Given the intense interest in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby amid the coronavirus pandemic, the move was as expected as it was unprecedented. And Oaklawn Park made it official Sunday, splitting Saturday’s final scheduled Kentucky Derby prep into two divisions. Both 11-horse divisions will race for a $500,000 purse, and […]
Two days after laying out plans to resume horse racing amid the coronavirus pandemic, French officials released a schedule of Group (Grade) 1 races that provide a different look from a traditional French racing calendar. France Galop, the country’s racing governing body, announced the schedule pending the planned resumption of […]
Tampa Bay Downs became the latest American racetrack to extend its meet after Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering officials approved the track’s application for an extension to May 30. The track’s original closing date was May 3. After that date, Tampa Bay Downs will shift from a four-day schedule of […]
The mint juleps are your responsibility, as are the party decorations and hats. But Churchill Downs promised a big event in 2020 on the first Saturday in May — and Kentucky Derby fans will get one, virtually. No, the Kentucky Derby hasn’t been un-postponed. It’s still scheduled to run on […]
Racing officials in France outlined a plan this week to resume racing at French tracks on May 11, a move that could signal a return to racing across Europe in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. After meetings between French racing officials from the various governing bodies and government ministers, […]
Horseplayers from around the world get another 12 days of Fonner Park races after Wednesday’s announcement that the Nebraska State Racing Commission unanimously approved the track’s extension for a second season of racing. Originally set to end its racing season April 29, Fonner Park gets an additional 12 days of […]
The Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission ordered Remington Park to stop offering its Sooner 6ix jackpot wager after a bettor complaint created a controversy over the wager’s payout. Jeff Arthur, a Virginia bettor, filed the complaint with the OHRC last week. He argued he had the only winning Sooner 6ix ticket […]
Irad Ortiz Jr. is used to being out in front. Now, with the announcement the two-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey is returning to racing after a month’s hiatus, Ortiz is returning to the pack. Ortiz’s agent, Steve Rushing, confirmed to Horse Racing Nation his client plans returning to the saddle Saturday […]
The status of the Belmont Stakes remains up in the air while the New York Racing Association has grounded racing at Belmont Park. The organization delayed the spring/summer meet due to the coronavirus pandemic. Belmont Park’s meet was to last 51 days, running from April 24 through July 12. From […]
She looms over the Apple Blossom Handicap field as a first-among-equals favorite. But royal resume, career victories and pedigree aside, Serengeti Empress wears the uneasy crown of a favorite with more to prove, and a desire to exit the roller coaster marking her career to date. Not that you’d turn […]
With no new date established to resume racing, the British Horse Racing Authority this week extended its coronavirus shutdown to sometime after May 1. But the BHA did leave wiggle room to resume racing without spectators in May. This wiggle room did not spare York Racecourse officials from canceling their […]
Gulfstream Park’s 11-race Thursday card isn’t one to send the blood racing. There isn’t a stakes race, let alone a graded-stakes race, to be found. And the two “feature†races are both allowance claimers. But the otherwise ordinary Thursday card does feature something kind of special in its second race. […]
In a normal year, most horse racing fans living on either end of the United States couldn’t find Fonner Park without GPS or Google maps. Not even TVG, your go-to video source for all things horse racing, has spent much time examining the happenings from Fonner Park, about an hour-and-a-half […]
Amid harrowing tales of isolated backstretch workers facing layoffs, and with a planned move to Los Alamitos now dead, Santa Anita Park executives proposed a meeting with Alameda County health officials for Saturday in another effort to resume spectator-free racing. The horsemen contend it’s essential for the health and safety […]
In the latest fallout from a long-running horse doping scandal ensnaring some of the sports top trainers and veterinarians, the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia announced it is withholding the purse distribution for the $20 million Saudi Cup pending its own internal investigation. Maximum Security won the Feb. 29, $20 […]
Ignore for the moment that there are no Kentucky Derby qualifying points up for grabs at Saturday’s $200,000 Oaklawn Stakes. Instead, follow the lead of Hall of Fame trainers Bob Baffert and Steve Asmussen and pay attention to the opportunity. In Baffert’s case, it’s an opportunity to see how Thousand […]
The fact there is a main event in the COVID-19 era took a back seat for Day 2 of tonight’s The Championships from Royal Randwick in Sydney. The biggest question horse racing fans across racing-mad Australia have is this: How do you follow a superhorse in the main event? That […]
With most horse racing canceled throughout the country in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gulfstream Park in Florida finds itself a surprising beneficiary due to horsemen staying put in one of the few states still featuring live racing. As a result of a deeper-than-usual horse population – both in numbers […]
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. […]
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 […]
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