Thoroughbred Daily News

MSW Determined Kingdom (Animal Kingdom) captured the title of Virginia-bred Horse of the Year and will be recognized–along with other 2024 award winners–during Virginia Derby Day festivities at Colonial Downs Mar. 15, the track said in a Thursday press release.

A series of award presentations will take place between various races from the paddock infield that day and broadcast over the simulcast feed.

Determined Kingdom's year was marked with his third straight win in the Punch Line Stakes at Colonial last July. The 6-year-old was also rewarded as the Virginia-bred Turf Sprinter of the Year.

Gigante was named Virginia-bred Turf Horse of the Year. The son of Not This Time, bred by Ann Mudge Backer and Smitten Farm, won back-to-back black-types and was the runner-up in the GII Muniz Memorial Classic Stakes–all at Fair Grounds.

Freshman title awards will be presented to Sail Theseven Seas (Street Sense) and Saxton (Mosler) in the Virginia-bred filly and colt categories, respectively. The former finished in the top three in all five of her races, while the latter was 2-for-5 and bankrolled $110,400 last year.

Top Virginia-bred Older Female honors went to Tufani (Distorted Humor), who was bred by Chance Farm and the Distorted Humor Syndicate. Now a 5-year-old, she won the Brookmeade Stakes and Nellie Mae Cox Handicap at Colonial.

Virginia-Certified winners include Future Is Now (Great Notion) as top female performer and Book'em Danno (Bucchero) as top male. Both had outstanding campaigns–the former earned $513,155 while the latter bankrolled $807,500.

Maryland-bred Future Is Now won four stakes including a pair of Grade II races–the Intercontinental Stakes at Saratoga and the Franklin Stakes at Keeneland. The 5-year-old spent her Virginia residency at Johnson's Legacy Farm in Bluefield.

Book'em Danno collected a trio of stakes wins including the GI Woody Stephens Stakes at Saratoga. The 4-year-old gelding also connected in the Pasco Stakes and Jersey Shore Stakes. In addition, Book'em Danno was a game runner-up in the G3 Saudi Derby. The New Jersey-bred spent his six-month Virginia residency at Gracie Bloodstock's Locust Hill Farm in Middleburg.

Virginia Trainer of the Year honors go to Susan Cooney, whose farm is based in Delaplane. In 2024, Cooney had 11 wins, nine seconds and 17 third place finishes.

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Every week, the TDN posts a roundup of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from around the country.

The following rulings were reported on HISA's “rulings” portal and through the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) “pending” and “resolved” cases portals.

Resolved ADMC Violations:
Date: 02/18/2025
Licensee: Raymond Valerio, trainer
Penalty: Disqualification of Covered Horse's Race results, including forfeiture of all purses and other compensation, prizes, trophies, points, and rankings and repayment or surrender (as applicable); a fine of $500; imposition of 1.5 Penalty Points. Final decision of HIWU.
Explainer: For the use or attempted use of a Class C controlled medication on Crypto Conspiracy during the race period.

Date: 02/18/2025
Licensee: Amador Sanchez, trainer
Penalty: 30-day period of Ineligibility for Covered Person, beginning on February 19, 2025; Disqualification of Covered Horse's Race results, including forfeiture of all purses and other compensation, prizes, trophies, points, and rankings and repayment or surrender (as applicable); a fine of $2,500; imposition of 2 Penalty Points.
Also: Disqualification of Covered Horse's Race results, including forfeiture of all purses and other compensation, prizes, trophies, points, and rankings and repayment or surrender (as applicable); Treated as 1 violation with Mayheminthepalace under 09/08/23 HISA Guidance. Final decision of internal arbitration panel.
Explainer: Medication violations for the presence of Lidocaine-a controlled substance (Class B)-in samples taken from Mayheminthepalace, who won at Remington Park on 10/4/24, and from Excuses, who finished second at Remington Park on 10/6/24.

Date: 02/17/2025
Licensee: Gerald Butler, trainer
Penalty: 20-month period of Ineligibility for Covered Person, beginning on February 18, 2025; a fine of $10,000; payment of $5,000 of HIWU's arbitration costs (Rule 3214(a)). Final decision by arbitral body.
Explainer: Possession of a banned substance, Levothyroxine, and acts of retaliation and threats/intimidation.

Date: 02/17/2025
Licensee: Jon Glenn Arnett, trainer
Penalty: Disqualification of Covered Horse's Race results, including forfeiture of all purses and other compensation, prizes, trophies, points, and rankings and repayment or surrender (as applicable); a fine of $500; imposition of 1.5 Penalty Points. Also: A fine of $500; imposition of 1 Penalty Point; referral to the relevant state or federal authority. Final decision by HIWU.
Explainer: Medication violations for the use or attempted use of a Class C controlled medication on Blessed Anna during the race period, and for “Possession of a Controlled Medication Substance or Controlled Medication Method not in compliance with applicable State or Federal law” for an event dated 9/28/24.

Date: 02/13/2025
Licensee: David Wayne Baker, trainer
Penalty: 15-day period of Ineligibility for Covered Person, beginning on February 14, 2025; Disqualification of Covered Horse's Race results, including forfeiture of all purses and other compensation, prizes, trophies, points, and rankings and repayment or surrender (as applicable); a fine of $1,000; imposition of 2 Penalty Points. Final decision by internal adjudication panel.
Explainer: Medication violation for the presence of Mepivacaine-a controlled substance (Class B)-in a sample taken from Mars Magic, who won at Ferndale on 9/7/24.

Pending ADMC Violations:
02/14/2025, John Salzman, trainer: Pending vets' list medication violation for the presence of Methocarbamol–Controlled Medication (Class C)–in a sample taken from Happy Hour Joker on 1/16/25.

02/14/2025, William Blair, trainer: Pending vets' list medication violation for the presence of Triamcinolone–Controlled Medication (Class C)–in a sample taken from Dot on 1/19/25.

02/13/2025, Alejandro Mendieta, trainer: Pending medication violation for the use or attempted use of a Class C controlled medication on Pure Elegance during the race period.

02/13/2025, Roshan Samsundar, trainer: Pending medication violation for the use or attempted use of a Class C controlled medication on Gringotts during the race period.

02/12/2025, Todd Pletcher, trainer: Pending medication violation for the presence of Betamethasone–Controlled Medication (Class C)–in a sample taken from Vassimo, who won at Gulfstream Park on 12/14/24. Read more on the story here.

Violations of Crop Rule:
Oaklawn Park
Francisco Joaquin Arrieta–violation date Feb. 16; $500 fine, two-day suspension
Francisco Joaquin Arrieta– violation date Feb. 14; $250 fine, one-day suspension

The post Weekly National Regulatory Rulings, Feb. 13-19 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

It now appears as if only two of the five tracks that ran summer fairs meets in Northern California in 2024 are willing to consider giving racing a go in 2025, exacerbating the racetrack fallout in that region that started when The Stronach Group ceased operations at Golden Gate Fields, the region's lone commercial track, last June.

“Ferndale has expressed interest,” Oscar Gonzales, the vice chair of the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), said at Thursday's monthly board meeting. “They're trying to bring together the different components. Fresno, their fair board leadership, who I communicated with, is also considering. But I'd have to say preliminarily that the other three fairs–Cal Expo, Santa Rosa and Pleasanton–are probably going to opt out this year, if not indefinitely.”

In December, the California Authority of Racing Fairs (CARF) board voted unanimously to rescind a proposed 2025 Golden State Racing meet at Pleasanton after a financially disastrous three-month autumn meeting at the tail end of 2024. That meet unsuccessfully attempted to fill NorCal's “anchor track ” void left by Golden Gate's closure, but the Pleasanton racing season didn't draw enough betting interest, and ended with a purse overpayment of approximately $800,000.

Although Pleasanton's management (the Alameda County Fair) initially stated back in December that it intended to keep the facility open as an 850-stall training center to help maintain a Thoroughbred population base in the region, the number of horses stabled there had fallen below 500 by late January, enough of a tail-off that both Pleasanton and CARF jointly announced that such an option was no longer feasible.

Around the same time, CARF itself said it would not apply for any 2025 race dates on behalf of any individual fairs, instead directing its staff to reorganize operations with a focus on addressing current obligations and supporting future efforts.

“Alameda County Fairgrounds, which had planned to stay open as a training center through the summer fair season, has indicated that it will close on Mar. 25, or 33 days from today, making the prospect of a traditional fair racing season less likely,” CHRB executive director Scott Chaney said at the Feb. 20 meeting.

Chaney explained that CHRB commissioners and staff have met with representatives from each fairs track, both individually and collectively, to get an idea of which entities are still considering operating race meets in 2025.

“To a fair, they all expressed their desire to race, but acknowledged the hurdles to racing, which included economic headwinds,” Chaney said.

“With the closure of Pleasanton, the prospect of no existing horse population in Northern California, and the logistics of operating a fair meet without the assistance of CARF,” Chaney said chances of a traditional five-track summer fairs circuit were difficult to envision.

Chaney added that a transition group that had initially been started to help horses and humans relocate from Golden Gate to Pleasanton has been rekindled to prepare for the cessation of training and movement out of Pleasanton.

Gonzales said the CHRB needs to prepare for a near-term assessment of how a vastly truncated fairs season will affect the state's racing workforce.

“I think there will come a time when we have to have a conversation about what this board's role is, or is not, as it relates to other areas of impact because of this significant setback,” Gonzales said. “I think there will be time to talk about that. But we welcome any public input [about] the things that this board should be looking at in terms of the kind of leadership and commitment of resources, just to lessen the blow. And it will be quite significant, in my opinion

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The 63rd annual class of Maryland-bred champions will be named starting next Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 10:00 a.m. ET each morning on social media, according to a press release from the Maryland Horse Breeders Association (MHBA).

In addition to the divisional champions and Horse of the Year, the MHBA's top awards for Maryland stallion, broodmare and breeder will be revealed.

The winners will be celebrated at the eighth annual Renaissance Awards, which will be held Friday, Apr. 18 at Laurel Park.

The announcement schedule is as follows:

• Wednesday, Feb. 26–Maryland-bred Champion 2-year-olds (male, female) and 3-year-olds (male, female);
• Thursday, Feb. 27–Maryland-bred Champion Older Male, Older Female, Turf Runner and Sprinter;
• Friday, Feb. 28–Maryland-bred Horse of the Year, Broodmare of the Year, Stallion of the Year, Breeder of the Year

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When Cary Frommer was first approached by Fasig-Tipton about the concept of a digital 2-year-old in training sale, she was immediately sold. Frommer isn't necessarily known for showcasing the sharpest drills at the breeze-up sales, so when the veteran consignor learned that the horses in the sale would be presented to buyers with a gallop video rather than a timed breeze, she saw this as an opportunity to let her trainees show off their true potential.

