Blood-Horse

A day after the company announced a pause on some planned improvements to the Churchill Downs facility, Churchill Downs Inc. CEO Bill Carstanjen expressed confidence in this year's Kentucky Derby week performance.

Klein Racing's homebred son of Noble Mission loves a mile on the grass and is 3-for-3 at Churchill Downs. These are the conditions for $350,000 Opening Verse Stakes at Churchill Downs for the Thurby program May 1.

Yoshito Yahagi, trainer of defeated Dubai World Cup (G1) favorite Forever Young, has suggested his colt was compromised by a prerace visit to the receiving barn at Meydan Racecourse for a random urine test and has called for changes.

Officials from the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority as well as its enforcement arm, the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit, conducted a virtual town hall meeting April 24 to address financial processes.

The Royal Ascot heroine has never won over the 1,200-meter distance, but trainer Henry Dwyer believes if Asfoora were to win a group 1 at the trip, it would be in the April 26 Robert Sangster Stakes (G1).

Record prices were like London buses at Goffs April 24 as the previous high mark at the Goffs UK Doncaster Breeze Up Sale was smashed not once but twice. Both lots were colts by Mehmas acquired by Godolphin.

In what proved to be very much a discussion, the ninth International Forum for the Aftercare of Racehorses addressed big-picture success stories and challenges while digging into details on how to build on those successes and address those problems.

The Breeders' Cup announced the 2025 "Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In" television schedule. Consisting of five live programs across NBC, FOX, Peacock, and CNBC, the series features automatic qualifying races at premier racetracks.

As connections debate whether to run Built in the Kentucky Derby (G1) or Pat Day Mile Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs May 3, the son of Hard Spun fired a bullet five furlongs in :59 2/5 April 24.

The stakes-placed Faith Understood and the Arrogate filly Purloin have joined the catalog as late supplements for the April 25 Keeneland April Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale.

Seven new members have been elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, led by Smarty Jones. Others to be inducted include Decathlon, Hermis, George Conway, Edward Bowen, Arthur Hancock III, and Richard Ten Broeck.

Dr. Eddie Donnally, interim Jockeys and Jeans president and a founding member, announced his retirement at a recent Jockeys and Jeans Committee Meeting. He nominated Dr. Kenny Katz as the new president. The New York native was unanimously elected.

With Romantic Warrior done for the season, international invaders have an uncommonly good opportunity in the April 27 Champions Day program in Hong Kong.

One week before the May 3 Kentucky Derby (G1) on April 26, Churchill Downs opens with a nighttime card to kick off its 43-day spring meet.

Letters to the BH Daily Editor, April 24, 2025

The 2025 Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame Thoroughbred inductees are Ivan Dalos, Builder; Marketing Mix, Female Horse; Perry Winters, Jockey; Ghostzapper, Male Horse; Mike Doyle, Trainer; and Storm Bird, Veteran.

On the same day it reported plans to pause some planned construction projects at Churchill Downs racetrack, Churchill Downs Inc. reported largely positive numbers for the first quarter of 2025.

A last-out fourth in the Arkansas Derby (G1), Cornucopian returns to action in a one-mile allowance optional claiming contest at Aqueduct Racetrack April 27 with an eye on the Preakness Stakes (G1).

The Thoroughbred racing industry joined forces on Saturday, April 19th for the seventh annual PDJF Telethon to raise over $445,000 for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund.

Citing increasing uncertainty surrounding construction costs related to tariff and trade disputes, as well as current macroeconomic conditions, CDI has decided to pause the multiyear projects to develop its Skye, Conservatory, and infield areas.