Both the New York Racing Association (NYRA) and Churchill Downs on Wednesday announced delays in opening or re-opening training facilities after coronavirus-related track closures. But the two influential racing organizations diverged as to when facilities should be ready to return for spring/summer meets in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. […]
With the other four British Classic races postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Royal Ascot plans on racing ahead with its June 16 opening for now – albeit behind closed doors. This announcement came almost simultaneously with Jockey Club officials postponing the first four Classic races on the British racing […]
You can look at the migration of California trainers and jockeys to Arkansas as a necessary move in the COVID-19 era of closed racetracks around the country. How else to keep horses not just training, but running for purses, and owners not running from the sport? Or you could take […]
The good news was, no horses were injured during the Virtual Grand National, which was viewed by a peak audience of nearly 5 million viewers throughout the United Kingdom. And the bookmakers earned a respectable profit, which they donated to charity. The bad news? No real horses ran in Saturday’s […]
On New Year’s Day, after he romped to a 4 ¼-length victory in the Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct, bookmakers and fans alike considered Independence Hall one of the 2020 Kentucky Derby favorites. On April 6, his connections took him off the Derby trail. Aron Wellman, the managing partner for Eclipse […]
The COVID-19 pandemic made the Kentucky Derby Trail so windy and unpredictable that All Other 3-Year-Olds closed as the 3/1 favorite in Pool 4 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager (KDFW). Churchill Downs officials rescheduled the Derby for Sept. 5 – 22 weeks away. They are still figuring out what […]
His racing career was promising, but unfulfilled – four victories in eight starts. Even being a son of standout sire Tapit, there was nothing in the crystal ball foreshadowing what awaited Constitution in the stallion shed. Which illustrates why horse breeding is such an inexact science, and why semi-royal bloodlines […]
With the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic closing racetracks and limiting betting opportunities at the few still facilities that remain open, horse racing wagering dropped sharply in March, falling 22.6% from its 2019 totals. Bettors placed $731 million in wagers during March, a $214 million drop from last year. Equibase released the […]
Thoroughbred trainers Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro headline a list of 19 defendants who pleaded not guilty to federal charges involving horse doping during a Thursday arraignment and pre-trial conference conducted telephonically in the US Attorney General’s office for the Southern District of New York. The pair, along with numerous […]
The easiest way to classify The Championships, which begin tonight at Royal Randwick in Sydney, is to compare the crown jewel of Australia’s Autumn Carnival of racing to the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. Just add more than 150 years of tradition to several of the races, while at the same […]
Alameda County public health officials shut down Golden Gate Fields Thursday morning, closing the Northern California track in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The track, located between the San Francisco Bay and Interstate 80 on the western edge of Berkeley, issued a statement late Thursday morning announcing the closure. That […]
Following through on an expected decision, Woodbine Entertainment CEO Jim Lawson confirmed the 2020 Queen’s Plate race – Canada’s most prestigious horse race — is postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision to postpone the June 27 race came less than two weeks after Woodbine announced it was […]
This flu crisis was unparalleled in history. The future of horse racing was so much in doubt that the Daily Racing Form wrote, “The wheels of the organization are practically at a standstill for the time being.†Horse racing was in trouble. Tracks in Maryland closed their doors. The Latonia […]
In a normal year, what Tiz the Law did last Saturday – dismantle the strongest field of 3-year-olds assembled to date – would put the horse racing world in the center of his hoof. His effortless, 4 ½-length victory in the Grade 1 Florida Derby stamped him as the prohibitive […]
As track officials continue lobbying to resume racing, Santa Anita Park remains closed for another weekend. That pushes back Saturday’s planned Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby and Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks to dates yet to be determined. On Friday, Los Angeles County health officials abruptly shut the track down, […]
It is a late March Wednesday night at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong and normally, the track would be teeming with upwards of 20,000 racing fans. But even without spectators in this era of the COVID-19 virus, horse racing gallops along in Hong Kong without interruption or questioning about […]
With 30 minutes to go before first post, officials from the Los Angeles County Health Department shut down racing at California’s Santa Anita Park Friday morning. The move came in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Track officials at Santa Anita, who worked hard to keep the track open for racing […]
With the New York Racing Association’s decision to suspend live racing at Aqueduct Racetrack through at least April 5 because of the coronavirus, another Kentucky Derby prep race went on the shelf. The latest postponed marquee race is the Grade 2 $750,000 Wood Memorial. Previously set for April 4, the […]
Now, we’re getting serious. Now, we’re into the varsity of Kentucky Derby prep races and with Saturday’s Florida Derby from Gulfstream Park, we’re going to see a healthy helping of this year’s best 3-year-olds. The 1 1/8-mile Grade 1 Florida Derby offers a hearty helping of Derby Qualifying points: 100 […]
Hall-of-Fame jockey Javier Castellano announced on Twitter Thursday that he’s tested positive for COVID-19, making him the first US rider known to have a coronavirus infection. The initial announcement came via a tweet by his agent, John Panagot who said Gulfstream Park required Castellano to take a physical. He took […]
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