“I love the idea that you don't have to ship the horses and train for two weeks over a track they're not familiar with,” Frommer said. “Plus, there's the idea that we as consignors have some control over what the potential purchaser sees in that we don't have to work fast to get attention. Buyers have to be horsemen about it by looking at the horses and their movement. There are a lot of really good consignors out there who can make horses go very fast. I'm not one of them, so it doesn't suit me to be pitted up against fast times.”

At this month's Fasig-Tipton February Digital Sale, which opened for bidding on Thursday, Frommer has five horses entered in the 2-year-old in training portion of the auction. Along with a Tonalist filly and colts by Frosted, Great Notion and Silver State, Frommer's consignment will feature a filly by Munnings out of multiple stakes winner Midnight Disguise (Midnight Lute).

“This filly is the whole picture,” said Frommer. “She's scopey and classy, does her job and could go on at any time. She could be anything. I've picked the five that I have in here because I think they all, if they did well, would help the digital platform because any one of them could be a really nice horse.”

Frommer's strong showing in this inaugural sale must indicate that she has faith in the concept?

“I don't know if faith is what you would call it, but I do have hope,” she noted. “I think ultimately it will be a real move forward in the sales. I understand the side of the coin the buyers are on too. Buying something off a video is hard to do, but I think that's when the relationship you have with the consigner comes into play.”

Consignor Randy Miles explained how he believes that one of the keys to a successful digital 2-year-old sales arena will be giving the buyer as much information as possible. For the pair of colts that Miles has entered in this month's sale, that means offering not only the traditional vet reports and a gallop video to potential bidders, but also jogging videos and videos taken over several days of training, plus videos of the horse walking before and after a breeze.

“I think trying to be as transparent as possible is really going to give the buyers much more confidence in what we're presenting,” he said. “[For the two he has entered] we decided to breeze them, but breeze them in say 13 seconds instead of 10. We wanted to show the buyers enough of the horse's movement, stride length and the way he carries himself, but keep it to a minimum. So we came up with going an eighth of a mile with another eighth or quarter-mile gallop out, just enough to show the buyers and make them comfortable.”

Miles's two-horse consignment features a Not This Time colt named Clockin In who is out of GI Ogden Phipps Handicap victress and $1.1 million earner Tiz Miz Sue (Tiznow). The mare has two stakes horses on her produce record.

“He's a big, strapping, dark bay colt that we have come to really respect,” noted Miles. “He was shipped to us in October by the breeder and he has had no setbacks in his training. We think he has quite a bit of potential later on.”

Both the Not This Time colt and a Dialed In colt selling as Hip 43 were sent to Miles with the goal of eventually going on to race for their breeders, but this digital sale opportunity gave owners the ability to easily present their homebreds to the market.

“It was something that appealed to us because we didn't have to be so demanding on the horse to get them ready for a 2-year-old sale in March or April,” explained Miles.

“I do not believe the digital sales will ever be a threat to the way we are currently conducting our normal 2-year-old sales with the breezes and the showing, but I do think this appeals to both sellers and buyers. I think it's a wonderful idea. It's something that is needed. Some people have an appetite for the [traditional] 2-year-old sales and then some people may not have an appetite for the speed that we ask for in our 2-year-old sales, so this appeals to a lot of different people.”

Tristan de Meric shares the same belief as Miles that digital sales will not replace 'brick and mortar' 2-year-old sales, but he said that digital sales could be a good fit for horses that end up needing more time to develop and would get overlooked at a traditional breeze-up sale.

Yaupon colt out of Frosty Margarita | Katie Petrunyak

de Meric said another likely case for a digital sale juvenile might be a horse that a breeder intends on racing themselves, but would like to present the horse to the market without sending them through the rigorous 2-year-old sales prep process. Like the two colts Miles has entered in the February Sale, the 2-year-old that de Meric will offer fits that bill. The son of Yaupon out of multiple stakes winner Frosty Margarita (Frost Giant) is a homebred for Chip Acierno's Gabrielle Farm.

“[Fasig-Tipton's] Peter Penny took us to lunch to tell us about this idea and before he finished his sentence explaining what the sale was about, this horse popped into my mind,” recalled de Meric. “His breeder had thrown out that he might be interested in putting him in a sale, but he's also happy to go on and race. We've had him at the farm since October of his weanling year and he's been a beautiful horse from day one. I've always liked him. We wanted to make sure we brought a horse that could grab people's attention for this format as an experimental trial run.”

He continued, “We've had several people come out and look at him already, just from us talking to people and the Fasig-Tipton team doing a great job of promoting these horses and making sure the right people are paying attention. I think for horses like the one we have entered, being a homebred of a client that is open to racing, it might be a little more appealing to some breeders instead of putting them into a 2-year-old sale, so I think there's a spot for this. There may be some kinks that need to be ironed out, but people want to buy early and keep going with the horse, so I think it could definitely be a small wave of the future.”

Fasig-Tipton's February Digital Sale will feature a total of 13 two-year-olds in training, in addition to horses of racing age, breeding stock and a stallion season to Street Sense, and the sale will conclude Tuesday, Feb. 25.

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OwnerView, an effort spearheaded by The Jockey Club and the TOBA, is hosting its first virtual Thoroughbred Owner Conference panel to be held Tuesday, March 11, at 2:00pm, with a discussion pertaining to accounting, legal, and insurance considerations.

Gary Falter, project manager for OwnerView, will moderate the panel with guests Chapman Hopkins, chair of Stoll Keenon Ogden's Equine Litigation group; Joe Daugherty, public accountant for Dean Dorton, leading equine tax practice; and Mike Levy, founder of Muirfield Insurance.

“The OwnerView webinar series is the industry's leading effort to educate and provide access to experts for new and existing owners,” said Falter. “In 2024, the webinars once again provided compelling topics and expert speakers, and the series continues to attract a wide audience of owners from around the country. At last count there have been over 17,000 views of the webinars. With the success of the online webinars, OwnerView is proud to offer another great series of topics in 2025.”

Nine additional Thoroughbred Owner Conference virtual panels are scheduled for 2025. Registration is required and available free of charge here.

The post OwnerView 2025 Thoroughbred Owner Conference Series Kicks Off March 11 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

C R K Stable and Grandview Equine's Baeza (McKinzie–Puca, by Big Brown), the 3-year-old, half-brother to Classic winners Mage (Good Magic) and Dornoch (Good Magic), is joining the GI Kentucky Derby trail following an impressive maiden victory at Santa Anita Feb. 14.

“We're looking forward–I would think 99%–that the (GI) Santa Anita Derby (Apr. 5) is where we belong running,” C R K Stable's Lee Searing said. “Staying at home, no matter who we run against, we got a nice horse and he deserves the chance.”

The John Shirreffs-trained Baeza pressed and pounced his way to a 4 3/4-length maiden win going a two-turn mile, good for a 93 Beyer Speed Figure. He made two previous career starts, also at a mile, finishing ninth on debut over the Del Mar lawn Dec. 1, and a distant second behind 'TDN Rising Star' Rodriguez (Authentic) while making his dirt debut with first-time blinkers at Santa Anita Jan. 4. Rodriguez was subsequently second in the GIII Robert B. Lewis Stakes Feb. 1.

“He's a May foal, so it was really important that John took his time with him,” Searing said. “When Rodriguez beat him, my horse ran a really good race. We had to wait for either a stakes race or a maiden race and I wanted to run him back in a maiden. We've been through a few really good horses where we've jumped them into stakes races just due to lack of available races. This race came up and he really ran super.”

#5 BAEZA ($6.40), the half brother to MAGE and DORNOCH, breaks his maiden in the 6th race at @santaanitapark.

The three-year-old colt by McKinzie (@Gainesway) was ridden by @HIBerrios for trainer John Shirreffs. pic.twitter.com/p1zRmv5Sc1

— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) February 14, 2025

Hailing from the first crop of McKinzie, the Grandview Equine-bred Baeza brought $1.2 million to top the third session of the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling sale.

Mage, the second foal out of the 'TDN Rising Star'-turned- bluehen mare Puca, upset the GI Kentucky Derby and also finished third in the GI Preakness Stakes earlier that spring. Dornoch, meanwhile, followed up with an upset of his own in the 2024 GI Belmont Stakes at Saratoga.

Mage stands for $25,000 at Airdrie Stud and has his first foals arriving this year. Dornoch kicks off his career at stud at Spendthrift Farm, where he commands a fee of $40,000.

John Stewart purchased the SW & GSP Puca for $2.9 million at the 2023 Keeneland November Sale. She produced a full-brother to Mage and Dornoch last year and is currently carrying a full-sister to the duo. Stewart announced that Puca would be bred back to Frankel (GB) on Southern Hemisphere time (See Mating Plans, presented by Spendthrift, for more).

“He's a really good horse with a really good pedigree,” Searing said of Baeza. “As it's been discussed, he's got a different body type than Mage and Dornoch. He's a horse with a beautiful body along with great action. With his pedigree, he can go as long as they want to run. We're pretty darn excited that we can get him to the race. Obviously, he has no (Derby) points yet, so we need to run a really good race. Everybody, including John and myself, looks forward to that first Saturday in May.”

Lee Searing | Photos by Z

Searing is also looking forward to being on hand for Sunday's rescheduled GII Rebel Stakes program at Oaklawn Park. C R K Stable's purple-and-gold silks will be carried by 'TDN Rising Star' Justique (Justify) in the Carousel Stakes and Skinner (Curlin) in the GIII Razorback Handicap. Previously campaigned by Shirreffs in Southern California, both were transferred to Cherie DeVaux earlier this year.

Justique was an impressive winner in her first start for DeVaux sprinting in an optional claimer at Fair Grounds Jan. 2. Skinner, a breakthrough winner of the GIII Native Diver Stakes at Del Mar Nov. 23, was third over a sloppy track in the GIII Louisiana Stakes at Fair Grounds Jan. 18.

“We moved a few horses back east where racing and purses seem to be more advantageous to my stable,” Searing said.

The post Baeza – the Half-Brother to Classic Winners Mage and Dornoch – Targeting Santa Anita Derby appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Bidding is now open for the Fasig-Tipton February Digital Sale, which includes among its 240 offerings a 'no guarantee' season to sire Street Sense with a portion of the proceeds going to recent Special Eclipse Award winner Stable Recovery, the auction company said via a release Thursday.

The online sale will close Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 2:00 p.m. ET. The catalogue offers horses of racing age, breeding stock–including mares with foals at foot, 2-year-olds in training, yearlings, a stallion prospect, and a no guarantee stallion season.

