Thoroughbred Daily News

Haras Don Alberto's homebred Eccentric (Chi) (Ivan Denisovich {Ire}) clinched a spot in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf after posting a victory in Sunday's 'Win and You're In' G1 Gran Premio Club Hipico Falabella over 2000 meters at Club Hípico de Santiago.

A two-time Group 1 winner in her native Chile in 2025, the 3-year-old hombred successfully turned the tables on GISW Noche Sublime (Chi) (Mendelssohn) and GSW Nartella (Chi) (Mendelssohn). Eccentric finished behind Noche Sublime in last December's GI Las Oaks Fasig-Tipton and was again behind that rival, finishing third, in the GII Gran Clasico Coronacion Pablo Baraona in March.

Nartella, also a Don Alberto homebred, defeated Eccentric by two lengths in the May 4 GII Carlos Campino.

The Breeders' Cup will be held at Keeneland Oct. 30-31.

Ridden by Oscar Ulloa from post 11, the Patricio Baeza trainee raced in mid-pack among astrung out field while tracking a moderate pace up front. Meanwhile, Noche Sublime was weaving through traffic and finally found running room on the outside as Eccentric took the lead in the final 200 meters. In a dash to the finish, Eccentric held off Noche Sublime's late rally to win by a head. My Way (Chi) ) (Mendelssohn) finished third.    Nartella crossed the wire in 10th. Eccentric completed the distance in 1:57.89.

The Breeders' Cup Turf will prove a challenge for the filly, but she has proven consistent, finishing fifth in the GI El Derby, her lone off-the-board finish in 12 starts. The Feb. 21 Derby was over the same 1 1/2 miles as the Breeders' Cup Turf, however, she was only beaten 2 1/2 lengths that day. Her other start at 12 furlongs was a third in Grade I company last October.

The post Eccentric Clinches Berth to BC Turf With Gran Premio Falabella Win appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Haras Don Alberto's homebred Eccentric (Chi) (Ivan Denisovich {Ire}) clinched a spot in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf after posting a victory in Sunday's 'Win and You're In' G1 Gran Premio Club Hipico Falabella over 2000 meters at Club Hípico de Santiago.

A two-time Group 1 winner in her native Chile in 2025, the 3-year-old hombred successfully turned the tables on GISW Noche Sublime (Chi) (Mendelssohn) and GSW Nartella (Chi) (Mendelssohn). Eccentric finished behind Noche Sublime in last December's GI Las Oaks Fasig-Tipton and was again behind that rival, finishing third, in the GII Gran Clasico Coronacion Pablo Baraona in March.

Nartella, also a Don Alberto homebred, defeated Eccentric by two lengths in the May 4 GII Carlos Campino.

The Breeders' Cup will be held at Keeneland Oct. 30-31.

Ridden by Oscar Ulloa from post 11, the Patricio Baeza trainee raced in mid-pack among astrung out field while tracking a moderate pace up front. Meanwhile, Noche Sublime was weaving through traffic and finally found running room on the outside as Eccentric took the lead in the final 200 meters. In a dash to the finish, Eccentric held off Noche Sublime's late rally to win by a head. My Way (Chi) ) (Mendelssohn) finished third.    Nartella crossed the wire in 10th. Eccentric completed the distance in 1:57.89.

The Breeders' Cup Turf will prove a challenge for the filly, but she has proven consistent, finishing fifth in the GI El Derby, her lone off-the-board finish in 12 starts. The Feb. 21 Derby was over the same 1 1/2 miles as the Breeders' Cup Turf, however, she was only beaten 2 1/2 lengths that day. Her other start at 12 furlongs was a third in Grade I company last October.

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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – It is time for another showdown at historic Saratoga Race Course.

Golden Tempo (Curlin) and Renegade (Into Mischief), the top two finishers in the GI Kentucky Derby are poised for a rematch in the $2-million GI Belmont Stakes Saturday at America's oldest race track, where many titans of the sport have done battle over three centuries.

Separated by a neck in the dramatic finish of the Derby, Golden Tempo, a 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard', and Renegade are in leading positions of an up-for-grabs 3-year-old division. They are the headliners of the 158th running of the Belmont, which will be contested for the third and final time at Saratoga during the complete rebuild of Belmont Park.

A field of nine was entered for the post-position draw Monday, which was held at the Universal Preservation Hall downtown. The race, which has a scheduled post time of 7:04 p.m., will be run at 1 1/4 miles. The standard Belmont distance since 1926 is 1 1/2 miles, but it cannot be run at 12 furlongs over the 1 1/8- miles dirt course at Saratoga.

Renegade drew post four and was installed as the 2-1 morning-line favorite in the Belmont by New York Racing Association odds maker David Aragona. In a little bit of a surprise, Aragona made 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Chief Wallabee (Constitution), who was fourth in the Derby the second choice at 3-1. Golden Tempo is third on the morning line at 9-2 and will start from post nine.

“I think it's a very competitive field,” Renegade's Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said. “Whoever works out the best trip will be the winner.”

Renegade, co-owned by Mike Repole and his breeders Lawana and Robert Low, managed to overcome a very difficult start from the rail in the Derby and was in position to win in deep stretch, but was overtaken by Golden Tempo, the late-running longshot at the wire. Pletcher, a four-time Belmont winner, also will saddle Repole's Powershift (Constitution).

Golden Tempo's last-to-first rally under Jose Ortiz was a historic milestone, making Cherie DeVaux the first woman to train a Derby winner. DeVaux prepped Golden Tempo for the Belmont at her base at Keeneland Race Course. He worked a half-mile under Ortiz in :48.20 Saturday and shipped Sunday to Saratoga where he will try to become the 13th horse to complete the Derby-Belmont double.

DeVaux said she is pleased with the way her colt has come out of the Derby.

“He has really improved physically and mentally,” she said. “He was starting that upward trend going into the Derby and he has continued that. ”

Although the sharp early pace suited Golden Tempo's running style, DeVaux said she believes the colt bred and owned by Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable, has the versatility to be successful even if there are more moderate early fractions.

“I only worry about the things that I can control and nothing else,” she said. “It's a wasted use of emotion to worry about things like the pace. Jose has been on him and it's going to be what it's going to be on race day.”

