The Arlington Million, Illinois’ biggest horse race of the year, is the most prominent casualty of a deadlock between Arlington Park officials and the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association agreeing on a new contract. The two entities came to a tentative agreement on a daily purse structure for a 30-day meet […]
Derby Hopefuls Honor A.P., Cezanne Paint Their Way Up Futures Boards
The Santa Anita Derby did what the West Coast’s premier Kentucky Derby prep always does – put another quality front-runner in the front row of Derby hopefuls for the Sept. 5 Run for the Roses. At the same time, it provided a good time to see where the top 3-year-olds […]
Ankle Injury Takes Star Baffert Colt Charlatan Out of Belmont, Derby
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s vaunted Big Three Kentucky Derby contenders is now down to a Big One with the news that Charlatan will miss the Kentucky Derby with an ankle injury. Baffert told Paulick Report Publisher Ray Paulick the undefeated Speighstown progeny suffered “a filling in a front […]
May’s Racing Economic Indicators Continue COVID-19 Plunge
Even with tracks emerging from coronavirus shutdowns throughout May, Thoroughbred racing handles for the month plummeted compared to their 2019 totals, according to Equibase’s monthly report on horse racing’s economic indicators. The biggest individual culprit for May’s decline was easy to pinpoint: no Kentucky Derby and no Preakness Stakes. The […]
Bettors Square Up Wagers on Favored Quadrilateral in 1000 Guineas
Quadrilateral is the favorite. Millsie is the sentimental favorite, thanks to her trainer, Jessica Harrington. And Love is the value favorite for Sunday’s 1000 Guineas on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket. The 1000 Guineas is the second of England’s four Classic races. Dating to 1814, it sends out the UK’s […]
All in a Name: Hollywood Gold Cup Turns Back the Clock at Santa Anita
The Hollywood Gold Cup gets its name back, the name it held for 76 years until 2014. It gets three-time champion: 19-year-old Lava Man, back to lead the post parade. And one of the most respected races for older horses gets an eclectic field of Grade 1 winners and placers […]
Baffert Gets an Authentic Opportunity for Santa Anita Derby Three-Peat
Even in a year where the COVID-19 pandemic pushed matters from April to June, Saturday’s Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby storylines begin where they usually do – in Bob Baffert’s Santa Anita Park barn. After all, where else to begin than the barn that produced nine previous Santa Anita Derby […]
Carter Handicap Breaks Out of the Gate With a Blur of Sprinting Talent
The depth of the Grade 1 Carter Handicap field provides exotic bettors with a dream handicap opportunity. The mind reels with the exacta, trifecta and superfecta possibilities in a race featuring some of the top sprinting talent in the country. The flip side of that coin, however, comes with figuring […]
Honor A.P. Looks to Leap Into Front-Row Derby Contention
He may be the biggest sleeper of all the serious Kentucky Derby favorites, the one currently sailing under most Derby list radars. But you lose track of Honor A.P. at your own peril, which is why he’s in peril of winning Saturday’s Santa Anita Derby. It’s some dangerously fast company […]
Sizzling Pinatubo Odds-On Favorite to Erupt in 2000 Guineas
Pinatubo got his name from a volcano in the Philippines, which proved his Godolphin owners either have a soft spot for lava and ash, or a hard sense of foreshadowing as to what kind of horse they own. Because right now, Pinatubo is the hottest horse coming into Saturday’s 2000 […]
Code of Honor Seeks Another Mission at Saturday’s Westchester Stakes
Code of Honor’s resume reflects a horse who deserves more credit than just completing the back end of a wild exacta at last year’s Kentucky Derby. And Saturday, last year’s official runner-up in the Derby, opens his 4-year-old campaign in the Grade 3 Westchester Stakes at Belmont Park. The 1 […]
Fauci (the Horse) Brings Infectious Enthusiasm to Belmont Park’s Opening Day
You can call what transpires today at Belmont Park a serendipitous collision of circumstances. Belmont Park opens for spectator-free racing Wednesday – 5 ½ weeks later than planned due to the coronavirus pandemic. And the star of the third race of a COVID-19-delayed meet is a 2-year-old horse named Fauci. […]
Arrogate, North America’s Top-Earning Horse, Euthanized at Age 7
Arrogate, who put on one of the most memorable runs of 21st-century racing en route to becoming North America’s richest racehorse, was euthanized Tuesday morning at an equine hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. The son of Unbridled’s Song suffered a mysterious neck illness last week at Juddmonte Farms, where he neared […]
Amid Financial Woes, British Horse Racing Returns With Busy Week
British horse racing returns Monday, coming back to the sporting forefront with a 10-race Newcastle card that opens the gates for the rest of the country’s 59 racetracks. Newcastle’s Monday card, which will run spectator-free, maxed out with all 10 races starting the full complement of 12 runners. The meet […]
Ce Ce Sees a Path to Her Fourth Consecutive Win at Santa Maria Stakes
She is one of the hottest horses in the country and she’s running Sunday in the Grade 2 Santa Maria Stakes at Santa Anita Park. But alas, if this is your first time seeing Ce Ce, the value betting bandwagon left you behind. The 4-year-old filly goes for her fourth […]
Maryland’s Laurel Park Reopens for Racing Saturday
After receiving unanimous approval by the Maryland Racing Commission on Thursday to resume racing, Laurel Park will waste little time reopening its starting gates. It joins the racing resumption parade Saturday. Laurel Park’s summer meet opens with three days of live racing from Saturday through Monday, and will run every […]
Belmont Stakes Field Undergoes a Thursday Tremor
The Belmont Stakes field underwent a shakeup on Thursday, losing powerful Nadal to a broken leg and Wells Bayou to other Kentucky Derby preps. On the plus side, Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher confirmed three of his horses, Dr. Post, Farmington Road, and Gouverneur Morris, will be in the […]
Broken Bone Forces Kentucky Derby Favorite Nadal Into Retirement
Illustrating the fragile nature of today’s Thoroughbred horses, Kentucky Derby favorite Nadal broke a bone in his left front leg during a Thursday morning workout. His owner, George Bolton, said Nadal has been immediately retired. One of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s standout 3-year-olds, Nadal worked a half-mile at […]
Del Mar Gets an Early Jump On 2020 Summer Meet, Plans Bigger Cards
Officials from the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, which operates Del Mar Race Track north of San Diego, announced they will open their 2020 summer meet eight days earlier than planned. In addition, the racetrack plans on running three days per week instead of its customary five. Del Mar will open […]
Keeneland Receives Approval for Stakes-Packed Summer Meet
The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission unanimously approved Keeneland’s request to run a five-day, spectator-free summer meet in July, giving the Lexington racetrack back five days from its original 16-day spring meet. That meet became a casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic. Keeneland’s abbreviated meet is scheduled for July 8-12 and is […]