Blood-Horse

Returning for the first time since his Nov. 4 Breeders' Cup triumph, Master of The Seas illustrated his effectiveness over yielding going, darting past rivals to easily capture the $600,000 Maker's Mark Mile Stakes (G1T) April 12 at Keeneland.

Dr. Ira Mersack, who previously co-owned Margaux Farm in Midway, Ky., died April 10. He was 83.

The lightly raced but talented Scylla returns to the site of her first career victory and faces her biggest test yet when she starts in the April 19 $300,000 Doubledogdare Stakes (G3) at Keeneland.

Mensa became the first winner for first-crop sire Complexity by dashing to a front-running three-length victory in a $62,700 maiden race for juveniles April 12 at Gulfstream Park.

War Chant, a longstanding resident at Yarradale Stud in Australia, died at age 27 April 11. The son of Danzig was victorious in the 2000 Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) at Churchill Downs.

On April 22-23, Light Up Racing is set to launch its Media and Content Cohort Training Program in Lexington. Light Up Racing is assembling a dynamic group of approximately 20 individuals from every aspect of the horse racing industry,

Success stories from the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance.

Trainer Robertino Diodoro, provisionally suspended by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit after the alleged discovery of the banned substance levothyroxine in his barn at Oaklawn Park, enters a horse to race at Lone Star Park April 18.

Presented by Gainesway and Darby Dan Farm.

Attorneys for Amr Zedan's racing stable filed a scathing response to a request made by Churchill Downs Inc. for expedited relief from Zedan's suit seeking to overturn a ban of Bob Baffert racing at its tracks.

Roses for Debra returns April 13 after a ninth-place effort in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) at Santa Anita Park her last time out. Before that, the Liam's Map mare had top-three finishes in all but one of her 10 starts. 

Trainer George Weaver was informed by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit that his runner Anna's Wish tested positive for metformin following a third-place finish in the March 16 Cicada Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack.

A plan to create a screening and advanced imaging program near Belmont Park in a partnership between the New York Racing Association and Cornell University is facing an uphill climb at the capital in Albany, N.Y.

Perfect Shances is a homebred for Al and Michelle Crawford, who also campaigned Shancelot with Gelfenstein Farm. Wesley Ward trains the first-time starter who won April 11 gate-to-wire by 4 3/4 lengths at Keeneland.

The American Horse Council announces its bi-annual Congressional Scorecard, covering the second half of 2023.

The Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit announced April 11 the release of its 2023 Annual Report, which is available online.

Grade 1-winning trainer Ralph Nicks announced that he will call it a career April 14 after saddling a horse for the final time at Gulfstream Park.

Adjudication of cases involving trainers whose horses have tested positive for methamphetamine remains on hold by HIWU amid a long-awaited proposed rule change submitted to the Federal Trade Commission addressing common drugs of human abuse.

Newmarket Handicap (G1)-winning sprinter Cylinder, a high-class 2-year-old who won two key Golden Slipper (G1) lead-ups and was runner-up in the feature, will stand at Darley's Victoria operation in 2024.

HISA has partnered with Sports Medicine Concepts, a leading provider of elite sports emergency care training and emergency action planning services, to develop emergency action plans across Thoroughbred racetracks operating under HISA's rules.