After watching Golden Tempo win the Derby at 23-1 and Napoleon Solo (Liam's Map) take the GI Preakness at 7.90-1, trainer Chad Brown said it made sense to enter the trio of 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Emerging Market (Candy Ride {Arg}), Growth Equity (Nyquist) and Ottinho (Quality Road).

“Anyone in the field could win the race, the more I am thinking about it,” he said. “When you look at the first two legs of the Triple Crown, the two horses that won are very nice horses and you could make a case for them. I think everyone would agree, they were unlikely winners. I think they are top-quality horses, but they were unlikely winners. In the third leg, maybe there is more of the same. I don't think you can go in thinking that only the likely winners are the main competition. I think anyone can win. It's a quality field and it's an evolving crop. We see unexpected things happening every major weekend. That is why I am going to run three horses in the race. I feel this whole Triple Crown season has been wide open.”

Golden Tempo and Renegade skipped the Preakness to wait for the Belmont. Napoleon Solo is bypassing the Belmont and will make his next start in the GI Haskell at Monmouth Park on July 18.

Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables owns Emerging Market (6-1) and Growth Equity (12-1). Emerging Market, who drew post eight, won the GII Louisiana Derby in his second career start and finished 10th in the Kentucky Derby.

Growth Equity will attempt to become the 10th winner of the GIII Peter Pan Stakes to take the Belmont. The last horse to do it was Arcangelo (Arrogate), who won both races in 2023. Growth Equity drew post six and will be ridden by Manny Franco

Bred and owned by Michael and Katherine Ball, longtime Kentucky trainers and owners, Chief Wallabee, is trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, who won the Belmont last year with Sovereignty. Jockey Junior Alvarado and Chief Wallabee will start from post three. They endured a difficult trip in the Derby and finished fourth, three lengths behind Golden Tempo.

Mott said he was fine with the post position and wasn't surprised that his colt was made the second choice on the morning line.

“I thought it was fitting,” Mott said. “He ran well enough in the Derby to deserve that. I guess we are a little shorter than the Derby winner but I guess we were a shorter price in the Derby. I think it's fair.”

Commandment (Into Mischief)'s four-race winning streak, capped by a nose victory in the GI Florida Derby, ended with a seventh-place finish in the Derby. Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, twice a Belmont winner, takes over on the Waltham Racing colt trained by Brad Cox. Commandment (6-1) drew post seven.

Veteran jockey Dylan Davis will ride Three Chimneys Farm homebred Ottinho (20-1) for the first time from post five. Ottinho, a half-brother to champion, Horse of the Year, Hall of Famer and top sire Gun Runner, was a distant second in the GI Blue Grass to Further Ado (Gun Runner). He came out of the race with a hoof crack and did not compete in the Derby or the Preakness

Powershift (12-1), who drew post two, broke his maiden impressively at 1 1/16 miles in the opener of the Derby program at Churchill Downs. Luis Saez will ride the colt, who was a well-beaten sixth in the GIII Tampa Derby on March 7 in his stakes debut as a maiden.

Trainer Doug O'Neill sent Vitruvian Man (Vino Rosso) (30-1) from California to New York for his second try in a Grade I. He drew the rail. Glenn Sorgenstein bred and co-owns the colt, whose most-recent start was a third in the GI Santa Anita Derby on Apr. 4.

The new co-owners are Run Fast Racing, a partnership that includes recording artists Lil Wayne, Lil Yachty, and Rauw Alejandro. Antonio Fresu will ride the colt named for a famous drawing by Leonardo da Vinci.

2026 GI Belmont Stakes field:

1 Vitruvian Man (Vino Rosso), Fresu, O'Neill, 30-1
2 Powershift (Constitution), Saez, Pletcher, 12-1
3 Chief Wallabee (Constitution), Alvarado, 3-1
4 Renegade (Into Mischief), Ortiz Jr, Pletcher, 2-1
5 Ottinho (Quality Road), Davis, Brown, 20-1
6 Growth Equity (Nyquist), Franco, Brown, 12-1
7 Commandment (Into Mischief), Velazquez, Cox, 6-1
8 Emerging Market (Candy Ride {Arg}), Prat, Brown, 6-1
9 Golden Tempo (Curlin), Ortiz, DeVaux, 9-2

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A fundraising effort is underway to help 26-year-old exercise rider Hector Cotto, who has been hospitalized in Philadelphia since Saturday after being unable to avoid a head-on collision with a loose horse while he was breezing another Thoroughbred during morning training at Parx.

Chelsea Hackbarth of the Paulick Report broke the story on Monday about the May 30 accident, which reportedly resulted in the deaths of the two horses involved. TDN could not confirm the names of the deceased horses prior to deadline for this story.

Hackbarth quoted trainer Robert Reid, Jr., who said that Cotto was breezing one of the horses in his stable near the head of the stretch when another horse got loose and careened toward Cotto's mount. Cotto attempted to get out of the way but couldn't, and suffered “multiple fractures to his jaw, one arm, and several ribs,” the Paulick Report story stated.

According to a GoFundMe page established by Reid's daughter, Whitney, to help Cotto, “Hector faces a long, difficult, and uncertain road to recovery. The coming weeks and months will bring extensive medical treatment, rehabilitation, and many challenges for Hector and his family.

“Hector is a hardworking, dedicated horseman whose passion for racing and unwavering commitment to the horses he rides have earned him the admiration and respect of his colleagues, friends, and the entire racing community. Those who know Hector know his strength, kindness, and tireless work ethic.

“During this incredibly difficult time, we are asking for your support to help ease the financial burden on Hector and his family. Funds raised will assist with medical expenses, rehabilitation and recovery costs, post-hospital care, and travel expenses for his parents as they make the journey from Puerto Rico to be by his side throughout his recovery,” the GoFundMe page stated.

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Connect (Curlin–Bullville Belle, Holy Bull), winner of the GI Cigar Mile, has been sold to Seyda Ercan Stable and will stand in Turkey in 2027, Lane's End confirmed on Monday.

The 13-year-old stallion has been based at Lane's End since his retirement in 2018.

According to the Turkish publication Yaris Dergisi, which first reported the sale, the deal was brokered by bloodstock agent Murat Sancal.

During his stud career, his progeny have won 37 stakes and just under $31 million in progeny earnings.

