Triple Crown

Early nominations for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds to become eligible to compete in the 2024 Triple Crown are now open and suspended trainers have until Jan. 29 to move their horses, Churchill Downs said in a release Friday afternoon. The early nomination phase will close Monday, Jan. 29 with the $600 payment only available to be made online. Horses not nominated by Jan. 29 can still enter with a $6,000 payment due Monday, Apr. 1. Last year's early Triple Crown nominations attracted 369 horses and 13 late nominees. Horses under the care...

'The Week in Review', by T.D. Thornton A few items that stand out after sifting through Friday's "Pimlico Plus" report issued by the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority (MTROA). The ambitious $400-million plan, which is subject to legislative approval, re-imagines the state's racing consolidated at one publicly funded track in Baltimore, the closure of Laurel Park, the construction of a new training facility in the state, and 1/ST Racing and Gaming ceding control of day-to-day Maryland racing to a non-profit entity. Triple Crown traditionalists who are already in a tizzy...

The remaining days in 2023 dwindled to a few last week, a welcome development considering the year that it was. Yes, there was some good news. Arcangelo (Arrogate) winning the GI Belmont S. for trainer Jena Antonucci was as good a story as we've seen in some time. The saga of Cody's Wish (Curlin) continued to tug at our heartstrings. The sales continue to post huge numbers. Purses have soared in Kentucky and at Oaklawn, with maidens running for pots in excess of $100,000. But for every good story there...

Last week's announcement that the 2024 GI Belmont S. will be migrating north to Saratoga Race Course for 2024 because of the $455-million extensive renovation of Belmont Park made official a move that the New York Racing Association (NYRA) has been openly discussing for months. But since the press release from the New York governor's office came out during a slow time of the year for racing news, it rekindled speculation about the ramifications of tinkering with the historical significance of the third jewel of the Triple Crown. The debate...

The long-running battle to decide whether or not Justify (Scat Daddy) should have been disqualified from his win in the 2018 GI Santa Anita Derby seems to have come to a conclusion last week when the team representing Mick Ruis, the owner and trainer of runner-up Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro), obtained an order from Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff, directing the California Horse Racing Board Stewards to set aside their Dec. 9, 2020 decision and issue a new ruling disqualifying Justify from the 2018 Santa Anita...

NBC Sports commentator Randy Moss, whose career in racing has spanned nearly 45 years, will deliver the keynote address at the 2023 Global Symposium on Racing Dec. 5. Seen working events like the Triple Crown series and the Breeders' Cup World Championships, Moss will take a retrospective look at his career in the industry and share his insights on the future of the sport. The Global Symposium on Racing is hosted by the University of Arizona's Race Track Industry Program and will be held in Tucson, AZ from Dec. 4-6.

ARCADIA, CA - As Javier Castellano gets ready to ride three mounts on Breeders' Cup Saturday, the recently turned 46-year-old is amidst one of the best years of his career. And it almost never happened. A pair of Breeders' Cup wins at the 2019 Championships put an exclamation point on the Hall of Famer's eighth straight season with more than $20 million in earnings. But, the year 2020, like it was for so many, was more about overcoming adversity for the native of Venezuela. Castellano was the first jockey to...

We can believe what our eyes are telling us. That was the verdict from Timeform on Monday, with the ratings gurus placing City Of Troy a joint second in terms of winning performances posted in the Dewhurst this century.  The one horse rated higher than Aidan O'Brien's bright young star? You guessed it, the mighty Frankel, who those closest to City Of Troy drew parallels with after that stunning victory at Newmarket on Saturday.  "He really is our Frankel," said Michael Tabor, one of the part-owners in City Of Troy...

For the fourth year in a row, top racing announcer Larry Collmus will be back in the booth at Del Mar to call the track's upcoming Bing Crosby Season from Nov. 10 to Dec. 3, their front office said in a release Friday. Besides his three earlier fall sojourns, Collmus also covered the limited 2020 summer season at the track. "We really couldn't ask for anyone better than Larry to be filling our booth in the planned absence of our longstanding caller Trevor Denman," said Josh Rubinstein, Del Mar's president...

American jockey Steve Cauthen and the outstanding turf mare Pebbles (GB) (Sharpen Up {GB}) will be inducted into the QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame, the official Hall of Fame for Flat racing in Britain. The newest inductees will be recognized on QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot on Oct. 21, with Cauthen making a rare trip over from the US. Cauthen becomes just the fifth rider to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, while Pebbles becomes the first of her gender to be inducted alongside the likes...

Canter for a Cause, back for the third straight year after the 2020 cancellation, will return to Pimlico Race Course Sunday, Oct. 29. Sponsored by the Maryland Jockey Club, the organization allows the public the chance to walk, trot, canter or gallop their favorite horse or pony over the same oval which has hosted esteemed runners like Seabiscuit, Secretariat, War Admiral and recent Triple Crown champions American Pharoah and Justify. More than 270 riders participated last fall, one of the most successful events. Registration is $65 per trip, with proceeds...

Pioneering horse racing television commentator Charlsie Cantey will be honored with the Jane Goldstein Exemplary Leadership Award at the second annual Horse Racing Women's Summit, Sept. 27-29, at Santa Anita Park. A native of North Carolina, Cantey started her career with race horses in New York after graduating from George Washington University in 1968. She worked with trainers Elliot Burch, Frank Whiteley, Jr., David Whiteley, and Sidney Watters, as well as Joe Cantey after their 1969 marriage. She was persuaded by Frank Wright and Dave Johnson, co-hosts of the WOR-TV...