thoroughbreds

Julien Leparoux, a two-time Eclipse Award winning rider, collected his 3,000th career win aboard Pike Place (Street Boss) in the third race at Churchill Downs on Thursday, the track said in a press release that same day. Leparoux, 41, launched his career in 2005. Raised in Chantilly, France, Leparoux's passion for horses led him to Southern California in 2003, where he began as an exercise rider for trainer Patrick Biancone. He transitioned to race riding and earned the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey in 2006. Three years later he...

Horse racing and bourbon intersect in so many ways, but they really form a nexus around the themes of time and patience. Without either in the breeding shed or in the rickhouse, your chances at success will be severely hampered. There is nothing quite so powerful as a statement of age in the racing form or an age statement out of the barrel. When it comes to Thoroughbreds and specifically placing a strong emphasis on homebreds, John Ed Anthony's Shortleaf Stable personifies what many in the industry think a great...

Looking to snag the first graded stakes score of her career, Mrs. Astor (Lookin At Lucky) kicked home strongest of all in the GIII Red Carpet Stakes at Del Mar Sunday afternoon. The 4-year-old filly was last seen running fourth Oct. 20 in the GIII Dowager Stakes at Keeneland after closing from ninth. She'd mostly been contesting the allowance/optional claiming conditions in her career but had placed third in the 2023 running of the GIII Regret Stakes over the Churchill Downs grass along with a couple off-the-board finishes in Listed...

5th-Fair Grounds, $58,000, Msw, 11-24, 2yo, 1 1/16m, 1:45.27, ft, 3 3/4 lengths. HOT PROPERTY (c, 2, Medaglia d'Oro--Milwaukee Appeal {Ch. 3-year-old Filly-Can, MSW & GSP-Can, MGISP-USA, $1,198,674}, by Milwaukee Brew), sent off at 4-1, bounced out to the early lead and had favored So Sandy (Omaha Beach) racing just to his outside through an opening quarter in :24.89 and a half in :49.65. He shrugged off that foe at the top of the lane and skipped clear to the wire to graduate by 3 3/4 lengths. Seattle Road (Quality...

Coming out of the chute at Churchill Downs in the GIII Chilukki Stakes, Two Sharp (Twirling Candy--Double Sharp, by Distorted Humor) had a singular mission ahead as she stretched her legs on the one-turn mile dirt course--make the front. The 3-year-old accomplished that task in spectacular fashion and cruised home for her first black-type and graded stakes score amid what continues to be a promising career at the races. The $925,000 Keeneland September grad taken home by Richard Rigney was named a 'TDN Rising Star' at second asking when she...

7th-CD, $120K, Msw, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 3:55 p.m. ET. A $1-million buy at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale, YINZER (Twirling Candy) takes the racing stage for the ownership group of West Point Thoroughbreds, CJ Stables and Bill Farish. The Steve Asmussen trainee is out of Rehearsed (Tapit) who is a full-sister to GISP Closing Bell and a half-sister to GII San Felipe Stakes hero Hear the Ghost (Ghostzapper). Also making the races is Aerate (Candy Ride {Arg]). The Stone Farm homebred trained by Brian Lynch was produced by Ducru...

The Sporting Art Auction, a collaboration between Cross Gate Gallery of Lexington and Keeneland, concluded its 12th edition Nov. 15 by achieving total sales of $2,553,126, Keeneland said via a Friday press release. The auction was headlined by the sale of LeRoy Neiman's To the Wire, a signed oil on board which brought an auction-record price of $334,875. The event drew collectors from seven countries who participated both in person and remotely. Spanning Sporting Art, American paintings and sculpture, 75% of the 203 pieces offered were sold. Click here for...

In honor of the 10th anniversary of Silver Charm's arrival, Old Friends is hosting a special event on Sunday, Dec. 1 so fans can celebrate the day with the 30-year-old who is currently the oldest living Kentucky Derby winner, the retirement home said in a release early Friday. Date: Sunday, December 1, 2024 Time: Noon-2:00 p.m. ET Where: Old Friends, 1841 Paynes Depot Road, Georgetown, Kentucky Admission: Free Another highlight will be Mike Middleton, who will be onsite to demonstrate the making of Raku Pottery using some of Silver Charm's...

When Amplify Horse Racing was founded as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2020, our goal was to engage youth with the Thoroughbred industry. As 2024 draws to a close, I reflect with immense pride on how Amplify isn't just engaging youth with the Thoroughbred industry-we have become the national youth arm of the U.S. industry. By the end of the year, Amplify will have directly reached over 28,000 individuals through classroom lessons, events, interactive activations, and conference presentations. We recently wrapped up one of our busiest programming weekends of the year,...

2nd-GP, $60K, Msw, 3yo/up, f/m, 6f, 12:52 p.m. ET. A pair of 3-year-olds from the shedrow of Todd Pletcher will make their debut with Lasix from the inside gates. Exiting the rail spot is RUMOURS HAVE IT (Tapit). The filly is a Whisper Hill homebred who is out of dual champion Songbird (Medaglia d'Oro). Mandy Pope went to $9.5 million to acquire this dam at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton Fall Mixed Sale. Rumours Have It is her third foal and second to make the races. Emanating from next door is Taylor...

Barnes (Into Mischief), an unraced 2-year-old colt who sold for $3.2 million as a FTSAUG yearling in 2023, has been entered by trainer Bob Baffert and owner Zedan Racing Stables in a 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight sprint at Churchill Downs next Wednesday. The start will be Baffert's first at the Louisville track since Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI) on July 19, 2024, announced the lifting of a corporation-imposed three-year suspension that had kept the Hall-of-Fame trainer from racing in the GI Kentucky Derby and at any of CDI's tracks nationwide....

In response to news reported by several outlets on Monday, Nov. 18 that the Birmingham Race Course would be sold to PCI Gaming, a subsidiary of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, Alabama's HBPA expressed hope for the future of the state's long-dormant horse racing industry, the association said in a statement released on Wednesday. After more than 25 years since racing was last held in Alabama, the sale of the Birmingham Race Course marks what the organization says is a potential turning point in efforts to revive the sport....