One the racetrack, Connect earned over $1.3 million garnered from six victories from eight career starts. In addition to the Cigar Mile, the dark bay also won the GII Pennsylvania Derby, GIII Westchester H. and Curlin Stakes.

Connect, bred in Kentucky by Fox Straus, is responsible for a pair of 2026 Classic-placed colts, Kentucky Derby third Ocelli and Chip Honcho, third in the Preakness. He is also the sire of $3.9 million earner and Grade I winner Rattle N Roll.

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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.–Flash back to the fall of 2025. By then, trainer Chad Brown had a good idea that the new batch of young horses that had come into his powerhouse barn had promise. Plenty of promise. The future, he thought, was very good indeed.

“I knew we had a really good group of dirt colts heading into their 3-year-old year,” Brown said outside his barn this week on the Oklahoma Training Track.

The leader of the pack was a solid looking chestnut named Paladin (Gun Runner), a $1.9 million purchase from the 2024 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale by a partnership that included Peter Brant and the Coolmore principals (Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith).

But, before you could say Have Gun-Will Travel, Paladin, once a promising player on the GI Kentucky Derby trail, was erased because of a non-displaced condylar fracture of his right front ankle.

The good news is Brown expects him back in the fall. The bad news, well, he didn't make the Derby. Enough said.

Another Brown-trained horse–Canaletto (Into Mischief)–also came off the Kentucky Derby trail with an injury after a third-place finish in the GIII Tampa Bay Derby.

“He was right at the top of the list, the Derby favorite in February,” Brown said of Paladin, who was undefeated in three starts. “He had defeated both Golden Tempo (Curlin) and Renegade (Into Mischief) and you wonder, 'what if.”

Brown will get his chance against the top two finishers in the Derby in the 158th running of the GI Belmont Stakes next Saturday.

Actually, he'll have three chances. Brown will saddle Emerging Market (Candy Ride {Arg}), Growth Equity (Quality Road) and Ottinho (Quality Road) in the Belmont which will be run for the third, and final time, at Saratoga Race Course. The race returns to Belmont Park next year.

Don't think for a second that these three–and you can add Iron Honor (Nyquist), the runner-up in the GI Preakness Stakes to the list–are subs for Paladin while he is on the equine disabled list. That's not the way the 47-year-old Brown, a five-time Eclipse Award winner, rolls.

“It's not like they are replacements,” Brown said. “They are all on their own developmental pattern. I give the individual horses a chance to develop. They have made it to the Belmont with a good chance. With or without those other injuries, these horses would have likely found themselves in this race.”

Emerging Market, owned by Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables Inc., won his first two starts, the second being the GII Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds and earned a trip to the Run for the Roses despite the thin resume.

Brown believed–he had won the GI Kentucky Oaks the day before the Derby with Always a Runner (Gun Runner) and she had just two starts–and Emerging Market got some play, going off at 8.78-1. He finished 10th after losing a shoe on the first turn.

“It worked in the Oaks, it didn't work in the Derby,” Brown said. “(Emerging Market) has bounced out of it in good shape and is working well. We are giving him another shot. I am looking forward to getting him into a field that is not as big and bulky. Hopefully we'll have a better trip.”

Also owned by Klarman, Growth Equity comes into the Belmont after a win in the GIII Peter Pan at Aqueduct in his fourth start. That came after he broke his maiden in start No. 3. This will certainly be an acid test for the colt, who has two wins and two seconds.

The final Brown Belmont runner is Ottinho, owned and bred by Three Chimneys Farm LLC (Goncalo B. Torrealba). He hasn't been seen since finishing second, 11 lengths behind Further Ado (Gun Runner) in the GII Blue Grass at Keeneland.

He came out of that race with a crack in his foot and Brown said they weren't really thinking Kentucky Derby with him anyway. The foot did not heal in time for the Preakness.

“That horse wants every bit of a mile and a quarter,” Brown said. “He will stay all day, fitness wise. But you get into that, 'do they want this class level competition?' He will be tested. We'll find out.”

Dylan Davis will ride Ottinho for the first time, Manny Franco will pilot Growth Equity (he has been on him twice) and Flavien Prat will ride Emerging Market for the fourth straight time. Emerging Market has been training at Saratoga; Growth Equity and Ottinho at Belmont.

Brown has never won the Belmont–his best finishes were a second with Gronkowski (Lonhro {Aus}) in 2018 and a third with Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) in 2024. This will be first time he has ever started three horses in a Triple Crown race.

“These horses are lightly raced,” he said “We have given them time, and their owners have been patient. They are in perfect health right now and I am excited to get them into this field and see what they can do.”

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Billionaire attorney John Morgan met with the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association (FTBOA) leadership at their headquarters in Ocala on Thursday to outline his vision for the sustainable future of Florida Thoroughbred racing and breeding, the organization said in a Friday press release.

Morgan has formed a Delaware corporation to advance the state's last remaining permit owned by Ocala Thoroughbred Racing, a wholly owned subsidiary of the FTBOA. The entity is working with third parties to identify business models that will anchor robust purses and awards in Marion County and insulate the industry from recurring decoupling threats.

A longtime Floridian and major Thoroughbred breeder, Morgan is owner and CEO of the Delaware entity.

“The future of Florida Thoroughbred racing cannot rest on a 'build it and they will come' philosophy,” Morgan said. “We have seen the painful realities at Hialeah Park, Churchill Downs Incorporated's Calder Race Course and Arlington International and now the uncertainty surrounding Gulfstream Park. Florida thoroughbreds deserve a sustainable path forward.”

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With June around the corner, the graded stakes calendar heats back up as Churchill Downs hosts its Stephen Foster Preview on Saturday.

The local prep for the June 28 running of the GI Stephen Foster Stakes, the GIII Blame Stakes is one of six higher-level races on the card and could be deemed as wide-open.

Wathnan Racing's Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) has the class edge though. The 2025 winner of the G1 Dubai World Cup returned to Meydan back in late March, but was unable to duplicate the feat. Now the Brad Cox trainee is ready for his stateside return.

“He's a classy older horse,” Cox said. “Obviously, he's well-traveled being a Dubai World Cup winner. Last year we went from the Dubai World Cup to the Foster, and this year we decided to run him in this race coming back from Dubai. He's had a solid string of works since returning to the U.S. and I think he's ready to run a top effort on Saturday.”