“We are heating things up in February with a sizzling catalogue,” said Fasig-Tipton Director of Digital Sales Leif Aaron. “We have some serious breeding stock catalogued–including graded stakes performers–as well as offerings from three dispersals, horses of racing age, a million-dollar-earning stallion prospect, and a no guarantee season to Street Sense.”

Fasig-Tipton will also debut a new type of offering on its digital platform in this sale, a segment of 2-year-olds in training.

“We are excited to offer a group of 2-year-olds in training for the first time on Fasig-Tipton Digital, in a new and unique format,” continued Aaron. “Two-year-olds will be sold from their training bases in Ocala, Florida; Aiken, South Carolina; and Lexington, Kentucky; and presented with professionally filmed gallop and breeze videos that are untimed.

“All the resources of a traditional two-year-old sale will be at the buyer's disposal, including conformation photos and walking videos, vet reports, and a full repository,” Aaron said. “There is quality sire power among the entries, and buyers may schedule appointments to inspect the horses in-person through our platform.”

Sires represented by 2-year-olds in training include Constitution, Munnings, Not This Time, and Yaupon.  Two-year-olds in training are all grouped together in the catalogue as hips 41-57.

Other offerings of interest in the catalogue:

• 'No guarantee' season to Street Sense (Hip 38), with a portion of the season's sale proceeds donated to Stable Recovery;
• Dispersal of Swifty Farms, offering horses of racing age, breeding stock, and yearlings, all of which are eligible for the Indiana-bred program;
• Breeding stock from the dispersal of Red Oak Stable;
• Stallion prospect Newgrange (Hip 9), MGSW and millionaire son of Violence.

Click here to view a sale preview with Fasig-Tipton's Jesse Ullery and here to access the catalogue.

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Keeneland's 101st running of the $1.25 million GI Toyota Blue Grass on Saturday, Apr. 5 has attracted 133 nominees, including champion Citizen Bull (Into Mischief), according to a release on Thursday from the track.

With a $250,000 purse increase this year, the Blue Grass joins the GI Coolmore Turf Mile as Keeneland's two $1.25 million races, which are the richest in track history. The Turf Mile reached that level during the 2024 Fall Meet.

“Keeneland is proud of the enhanced stature of the Toyota Blue Grass, and we thank the owners and trainers who have nominated another quality group of horses to the historic race,” Keeneland Vice President of Racing Gatewood Bell said. “The Toyota Blue Grass has produced a long list of major winners, including 2024 winner Sierra Leone, who went on to win the GI Breeders' Cup Classic and become the champion 3-year-old male. We look forward to showcasing another exceptionally talented field of 3-year-olds for this year's race.”

Run on the second day of Keeneland's 15-day Spring Meet, the Blue Grass, held at nine panels on the dirt, is one of five graded stakes worth a combined $3.15 million on the 11-race card, which has a first post of 1 p.m. ET. Other stakes that day are the 24th running of the $650,000 GI Resolute Racing Madison Stakes for fillies and mares at seven furlongs on the dirt; the 37th running of the $500,000 GII Appalachian Stakes, presented by Japan Racing Association for 3-year-old fillies racing a mile on the turf; the 29th running of the $400,000 GII Valvoline Global Shakertown Stakes for 3-year-olds and up at 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf; and the 38th running of the $350,000 GIII Commonwealth Stakes for 4-year-olds and up going seven furlongs on the dirt.

Good Cheer scores the Rachel Alexandra | Hodges Photography

The Toyota Blue Grass is the 10th race with a tentative post time of 5:52 p.m. ET. Every race during the Spring Meet will be live streamed free of charge on the track's website.

The winner of the Toyota Blue Grass will earn 100 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, while the second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-place finishers receive 50, 25, 15 and 10 points, respectively.

Click here for the list of Toyota Blue Grass nominees and here for their past performances.

On Friday, Apr. 4 with 10 races carded, the 88th running of the $750,000 GI Central Bank Ashland Stakes is featured. The year's first top level stakes for 3-year-old fillies offers GI Kentucky Oaks points to the first five finishers–100, 50, 25, 15 and 5, respectively.  A total of 96 horses led by Godolphin's undefeated Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro) were nominated.

Click here for a list of Central Bank Ashland nominees and here for their past performances.

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Groupie Doll, Smarty Jones, and Ken McPeek have been nominated to the Hall of Fame as finalists for the first time, according to a press release Thursday morning from the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. They were among the eight racehorses, seven trainers, and one jockey who accounted for the 16 finalists that will comprise the National Museum of Racing's 2025 Hall of Fame ballot, as chosen by the Museum's Hall of Fame Nominating Committee. The finalists are racehorses Blind Luck, Game On Dude, Groupie Doll, Havre de Grace, Kona Gold, Lady Eli, Rags to Riches, and Smarty Jones; trainers Christophe Clement, Kiaran P. McLaughlin, Kenneth G. McPeek, H. Graham Motion, Doug F. O'Neill, John W. Sadler, and John A. Shirreffs; and jockey Jorge F. Chavez.

Hall of Fame voters may select as many candidates as they believe are worthy of induction to the Hall of Fame. All candidates that receive 50 percent plus one vote (majority approval) from the voting panel will be elected to the Hall of Fame. All the finalists were required to receive a minimum of nine votes from the 14-member Nominating Committee to qualify for the ballot.

Ballots will be mailed to the Hall of Fame voting panel next week. The results of the voting on the contemporary candidates will be announced on Thursday, April 24. That announcement will also include this year's selections by the Museum's Historic Review, Steeplechase, and Pillars of the Turf committees. The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on Friday, Aug. 1, at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., at 10:30 a.m. ET. The ceremony is open to the public and free to attend.

To be eligible for the Hall of Fame, trainers must be licensed for 25 years, while jockeys must be licensed for 20 years. Thoroughbreds are required to be retired for five calendar years. All candidates must have been active within the past 25 years. The 20- and 25-year requirements for jockeys and trainers, respectively, may be waived at the discretion of the Museum's Executive Committee. Candidates who have not been active within the past 25 years are eligible through the Historic Review process.

A chestnut filly bred in Kentucky by Fairlawn Farm, Blind Luck (Pollard's Vision—Lucky One, by Best of Luck) won the Eclipse Award for Champion 3-Year-Old Filly in 2010. A multiple Grade I winner at ages 2 and 3, Blind Luck was also a Grade I winner at 4. Trained by Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer and owned by Hollendorfer in partnership with Mark DeDomenico LLC, John Carver, and Peter Abruzzo, Blind Luck posted a career record of 12-7-2 from 22 starts and earnings of $3,279,520 from 2009 through 2011. She won a total of 10 graded stakes, including six Grade Is: the Kentucky Oaks, Oak Leaf, Hollywood Starlet, Las Virgenes, Alabama, and Vanity Handicap. Throughout her career, Blind Luck defeated the likes of Havre de Grace (three times), Life At Ten, Unrivaled Belle, Evening Jewel, Devil May Care, and Switch.

A dark bay gelding bred in Kentucky by Adena Springs, Game On Dude (Awesome Again—Worldly Pleasure, by Devil His Due) won 14 graded stakes, including eight Grade Is. Racing from 2010 through 2014, he compiled a record of 16-7-1 from 34 starts and earnings of $6,498,893. Owned by Joe Torre's Diamond Pride LLC, Lanni Family Trust, Mercedes Stable LLC, and Bernie Schiappa, Game On Dude was trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. He is the only horse to win the Santa Anita Handicap three times (2011, 2013, 2014), setting a stakes record in the 2014 edition by covering 1¼ miles in 1:58.17. Game On Dude also won the Hollywood Gold Cup and San Antonio Stakes twice each, as well as single editions of the Pacific Classic, Californian, Charles Town Classic, Lone Star Derby, and Native Diver. He won the Grade I Goodwood in 2011 and won the same race when it was renamed the Awesome Again in 2012. In 2013, Game On Dude swept the three signature Grade I races for older horses in California–the Santa Anita Handicap, Hollywood Gold Cup, and Pacific Classic–becoming only the second horse to win those three events in a single year, joining Hall of Famer Lava Man.

A chestnut filly bred in Kentucky by Fred Bradley and William “Buff” Bradley, Groupie Doll (Bowman's Band—Deputy Doll, by Silver Doll) won consecutive Eclipse Awards for Champion Female Sprinter in 2012 and 2013. In those same years, she won back-to-back editions of the Breeders' Cup Sprint. Campaigned by the Bradleys in partnership with Brent Burns and Carl Hurst, Groupie Doll was trained throughout her career by Buff Bradley. Following her second Breeders' Cup win, Groupie Doll was sent to the 2013 Keeneland November mixed sale and sold for $3.1 million to Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm. She started twice more before her retirement. Groupie Doll won nine graded stakes, including four Grade Is, and posted an overall record of 12-4-4 from 23 starts with earnings of $2,648,850. She raced from 2011 through 2014.

A bay filly bred in Kentucky by Nancy S. Dillman, Havre de Grace (Saint Liam—Easter Brunette, by Carson City) won the Eclipse Awards for Horse of the Year and Champion Older Female in 2011. Trained by Anthony Dutrow at ages 2 and 3 and by Larry Jones thereafter, Havre de Grace was campaigned by Rick Porter's Fox Hill Farms throughout her career. After finishing second to champion Blind Luck in thrilling editions of the Delaware Oaks and Alabama Stakes in 2010, Havre de Grace earned her first graded stakes victory later that year in the Grade 2 Cotillion. In her 2011 Horse of the Year campaign, she beat Blind Luck in the Azeri and went on to win Grade Is in the Apple Blossom, Woodward (defeating males, including Flat Out), and Beldame (defeating Hall of Famer Royal Delta). Havre de Grace made one start as a 5-year-old in 2012, winning the listed New Orleans Ladies' Stakes before being retired with a career record of 9-4-2 from 16 starts and earnings of $2,586,175.

A bay gelding bred in Kentucky by Carlos Perez, Kona Gold (Java Gold—Double Sunrise, by Slew o' Gold) won the Eclipse Award for Champion Sprinter in 2000. That year, he set a six-furlong record at Churchill Downs in his Breeders' Cup Sprint victory. Campaigned by Bruce Headley (who also served as his trainer), Irwin and Andrew Molasky, Michael Singh, et al, Kona Gold raced from 1998 through 2003 with a record of 14-7-2 from 30 starts and earnings of $2,293,384. He set a track record for 5½ furlongs at Santa Anita and won a total of 10 graded stakes. Kona Gold won multiple editions of the Bing Crosby Handicap, Potrero Grande Breeders' Cup Handicap, and El Conejo Handicap. He registered Beyer Speed Figures of 110 or higher 17 times. On 10 occasions, his Beyer Figure was 115 or higher, including a career-best of 123. Kona Gold made five consecutive appearances in the Breeders' Cup Sprint.

