Like any rock star worth his paycheck, Gun Runner is taking his act on the road. The leading second-crop sire in North America will breed a limited number of Southern Hemisphere mares during the Down Under breeding season. Thoroughbred Daily News reported that Gun Runner will stand for $75,000 US/AUS $109,700. […]
Tag: Business Of Horse Racing
Influential Turf Sire, Champion Kitten’s Joy Dies at 21
Kitten’s Joy, a former Champion Male Turf Horse and one of the top turf sires of the 21st century, died Friday at his Hill n’ Dale Farm home in Xalapa, KY. of an apparent heart attack. He was 21. Ramsey Farm’s social media accounts announced the death Friday. Ramsey Farm […]
Mixed Messages Define Belmont Park’s Spring/Summer Handle
First, the good news for Belmont Park and its just-concluded Spring/Summer Meet. The track enjoyed a 2% increase in average daily handle over 2021. The average daily handle came in at $13,437,509 for the 44-day meet that ended Sunday. According to the New York Racing Association, the average daily handle […]
Keeneland Brings Home Record Spring Meet Handle Across the Board
Keeneland enjoyed its third consecutive year of record Spring Meet handle, bringing in an all-sources handle of $219,284,979 for its just-concluded Spring Meet. That handle was the largest total in the Kentucky track’s history. The more than $219 million from the 15-day meet that ended Friday represented a 33.16% increase […]
NYRA Hearing Officer Recommends Two-Year Ban for Bob Baffert
Retired Justice O. Peter Sherwood, who presided over the January hearing pitting Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert against the New York Racing Association issued a report recommending Baffert be banned from NYRA tracks for two years. That 54-page report was issued to the media on Wednesday. In it, Sherwood […]
Bettors Cash a Long-Awaited Ticket as Kentucky Eliminates Breakage
It went by Kentucky HB 607, an innocuous name for a bill that could put millions of dollars into horseplayers’ wallets after its Tuesday passage in the Kentucky State Senate. That bill, which heads back to the House for concurrence after sailing through the state senate 33-1, virtually eliminates breakage. […]
The Jockey Club Blinks on Controversial Breeding Rule, Rescinds Limit
Running into a stiffening headwind of opposition, The Jockey Club rescinded its controversial rule limiting the number of mares bred per stallion Thursday. The rule limiting stallions born in 2020 or later to a maximum of 140 mares in a calendar year was adopted in May 2020. The Jockey Club […]
Del Mar Closes 2021 as Safest Major Racetrack in America
Del Mar took in record handle of more than $943 million in 2021, but that buries the lead of what became the most important feature of the suburban San Diego track during the two-session, 2021 racing season. The track endured just one fatality in 426 races, encompassing 3,552 starters, making […]
Derby Champion Medina Spirit Dies of Apparent Heart Attack After Workout
The sporting world beyond horse racing was shocked Monday morning when 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit suddenly died of an apparent heart attack after a morning workout at Santa Anita Park. The Bob Baffert-trained 3-year-old had just finished a five-furlong work in 1:01.40 when he collapsed. Santa Anita’s onsite […]
HISA Outlines Proposed Rules Governing Drugs, Crops and Claims
The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) released its proposed new rules on Thursday that address doping enforcement, medication, crop usage, and new claiming provisions. The HISA proposal puts drug enforcement in the hands of the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Those rules simplify what is often a Byzantine maze of […]
Bettors Give Keeneland an 85th Anniversary Gift: Record Meet Handle
Keeneland threw itself an 85th anniversary party and horseplayers responded with a wagering gift: a record $181 million in all-sources handle for its just-concluded Fall Meet. The 17-day Fall Meet, which ran from Oct. 8-30, brought an all-sources handle of $181,009,626. That destroyed the previous mark of $164,680,229, set during […]
Breeding Frenzy: Goldencents is 2021’s Most Prolific Stallion
The Jockey Club released its annual Report of Mares Bred (RMB) this week, revealing that three of super-stallion Into Mischief’s offspring serviced the most mares during the 2021 breeding season. Goldencents, the 2012 and 2013 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner, led the stallion parade, covering 230 mares this year. Right […]
Breeders’ Cup Reveals Intense Security Measures for Baffert’s Horses
The Breeders’ Cup may have been late to the Bob Baffert scrutiny party, but the organization is bringing a rather hefty punch to the proceedings. On Tuesday, it outlined to the Los Angeles Times the security measures the Hall of Fame trainer must adhere to for his horses to run […]
Essential Quality, Maxfield Headed to Stallion Careers After Final Races
Essential Quality and Maxfield, two of the biggest North American routing names of the last two-plus seasons, are both retiring to the breeding shed after their next races. Darley America, Godolphin’s North American affiliate, announced the pair will join the breeding and racing giant’s Jonabell, Kentucky, farm for the 2022 […]
Even at 20, Gainesway’s Champion Sire Tapit Holds His Value
Three-time Champion Sire Tapit’s stud fee remains at $185,000, the primary takeaway from Gainesway Farm’s 2022 stallion roster fee update. Even as Spendthrift Farm’s Into Mischief continues to draw most of the oxygen and attention on the sire tables, Tapit remains North America’s leading sire over numerous categories. He leads […]
Raging Bull Retiring to Gainesway Farm After Breeders’ Cup Farewell
Raging Bull, one of North America’s leading male turf runners, will retire after the Breeders’ Cup Mile and head to his breeding career at Gainesway Farm in Kentucky. He will open his breeding career in 2022 for $10,000. The 6-year-old horse, a product of standout European sire Dark Angel, owns […]
Stallion Fee Roundup: Curlin Unchanged, Gun Runner More than Doubles
Stud fees for two-time Horse of the Year Curlin remain unchanged at $175,000 as Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm in Xalapa, Kentucky, released its 2022 stallion roster and fees on Wednesday. Hill ‘n’ Dale was one of several breeding farms unveiling its roster and breeding fees. Among other farms announcing their […]
Knicks Go Headed to Taylor Made Stallions After Racing Career Ends
Knicks Go, the current clubhouse leader for 2021 Horse of the Year, will retire to Taylor Made Stallions in Kentucky at the end of his racing career, the farm announced in a release Monday. The stud fee for the four-time Grade 1 winner will be announced after next month’s Breeders’ […]
Preakness Champion and Prolific Sire Bernardini Euthanized at 18
Bernardini, the 2006 Preakness Stakes winner and one of the most decorated international sires of this century, was euthanized on Friday after complications from laminitis. He was 18. The stallion was euthanized at Jonabell Farm in Kentucky, where he lived since beginning his stallion career in 2007. Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley […]
Charlatan Retired to Stud After Meteoric and Stellar Career
Standout colt Charlatan, who won every race but his last one, retired from racing Thursday, heading for stud duty at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm in Paris, KY. That comes a little over a month after the 4-year-old went on the shelf after a Churchill Downs workout. That last workout came […]