Tyler Gaffalione

The seven-day Kentucky Downs meet set another record for wagering, totaling $90,181,408 and up eight percent over last year, according to a press release from the track late Wednesday. That included a single-day record of $21,184,941 on the Saturday, Sept. 7 card featuring six graded stakes worth $2 million for Kentucky-breds ($1 million for others). As for the meet's leaders, jockey Tyler Gaffalione finished with nine wins, to pull even with Irad Ortiz Jr. for the riding title, while Brendan Walsh's sixth victory put him in a tie for the...

Whisper Hill Farm's Grand Sonata (Medaglia d'Oro) saved ground when it mattered most, slipped through inside with less than a quarter mile to race and kept on nicely to cause a 15-1 upset in Saturday's GII Kentucky Turf Cup at Kentucky Downs. The victory earns the homebred a spot in the field for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 2. Drawn widest in a field scratched down to nine with the late withdrawal of Ballydoyle's Chief Little Rock (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), the homebred slotted into about...

Society (Gun Runner) stalked and pounced her way to a powerful victory in Saturday's 'Win and You're In' GI Ballerina Handicap at the Spa. Off as the 7-2 third choice, the speedy Peter Blum homebred was content to track in second beneath Tyler Gaffalione--something that she hadn't successfully demonstrated in her previous 13 starts--as 'TDN Rising Star' Munnys Gold (Munnings) sped through fractions of :22.65 and :44.82. Society revved up with a flashy move to take over approaching the quarter pole and turned for home with authority while racing in...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - In about 20 seconds, maybe it was 15, Ryan Kamp traced his journey in racing to the winner's enclosure Saturday after the sixth race at Saratoga Race Course with Papiamento (Medaglia d'Oro). Boiled down to an even more concise version, about 15 years ago, Kamp went to the Kentucky Derby and nailed a $1,000 trifecta with his very first wager. "Right there, it just like latched its hooks in and it had me from that point forward," Kamp said. "I ended up going to the Breeders'...

It was worth the wait. After twice being rescheduled and finally run eight days late due to rain, the GI FanDuel Fourstardave Handicap at Saratoga stayed on the lawn and featured a breakout performance by 'TDN Rising Star' Carl Spackler (c, 4, Lope de Vega {Ire})--Zindaya, by More Than Ready), who was taking the first Grade I event of his career after winning three other graded races, all at Saratoga. As a 'Win and You're In' race for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile, the Fourstardave gives Carl Spackler a fees-paid...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- If it was up to Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, Seize the Grey (Arrogate) would be running in the $1.25-million, GI Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on Aug. 24. On Sunday morning, all Lukas could do was shrug his shoulders when asked if the GI Preakness Stakes winner would be taking a place in the Travers starting gate. "I don't know," he said at his barn on the Oklahoma Training Track. "I am going to vote to run him in it." Lukas, though,...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY--Honor Marie (Honor Code) has his partner for the $1.25 million GI Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on Aug. 24. Trainer Whit Beckman said Saturday that Tyler Gaffalione will ride the colt in the marquee race of the summer at the Spa. Beckman made it official after Honor Marie, with Gaffalione on board, worked four furlongs in 48.75 (12/44) on the Oklahoma Training Track Saturday morning. They worked in company with stablemate Anthem King (Bolt d'Oro), who was ridden by T. C. Stevens. "Tyler knows how to...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. Y. - The first-time trainer Tom Amoss sent 2-year-old filly Kimchi Cat (Twirling Candy) to the races, he was expecting something good to happen. "We were very excited," Amoss said. "She had been doing very, very well in the mornings." That was June 14, a Friday, at Churchill Downs. The optimism waned a bit when they got to the paddock. "There was a very mature, good (Steve) Asmussen in there, and I was like, 'oh, God, we're in trouble," Amoss said. He was right. Viggiedal (Vekoma), the...

The 2024 Churchill Downs Spring Meet leading jockey race came down to the wire on closing day Sunday with Tyler Gaffalione and Jose Ortiz tying for the most wins. Gaffalione and Ortiz shared leading rider honors with 45 wins apiece. For Gaffalione, it was his 12th Churchill Downs title as leading jockey. It was the first local championship for Ortiz, who began riding in Kentucky this spring. Luis Saez, who had 32 wins following Day 42 of the 43-day meeting, was in third place followed by Florent Geroux (22), Cristian...

7th-Churchill Downs, $138,210, Alw (NW3$X)/Opt. Clm ($100,000), 5-30, 3yo/up, 7f, 1:21.54, ft, 3 1/2 lengths. EXTRA ANEJO (c, 4, Into Mischief--Superioritycomplex {Ire}, by Hard Spun), unseen since a well-beaten fourth in last year's GI Haskell S., returned to the races with authority Thursday night for trainer Steve Asmussen and Winchell Thoroughbreds. Dubbed a 'TDN Rising Star' first out, the $1.35m Keeneland September yearling buy won two of his first three, yielding the win only once behind another Grade I-runner in Federal Judge (Constitution) in his 3-year-old unveiling at Churchill last...

'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) will have a new running mate in the GI Belmont S. at Saratoga Race Course on June 8. After watching the GI Kentucky Derby runner-up work five furlongs in 1:02.64 (5/6) on the Oklahoma Training Track Saturday morning, Brown said he was making a rider change. Tyler Gaffalione is out; Flavien Prat is in. Sierra Leone lost the Derby by a nose to Mystik Dan (Goldencents) and finished a nose ahead of Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}). Sierra Leone is owned by...

Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country. Among this week's rulings, trainer Silvino Ramirez was suspended for 30-days and fined $2,500 after his trainee, Perfect Day, tested positive for an alkalinizing agent (TCO2) when finishing fifth at Parx Racing on April 17. High total carbon dioxide (TCO2) levels could be an indication of bicarbonate loading—otherwise known as milkshaking—which can neutralize the buildup of lactic acid in muscles, thereby helping the horse's performance. Veterinarian Donald McCrosky was also suspended 30-days for violating the terms of a prior suspension. HIWU's publicly-posted...