Lady Eli | Sarah Andrew photo

A dark bay filly bred in Kentucky by Runnymede Farm and Catesby W. Clay, Lady Eli (Divine Park—Sacre Coeur, by Saint Ballado) won the 2017 Eclipse Award for Champion Turf Female. Trained by Chad Brown for Sheep Pond Partners, Lady Eli won her first six starts, including Grade I victories in the 2014 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and 2015 Belmont Oaks. A battle with laminitis then kept her away from the races for more than a year. Upon her return in 2016, Lady Eli finished second in the Ballston Spa then won the Grade I Flower Bowl and finished second in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf. She finished second in the Jenny Wiley in her 2017 debut then won the Gamely, Diana, and Ballston Spa in succession. Lady Eli was retired after finishing off the board in the 2017 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf. Overall, she posted a record of 10-3-0 from 14 starts with earnings of $2,959,800. Lady Eli won a total of eight graded stakes, including at least one Grade I in each of her four years on the track.

A chestnut filly bred in Kentucky by Skara Glen Stables, Rags to Riches (A.P. Indy—Better Than Honour, by Deputy Minister) won the Eclipse Award for Champion 3-Year-Old Filly in 2007, a campaign highlighted by an historic victory in the Belmont Stakes. Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher and Michael McCarthy for owners Michael B. Tabor and Derrick Smith, Rags to Riches broke her maiden in her second career start in January 2007, at Santa Anita. That six-length victory was the beginning of a five-race win streak. The next four wins were all Grade Is: the Las Virgenes Stakes, Santa Anita Oaks (by 5½ lengths), Kentucky Oaks (by 4¼ lengths), and the Belmont. In winning the third jewel of the Triple Crown, Rags to Riches defeated two-time Horse of the Year and Hall of Famer Curlin by a head to become the first filly in 102 years to win the event. Rags to Riches remains one of only three fillies to win the Belmont. She finished second in her next race, the Grade I Gazelle, and a right front leg injury was discovered after the race. A 4-year-old campaign was being planned for Rags to Riches, but she re-injured her right front pastern and was retired with a record of 5-1-0 from seven starts and earnings of $1,342,528.

A chestnut colt bred in Pennsylvania by Someday Farm and campaigned by Roy and Patricia Chapman under the Someday Farm banner, Smarty Jones (Elusive Quality—I'll Get Along, by Smile) was the Eclipse Award winner for Champion 3-Year-Old Male in 2004. Trained by John Servis and ridden exclusively by Stewart Elliott, Smarty Jones won both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes (by a record 11½ lengths) that year after beginning his campaign with wins in the Count Fleet Stakes, Southwest Stakes, Rebel Stakes, and Grade II Arkansas Derby. Undefeated in eight career starts entering the Belmont Stakes–no horse had accomplished that since Seattle Slew in 1977–Smarty Jones was beaten a length by Birdstone before a record crowd of 120,000 to be denied the Triple Crown. He was retired following the Belmont with a career record of 8-1-0 from nine starts and earnings of $7,613,155.

Clement, 59, a native of Paris, France, has won 2,556 races (through Feb. 17) with purse earnings of more than $182 million (11th all time) in a career that began in 1991. He trained three-time Eclipse Award winner Gio Ponti, winner of four straight Grade Is on the turf in 2009, as well as 2014 Belmont Stakes winner Tonalist, who also won consecutive runnings of the Jockey Club Gold Cup in 2014 and 2015. Clement has won 282 graded stakes. His Grade I wins include multiple editions of the Beverly D. (2001, 2007, 2008), Del Mar Oaks (2007, 2013), Diana Handicap (2003, 2015), Manhattan Handicap (2001, 2009, 2010), Man o' War (2009, 2010), Turf Mile (2010, 2011), and Sword Dancer (1999, 2011, 2021, 2022, 2024).

Clement began his career in the United States by winning with the first horse he saddled, Spectaculaire, on Oct. 20, 1991, at Belmont. He has since trained 22 horses that have earned $1 million or more. Other Grade I winners trained by Clement include Discreet Marq, Far Bridge, Forbidden Apple, Gufo, Mauralanka, Relaxed Gesture, Rutherienne, Voodoo Dancer, and Winchester, among others. Clement won his first Breeders' Cup race in 2021 when Pizza Bianca captured the Juvenile Fillies Turf.

Kiaran McLaughlin | Horsephotos

McLaughlin, 64, a native of Lexington, Ky., won 1,809 races with purse earnings of $130,031,267 (including international statistics) from 1995 through 2021. He ranks 23rd all time in North American earnings. A winner of 179 graded/group stakes, McLaughlin won three Breeders' Cup races: the 2006 Classic (Invasor), 2007 Filly and Mare Turf (Lahudood), and the 2016 Dirt Mile (Tamarkuz). Along with Hall of Famer Invasor–who won Eclipse Awards for Horse of the Year and Champion Older Male in 2006–both Lahudood (2007 Champion Turf Female) and Questing (2012 Champion 3-Year-Old Filly) earned Eclipse Awards for McLaughlin.

McLaughlin's Grade I victories included multiple editions of the Donn Handicap (2007, 2009), Gazelle (2007, 2012), Metropolitan Handicap (2008, 2016), and Ogden Phipps (2012, 2015, 2016). He won the 2006 Belmont Stakes with Jazil. Other top horses trained by McLaughlin included millionaires Alpha, A Thread of Blue, Cavorting, Frosted, It's Tricky, and Wedding Toast. A three-time leading trainer at Nad al Sheba in Dubai, McLaughlin also led the trainer standings at Saratoga Race Course in 2008. He ranked in the top 20 among North American trainers in earnings 12 times, including six times in the top 10.

McPeek, 62, a Lexington native, has won 2,095 races to date with purse earnings of more than $133 million (18th all time) in a career that began in 1985. He won both the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks in 2024 with Mystik Dan and Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna, respectively, to become the first trainer to sweep both races in the same year since Ben Jones in 1952. The Derby win gave McPeek a career sweep of the Triple Crown races, as he had previously won the Belmont Stakes in 2002 with 70-1 longshot Sarava and the Preakness Stakes in 2020 with champion filly Swiss Skydiver. Thorpedo Anna concluded her 2024 campaign by giving McPeek his first Breeders' Cup win in the Distaff.

McPeek has won 126 graded stakes, including multiple editions at the Grade I level in the Spinster (2002, 2003), Ashland (2002, 2014, 2023), Blue Grass (2002, 2013), Florida Derby (2002), Gulfstream Park Breeders' Cup Handicap (2004, 2005), Alcibiades (2008, 2018, 2020), Breeders' Futurity (2009, 2021), and Alabama (2018, 2020). He has won five training titles at Keeneland, where he ranks No. 5 all time in wins (274) and No. 6 in stakes wins (35). McPeek has also won four training titles at Churchill Downs, where he ranks No. 7 all time in wins (498) and stakes wins (49). Has trained 14 horses that have won $1 million or more.

Motion, 60, a native of Cambridge, England, has won 2,781 races to date with purse earnings of more than $157 million (16th all time) in a career that began in 1993. He won the Kentucky Derby and Dubai World Cup with champion Animal Kingdom, trained two-time Eclipse Award winner Main Sequence, and has won four Breeders' Cup races. His first Breeders' Cup victory took place in the 2004 Turf with 10-time stakes winner Better Talk Now at odds of 28-1. Motion won the 2010 Filly and Mare Turf at odds of 46-1 with Shared Account, was victorious in the Turf for a second time four years later with Main Sequence, and won his fourth Breeders' Cup race with Sharing in the 2019 Juvenile Fillies Turf at 14-1 odds.

Motion has won 204 graded stakes, including multiple editions at the Grade I level of the Del Mar Oaks (2011, 2022), Manhattan Handicap (2007, 2017, 2018), Man o' War (2005, 2022), Matriarch (2010, 2016), Sword Dancer (2004, 2014), and United Nations (2005, 2014).  He has trained 14 horses that have earned $1 million or more, including Miss Temple City, who defeated males in both the Shadwell Turf Mile and Maker's 46 Mile. Motion has won training titles at Keeneland and Pimlico and ranks fifth all time with 39 stakes wins at Keeneland.

O'Neill, 56, a native of Dearborn, Mich., has won 2,983 races to date with purse earnings of more than $169 million (14th all time) in a career that began in 1988. He won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in 2012 with I'll Have Another and a second Derby in 2016 with Nyquist. O'Neill has trained five Eclipse Award winners–I'll Have Another, Maryfield, Nyquist, Stevie Wonderboy, and Thor's Echo — and has won five Breeders' Cup races. O'Neill won nine graded stakes with Hall of Fame member Lava Man, including three editions of the Hollywood Gold Cup (2005, 2006, 2007), two runnings of the Santa Anita Handicap (2006, 2007), and one each in the Pacific Classic (2006) and Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap (2006), all Grade I events. O'Neill has won six training titles at Del Mar, where in 2015 he became the first trainer to win five races on a card there. He has also won five training titles at Santa Anita, including a record 56-win meet in the winter of 2006-2007.

O'Neill has trained 13 horses that have earned $1 million or more and has multiple victories in Grade I races such as the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (2005, 2015), Alcibiades (2010, 2015), Pacific Classic (2006, 2024), FrontRunner (2013, 2015), Santa Anita Derby (2012, 2013), and Triple Bend (2004, 2017), among others. O'Neill has won 146 graded stakes and ranks No. 3 all time with 1,198 wins at Santa Anita and No. 4 at Del Mar with 467.

John Sadler | Benoit photo

Sadler, 68, a native of Long Beach, Calif., has won 2,839 races with purse earnings of more than $153 million (17th all time) in a career that began in 1978. He has won 192 graded stakes, including the Breeders' Cup Classic with Eclipse Award winner Accelerate in 2018 and Horse of the Year Flightline in 2022. He also trained champion Stellar Wind. Sadler has conditioned 10 horses that have earned $1 million or more.  He won his third Breeders' Cup race in 2024 with Full Serrano in the Dirt Mile.

Sadler, at the Grade I level, has won four editions of both the Pacific Classic (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022) and Clement L. Hirsch (2014, 2016, 2017, 2019), as well as three runnings each of the Santa Anita Handicap (2018, 2019, 2020) and La Brea (2007, 2009, 2010). Other Grade I races he has won multiple editions of include the Gold Cup at Santa Anita (2015, 2018), Santa Anita Derby (2010, 2021), Santa Anita Oaks (2010, 2015), and Vanity Handicap (2004, 2014). Sadler won four training titles at Hollywood Park and has won two each at Del Mar and Santa Anita. He ranks No. 2 all time in wins at Santa Anita with 1,216 and No. 4 with 154 stakes wins. At Del Mar, he ranks No. 2 in both wins (545) and stakes wins (85).

