training

Following a hearing on March 31, a hearing officer assigned to the case by the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation has recommended that the Corporation re-license trainer Maria Borell. The former trainer of Runhappy (Super Saver), she has not started a horse since 2016. The Corporation identified three grounds for attempting to deny the renewal application: 1) lack of candor; (2) failure to satisfy the financial-responsibility statute and regulation; and (3) the "where have you been?" theory, which questioned whether Borell's absence from Kentucky racing affected her horsemanship skills...

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) released its 2026 First Quarter Metrics Report Tuesday with a new low 0.95 racing-related fatalities per 1,000 starts for the quarter. During the first three months of the year (January 1-March 31), racetracks operating under HISA rules reported that 99.91% of starts occurred without a fatality. Of the racing-related fatalities recorded this quarter, 81% were attributable to musculoskeletal causes, 16% to sudden death and 3% to other causes. This quarter marked the inaugural safety impact of the HISA Equine Recovery Foundation (HERF), an...

A group of GI Belmont Stakes contenders are beginning to assemble at Saratoga Race Course. Leading the contingent is GI Arkansas Derby-winner and recent GI Kentucky Derby runner-up Renegade (Into Mischief), who arrived upstate for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher on Wednesday. The colt returned to training on Thursday, and again on Friday morning for some light exercise in his first on-track appearances since finishing a neck second to Golden Tempo (Curlin) in the "Run for the Roses" at Churchill Downs last Saturday. Renegade is in Saratoga to prepare...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. The following rulings were reported on HISA's "rulings" portal and through the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) "pending" and "resolved" cases portals. Among this week's rulings, owner and trainer Raul Beltran-Moreno has been suspended for 18-months and fined $12,500 after he was found in possession of Pitcher Plant Extract, a banned substance (which goes by the brand name Sarapin) due to its analgesic properties. The suspension began...

Edited Press Release from Oaklawn Park Trainer William H. 'Jinks' Fires will saddle his final runner in a career that has spanned 50 years when House Trick contests the second race at Oaklawn Park on Friday afternoon. According to Equibase statistics, Fires, the older brother of Hall of Fame jockey Earlie Fires, has sent out 1,502 winners from 11,400 runners. Arguably the best horse Fires trained was Archarcharch (Arch), who won the GIII Southwest Stakes and GI Arkansas Derby en route to an appearance in the 2011 GI Kentucky Derby....

Arioneo, a French company which specializes in the development and marketing of analysis solutions for the performance and health of equine athletes, has created a new study aimed at the deployment of a new generation of automated ECG-analysis algorithms capable of detecting cardiac rhythm abnormalities, including atrial fibrillation (AFib), across training, racing and resting conditions. In a press release Tuesday, the company states that the study is "powered by an artificial intelligence engine trained on one of the largest exercise ECG datasets in the racing industry, [which] enables, for the...

I read with optimism HISA's 2025 fatality rate report showing a gradual but steady decline in the rate since 2009. However, I feel that it still doesn't address a major issue affecting U.S. horse racing (as touched upon by Mr. Sonbol in his letter), namely the extremely high level of short-term and long-term injuries suffered by US racehorses. There have been widespread commentaries (and potential solutions) recently by industry leaders regarding the major concerns affecting our industry, including the fatality rate, the rapid decline in the horse population, the extensive...

Eclipse Award-winner Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) was one of two Mark Casse-trained runners to complete major preparations for the April 11 $1.25 million GI Apple Blossom Handicap with a five-furlong work over a fast track Wednesday morning under exercise rider Autumn Lavertu. Last year's top 3-year-old filly was timed in 1:01 (3/11) following splits of :25.20 for her opening quarter-mile and :37.60 for three furlongs. She galloped out six furlongs in 1:13.60. Trained by dual Hall of Famer Mark Casse, Nitrogen looks to rebound from a third-place finish in the $400,000...

Unraced since winning the Aug. 23 GI Travers Stakes at Saratoga, Sovereignty (Into Mischief) got back to work Sunday morning at Payson Park in Florida, working three furlongs in 37.40 breezing. It was the first workout this year for the 2025 Horse of the Year and 3-Year-Old Champion. "We've got him back on a regular training schedule," trainer Bill Mott said. "We're a ways away from sorting out exactly where he will run. There are a couple of races in mind. We don't think he'll be ready until April, so...

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 Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) has received official approval by the Federal Trade Commission for a series of proposed changes to its Enforcement Rules (Rule Series 8000), the group announced Friday. These changes will take effect January 19, 2026. HISA's updated Enforcement Rules are available in full here and include the following changes: Clarification that it is a violation to enter a Covered Horse or cause a Covered Horse to compete in a Covered Horserace prior to registering the Covered Horse with HISA (note that it is a...

One of Maryland's leading trainers, Claudio Gonzalez, has been expelled from Laurel Park according to a story from the Paulick Report Tuesday. A brief statement from the Maryland Jockey Club reads, "Claudio Gonzalez violated the rules of The Maryland Jockey Club and has been expelled from the grounds." While the MJC provided no further information, the Paulick Report article links horses previously trained by Gonzalez to "questionable" homes, saying, "Bev Strauss, founder of MidAtlantic Horse Rescue, told the Paulick Report that a former Gonzalez trainee ended up at a kill...