Standing in his way are a number of other older horses with clout. 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard', Hall of Fame (Gun Runner) turned in a competitive campaign last year, but ended up fourth in the Blame Stakes. He ran into T O Elvis (Volatile) in the GI Churchill Downs Stakes on the Derby undercard, which was his 5-year-old unveiling.

Liberal Arts (Arrogate) kicked off his season by facing some stiff competition in the GII Oaklawn Handicap. The gray likes the local course and owns three wins in five starts.

According to trainer Todd Pletcher, Vibe (Into Mischief) will opt for next week's GI Met Mile at Saratoga.

In the GII Shawnee Stakes, GI Breeders' Cup F&M Sprint heroine Splendora (Audible) will scratch.

The likely race favorite will probably come down to GSW Majestic Oops (Majestic Harbor) or 4-year-old Godolphin homebred Immersive (Nyquist). The latter, who was voted champion 2-year-old filly, was last seen finishing as the runner-up for Brad Cox in the GIII Distaff Stakes at Aqueduct Apr. 4.

“She had a solid run to begin her season going seven-eighths,” Cox said. “She'll stretch back out around two turns Saturday, which is where she's proven herself against some top competition in the past.”

As mentioned, Baffert's presence under the Twin Spires has significantly increased this year. The Hall of Famer has a pair entered in the GIII Aristides Stakes. 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard', Cornucopian (Into Mischief) is a graded stakes winner, but he was well-beaten in the Churchill Downs Stakes. Madaket Road (Quality Road), who is Grade I placed, draws in after taking an allowance race May 8.

The turf menu is not lacking on Saturday either. In the GIII Mint Julep Stakes look for John D. Gunther homebred Favorite Memory (GB) (Frankel {GB}) to take money. The filly hails from the barn of Cherie DeVaux and will be making her first start in the U.S. after running in England.

Tam Tam | Coglianese

A good group of 3-year-old fillies will be battling it out in the GIII Regret Stakes. The winner of the GIII Florida Oaks, Dandona (Tiz the Law), and the winner of the GII Appalachian Stakes, Storm's Wake (Oscar Performance), are interesting. But Tam Tam (Medaglia d'Oro)–who missed by a head in the GII Edgewood Stakes on the Oaks undercard–should be the favorite come post time.

“I don't want to say she fooled us as a 2-year-old, but we always thought she possessed a lot of ability,” said Tam Tam's trainer Phil Bauer said. “She sort of left us a little frustrated after those efforts, but she reminded me a little bit of Buchu (Justify), who was a graded stakes winner on grass. It was a relief when she was able to break her maiden on grass and came back to run a really nice race to win the Sanibel Island. On Oaks Day, we were confident even though it would be a tough task. She ran her eyeballs out.”

“She definitely has natural gate speed,” he added. “I'd prefer her not be on the lead and have a target. Hopefully, Junior [Alvarado] can see what's going on to his inside going into the first turn. If she ends up on the lead like she did in the Edgewood, so be it.”

Finally in the GIII Arlington Stakes, Lagynos (Kantharos) keeps rolling for trainer Steve Asmussen. The chestnut is after his fourth win in a row. The lightly raced Minaret Station (Instilled Regard) could play spoiler.

Seismic Beauty (Uncle Mo) makes her return to the races in the GII Santa Margarita Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday.

In 2025, the Baffert trainee won this graded in gate to wire fashion by five lengths, then netted the GI Clement L. Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar in early August. She was unable to capitalize on the homefield advantage though and was eased in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff Stakes Nov. 1.

At 'The Great Race Place' on Sunday, the GIII Triple Bend Stakes includes GISW Stronghold (Ghostzapper) for trainer Phil D'Amato.

Woodbine outside of Toronto has its own graded slate to offer on Saturday. The GII Eclipse Stakes is joined by the GIII Bell Mahone Stakes and GIII Jacques Cartier Stakes.

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Prime Aurora (Mind Control) became the first winner for her New York-based freshman sire (by Stay Thirsty) with a towering debut performance at Gulfstream Park Friday afternoon.

Sent off the 57-10 fourth choice in a field of eight–of which seven were making their first trip to the races–the homebred did not break especially well from gate two, but did not have to expend too much energy to move into a striking position behind pacesetting favorite Lamdara (Core Beliefs) and the once-raced Melody Queen (Volatile) behind a quarter in :21.63.

Full of run as they neared the entrance to the stretch, the bay came through an opening at the fence and turned it on late to graduate by 8 3/4 highly impressive lengths.

From the female family of the accomplished MGSW & GISP turf marathoner Spring House (Chester House), Prime Aurora has a half-sister by Name Changer foaled this season.

Winner of the GI Hopeful Stakes at two, Mind Control did his best work at seven and eight furlongs, winning the GI H. Allen Jerkens Stakes in 2019 before closing his career with success in the GI Cigar Mile Handicap. Mind Control is the sire of 119 foals from his first crop and stands for $6,000 at Rockridge Stud.

2nd-Gulfstream, $42,700, Msw, 5-29, 2yo, f, 4 1/2f, :51.37, gd, 8 3/4 lengths.
PRIME AURORA (f, 2, Mind Control–Silver Hustler, by Political Force) Sales history: $4,500 RNA Wlg '24 FTNMIX. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $24,000. O-Majestic View Farms International; B-Majestic View Farms Intl (NY); T-Abraham Gardea. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

Prime Aurora impressively wins race 2 under jockey @SamyCamacho1. #GulfstreamPark #RoyalPalmMeet pic.twitter.com/pi1nQl5tl9

— Gulfstream Park (@GulfstreamPark) May 29, 2026

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In a Zoom call with members of the racing media, NYRA lifted the curtain Friday regarding the drop in Computer Assisted Wagering play after the racing organization put certain “guardrails” in place intended to limit the wagers of the CAW players.

In July 2021, NYRA became the first racing organization in the United States to establish a timing restriction for CAW activity, shutting off the win pool to CAW players with two minutes to post. A more significant step was taken in Dec. 2025 when CAW players were not allowed to wager into all other pools within two minutes of posts. The moves were meant to keep CAW players from betting large amounts at the very last second, creating the type of noticeable volatility in the odds that had draw the ire of retail customers.