Shirreffs, 79, a native of Leavenworth, Kan., has won 586 races, including 109 graded events, with purse earnings of more than $55 million. Although he had a few starters as early as 1978, Shirreffs did not start training full time until 1994. Best known as the conditioner of Hall of Famer Zenyatta, Shirreffs conditioned the four-time Eclipse Award winner to 19 consecutive victories, including 13 Grade Is, from 2007 through 2010. Named Horse of the Year in 2010 and Champion Older Female each year from 2008 through 2010, Zenyatta's Grade i wins included the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic in 2008 and the Classic the following year. In 2009, Shirreffs also won the Ladies' Classic with Life Is Sweet, becoming the first trainer to win both Classics in the same year. Shirreffs won the 2005 Kentucky Derby with Giacomo at odds of 50-1.

At the Grade I level, Shirreffs has won five editions of both the Santa Margarita Handicap (1999, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010) and Vanity Handicap (1999, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010); three runnings of both the Lady's Secret (2008, 2009, 2010) and Santa Anita Derby (2007, 2017, 2020); and two renewals of the American Oaks (2010, 2011), Apple Blossom (2008, 2010), Clement L. Hirsch (2009, 2010), and Santa Maria (2000, 2003). Shirreffs has trained eight horses that have earned more than $1 million: Express Train, Giacomo, Gormley, Hollywood Story, Life Is Sweet, Manistique, Tiago, and Zenyatta.

Chavez, 63, a native of Callao, Peru, won 4,526 races with purse earnings of $161,792,580 from 1988 through 2011. Voted the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey in 1999, Chavez won the 2001 Kentucky Derby aboard Monarchos and earned a pair of Breeders' Cup victories in his career. He ranked in the top 20 in North American earnings 13 times–including six times in the top 10–and finished in the top 20 in wins eight times. Chavez won 196 graded stakes and topped all jockeys on the New York Racing Association circuit in wins six consecutive years from 1994 through 1999. He won seven riding titles at Aqueduct and five at Belmont. Chavez rode Eclipse Award winners Artax and Beautiful Pleasure, as well as Affirmed Success, Albert the Great, Behrens, Flower Alley, Lido Palace, Spain, Val's Prince, and Will's Way, among others.
Along with the Kentucky Derby and his Breeders' Cup wins with Artax (1999 Sprint) and Beautiful Pleasure (1999 Distaff).

The 2025 Hall of Fame Nominating Committee is comprised of Caton Bredar, Steven Crist, Tom Durkin, Bob Ehalt, Tracy Gantz, Teresa Genaro, Jane Goldstein, Steve Haskin, Jay Hovdey, Alicia Hughes, Dick Jerardi, Tom Law, Jay Privman, and Michael Veitch.

The post Groupie Doll, Smarty Jones, Ken McPeek First-Time Finalists for the Hall of Fame appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

By international sire of sires More Than Ready, the 2024 GI FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile winner More Than Looks will shuttle to Australia from Lane's End in 2025, commencing stud duties at Yulong in Mangalore, Victoria for the Southern Hemisphere season.

Bred by Hinkle Farms and campaigned by Victory Racing Partners, the Cherie DeVaux trainee collected several stakes wins including at three the GIII Manila Stakes at Belmont Park and the Jefferson Cup Stakes at Churchill Downs. Last year, More Than Looks was the runner-up in the GI Fourstardave Handicap at Saratoga and the GI Coolmore Turf Mile Stakes at Keeneland before scoring in the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar where he posted a Beyer of 105. He finished his career with earnings of $1,870,715.

“He's an eye-catching horse that showed elite ability from day one,” said trainer Cherie De Vaux of More Than Looks. “His explosive turn of foot and competitive nature led to consistency at the highest level and ultimately resulted in him becoming a Breeders' Cup Champion.”

More Than Looks is out of the black-type winning Ladies' Privilege, a daughter of champion juvenile sire Harlan's Holiday. She is a full-sister to MGSW Takeover Target and hails from the family of G1 winner Critical Eye (Dynaformer).

More Than Ready's progeny in Australia have excelled at the highest level, with a pair of Golden Slipper victors in Sebring and Phelan Ready, a Blue Diamond heroine in Samaready, as well as eight-time G1 winner and champion filly More Joyous among the 96 Stakes winners in this stalwart sire's southern hemisphere crops.

“More Than Looks is by one of the best stallions we have seen shuttle to Australia in More Than Ready”, said Yulong's General manager Vin Cox. “He's extremely good looking and as his name suggests, won some proper races including the GI Breeders' Cup Mile. Coupled with an outcross pedigree, More Than Looks provides huge appeal to the Australian market, and we are delighted to stand him at Yulong in 2025”.

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For the first time in the United States since data has been recorded, the racing-related fatality rate at racetracks subject to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's (HISA) rules fell below 1.00 per 1,000 starts for a calendar year, the regulator said in a press release on Thursday morning.

In 2024, 99.91% of starts did not result in a fatality. From January 1 through December 31, 2024, 47 racetracks across 19 states operating under HISA's rules recorded an aggregate racing-related fatality rate of 0.90 per 1,000 starts, an approximate 27% decrease from the 1.23 rate reported by HISA in 2023 and a 55% decrease from when The Jockey Club's Equine Injury Database began reporting fatalities in 2009 at a rate of 2.00.

“It has never been clearer that Thoroughbred racing has become safer under HISA,” said HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus. “While we celebrate this progress, HISA remains committed to collaborating with industry stakeholders to further reduce fatalities and to enhance safety for horses, jockeys and all those who love and participate in the sport.”

HISA's Racetrack Safety Program, implemented on July 1, 2022, and its Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program, implemented on May 22, 2023, have significantly strengthened safety measures nationwide by implementing uniform rules that embody best-practice standards. Key requirements include expanded veterinary protocols, pre-race inspections, laboratory harmonization, racetrack surface monitoring and uniform medication oversight. HISA also has rolled out new technologies in the last year to assist stakeholders with making informed decisions about equine athletes, including HISA Horse In-Sight, an innovative platform that combines a horse's career and medical history to provide a unique and holistic view of its health and performance.

In March, HISA will release its 2024 Annual Report, which will detail racing-related fatalities over time by state and racetrack. Additionally, for the first time, the 2024 Annual Report will include full-year training-related fatality data on an aggregate, per-state and per-track basis. By implementing standardized tracking and reporting for training-related fatalities, HISA is providing unprecedented transparency and insight as part of ongoing efforts to prevent training- and racing-related fatalities across the country. This expanded dataset will enable a more comprehensive understanding of risk factors and inform targeted safety measures in both training and racing.

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When it comes to Thoroughbreds, Arthur B. Hancock III has courted the bastard. Never much for floating the mainstream, he has celebrated in many a winner's circle, while knowing firsthand how wild oats can almost drown a man in a barrel of despair. If Mr. Hancock had not been an accomplished horseman or musician, he would have made one hell of a history professor.

In the aptly-titled, just-published Dark Horses: A Memoir of Redemption, the author has penned something truly special–a reflection which looks back on a life well-lived.

The master of Stone Farm has laid honesty to bare for all to see and there is more than enough hope for us to draw from this well. Talk about leaving something behind in the best spirit of Newton's Third Law.

I found intertwined in this memoir some Wendell Berry prose coupled with Dr. Thomas D. Clark style–both legendary Kentuckian gems. There is a touch of gonzo journalism ala Hunter S. Thompson here, plus a work squarely notched between the storytelling of Jeannette Walls and Tara Westover. Perhaps one of the greatest gifts in this memoir are the reprinted ballads that Hancock wrote himself. Somebody call Robert Zemeckis because Dark Horses would make an intriguing screenplay. I laughed and cried in the same chapter.

The memoir takes us on a sojourn through how a son of Claiborne Farm starts in one place, steers in an entirely different direction, but still contributes mightily to Thoroughbred racing history. Within these pages you will feel the pressure Hancock was under as he grappled with growing up and you will see how a superstitious nature operates–the massive bullfrog in the pool comes to mind.

At 6′ 6″, Hancock's grandfather cut an imposing figure and was a tough disciplinarian. Senior imparted to junior, who as you know was nicknamed “Bull,” the same kind of approach to living life. In turn, Arthur Hancock III was schooled in the family tradition with some of the most cutting-edge breeding and horsemanship to be had.

Dark Horses | Stone Publishing

From the get-go, the memoir details the lessons that his father drilled into him. Claiborne was like a bloodline laboratory as European stallions like Nasrullah were imported to infuse a new version of speed into pedigrees. The tapestry lines of warp and weft here is impressive, and Hancock lets us sit behind the loom as he masters everything from learning to shoe from farriers to being an assistant trainer in New York where he handled the great Buckpasser.

Where it gets complex is his own struggle with identity. He attended Vanderbilt and was a championship swimmer before he dropped out. He returned to finish with a degree in history, but the real gravity that also pulled at him was music. Picking a guitar was where pure passion resided and his penchant for crafting a song really comes through in the book. Signed by Nashville legend Fred Foster, Hancock would write and interact with many of the greats including Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson.

A highwayman himself, Hancock always seemed to grapple early on with two masters–the Thoroughbred and the guitar–which rankled his father, who derided the son when he sang as nothing more than, “a canary.” By 1972, their relationship was on the improve though. Just then, the patriarch died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 62. That was a hinge moment for the son of Claiborne who as we learn was forced out as the heir when the powerful Ogden Phipps, who served as an advisor to the farm, engineered his departure.

Founding Stone Farm took moxie and Hancock tells story after story of how he struggled. A central theme throughout the memoir though is his battle with alcoholism, which on too many occasions could have ended his life prematurely. Surrounded by some excellent advisors who loved him deeply, including his mother Waddell and wife Staci, Hancock beat the disease.

Of course, one of the more poignant sections covers the story behind Sunday Silence. Even though Hancock had tasted victory with Gato Del Sol in the 1982 Kent

ucky Derby–an accomplishment his father always dreamed of but never realized–Stone Farm's expansion during the rest of the decade was costly. In other words, Hancock was doing the backstroke in debt to the tune of $15 million. Needing a miracle, Sunday Silence and his famous battles with Phipps homebred Easy Goer bore fruit and saved the day. Picking out the colt that no one wanted and his eventual sale to the Yoshida family, which led to the horse becoming the most important foundational sire in the history of Japan, were like bookends to a wonderful dream.

Living up to its billing, Dark Horses is a story of redemption that comes directly from the heart. Like the main character in Pilgrim's Progress, the trip to the Celestial City never follows a straight line. Whether it was around the racetrack or in the recording studio, the ballad of one Arthur B. Hancock III is meant for us all.

