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 […]
One found himself a Kentucky Derby favorite last year. The other had his Derby-contending status thrust upon him last month. Now, both find themselves the headline acts in a deep, talented, and contentious Florida Derby. Tiz the Law, the 6/5 morning-line favorite for Saturday’s marquee Kentucky Derby prep at Gulfstream […]
Despite threats from a Hallandale Beach city official to take “legal action†if racing isn’t stopped, Gulfstream Park has no plans to close its doors this week and intends to run Saturday’s Florida Derby without any spectators in the grandstands. Hallandale Beach Vice Mayor Sabrina Javellana said Broward County’s ban […]
With the postponement of the Kentucky Derby from May to September due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kentucky Derby Trail just got a lot longer. That means the Derby’s qualifying points system figures to get a lot steeper in terms of how many points are required to earn a spot […]
New jockey restrictions put in place by Oaklawn and Gulfstream Park sent the rider colonies at those two parks – and elsewhere — into a scramble of altered plans, missed racing days, and enforced quarantines. The new regulations, placed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, have jockeys and their agents […]
The $12 million Dubai World Cup, one of the world’s richest horse races, became the latest sporting casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic when organizers canceled the race and the rest of Saturday’s card. That card at Meydan Racecourse forms the world’s richest race day, one featuring $35 million in purses […]
Oaklawn Park in Arkansas became the latest facility to adjust its calendar in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, moving its flagship race – the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby – from Saturday, April 11 to Saturday, May 2. That is Oaklawn Park’s closing date. It was also the original date for […]
When it comes to A-list 3-year-old talent, this year’s Louisiana Derby is an example of a race that is an inch deep and a mile – actually 1 3/16 miles – wide. It’s a Kentucky Derby prep featuring 14 solid, but heretofore unspectacular, horses all in search of a breakout […]
In the latest COVID-19-related news to hit the horse racing community, officials closed Aqueduct Racetrack in New York until further notice after a backstretch worker tested positive Thursday morning for the coronavirus. The unidentified worker, who lives and works in nearby Belmont Park, has been quarantined. He developed symptoms on […]
While the rest of the world postpones or cancels races due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s almost business as usual for horse racing in Australia. The $3.5 million (A) Golden Slipper Stakes at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney is all set to run on Friday, albeit in front of an […]
The incidences of horse fatalities at American thoroughbred racetracks are now at their lowest point in a decade, according to statistics compiled by the Jockey Club’s Equine Injury Database (EID). The 2019 rate of fatal injuries to horses is at its lowest number since the EID began collecting data in […]
The £1 million Grand National, the largest betting event on the world’s horse racing calendar, became the latest sporting victim of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic on Tuesday when race operator, Jockey Club Racecourses, canceled the event. Jockey Club Racecourses made the decision after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on […]
For the first time since World War II, the Kentucky Derby will not run the first Saturday in May. Instead, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it will run the first Saturday in September. Churchill Downs officials made the announcement Tuesday morning in response to a directive from the Centers for […]
In the latest move to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan became the first governor to shut down racetracks Sunday when he issued an executive order closing all Maryland casinos, racetracks and simulcast betting facilities to the public. The executive order closing Laurel Park, Pimlico […]
The $700,000 Sunland Derby, New Mexico’s contribution to the Kentucky Derby Trail, became the first Derby prep casualty of the COVID-19 virus Sunday when track officials called off all races. Set for March 22, Sunland would’ve awarded 50-20-15-5 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top four finishers — enough to […]
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