vice president, TRPB. "We have 56 TRPB Technicians under contract throughout the United States and Canada...

LEXINGTON, KY--The Keeneland September Yearling Sale starts its 11-day run Monday with the first of two Book 1 sessions, beginning at 1 p.m. The five-book catalogue offers a total of 4,032 yearlings by a variety of stallions, such as Triple Crown heroes American Pharoah and Justify; the red-hot Into Mischief; perennial leading sire Tapit; stalwarts like Medaglia d'Oro, War Front and Candy Ride (Arg); and top freshman sire Gun Runner. "I think when you get this volume of horses and there are a lot of really nice horses, there is...

Ellis Park plans to honor Marvin Prado and other backstretch workers involved in rescuing six racehorses and one stable pony during a fire in the track's receiving barn last Sunday. They hope to do so during this weekend's races, contingent on the availability of Prado, whose daughter was born two months premature the day after the fire and is still hospitalized. The barn was engulfed in flames in a matter of 20 minutes and those on the scene say the man of the moment was Prado, with assistance from fellow...

Six Ninety One (Congrats), currently North America's winningest Thoroughbred with nine victories in 2021, won an 870-yard Quarter Horse race by a nose Tuesday at Arizona Downs. "The victory doesn't count toward the 9-year-old gelding's lead as the winningest Thoroughbred, though. Equibase separately ranks Quarter Horse races in their own category. But Six Ninety One still has a two-win cushion over four other Thoroughbreds tied with seven victories apiece. Either way, 10 total mixed-meet victories through nearly seven months of racing is a pretty noteworthy achievement. In all of 2020,...

The 2020-2022 Godolphin Flying Start trainees were tasked to use their knowledge and creativity to come up with proposals for a new look U.S. Graded Stakes Program for 3-year-olds. These four round table discussions were published in TDN on May 15, 17, 19, and 21. The trainees were given the opportunity to respond to the feedback/questions they received from TDN readers. 3-Year-Old Turf Races - Angus Robertson, Brigitte Murphy, Tom Murphy (Click here) Feedback: As you talked about maiden races running on the turf at Belmont for $90,000, I wonder...