training

When trainer Gedaliah Goodman sent out Catch That Party (More Than Ready) to a sixth-place finish in a Jan. 30 allowance/optional claimer at Gulfstream Park, it was his first starter in nine years. He had hoped that since he last ran a horse, the sport had moved on and was ready to accept an Hasidic Jewish horse trainer, one who has the long, flowing beard, wears a yarmulke and sports the long sideburns that are known as peyos. Tzitzit, the fringed corners of a prayer shawl, dangle over his trousers....

Kevin McKathan has many talents. One of the principals behind McKathan Bros. Training Center in Ocala, he's helped start the career of many a good horse, including 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile), and he's also a major force as a consignor at the 2-year-old sales. But he's ready for something different. Thirty-three years after starting his last horse, McKathan will return to the training ranks when he sends out long shot Fenwick (Curlin) in Saturday's GI Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland. "I am very excited,"...

Some four decades after saddling his first winner, trainer Gary Sciacca celebrated the 1000th victory of his career, sending out Caumsett (The Factor) to win the Aqueduct fall meet opener Thursday afternoon. The 47-10 third favorite, Caumsett broke his maiden in a one-mile turf test beneath Hall of Famer Javier Castellano (video). Sciacca, a two-time leading trainer at Belmont Park (spring 1993 and fall 1997), has conditioned the likes of multiple Grade I winner Saratoga Dew--the first New York-bred to be named an Eclipse champion--and millionaire GISW Subordination. "I'm just...

The Whitney Viewing Stand will remain open this fall for spectators to enjoy morning workouts at the Oklahoma Training Track. Beginning Friday, Sept. 10, the public will be invited to view training at Oklahoma from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. The Whitney Viewing Stand will remain open during the same hours on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through the conclusion of training for the year in November.

Linda Rice had her training license immediately revoked for a period of "no less than three years" and was fined $50,000 May 17 when New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) members voted 5-0 to agree with a hearing officer that Rice's years-long pattern of seeking and obtaining confidential pre-entry information from New York Racing Association (NYRA) racing office workers was "intentional, serious and extensive, and that her actions constituted improper and corrupt conduct...inconsistent with and detrimental to the best interests of horse racing." Rice had testified during eight days of...

With heightened accountability for the health and welfare of horses, trainers today are being held to the highest of standards--as we should. However, we can see every day that race tracks and track ownership groups are not held to that same standard. A prime example is the unfortunate trend of closing a racetrack one day a week for training. This short-sighted cost-cutting move is not in racehorses' best interest. I feel that I've exhausted the proper channels to discuss this with people in charge of safety. We need all concerned...

After the operators of Turf Paradise announced suddenly over the weekend that racing was suspended and that trainers stabled there had until March 28 to vacate the premises as a result of the coronavirus, a compromise has been reached keeping the track open to training until May 1, with the doors to shut May 9. As part of the negotiations between the Arizona Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) and Turf Paradise management, the HBPA will pay half of the expenses incurred for track maintenance while horses remain training there...

Dual Group 1-winning juvenile Pride Of Dubai (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) has returned to the stable of trainers Peter and Paul Snowden after taking a winter spell. The Sheikh Khalifa bin Mohammed al Maktoum homebred broke his maiden in Victoria's most important 2-year-old race--the G1 Blue Diamond S.--in his third start, after which Coolmore bought into him. He was an eye-catching winner of the G1 Sires' Produce S. at The Championships Apr. 6 before being turned out. "This is his fourth week in from the paddock and he's come back in great...