Blood-Horse

There will be a fervent hope for sunshine July 25 when the $200,000 Amsterdam Stakes (G2) is contested at Saratoga Race Course 

Atlantic Friends Racing's Historic Heart fended off the challenge of grade 1 winner Proven Innocent to notch his first top-level triumph in the July 23 $150,000 A. P. Smithwick Memorial Handicap (NSA-1) at Saratoga Race Course.

There will be a fervent hope for sunshine July 25 when the $200,000 Amsterdam Stakes (G2) is contested at Saratoga Race Course 

Hidden Brook Farm's commitment to top-tier horsemanship is being proven once again with the emergence of Dr. Venkman, who seeks his first grade 1 victory July 26 in the Bing Crosby Stakes (G1) at Del Mar.

The New York Racing Association announced July 23 that the precautionary quarantine of barn 28 at Saratoga Race Course has been lifted by the New York State Department of Agriculture effective immediately.

William Buick has been confirmed as the rider of Field of Gold in the July 30 Sussex Stakes (G1) at Goodwood and enjoyed a first feel of the classy Juddmonte-owned gray on the Newmarket gallops July 23.

Stewards in New Jersey issued jockey Umberto Rispoli a one-day suspension and fined him $6,000 for exceeding the permitted number of riding-crop strikes in riding Journalism to victory in the July 19 Haskell Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park.

A panel of racing experts voted Irad Ortiz Jr. as Jockey of the Week for the week of July 14-20. He won at Finger Lakes, Saratoga, Monmouth Park, and returned to Saratoga for another win, ending the week with 10 wins.

On the July 21 episode of BloodHorse Monday, we recap Journalism's Haskell Stakes (G1) victory, Jonathan Green of D. J. Stable talks Sandman before the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2), and Monmouth Park's Dennis Drazin talks New Jersey racing.

The July Digital Sale closed July 22 with 137 horses sold for $4,808,500. The sale averaged $35,098, with a median of $15,000. The clearance rate of 81% represented the 137 horses sold from 169 offered.

Ken Freirich will match up to $100,000 for donations raised on this year's Annual Day of Giving. The fundraising program puts key Thoroughbred industry charities in the spotlight 100 days out from the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar.

Oaklawn will offer a record 62 stakes races during the 64-day racing season. Stakes purses alone will exceed $18.3 million, more than double the total from the 2019 season.

Maiden Watch: Week of July 14-July 20

The $135,000 Curlin Stakes at Saratoga is not a time-honored path to the Travers Stakes (G1). Yet the Curlin serves a purpose as one last chance to swim in a shallow pond before heading over to much deeper waters in the Aug. 23 Midsummer Derby.

Trainer Chad Brown will send out two fillies—Play With Fire and Lavender Disaster in the $175,000 Lake George Stakes (G3T) July 26 at Saratoga Race Course. They will have a rematch with Classic Q, winner of the July 3 Wild Applause Stakes.

Porter on Pedigrees

Conrad Bandoroff, Rowland Hancock, and Craig Brogden have been elected to the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association and Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders board of directors, the organization announced on social media July 22.

The fourth annual HRWA Conference will feature a welcome reception, keynote address, featured afternoon speaker, three panel discussions, and a special presentation of the Jane Goldstein Award.

Jockey Tyler Gaffalione returned from a four-month injury layoff to win aboard five of his first seven mounts at Ellis Park, including sweeping the July 20 Jeff Hall Memorial Stakes aboard Banishing and the July 21 Twin Bridges Stakes on Asternia.

After winning the July 19 Haskell Stakes (G1) by half-length at Monmouth Park, Journalism has sprung from No. 6 to No. 3 in the National Thoroughbred Racing Association's Top Thoroughbred Poll.