Dark Horses: A Memoir of Redemption by Stone Publishing, LLC, 319 pages, photos, lyrics and poems index, 2024. Available at www.arthurhancock.com, at Amazon.com or at Barnes & Noble.

The post Book Review: The Ballad of One Arthur B. Hancock III appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

RIYADH, KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA — At the age of six, Lucky Seven Stable and Sharaf Mohamad Alhairi's Rattle N Roll (Connect) is at the peak of his powers. The same can be said for his veteran trainer Ken McPeek, who is just this side of a series of achievements that anyone who does what he does for a living will have a hard time replicating anytime in the foreseeable future.

For equine and human alike, Saturday's G1 Saudi Cup at King Abdulaziz Racecourse is a potential watershed moment.

“It's very exciting. Of course, I've had a lot of excitement in the last year,” said McPeek. “This'll just put a little icing on top or a little cherry on top of my excitement if we could pull this off.”

Born in Arkansas and raised in Lexington, the 62-year-old McPeek has long been regarded as one of this game's top horsemen and one of its shrewdest judges of horseflesh for most of the last three decades. He has posted career numbers over the last two seasons, improving on his $10.8 million in earnings in 2023 with a season that will long be remembered in 2024. His runners amassed $16.2 million in prize money and it's difficult to pick a single highlight among the list of accomplishments. Was it the Oaks/Derby double with Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) and Mystik Dan (Goldencents)? Training the former to Horse of the Year honors? Or perhaps finishing just a handful of votes behind Chad Brown for an Eclipse Award of his own.

As encores go, a win in an eight-figure horse race would rate as a pretty good one, but McPeek is quick to deflect and defer and to give credit elsewhere.

“I don't really think about [the $20-million purse] so much as I've got this great team of people that I work with, whether it's clients or the staff, and we try to just do the best we can with each individual horse,” he said. “I really don't think about the money so much as what's right for this particular horse.”

Ken McPeek | Tod Marks

Known for having selected the likes of Curlin and, of course, Thorpedo Anna, for modest sums, McPeek gave $210,000 for Rattle N Roll on behalf of the Mackin Family's Lucky Seven Stable at the 2020 Keeneland September Sale, hardly a king's ransom, but not an insignificant chunk of change.

“Well, he looked like–and I tend to buy this kind of horse–he looked like a horse that would not have any trouble handling distance,” McPeek explained. “And he had a lot of size and balance and length to him. I don't really buy sprinters and haven't historically trained a lot of sprinters, although I've had my share of sprint wins, but he's a classic mile-and-a-quarter, mile and-a-sixteenth, mile-and-an-eighth horse. And of course we all dream of having that kind of horse and he's been great.”

Winner of the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity at two, Rattle N Roll just failed to draw into the 2022 GI Kentucky Derby, the renewal won from the clouds by Rich Strike (Keen Ice). At least in a minor sort of way in hindsight, McPeek regrets that Rattle N Roll did not gain a run in the Derby.

“This horse would probably be much more recognizable had he gotten into the Kentucky Derby, because that race ended up being a closers' race,” McPeek said during a Thursday press conference at King Abdulaziz. “He would have benefited from the fast pace. He was every bit as good as Rich Strike, but he didn't get in.”

Rattle N Roll nevertheless more than earned his keep over the course of a 10-race sophomore campaign that featured a victory in the GIII Ohio Derby. Kept busy at four in 2023, he made seven trips to the races, winning three times in Grade III company and just missing in the GI Stephen Foster Stakes.

Rattle N Roll was a distant fourth as the favorite in the GIII Lukas Classic Stakes in September 2023 and was sidelined thereafter with distal bone bruising, casting a fair bit of doubt on his career, though no surgery was required.

“We gave him this long, long time off, and actually at one point we weren't sure he was going to make it back,” said McPeek. “And then fortunately, the Mackin Family are extremely patient and have always been the best client to say, 'Look, do what's right for the horse. No problem, okay?'”

Rattle N Roll looking amazing @TheSaudiCup to be seen on @HorseRacesNOW and @FanDuel_Racing on Saturday 12:40ET pic.twitter.com/PWyLlHhPHv

— Kenny McPeek (@KennyMcPeek) February 20, 2025

Gone for two days shy of a year, Rattle N Roll resumed with a sound third in the 2024 Lukas Classic and connections rolled the dice, sending him out west with an eye on the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. Unfortunately, it came up snake eyes for McPeek and Lucky Seven, and Rattle N Roll was rerouted for the GII Clark Stakes back in Kentucky about four weeks later. He ran out a 3/4-length winner, and McPeek and his owner opted for some outside-the-box thinking thereafter.

“His win in the Clark was just a real highlight for a horse that we weren't sure was going to make it back at all,” the trainer said. “Of course, he's been so successful all his career, but that was a real high moment. And then from there it was, okay, 'What do we do next?'”

Instead of a race like the GI Pegasus World Cup, connections programmed Rattle N Roll for the G3 Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup (King's Cup) the Jan. 25 course-and-distance qualifier for the main event with a push from former trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. In the interim, McPeek and Mackin had been approached by Saudi businessman Sharaf Mohamad Alhairi, making the decision to come for the prep that much more sensible. Switched off towards the rear with Joel Rosario calling the shots, Rattle N Roll weaved his way though the long straight to win with something in hand.

“The King's Cup was a race that there was a little risk, but a lot of reward there,” McPeek said. “But we felt like he would, on class alone, that that ought to be a race he could win. And right now it's put us in a position where we might have a chance to win the whole thing. We've always felt like that he would be a really good fit for some of those races over there in between Saudi and Dubai.”

McPeek said that Rattle N Roll, who has been under the watchful eye of Danny Ramsey since the King's Cup, is thriving in Riyadh.

“He's a very uncomplicated horse,” said McPeek. “We keep him on what I'd call a Saturday routine, and he really likes his regular schedule. He gallops. Danny's been getting on him since he was a 2-year-old, so Danny Ramsey knows him well.”

Should all go well this weekend, Rattle N Roll would move on to Dubai for a crack at the G1 Dubai World Cup six weeks down the road. McPeek explained that Rattle N Roll would then return to the U.S. to continue his career for Lucky Seven and his Saudi part-owner, who–unlike the lease agreement he struck with the owners of Senor Buscador (Mineshaft) last year–has purchased an ownership interest in the 6-year-old entire.

McPeek relishes the opportunity to showcase his and his horses' ability on foreign soil.

“I just find it fun,” he said. “I think the Thoroughbred is one of the most amazing animals ever created. It's almost a universal language.

“I think when you're traveling for these big races–the interesting thing is that, look, bring a very good horse and interesting things happen. I liken it to fine wine. Once you've tasted those experiences, that's what you want. I gave a young trainer by the name of Brad Cox some advice years ago. I said, 'Once you taste the fine wine, you won't drink the Bud Light anymore.'”

Should the stars align for McPeek, Mackin and Alhairi just after 8:40 Saturday evening, you can count on plenty of 'rattlin' n' 'rollin' with a side of 'hootin' n' hollerin' on the outskirts of Riyadh.

The post Rattle N Roll, McPeek As Good As Ever As Saudi Cup Looms appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

A multi-year series of capital projects designed to expand the Kentucky Derby experience across three areas of Churchill Downs was announced by Churchill Downs Incorporated Wednesday.

The largest expansion and renovation undertaken in the 150-year history of CDI is highlighted by The Skye Reconstruction and Expansion Project (“The Skye Project”), Conservatory Project, and Infield General Admission Project

“These projects as well as key infrastructure improvements, reflect the Company's commitment to providing world-class hospitality and premium seating options for guests for many decades to come,” said Bill Carstanjen, Chief Executive Officer of CDI. “We have a proven track record of prudently investing capital in the Kentucky Derby to create once-in-a lifetime experiences for our guests while also creating significant long-term value for our shareholders.”

CDI plans to invest the following capital in each of the projects between 2025 and 2028:

• Skye Terrace Renovation and Expansion Project – $455 to $465 million
• Conservatory Project – $320 to $330 million
• Infield General Admission Project – $60 to $70 million
• Infrastructure Projects – $45 to $55 million

Pending approval of incentives that must be approved by the City of Louisville in addition to state agencies including the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, CDI anticipates spending $120 to $130 million of this project capital in 2025 and expects to have all three projects as well as the necessary infrastructure improvements completed by the 154th Kentucky Derby in May 2028.

The Skye Project
The Skye Project will focus on the section of Churchill Downs that starts just past the finish line and extends to the First Turn Club. This project will replace 11,500 existing seats that currently consist of uncovered box seats and dated dining areas with 13,300 seats providing a variety of premium hospitality experiences that include improved track views and upgraded amenities. The existing Skye Terrace structure will be replaced with a new 5-story structure. The first three floors of The Skye are expected to be operational for the 153rd Kentucky Derby in May 2027 and the remaining areas are expected to be completed for the 154th Kentucky Derby in May 2028. For the 152nd Kentucky Derby in May 2026 and throughout the project transition, Churchill Downs will provide ticketed guests in the existing Skye Terrace areas with the opportunity for alternative premium seating.

Conservatory Project
The Conservatory Project will replace the temporary suites in the infield which line the homestretch of the racetrack. This project will replace 2,100 temporary seats with new permanent structures providing over 7,000 premium experiences for guests including 36 suites. Phase One will feature: the Pagoda Club and Terrace that will capture views of the grandstand and offer visibility to the Kentucky Derby winner's circle; the first Conservatory building with nine upgraded suites as well as covered rooftop dining; and the Stargazer Lounge on the first turn of the infield that will provide VIP guests a private area.

Phase One of the Conservatory Project is expected to be operational for the 152nd Kentucky Derby in May 2026. Phase Two and Phase Three of the Conservatory Project are anticipated to be operational for the 153rd Kentucky Derby in 2027 and the 154th Kentucky Derby in 2028, respectively.

Infield General Admission Project
The Infield General Admission Project will introduce three new permanent buildings within the infield that will provide guests with enhanced amenities for the Kentucky Derby. This development will also create ticket upgrade opportunities with additional entertainment and rooftop viewing options. The first building will be open for the 152nd Kentucky Derby in 2026, followed by the second building for the 153rd Kentucky Derby in 2027, and the third building for the 154th Kentucky Derby in 2028.

Infrastructure Projects
Several infrastructure improvements at Churchill Downs will backside improvements for horsemen and trainers as well as a new tunnel to the infield that will facilitate access to and from the front side.

The post Multi-Year Series of Capital Projects Unveiled for Churchill Downs appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

A veteran Hall of Fame trainer, Mark Casse knows that sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. The Casse-trained Sandman (Tapit) turned in a remarkable effort in his last start, the GIII Southwest S. at Oaklawn, finishing second after breaking in a tangle and dropping far behind the leaders. Once straightened out, he rallied furiously and finished second, missing by just a length.