Prior to the implementation of the latest CAW guardrails, CAW players accounted for 20 to 22% of the total wagering. That figure is now down to 12 to 13%.

The focus of the call was also on the volatility of the pools–how much and how dramatically did prices change within the last few minutes of wagering. Basing its study on the Exacta pools, NYRA found that there were few significant fluctuations in prices once the new rules were instituted.

“We're measuring ourselves post putting in these guardrails specifically in the Exacta,” NYRA CEO and President David O'Rourke said. “Initially we saw roughly a 45 to 50% reduction in the late volatility of those odds and we'll show some charts on that. That's held steady since that first few weeks. So it's been extremely consistent.”

O'Rourke said the organization had heard enough complaints from retail players to know that there was a problem. The easiest way to drive away a player is to watch win odds go from 4-1 to 8-5 at the very last second while the Exacta falls from $56.00 to $33.00.

“This is all about the player,” he said. “This is about feedback, the customer experience. Over the course of specifically the last year, but even the last few years, from the public and the core wagering group, we've been hearing frustration in terms of primarily late odds movements. We're in the pari-mutuel business in the sense that we're trying to improve the experience for the wagering public. In terms of who wins the game, that's not really in our purview at all here, as we're looking towards this objective right now. So we've developed some tools and what we've developed is a volatility index.

“I haven't actually heard in the last few months too many outcalls on our product. I'm sure there's an instance or two, but I do believe that by throttling down the amount wagered toward the end, we have brought down this volatility.

David O'Rourke | Coglianese

O'Rourke admitted that, at least for now, keeping the CAW players at bay has affected all-sources handle. NYRA is a part-owner of the Elite Turf Club, which caters to CAW players, so the CAW rules could be costing them money there, too.

“As far as total handle, depending on the meet or the month, the drop could be anywhere from eight to 10% of handle,” O'Rourke said.

He continued: “Is this just a rationalization of what's the right balance in this market? And when you start to affect market dynamics, you want to be very acute in what you're trying to achieve. And right now our objective is to bring down the volatility. It's not a Luddite type thing where we're trying to eliminate computers. We're just putting in some, I guess you would say, resistors towards the end in terms of you can't just walk up to the table and dump a bunch of money on it and affect everything at the very last second. So these are more like circuit breakers, I guess, but there's an economic cost to it. But the question is, does that handle become destructive in nature in terms of the consumer experience.”

While the NYRA tracks have led the way when it comes to implementing CAW guardrails, Jack Jeziorski, the president of NYRA's content management solutions, said others have begun to ask NYRA questions about the positives of limiting CAW play.

Obviously, the CAW players who have been betting on the NYRA races cannot be happy.

“I don't exactly have daily conversations with these folks.” O'Rourke said. “Nobody's happy when you change something. Actually, I wouldn't say that. If you go across the spectrum, some players actually embrace these changes because they want a healthy ecosystem. We're seeing the most dramatic change in visible pools because people don't want to show their hand to other players or the public possibly. Has there been pushback? Yeah, there's definitely been some pushback from a few groups, but the main pushback would be just not going to play. There's lots of places to play.”

Have any CAW players stopped playing the NYRA races altogether?  O'Rourke said there have been about 20 different CAW teams playing the New York races.

“We have not seen any CAW teams leave altogether, but some are dramatically down,” he said.” Not altogether, no, but dramatically down.”

O'Rourke said that NYRA's study into the impact of CAW wagering is in the beginning stages.

“The main thing that this endeavor is an investment in our retail players,” he said. “I mean, we're committed here to improving the experience, so we'll keep updating as we go through and once we go through the summer. I imagine we might sit down again. This could be adjusted at some point, but the adjustments would be thought through and measured. We started this, we're roughly three months out. You need to give this time.”

The post With Guardrails In Place, CAW Play At NYRA Has Fallen appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Six days after Decisive Win made light work of his first two-turn test en route to 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard honors at Santa Anita, Flying Dutchmen Breeding & Racing's Where Luck Lives (f, 3, Nyquist–Holiday Soiree, by Harlan's Holiday) made all the running to take a salty first-level allowance Thursday evening at Churchill Downs to also earn 'Rising Star' laurels.

Exiting a defeat of next-out 'Rising Star' Movie Night (Speightstown) in a sloppy Keeneland maiden Apr. 3, the $725,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga purchase caught a flyer from gate five beneath Luis Saez and took her rivals through an opening quarter-mile in :22.62.

Keeping up the gallop on the turn, the athletic bay filly turned them in after a half in :45.68 and finished full of run, covering her final two furlongs in a strong :24.35 to take it by 5 1/4 convincing lengths. The Grade III-placed French Blue (Gun Runner) gave vain chase to be second ahead of Kayla's Comet (Mitole), who got home well for third.

Where Luck Lives appears to be another in a strong series of females produced by Holiday Soiree, winner of the Shine Again Stakes and third in this track's GI Humana Distaff Stakes during her racing days.

The mare was acquired by Rock Ridge Thoroughbreds for $160,000 in foal to City of Light at Keeneland November in 2021, producing a filly the following season. Holiday Soiree's foal of 2020, Vahva (Gun Runner), took out the GIII Charles Town Oaks and GII Lexus Raven Run Stakes at three and Rock Ridge sold the mare for $300,000 back in foal to City of Light at KEENOV in 2023. Holiday Soiree is the dam of the 2-year-old filly Christmas Lights, who sold for $850,000 at Keeneland September last fall.

Vahva would go on to become one of the leading distaff sprinters of her generation, with an elite-level score in the GI Derby City Distaff, while Ahavah would go on to round out the exacta in the GII Fair Grounds Oaks in 2025. For her part, Vahva fetched $3.1 million at Keeneland last November.

Nyquist is now the sire of five 'TDN Rising Stars.'

6th-Churchill Downs, $125,591, Alw (NW1X), Opt. Clm ($125,000), 5-28, 3yo, f, 6f, 1:10.03, ft, 5 1/4 lengths.
WHERE LUCK LIVES, f, 3, by Nyquist
1st Dam: Holiday Soiree (SW & GISP, $405,642), by Harlan's Holiday
2nd Dam: Try to Remember, by Include
3rd Dam: Casanova Strike, by Smart Strike
Sales history: $725,000 Ylg '24 FTSAUG. Lifetime Record: 3-2-0-0, $142,382. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
O-Flying Dutchmen Breeding & Racing LLC; B-Rock Ridge Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Brian A Lynch.

