Blood-Horse

There's just one graded stakes race across North America on Thanksgiving, Nov. 27: the $400,000 Falls City Stakes (G3), the centerpiece of a holiday program at Churchill Downs.

Spendthrift Farm's Local Knowledge is set to return from an eye-catching debut as an imposing 3-5 morning-line favorite for the $75,000 Juvenile Sprint Stakes Nov. 22 at Gulfstream Park.

Runaway first-season sire Starman has had his covering fee upped to €40,000 for the 2026 breeding season. Tally-Ho Stud’s latest rising star stood the most recent campaign at €10,000.

The four-day sale saw 707 foals sell for a gross of €34,160,500, a 5% year-on-year gain. The average price was almost identical at €48,320, although the median dipped by seven points to €26,000, down from €28,000 in 2024.

Mountain View Farm, owned by a partnership including owner/trainer David Cannizzo, is launching a stallion venture in 2026 as part of a new full-service farm. Top 10 freshman sire Leinster and grade 1 winner Fire At Will are its first stallions.

Annabel and Rob Archibald will bid for back-to-back Railway Stakes (G1) victories Nov. 22 when Queensland Guineas (G2) winner Depth Of Character takes his place in the Ascot feature. 

A Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit arbitrator suspended trainer Antonio Meraz and fined him $5,000 after one of his winning horses at Mahoning Valley Racecourse, Isaul Gonzalez's First Kitten, tested above the limit for cobalt.

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority announced Nov. 20 the members of its newly established Medical Advisory Committee, a group of leading medical professionals with a broad range of specialties from across the United States.

In a landmark collaboration, Tattersalls Online and the Emirates Racing Authority have announced Nov. 20 a groundbreaking online auction of horses in training in the United Arab Emirates which will take place Nov. 24-27.

The $175,000 Pebbles Stakes (G3T), rescheduled from Nov. 16 to Nov. 23 after this past Sunday's card at Aqueduct Racetrack was canceled early in the day due to high winds, deepened with the postponement.

Calandagan, a three-time group 1 winner so far this year who capped his European racing season with a 2 1/4-length win in the Champion Stakes (G1), was crowned Horse of the Year at the 35th Cartier Racing Awards Nov. 19.

Returning from a seventh-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), Nevada Beach towers over four foes in the $100,000 Native Diver Stakes (G3) at Del Mar Nov. 22.

Speaking before the CHRB during its Nov. 19 meeting in Sacramento, Calif., an executive from the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association spotlighted three incentives aimed at reversing years of contraction in the state's breeding industry.

The 169 foals sold Nov. 19 brought turnover of €18,359,000, which was almost identical to 12 months ago, the average price dipped by 5% at €108,635, and the median was down 3% at €78,000.

Frank Shaw, 95, of Rumford, R.I., who worked in several pursuits in horse racing throughout his life, died Oct. 30. 

A new study from the Royal Veterinary College has identified that aging causes a significant loss of blood vessels in the tendons of horses.

Preakness Stakes (G1)-winning jockey Jaime Torres is the latest to join the Oaklawn Park jockey colony this winter, adding his name to the list of new faces for one of racing's most lucrative meets.

With heavy rain in the forecast, Del Mar announced they will cancel the Nov. 21 card and add a race day Nov. 24.

Churchill Downs Racetrack has revealed the official mint julep glass and "Art of the Kentucky Derby" for the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby (G1). Both were designed by Kentucky native Grayson Reynolds.

Great Notion, a 25-year-old son of Elusive Quality, is an eight-time leading sire in Maryland. He has been pensioned at Northview Stallion Station, his home for more than two decades.