To talk about the Southwest and Sandman's next start, Sunday's GII Rebel S. at Oaklawn, Casse joined the team on this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland. He was the Gainesway Guest of the Week.

“Take nothing away from the winner, but, yes, I think we would have won with a clean break,” Casse said. “I knew going in that we were going to find out whether he was a man or a boy. I think he proved he was a man. We all know that a lot of horses, even a lot of good horses, are not able to overcome what he was able to overcome. So I don't know about everybody else, but I came away from the race extremely impressed.”

Casse said he was not going to do anything out of the ordinary between the Southwest and Rebel to help his charge break more cleanly.

“He is so smart,” Casse said. “He does everything right. I just think it was a fluke. I'm not going to try to reinvent the wheel with him. He's done everything perfectly. I'm just going to say it was a fluke and we're going to go from there.”

Sandman was a $1.2-million purchase at the 2024 OBS March sale. He is owned by the partnership of D. J. Stable LLC, St. Elias Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds and CJ Stables. Casse said that, with the way the bidding was going, he didn't think his group was going to be the winning bidder.

“Jon Green came to me and said, 'What do you think of him?'” Casse said. “I said, 'I love him.' Terry Finley came to me and said, 'What do you think? I said, 'I love him.' The way I normally do it is I go around and tell the owners my choices. I tell them what I think and then I step away. When he brought $1.2 million, I said, 'Well, I guess we didn't get him.' And then I walked back there and luckily we did. From the very beginning, he would just do things with ease.”

Lately, Casse has been dividing his time between training and trying to find a solution that will keep South Florida racing going if legislation to decouple is passed and Gulfstream is closed. On Monday, he was in Tallahassee with other horsemen to meet with legislators.

“We brought a group together to bring all horsemen together to go in one direction,” he said. “So we're working on that. I think we were a little stunned by the news that they were going to try to decouple, but we shouldn't have been. We cannot allow one person anymore to control our destiny. So we're working diligently to see what we can do. We have some very important people helping us and we will end up succeeding. It's a battle and it's not easy and it may be the last thing I do.”

In our “Fastest Horse of the Week,” segment, which is sponsored by WinStar, we went over the many reasons there are breed to WinStar stallion Cogburn. The fastest horse of the week was Magnitude (Not This Time), who earned a 108 Beyer in a sizzling victory in the GII Risen Star S. Magnitude came out of the race with a minor injury and will not make the GI Kentucky Derby.

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders' Association, West Point Thoroughbreds, the KTOB, 1/ST Racing and 1/ST TV, the team of Randy Moss, Zoe Cadman and Bill Finley looked ahead at this weekend's action, which includes a huge card at Oaklawn Park on Sunday, topped by the GII Rebel S. and the GIII Honeybee S. Saturday's card at Turfway Park includes the Derby prep the John Battaglia Memorial S. The favorite may be First Resort (Uncle Mo) who will be making his 3-year-old debut. He currently tops the TDN Kentucky Derby Top 12, which is authored by T.D. Thornton. Another topic of discussion was the betamethasone positive Todd Pletcher received last week. For Bob Baffert, Medina Spirit (Protonico) crossed the wire first in the 2021 Derby and then tested positive for betamethasone. That was part of the reason Baffert received a lengthy ban from Churchill Downs, which kept him out of three straight Derbies. If the charges stick, Pletcher may get no more than a $500 fine from the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), an indication of how severe the Churchill ban against Baffert was.

To view the video of the podcast, click here. For the audio version, click here.

The post Mark Casse Joins the TDN Writers’ Room Podcast, Presented by Keeneland appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) is unconstitutionally violating the Interstate Horseracing Act (IHA) by requiring the advance-deposit wagering (ADW) platform TwinSpires to partner with a racetrack in that state before accepting simulcast wagers from Michigan residents. The judge further issued a preliminary injunction ordering the MGCB not to enforce the contested Michigan Horse Racing Law (MHRL) licensing requirement or to issue any sanctions against the Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI) subsidiary for accepting bets.

The Feb. 19 order only pertained to the TwinSpires motion for a preliminary injunction. It did not decide the overall, underlying case.

“The IHA establishes the exclusive procedure by which off-track betting systems (like TwinSpires) accept interstate off-track wagers,” wrote Chief United States District Judge Hala Jarbou in a 35-page opinion out of U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. “When someone in Michigan places a wager on an out-of-state race, and they place this wager through an off-track betting system that accepts the wager out of state, under the IHA, the off-track betting system needs consent from the racetrack, the regulating entity in the racetrack's state, and the regulating entity in the state where the system accepted the wager, not the MGCB.

“By requiring a third-party facilitator license for such transactions, Michigan has acted contrary to the IHA,” the judge continued. “The Executive Director's attempt to force TwinSpires to obtain a license before accepting bets of this nature is unconstitutional, akin to adding an additional consent to the IHA's exclusive process.

“TwinSpires may need a license to accept wagers for races on Michigan racetracks under section 3004 of the IHA,” the opinion continued. “But the Executive Director cannot penalize or prevent TwinSpires for accepting a wager outside of Michigan when the race is not at a Michigan racetrack. TwinSpires has demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits, that imminent and concrete irreparable harm would occur without a preliminary injunction, and that a preliminary injunction would prevent harm to others and advance the public interest.”

The Jan. 12 lawsuit by Churchill Downs Technology Initiatives Company-plus a still-pending, entirely separate lawsuit brought five days later by the MGCB against TwinSpires-both stem from the fact that at the start of 2025, Michigan's law requiring ADWs to partner with a racetrack in the state couldn't be fulfilled by any ADW operator.

That's because there hasn't been any Thoroughbred racing in Michigan since 2018, and Standardbred races last ran in February 2024.

TwinSpires (and other ADWs) had previously partnered with the now-demolished and to-be-developed Northville Downs, whose license-holders as of Jan. 1 were planning to-but had not yet received at that time-approval for the required 30 days of Standardbred racing at a different location so that all parties could be eligible for ADW and simulcasting in 2025.

On Dec. 23, 2024, the MGCB notified all licensed ADWs to cease offering wagering for Michigan residents effective Jan. 1, 2025. The shutdown was to be temporary until the harness track licensing issue got resolved.

While ADW operators Xpressbet, NYRA Bets, and TVG Network voluntarily complied with the order, TwinSpires did not. After a week of continuing to take bets against the order, the MGCB suspended the TwinSpires license Jan. 7.

On Jan. 31, Northville Downs received its licensing, allowing third-party facilitators to accept wagers in accordance with the MHRL license requirement. However, the MGCB continued to maintain its suspension against TwinSpires, stating in a Jan. 17 court complaint that, “A summary suspension is not optional to the aggrieved party but rather is an immediate suspension pending a prompt hearing.”

The federal judge summed up both sides' legal arguments in the Feb. 19 opinion:

“TwinSpires asserts that compliance with the third-party facilitator license requirement was unnecessary because of the preemptive effect of the IHA and that any related sanctions would be unconstitutional. TwinSpires claims it voluntarily acquiesced to the MHRL license requirement to promote a good relationship with the MGCB and stimulate growth in Michigan's horse race industry,” Jarbou wrote.

“Defendants disagree. According to Defendants, the IHA does not restrict a state's ability to require additional consent for interstate off-track wagers. Because TwinSpires has accepted wagers that were placed in Michigan, Defendants argue that TwinSpires has violated the MHRL.

Defendants argue that TwinSpires accepts wagers in Michigan and therefore needs consent (via a license) from Michigan regulatory entities,” Jarbou wrote.

The opinion continued: “The IHA governs interstate off-track wagers placed in Michigan. However, when TwinSpires filed its motion for preliminary injunction, there were no licensed racetracks in Michigan, and TwinSpires accepted pari-mutuel wagers that were placed in Michigan without a recognized third-party facilitator license. Given the attempted enforcement actions against TwinSpires for these transactions, the Court will explain why-even when no entities could accept wagers in Michigan-interstate off-track pari-mutuel wagers remained lawful and subject to the IHA's exclusive regulations.

“The IHA only requires that pari-mutuel wagers are lawful in each state involved in the interstate transaction; it does not require pari-mutuel wagering to be active,” the opinion continued.

“As is relevant for the case before the Court, while no entity could accept pari-mutuel wagers within Michigan's borders when Northville Downs's licenses were suspended, Michigan does not prevent residents from placing such wagers out of state. Thus, even if the Court were to adopt Defendants' interpretation of MHRL section 431.317(a), pari-mutuel wagers remained lawful throughout January (particularly those wagers accepted out of state for races that took place out of state).

“As discussed above, the IHA is concerned with the lawful status of pari-mutuel wagers, not whether any entity is accepting wagers in a state. Under either interpretation of the MHRL language, pari-mutuel wagers were lawful in Michigan even when Northville Downs did not have its licenses,” the opinion stated.

“Congress established an exclusive, uniform process through which off-track betting systems could accept interstate off-track wagers. The IHA prohibits states from adding supplemental requirements,” the judge wrote, adding at a different point in the opinion, “An order forcing TwinSpires to cease operations in Michigan would cause TwinSpires to continue to lose its competitive place in the Michigan pari-mutuel wagering sector. This harm is exacerbated now that the MGCB has reinstated Northville Downs's licenses, allowing TwinSpires's competitors to accept wagers while maintaining its summary suspension of TwinSpires's license.

“If shut down, TwinSpires would be the only online wagering platform that could not accept bets from Michiganders,” the judge wrote.

“If the Court does not issue a preliminary injunction, TwinSpires faces a concrete and imminent threat of state action forcing it to cease operations in Michigan. Not only is such action an unconstitutional intrusion on TwinSpires's rights to accept certain interstate off-track wagers under the IHA (given the statute's preemptive character), TwinSpires has also demonstrated that it has already lost customer goodwill and its competitive market share.

“These are incalculable injuries that constitute irreparable harm,” the opinion continued. “The Executive Director's continued public allegations and attempts to sanction TwinSpires will only exacerbate these harms. TwinSpires has demonstrated certain and immediate irreparable harm; a preliminary injunction is warranted to prevent further harm…”

“TwinSpires has demonstrated a likelihood to succeed on the merits of its constitutional claim and has established irreparable harm,” the opinion stated. “The preliminary injunction would protect TwinSpires's rights, as well as the rights of Michiganders to place interstate off-track wagers via the IHA. Thus, issuing a preliminary injunction would prevent harm to others and

advance the public interest.”

TDN requested comment from both CDI and the MGCB. Neither responded prior to deadline for this story.