Where Luck Lives wins race 6! pic.twitter.com/C70jX7nn9m

— Churchill Downs (@ChurchillDowns) May 28, 2026

The post Where Luck Lives Another New ‘Rising Star’ For Nyquist appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

In the latest salvo amid an oftentimes confusing chain of events that have played out across Pennsylvania's racing industry the last couple of months, the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (PTHA) issued a statement Thursday denying allegations the organization had failed to provide adequate support for the nine trainers at Parx Racing who were told last month by track management they would be denied stalls at the track, but were given no reasons as to why.

“The information that is being provided is one-sided and fails to reflect the immediate and extensive work that the PTHA did to assist these individuals as soon as it learned of the denials,” according to the organization's statement.

“Any suggestion that the PTHA has let down these individual members who have recently been denied stall allocations by Parx is inaccurate and misleading. Given the time and effort that the PTHA spent attempting to help the affected horsemen through this situation, the criticism is particularly unwarranted and seems to merely reflect an agenda inconsistent with moving the PTHA forward,” the PTHA statement adds.

According to Bob Hutt, the former PTHA president and a current board member, however, the press release was issued without the board's approval and is a “misrepresentation of the truth.”

“I want to know who drafted it and who gave it to Pete Peterson. It does not represent the board,” said Hutt, pointing to the vice president of a Pennsylvania PR firm, Bellevue Communications, which distributed the statement.

“This board has done very little, almost nothing, to help these people,” Hutt said.

The PTHA statement supports some of the timeline of events already detailed by the TDN as to the way in which this process has played out.

For example, it details how the PTHA president Kate DeMasi and one of the affected trainers met with Parx management to discuss the stall denial and attempt to reach a resolution. “Unfortunately, those efforts were unsuccessful,” the statement reads.

The PTHA statement also mirrors the TDN's reporting that the organization's new legal counsel Jan Budman had recommended the affected horsemen first request an immediate hearing as outlined in the Parx stall application.

If that hearing was denied, Budman next recommended the affected horsemen seek an arbitration hearing, “which requires filing an arbitration demand” with the American Arbitration Association in Philadelphia, according to the statement.

According to the PTHA, none of the trainers nor their legal counsel have pursued the specific legal route outlined in the stall application agreement.

“Several affected members spoke with an experienced horsemen's attorney who has handled many horsemen's cases over the years. Despite being shown the clear path to challenge Parx's decisions, not one of the affected members or their counsel (at least to the PTHA's knowledge to date) has attempted to follow the specific dispute resolution process expressly set forth in the Stall Application,” the statement reads.

“Contrary to what has been reported, these individuals appear to have voluntarily decided not to follow the process to challenge the stall allocation denial decisions. Had the PTHA learned that Parx was somehow denying the affected horsemen their ability to challenge these decisions as expressly set forth in the Stall Application, which is simply not the case, the PTHA Board was (and still is) prepared to step in to vigorously protect the membership.”

According to Alan Pincus, the attorney representing seven of the nine affected trainers, there are several reasons he has not pursued an arbitration hearing on behalf of the trainers. One is that the stall agreement (agreed upon by the PTHA) is “completely one-sided” in favor of the track, he said.

“It's a dead-end,” said Pincus of any legal process under that agreement. He added how many of the impacted trainers also don't have the financial resources for such a legal fight.

“So, why do you have a horsemen's group? They get millions of dollars to run their organization that comes out of the purse fund, and they all make great salaries.  They're doing fine,” said Pincus. “But they've done nothing. And I don't remember any instance in the last twenty years where the PTHA fought for anything.”

Earlier this month, Hutt told the TDN that the board voted down a motion for the PTHA to legally challenge Parx (to allow the trainers a full merits hearing) on advice from Budman that such a legal move might jeopardize their tax-exempt status.

The PTHA's statement appears to allude to that detail.

It reads that the organization “advised the affected members that the PTHA was not in a position to pay for any individual member's legal fees or other costs associated with their disputes given the limitations on non-profit trade associations from using funds to benefit individual members. This is the same reason that the PTHA is unable to provide legal counsel to individual members who may have a positive drug test violation.”

In the background of this issue is a horsemen's association riven by internal strife, due to allegations of financial mismanagement among certain members of the board over recent years. The PTHA board ordered an audit of this alleged financial impropriety. That audit is complete but it has not been made public.

“The PTHA's Board, and leadership team have inherited some challenges, but this group is committed to strengthening the PTHA moving forward. It intends to do so systematically and reasonably with the best interests of all of the association's collective membership in mind,” the PTHA's Thursday statement adds.

Elsewhere in the state's horse racing industry this week, Tom Chuckas, Tony Salerno and Jason Klouser lost their jobs with the state Department of Agriculture, according to a brief email from an agency spokesperson Wednesday.

When asked about the reasons for the terminations, the spokesperson wrote that “we do not comment on personnel matters.”

Chuckas was the department's director of Thoroughbred Horse Racing. Tony Salerno was the director of Harness Racing. Jason Klouser was the director of enforcement for the Bureau of Thoroughbred Horse Racing.

According to a ruling posted on the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) website last week and reported in the TDN Wednesday, charges against Parx trainer Felissa Dunn (brought when Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission investigators claimed to have found syringes in her barn} have been dropped after an internal investigation revealed that one or more of the investigators made material misstatements of fact.

The post PTHA Claims “Extensive” Support For Trainers, Board Member Calls It “Misrepresentation Of Truth” appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC's Epic Reign (Epicenter) became the first winner for her freshman sire (by Not This Time) Thursday evening at Churchill Downs, coming from off the pace to score by a widening margin on the wire.

Sent out by the same ownership that campaigned Epicenter to victories in the 2022 GII Jim Dandy Stakes and GI Travers Stakes, Epic Reign jumped as the 19-5 third choice and was outsprinted through the opening exchanges following a sluggish beginning from a wide draw.

Last into the turn following a quarter in :23.24, Epic Reign was angled sharply away from the inside by jockey Keith Asmussen passing the quarter pole, rallied strongly down the center of the course and pulled clear to win with some authority. Peak Perspective (Mineshaft) attended the pace three deep and held for second ahead of front-running By Her Decree (Constitution).

