Horse Racing

Conagher was a $9,000 purchase back in 2020. He is now a three-time winner after capturing his second consecutive allowance victory in near-record fashion Friday. (Image: Coady Photography)

Here’s Another 3-Year-Old to Watch: Sprinter Conagher

In April, Conagher announced his presence with a 6 ¾-length blitzkrieg of a Keeneland allowance field. And just to remind everyone this is a 3-year-old to watch, Conagher nearly broke the Churchill Downs seven-furlong track record Friday. En route to his second allowance victory in as many starts, Conagher covered […]

Emmanuel's last victory came in this allowance optional-claimer at Tampa Bay Downs three starts ago in January. He makes his turf debut in Saturday's Grade 2 Pennine Ridge at Belmont Park. (Image: SV Photography)

Former Derby Prospect Emmanuel Ready for His Turf Close-Up

One week before several of his former Triple Crown trail rivals tackle the “Test of the Champion:” the Belmont Stakes, Emmanuel tackles his first turf test in Saturday’s Grade 2 Pennine Ridge at Belmont Park. The 1 1/8-mile trek along Belmont Park’s inner turf course serves as a key prep […]

Americanrevolution won the Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct in his last start. He headlines the Blame Stakes field, the penultimate leg of this week's Cross Country Pick 5. (Image: Coglianese Photos)

This Cross Country Pick 5 Features Grade 1 Winner, Four Stakes Races

The return of a Grade 1 winner and an intriguing Grade 2 stakes race provide the highlight of this week’s New York Racing Association Cross Country Pick 5. This week’s races come to horseplayers from Belmont Park and Churchill Downs. The aforementioned Grade 1 winner is Americanrevolution, who returns six […]

Wow Whata Summer and rider Tyler Conner pulled off an 83/1 upset in Friday's Grade 2 Penn Mile. It was the first time the 3-year-old gelding crossed the finish line first in seven races. (Image: Kathy Hair/EQUI-PHOTO)

Wow Indeed: Wow Whata Summer Springs 83/1 Penn Mile Upset

Wow Whata Summer couldn’t even meet his $24,000 reserve price at the 2020 Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale. He came into Friday’s Grade 2 Penn Mile with one victory on the ledger – and that coming via disqualification. And now, he has a Grade 2 win on the […]

The last time we saw Annapolis, he was winning the Grade 2 Pilgrim Stakes last October. He is the 9/5 morning line favorite for Friday's Grade 2 Penn Mile at Penn National. (Image: Coglianese Photos/Susie Raisher

Unbeaten Annapolis Sets Sail for Penn National as the Penn Mile Favorite

Undefeated Annapolis takes center stage at a track that rarely takes center stage – Penn National – for Friday evening’s Grade 2 $400K Penn Mile. The Pennsylvania track holds court as the site of six stakes, including the $150K Penn Oaks for 3-year-old fillies. Annapolis makes his 3-year-old debut as […]

Tiz the Bomb likely saw his last synthetic race in this April Jeff Ruby Steaks victory at Turfway Park. He will move back to his preferred turf surface for the Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational next month. (Image: Coady Photography/Turfway Park)

Tiz the Bomb Ready to Blow Up Again on His Preferred Turf Surface

Tiz the Bomb’s long-expected move to turf was formally announced Thursday when trainer Kenny McPeek said the versatile colt will begin his grass career with the Grade 1 $1 million Belmont Derby Invitational. That July 9, 1 1/4-mile race at Belmont Park opens the New York Racing Association’s Turf Triple […]

Kentucky Downs offers $150,000 maiden races, the largest purses in the world. The boutique meet expanded to seven days with a record $17.95 million in purses. (Image: Grace Clark/Kentucky Downs)

Kentucky Downs Announces Record Purses, Added Races

Kentucky Downs officials announced the boutique meet’s 2022 schedule, which features record purses, expanded stakes, and the richest maiden races in the world. The seven-day meet, which runs Sept. 1, 3, 4, 8, 10, 11, and 14 over the all-turf, kidney-shaped track, offers 17 stakes worth a record $10.7 million. […]

Rich Strike enjoys a bath from groom Jerry Dixon Jr. after arriving at Belmont Park Tuesday morning. The Kentucky Derby champion will go through paddock schooling, then informally work out in the afternoon. (Image: Adam Coglianese)

Derby Winner Rich Strike Arrives in New York for Belmont Stakes

Rich Strike arrived at Belmont Park today, 10 days before the 154th Belmont Stakes. The surprise Kentucky Derby winner took a trot around the dirt training track before heading to the barn for a long nap. The Derby winner, along with exercise rider Gabriel Lagunes and outrider Juan Galvez and […]

Golden Glider began his 2022 season winning this allowance optional claimer at Tampa Bay Downs. He'll be a gutty long shot in next week's Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park. (Image: SV Photography)

Can Golden Glider Turn Back the Belmont Stakes Clock to Sir Winston?