The post Violating the IHA by Enforcing ‘Unconstitutional’ Sanctions Against Twinspires appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Canada's Sovereign Award finalists were announced by The Jockey Club of Canada Wednesday, in addition to dual Hall of Fame trainer Roger Attfield who will receive the E.P. Taylor Award of Merit at the 50th Annual Sovereign Awards ceremony which will be held Apr. 24 at the Paramount Eventspace in Woodbridge, Ontario.

Additionally, Emma-Jayne Wilson and Moira (Ghostzapper), winner of the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf before selling for $4.3 million at Fasig-Tipton in November, will both receive Special Sovereign Awards. Wilson surpassed Julie Krone's purse earnings record for a female rider, while Moira amassed over $1.5 million in earnings in 2024, but was not eligible having failed to make at least three starts in Canada last year.

Victor James will also be presented with the 2024 Outstanding Groom Award, sponsored by OLG while Ian Dick will receive the Outstanding Off-track Worker Award. James was nominated by Josie Carroll while Dick was nominated by Colleen Dalos.

Horse of the Year finalists will be announced during the 50th Annual Sovereign Awards ceremony.  Judging for the Media Awards is performed by media professionals within the industry selected from across North America and the United Kingdom.

2024 Sovereign Awards Finalists

   The finalists in each of the following categories are listed in alphabetical order.

Champion Two-Year-Old Female
Aristella

Nitrogen

Souper Supreme

Champion Two-Year-Old Male
Dream On

He's Not Joking

Scorching

Champion Three-Year-Old Female
Avana

Caitlinhergrtness

Kin's Concerto

Stormcast

Champion Three-Year-Old Male
August Rain

Dresden Row

My Boy Prince

Champion Older Main Track Female
Big Hug

Elysian Field

Fashionably Fab

Champion Older Main Track Male
Apprehend

Paramount Prince

Wicked Django

Champion Female Turf Horse
Fev Rover (Ire)

Full Count Felicia

Stormcast

Champion Male Turf Horse
Cruden Bay

Filo Di Arianna (BRZ)

Patches O'Houlihan

Champion Female Sprinter
Gal in a Rush

Play the Music

Stormcast

Champion Male Sprinter
Filo Di Arianna (BRZ)

My Boy Prince

Patches O'Houlihan

Outstanding Broodmare
Dancing Allstar

Executive Affair

Platinum Steel

Outstanding Breeder
Adena Springs

Anderson Farms Ont. Inc.

Chiefswood Stables Limited

Outstanding Owner
Gary Barber

Chiefswood Stables Limited

Bruno Schickedanz

Outstanding Trainer
Kevin Attard

Josie Carroll

Mark Casse

Outstanding Apprentice Jockey
Fraser Aebly

Pietro Moran

Sofia Vives

Outstanding Jockey
Sahin Civaci

Rafael Manuel Hernandez

Patrick Husbands

Listed in alphabetical order, the Media finalists are:

Digital Audio/Visual and Broadcast Category

• Peter Gross – Podcast Episode 233
• Horse Racing Alberta – Women in Thoroughbred Racing
• Goh Iromoto – The Long Run

Photograph Category

• Skip Dickstein – Magnificent Moira, Winner's Jubilation
• Barbara D. Livingston – Moira
• Mary Jane Sibbitt – Right Way/Wrong Way

Writing Category

• Mike McIntyre – Resolve and Reinvention at a Gallop
• Jennifer Morrison – Trials, Tears and Canada's Queen of Racing
• Joe Nevills – 'She Means Everything': Attard Team Says A Long, Short Goodbye To Moira At Fasig-Tipton November Sale

The post Sovereign Award Finalists Revealed; Attfield, Wilson and Moira to Receive Special Awards appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

RIYADH, KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA — Owner Al Gold knows that you can't win if you don't play, and the New Jersey native has not one, but two cracks at a nice payday on Saturday's Saudi Cup undercard at King Abdulaziz Racecourse here in Riyadh.

Gold, who did not make the trip over to Saudi Arabia, but will be watching from the comfort of his winter home in Florida, campaigns Cyclone State (McKinzie) in partnership with George Messina and Michael Lee, as the $70,000 Keeneland September yearling looks to extend his current winning streak to four in the G3 Saudi Derby, the first of six group races on a program featuring an eye-watering $34 million in prize money. A few races later on the card, Howard Wolowitz (Munnings) will carry the owner's colors in the G2 1351 Turf Sprint.

Gold paid $240,000 for Howard Wolowitz from the consignment of Clarkland Farm at the 2022 Keeneland January Sale.

“Chad Summers picked out this horse, the Munnings, and liked him very much,” Gold said. “We look at the physical first, the page second. We watched the walk. The walk was great. Everything about the horse, we liked. The poise, the way he walked through everything. We were fortunate enough to get him.”

Howard Wolowitz | Neville Hopwood/Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia

Three months after acquiring the Munnings colt, Gold celebrated one of his most memorable victories as an owner when Cyberknife (Gun Runner) struck from close range in the GI Arkansas Derby, and in a backwards sort of way, that colt played a role in the naming of his new purchase.

“Well, actually, what happened was I was going to the Arkansas Derby with and my wife and another couple, and the plane started shaking and making all kinds of noise,” he began, “and we had to go back and never made it there, so I named this horse Cabin Pressure originally, at that time and that moment. He really wasn't doing much in his training and then I was watching 'Big Bang Theory', I said, 'Let's change the name to Howard Wolowitz,' so we changed the name, and he got a lot better all of a sudden.”

Howard Wolowitz didn't do much running in a six-furlong maiden on the dirt to begin his career and soon found himself in the barn of Jose D'Angelo, who insisted that what Gold had on his hands was a horse crying out for a surface switch.

After graduating by a wide margin over the Gulfstream Tapeta track last June, Howard Wolowitz was a troubled fourth in the Mahony Stakes at Saratoga in August, then validated 3-1 favoritism in the GI Franklin-Simpson Stakes at Kentucky Downs. Howard Wolowitz also didn't have much luck in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, finishing three lengths' ninth.

American Grade 1 winner Howard Wolowitz leading the international horses to the track in Riyadh on Wednesday morning. ⁦@TheSaudiCup⁩ pic.twitter.com/mVCJYNlvcd

— Adrian Beaumont (@AdrianBeaumont) February 19, 2025

“He's really not a five-furlong horse,” Gold suggested. “Those were very tough horses. He went wide on the turn, checked back to last, so you can't make a ground at Del Mar from being last at the top of the lane. That he only lost by three lengths was a testament to the horse's talent.”

Howard Wolowitz bounced back in no uncertain terms with a towering victory in the Holiday Inaugural Stakes at Turfway Park when last seen Dec. 14. Emisael Jaramillo, in the irons last time, rides the colt on Saturday.

Cyclone State | Coglianese

Iowa-bred Cyclone State has punched well above his weight and carries a record of 3-1-0 from four starts at a mile–all around one turn–heading into Saturday's Saudi Derby.

“There's a lot of tough horses here in America, and we hear the track [in Saudi Arabia] can be a little speed-favoring,” Gold said of Cyclone State, who is trained by Summers. “He's going to be out there winging, and we hope he's good enough to handle those.”

Beaten in the dying strides of a one-mile maiden at Aqueduct by future GII Remsen Stakes runner-up Aviator Gui (Uncle Mo) back in September, Cyclone State broke through Nov. 3 and added a Dec. 6 allowance at odds-on. Clear by as many as eight lengths entering the final furlong of the Jerome, the bay easily held sway to punch his ticket to Saturday's Saudi Derby. Luis Rivera, Jr., in the irons for Cyclone State's last three wins, comes in from New York to ride.

Gold said that neither horse has as-yet been invited to the Dubai World Cup meeting on Apr. 5, but that both would be considered for their respective races if offered the opportunity. In the meantime, Howard Wolowitz and Cyclone State will be looking to uphold the 'Gold' standard in the Saudi desert.

CYCLONE STATE went out for an easy gallop this Wednesday morning for trainer @horsesummers under exercise rider Jesus Mangual. Following this, the colt showed nice behavior during gate schooling.

CYCLONE STATE realizó vuelta y media de galope esta mañana del Miércoles para el… pic.twitter.com/AY9hJiL791

— Agentes305 (@agentes305) February 19, 2025

The post Gold Hoping For Double Dose of Saudi Success appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

The nominees for 2024 New York-bred divisional championships were announced Wednesday by New York Thoroughbred Breeders.

The nominees are:

2yo Male: Bold Fortune (Central Banker), Jack and Jim (Slumber {GB}), Mi Bago (Vekoma), Mo Plex (Complexity), Sacrosanct (Honest Mischief);

2yo Filly: Accelerating (Mitole), Scythian (Tiz the Law), Shoot It True (Munnings), Stone Smuggler (Honest Mischief), With the Angels (Omaha Beach);

3yo Male: Antonio of Venice (Laoban), Doc Sullivan (Solomini), Pandagate (Arrogate), Tapalo (Tapiture), The Big Torpedo (Big Brown);

3yo Filly: Kinza (Carpe Diem), Landed (Omaha Beach), My Mane Squeeze (Audible), Roanan Goddess (Leofric), Sweet Brown Sugar (Collected);

Older Dirt Male: Bank Frenzy (Central Banker), Light Man (Central Banker), Maker's Candy (Twirling Candy), Mama's Gold (Bolt d'Oro), Rotknee (Runhappy);

Older Dirt Female: Kant Hurry Love (Kantharos), Silver Skillet (Liam's Map), Sterling Silver (Cupid), Stonewall Star (Flatter), Venti Valentine (Firing Line);

Turf Male: Dakota Gold (Freud), Dancing Buck (War Dancer), Senbei (Candy Ride {Arg}), Spirit of St Louis (Medaglia d'Oro), Works for Me (Daddy Long Legs);

Turf Female: Caldwell Luvs Gold (Goldencents), Loon Cry (More Than Ready), Moonage Daydream (Candy Ride {Arg}), Scythian, Silver Skillet;

Male Sprinter: Dancing Buck, Light Man, Rotknee, Senbei, Tapalo;

Female Sprinter: Kant Hurry Love, Loon Cry, My Mane Squeeze, Sterling Silver, Tricky Temper (Into Mischief).

A panel of New York Turf writers, broadcasters, handicappers, racing analysts and photographers will vote to decide the winners of each division and the 2024 New York-bred Horse of the Year.

The divisional champions, New York-bred Horse of the Year, a special lifetime achievement award and other honors will be announced at the NYTB Awards Dinner sponsored by the New York Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund from 6:30-9 p.m. May 19 at Sacred Saratoga on the property of GMP Farm Equine Rehabilitation and Therapy in Schuylerville. The awards ceremony includes a cocktail hour, silent auction and plated dinner.

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