A half-sister to Wakuda (Gun Runner), SW, $149,188, Epic Reign is out of a stakes-placed daughter of MSW & GSP Simplify (Pulpit), whose seven winners include MSW Optionality (Gun Runner) and SW Simple Surprise (Cowboy Cal), herself responsible for MGISW sire Gunite (Gun Runner) and Spice Runner (Gun Runner), victorious in last year's GIII Iroquois Stakes at this venue.

Simply Sovereign, also kin to the dam of champion and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies heroine Super Corredora (Gun Runner), has a yearling Gun Runner filly and foaled a full-sister to Epic Reign this season.

3rd-Churchill Downs, $115,410, Msw, 5-28, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 1:06.17, ft, 4 1/2 lengths.
EPIC REIGN (f, 2, Epicenter–Simply Sovereign {SP}, by American Pharoah) Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $68,496. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
O/B-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Steven M Asmussen.  *1/2 to Wakuda (Gun Runner), SW, $149,188.

From first to last, Epic Reign wins race 3 at Churchill Downs! pic.twitter.com/YrZPvGiyoY

— Churchill Downs (@ChurchillDowns) May 28, 2026

The post Epic Reign Gets Freshman Sire Epicenter Off the Mark appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

For 60 days straight over the winter at Will Walden's Palm Meadows base in Florida, MGISW Rhetorical (Not This Time) underwent a different kind of training.

Instead of being turned out for the off-season like so many horses, his trainer decided that it was time to unveil a new project where skills like dressage would be emphasized. The work that the gelding put in over those months has paid off and now the New York-bred Horse of the Year owned by Gary Barber, Cheyenne Stable and Wachtel Stable will point to next week's GI Manhattan Stakes at Saratoga.

It all started after Rhetorical finished fourth in the GI FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile at Del Mar, which according to Walden prompted him to think twice about sending the miler to the pasture.

“I just got to the end of the Breeders Cup and I'm looking at this gelding, whose weight is above what I could have hoped for at the end of what wasn't a particularly tough year, and he's dappled from head to toe,” said Walden. “He was super sound. I just didn't want to kick this horse out in Kentucky where the weather is about to get bad, and have him sit and freeze his tail off.”

So, that is when Walden reached out to the one-and-only Aidan O'Brien.

“Aidan eats, sleeps and drinks this stuff, but he doesn't over complicate it,” Walden said. “Wintering horses over there is cyclical and it's every single year. They've been doing this a long time and continually come out with top results. What he has in his barn might be different than mine, but these are horses. Athletes don't sit around during the off-season, do they?”

Gstaad (GB) at the Breeders' Cup | Horsephotos

Walden specifically asked O'Brien about Gstaad (GB) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), who won the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar on the same weekend that Rhetorical ran in the Mile. Gstaad just took the G1 Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas at The Curragh May 23.

“I wanted to know what the next three months looked like for Gstaad and Aidan was incredibly open about his program,” said Walden. “The way that I understood it was the main focus is flatwork. Getting the horse to use themselves and strengthen his or her back and top line. He mentioned bringing in top-level event riders that focused on making the horse use itself beyond the traditional exercise of a basic gallop.”

Walden said he did dressage for about four or five years with his mother, Rebecca, when he was younger and added that he knows what it can do for a horse's muscle structure.

“Aidan said to throw as much food at them as they'll eat and let their biology do the rest,” he said. “What you want with dressage-based training is for them to develop their back muscles by using themselves.”

Walden got together with one of his main exercise riders at Palm Meadows and put together a plan for Rhetorical.

Our 2025 @BreedersCup contenders Rhetorical and Gordon Pass have decided to implement a little dressage into their off season training regimen. Looking good boys! @DCHI23 pic.twitter.com/elanvFdCGc

— Will Walden (@wwaldenracing) December 11, 2025

“I've got some really talented riders and if you explain what you want, then they make it happen,” said Walden. “I don't have access to the facilities that Aidan has at Ballydoyle and bringing in outside event riders isn't quite in the cards, but Palm Meadows suited our needs with this L-shaped gallop trail that they have. It's deep and sandy, which was perfect.”

Rhetorical won the GI Coolmore Turf Mile at Keeneland last fall | Coady Media

Like football players who work out on sand volleyball courts during the spring and summer to build their leg strength, Rhetorical did the same. He was joined by Gordon Pass (Instilled Regard), who was in the Juvenile Turf at Del Mar with Gstaad.

“The L-shaped gallop intersects with the seven-eighths pole in the chute of the main track,” he said. “We would jog them slowly halfway down the L, then take a right into the chute where it was quiet and there was no traffic. In the chute we would have the horses do circles both ways for about 4 1/2 minutes each way with each circle about 20 yards in diameter. I would send videos to Aidan and he would kindly offer constructive criticism like, 'have your riders slow down and get their weight back' and 'have them drop the horses head just a bit and really make him use himself.' He was extremely giving with his time.”

After about 25 to 30 minutes of this kind of training, Rhetorical would return to the barn, but he wouldn't be cooled down. Walden said that they literally pulled the tack off of him, put a set of bell boots on him and the horse went directly into a round pen for about an hour and a half.

Rhetorical enjoying some well deserved time off. pic.twitter.com/QtVALWshGk

— Will Walden (@wwaldenracing) November 25, 2025

“He'd have water out there, get some sun on his back, and he could walk around and stay loose,” said Walden. “He'd come back to the barn, have a bath and then he'd walk for 20 minutes while he dried off. I think we sort of overdid it on the weight that he gained, but once he started working, you could see where the muscle had just developed up over his back and through his hindquarters. He became a bigger, faster version of himself.”

Walden said that this kind of training really gets a horse to connect differently with the rider because they have to think through what they are being asked to do.

“They have to communicate on a different level than just the exercise rider putting his hands down while galloping around the racetrack,” he said. “The horse has to slow down and really be intentional and connected to the rider when doing flatwork.”

Will Walden | Tod Marks

The same program was applied to Speed Shopper (Quality Road), a 5-year-old mare who won the GIII Christophe Clement Stakes at Gulfstream Park in late January. Walden said that she responded well to the workouts. After a troubled trip in the GIII Orchid Stakes, Speed Shopper won the GIII Bewitch Stakes at Keeneland April 24.

