Flavien Prat will ride War of Will in Monday’s Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita Park. And if that doesn’t set off the irony bells and whistles – while running red flags from every mast – nothing else will. Last May 4, Prat found himself a Kentucky Derby-winning jockey […]
In this time of COVID-19, Royal Ascot won’t have the Queen in attendance this year. It won’t have stylishly dressed fans in the grandstands and boxes. But, the Royal Ascot meet will have six extra races, giving punters more options throughout the five-day meet. The revamped card for the June […]
Sole Volante is off to the Belmont Stakes. His stablemate, Ete Indien, heads to the Haskell Stakes. And Honor A.P. stays home for the Santa Anita Derby. These three Kentucky Derby contenders illustrate how many different paths have emerged on the Derby Trail during the COVID-19 era. Even in a […]
The expectations surrounding Maxfield on his 3-year-old debut at Saturday’s Grade 3 Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs can be viewed through the prism of two other horses who recently returned from extended time off. The first: Bob Baffert’s Tale of the Union, who returned to the starting gate at […]
Now that the New York Racing Association has set a new date for the Belmont Stakes and a new schedule for its Belmont Park spring/summer meet, the organization moved to creating new entry rule requirements and safety regulations. The organization announced in a release several new entry rule changes that […]
Adding to the other racetracks opening or reopening around North America, horseplayers get another option Friday when Texas’ Lone Star Park begins its spring/summer meet. At the outset, the track will run spectator-free. Located north of Dallas in Grand Prairie, Texas, Lone Star Park was scheduled to open April 16 […]
The Belmont Stakes already has Bob Baffert’s powerful unbeaten duo of Charlatan and Nadal. It has Kentucky Derby favorite Tiz the Law. But it won’t have King Guillermo. Juan Carlos Avila, King Guillermo’s trainer, tweeted the Tampa Bay Derby winner won’t run the June 20, 1 1/8-mile Belmont Stakes. Instead, […]
After all is said and done, standout 3-year-old filly Swiss Skydiver won’t parachute into the 1,000 Guineas. Instead, the likely favorite for the Kentucky Oaks will drop into Santa Anita for next month’s Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks. Swiss Skydiver in the English Classic would have turned heads for several […]
The first leg of Canada’s Triple Crown, the $1 million Queen’s Plate, will run Sept. 12 at its traditional Woodbine home outside Toronto. The Queen’s Plate is North America’s oldest continuously run stakes race and a summer fixture in Canada. Originally scheduled for June 27, it moved to its new […]
The final jewel to the 2020 Triple Crown fell into place Tuesday morning when the New York Racing Association announced the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes will run Saturday, June 20. With that date, the 152-year-old race opens the Triple Crown for the first time in history. That’s not the only […]
Texas is about to become the first state in the COVID-19 era to reopen racetracks with fans in attendance, courtesy of Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order that allows facilities to reopen at up to 25% of capacity. Abbott signed executive order GA-23 Monday afternoon. It opens the state’s simulcast facilities […]
Sunday at Santa Anita Park saw Flavien Prat experience what few jockeys ever get to savor in their riding careers — the joy of six trips to the winner’s circle. Prat won six of Santa Anita’s first nine races on Sunday’s card, a rare feat that vaulted him into rarefied […]
On the day the Preakness Stakes would normally run, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced the 2020 race’s new date of Oct. 3 – a move made necessary by the COVID-19 pandemic. That puts the 1 3/16-mile Preakness, the shortest of the Triple Crown events, four weeks after the Kentucky Derby. […]
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo put his state back in the horseracing game Saturday when he announced during his daily coronavirus briefing New York may resume spectator-free racing June 1. Along with Santa Anita Park and Golden Gate Fields resuming in California and Churchill Downs resuming in Kentucky, this is […]
Adding more prestige to Churchill Downs’ long-awaited Spring Meet opening on Saturday, champion 3-year-old Monomoy Girl returns to action for the first time in 18 months. In terms of class and competition, Monomoy Girl won’t be running against the elite fields she’s used to competing against. She’s entered as the […]
The reopening momentum sweeping across racetracks in the United States caught a wave in Canada with the announcement that Woodbine outside Toronto will reopen June 6. Woodbine Entertainment said it plans to open Mohawk Park for harness racing on June 5, and Woodbine for Thoroughbred racing the following day. Due […]
After a seven-week lobbying effort that, only a day ago seemed in jeopardy, Santa Anita Park received approval from the Los Angeles County Health Department to resume spectator-free racing this Friday. The approval came one day after county health officials extended the “safer-at-home†directive that seemed to put the track’s […]
The tug-of-war between Santa Anita Park and Los Angeles County Health Department officials continued Tuesday when county officials extended their “safer at home†order that was due to expire Friday. That extension slams into Santa Anita’s planned resumption of live racing, but track officials say they intend to proceed as […]
The Kentucky Derby Trail now has a visible path forward after Churchill Downs released a preliminary list of races offering Derby qualifying points, pending host track approval. One of the most interesting elements of the preliminary Derby Trail concerns the other two legs of the Triple Crown – the Preakness […]
Minnesota horse racing fans find themselves in the strange place of not being able to bet on races at state tracks after a bill provision allowing advance deposit wagering (ADW) for in-state races failed in the state legislature. The amendment allowing in-state ADW came out of a bill just as […]
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