Mark Casse figures if Sir Winston could do it, why not Golden Glider? Three years ago, the Hall of Fame trainer brought Sir Winston into the Belmont Stakes starting gate. The colt broke his maiden at Woodbine, then missed the board in two Kentucky Derby preps: the Tampa Bay Derby […]

Smooth Like Strait and Umberto Rispoli won last year's Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile. The 5-year-old horse returns with Flavien Prat aboard as the 4/5 favorite for the Memorial Day race at Santa Anita Park. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Smooth Like Strait Looks Like the Right Fit in Shoemaker Mile

That Smooth Like Strait is the 4/5 morning line favorite for Monday’s Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita Park is understandable on several levels. Thirteen of them, to be precise. That’s the string of graded stakes races the 5-year-old turf terror brings into the second of Santa Anita’s three […]

Going Global is an 8/5 favorite in the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes, which makes her a tempting single for Santa Anita's Rainbow Six jackpot wager. That pool is expected to hit $5 million. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Santa Anita Park’s Rainbow Six Expected to Hit $5 Million Monday

Santa Anita Park officials expect Monday’s 20 cent Rainbow Six jackpot to hit $5 million as horseplayers pile into the wager on a mandatory payout day. Nobody hit the wager Sunday, which requires holding a single ticket with six winners. That sends a $588,484 carryover into Monday’s 10-race Memorial Day […]

Stilleto Boy won the Grade 2 Californian on the lead. The question is: can he win the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup in the same fashion? (Image: Benoit Photo)

Hollywood Gold Cup: The Race Where Someone Wins Their First Grade 1

The Hollywood Gold Cup is the race movie stars attended and the race won by a movie star – Seabiscuit, who won the inaugural Gold Cup in 1938. It’s the race won by Triple Crown champions Affirmed and Citation, who retired after winning the 1951 edition. That race made him […]

Jessica Pyfer and Bally's Charge were all alone down the stretch of Saturday's Snow Chief Stakes at Santa Anita. It was Pyfer's first stakes victory as a journeyman jockey. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Champion Apprentice Pyfer Wins Her First Stakes as Journeyman

In what would otherwise be a nice, but unremarkable Black-Type stakes race, Jessica Pyfer turned Saturday’s Snow Chief Stakes into one of the day’s feel-good racing stories. The reigning Champion Apprentice Jockey, Pyfer returned to the races eight days after being injured in a paddock accident to win her first […]

Sconsin returns from her 8 1/2-month winter break to defend her title in Monday's Grade 3 Winning Colors at Churchill Downs. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Sprinter Sconsin Returns to Paint Her Defense in Winning Colors

While Santa Anita Park and its three Grade 1s is the center of Monday’s racing universe, the return of multiple graded stakes winner Sconsin to the track opens another window into a possible presence on the older female front. The 5-year-old mare returns to the track for the first time […]

Temple City Terror won last year's Keertana Overnight Stakes at Churchill Downs. She goes for her fifth victory in the same event Saturday. It is the third race in this week's Cross Country Pick 5. (Image: Coady Photography)

Cross Country Pick 5 Offers Several Deep Fields, Two Stakes

Two stakes races, one featuring a Breeders’ Cup board hitter, highlight Saturday’s New York Racing Association Cross Country Pick 5, which come to you from Belmont Park and Churchill Downs. This is the first of two Cross Country Pick 5s this weekend. The multi-race, multi-track wager resets Monday with stakes […]

Trainer Peter Miller, seen here at Del Mar last summer, returns after a six-month hiatus from training Sunday. The embattled trainer insists his break from the barn was a personal decision and not the result of a spate of deaths in his barn. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Trainer Peter Miller Returns After Six Months On Hiatus

Peter Miller, who hasn’t raced a horse since Nov. 28, returns to the barn for the first time in six months when he sends out 3-year-old gelding Respect the Code for Sunday’s eighth race at Churchill Downs. The California-based trainer, who won nine training titles at Del Mar, took what […]

Before the Breeders' Cup Dirt Dozen program was announced, Obligatory (5) captured the first race of the new incentive-based program: the Derby City Distaff. (Image: Coady Photography)

Breeders’ Cup Digs In, Creates Dirt Dozen Incentive Program

Further trying to incentivize participation in its dirt races, the Breeders’ Cup announced a participation bonus for connections of dirt horses – the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Dozen. The 12-race program encompasses existing graded stakes races scheduled from now through October at six US tracks. The Dirt Dozen awards bonuses for […]

Brickyard Ride rides for five consecutive stakes wins in Sunday's Grade 2 Triple Bend Stakes at Santa Anita Park. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Brickyard Ride Goes for Five in Sunday’s Triple Bend Stakes

Standout sprinter Brickyard Ride has taken his connections on quite a journey this year, one continuing Sunday when he goes for his fifth consecutive stakes victory in the Grade 2 Triple Bend Stakes at Santa Anita Park. The 5-year-old son of Clubhouse Ride is on pace to win 12 stakes […]

PImlico paid out more than $479,000 to one Rainbow 6 ticket holder Thursday. (Image: Maryland Jockey Club)

One Bettor Solves Pimlico’s Rainbow 6 for Nearly $500K

A savvy horseplayer including 10/1 Sky of Gold on his ticket cracked Pimlico Race Course’s Rainbow 6 for $479,801.24 Thursday, ending an eight-day stretch of rollovers for the 20-cent wager. The last time someone solved the Rainbow 6 occurred on May 8, the closing day for Laurel Park’s spring meet. Outside […]