“My dad [Elliott Walden] was down at Palm Meadows to check on some horses and he commented on how their body language was just so good. They are more relaxed and happier.”

Walden said that not every horse has responded to his dressage training, but Rhetorical is an example of a horse who really has enjoyed the level of fitness that it has provided. After all, the 5-year-old stretched out to win the second top-level race of his career when he went gate-to-wire in the GI Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic on the Derby undercard.

“He'd never gone more than a mile and a sixteenth,” said Walden. “But he was able to go farther and really dominate. I think everything in a horse's development plays a part. I can't put in what God left out, but what he did over the winter, how he's evolved and matured, has allowed all this to come to fruition.”

Walden confirmed that he will be making some tweaks to his program next winter, but for now the Manhattan is on his mind as he readies Rhetorical for a return to Saratoga, where the dark bay has three wins in four tries.

“I'm always going to try to understand these horses and exactly what moves them,” Walden said. “That's how we evolve in this business. My job is to keep them happy and healthy so they can participate in whatever division they tell us they're ready for.”

With all the right tools at his disposal, Rhetorical's own 'Manhattan Project' is on track.

Rhetorical wins the G1 Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic! pic.twitter.com/NQ57HzuvEs

— Churchill Downs (@ChurchillDowns) May 2, 2026

The post Manhattan Project: Walden’s Off-Season Regimen Keys Rhetorical’s Rise appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Monmouth Park and the connections of last year's champion male sprinter, Book'em Danno (Bucchero), are negotiating to get the five-year-old New Jersey-bred gelding to race at Monmouth on Friday, July 17, which is the day before the track's premier event, the GI Haskell Stakes.

Dennis Drazin, the chairman and chief executive officer of Darby Development LLC, which operates Monmouth, disclosed the plans during Wednesday's New Jersey Racing Commission meeting.

Drazin explained that the initiative would involve a special day in Book'em Danno's honor, with the aim of promoting the overall New Jersey-bred program.

“We're going to make a Book'em Danno day. We're going to get the community involved. We're probably going to give away free admission to residents of Oceanport. We're going to try and, you know, encourage people to breed in New Jersey,” Drazin said. “Hey, a New Jersey-bred won an Eclipse Award. That's a great thing.”

Book'em Danno, who began his 2026 campaign with a second-place finish, beaten a neck in the Apr. 4 GII Carter Stakes at Aqueduct, is on target to start next in the GIII True North Stakes at Saratoga Race Course June 6.

On Thursday, Book'em Danno's trainer, Derek Ryan, confirmed the negotiations to TDN. He described the potential Monmouth start as “penciled in” at the moment.

“We talked about it a couple of months ago, and that's the plan right now. But we have to get through the [True North] first,” Ryan said.

Book 'em Danno, who has a 10-for-17 lifetime record with $1.9 million in earnings, is stabled at Monmouth and is owned by a New Jersey-based partnership of friends and business acquaintances under the stable name Atlantic Six Racing.

Book 'em Danno was bred in New Jersey by Gregory Kilka and Bright View Farm. He is 3-for-3 at Monmouth, winning his career debut there in 2023 plus two other black-type stakes, but has not raced at his home track since 2024.

Ryan confirmed that the race under negotiation is the Mr. Prospector Stakes for three year olds and up at six furlongs. That race is currently on the Monmouth stakes schedule for July 17 with a $100,000 purse.

Without mentioning a specific dollar figure, Drazin said during the commission meeting that Book 'em Danno's connections “require that the purse be a certain number in order to run here. And so we're going to get them that money so they run here.”

Ryan didn't want to get into specifics about the purse negotiations or any details regarding a possible appearance fee.

“That's between [managing partner] Jay [Briscione] and Mr. Drazin,” Ryan said. “I'm just the trainer.”

As for the True North on the GI Belmont Stakes undercard, Ryan said, “Everything is good. No problems. He's good to go.”

The post If Money Is Right, Sprint Champ Book’em Danno Could Race At Monmouth On Day Before Haskell appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Despite broad Thoroughbred industry support, those who seek to keep the slaughter pipeline active are flexing their muscles in Washington D.C. in the hopes of trying to kill progress. One such group is the Public Lands Council (PLC), a nonprofit representing cattle and sheep farmers who graze herds on public land.

The National Thoroughbred Alliance sent a letter to the PLC's executive director Kaitlynn Glover, reprinted below for industry awareness, after a PLC publication indicated their active opposition to the Van Drew–Titus Amendment which passed last week, calling these accomplishments an “attack from animal rights activists,” and asserting an interest in trying to stop its further movement through Congress.

Rebutting misinformation in a timely fashion is a necessary part of the campaign to, once and for all, end the practice of shipping horses, never intended for the food chain, to slaughter.

————–

Dear Ms. Glover,

I am writing on behalf of the many Thoroughbred farms, farmers, owners and breeders across America, most especially in Kentucky, who raise, sell, race, breed, and transport tens of thousands of horses each year. These farms employ thousands and play a key role in contributing billions in economic impact to our region and this country.

They are not activists.

Upon reading your recent PLC newsletter describing supporting a ban on transporting horses for slaughter as “a standard attack from animal rights activists who want to restrict all transportation of livestock for human consumption,” we were quite surprised. While we respect the Public Lands Council's longstanding commitment to defending agricultural producers, your more broad-based assertion does not, in any way, describe Thoroughbred horse farmers, breeders or owners.

There is no desire amongst them to restrict the transportation of livestock raised for human consumption. Food animal farmers operate under a rigorous and costly framework to ensure their produce is safe to consume: from USDA inspection requirements to strict FDA veterinary drug protocols and testing for prohibited substances in the food chain. Farmers bear these compliance costs because their animals were raised from the beginning with that purpose in mind.

Horse farming has never operated within that system, because our horses are not raised as food animals, and the veterinary care they receive across their lifetimes reflects that reality. What can be a safe and effective, veterinarian-prescribed treatment for a horse can cause serious harm if that animal's flesh is consumed by an unsuspecting person, even many years after the treatment. This is not an activist position, but an agricultural and food safety reality with consequences that reach well beyond our farms.

Peer-reviewed research published in 2019 found that ten percent of beef samples tested across six Mexican cities contained horse meat, seemingly without the knowledge of the vendors selling it. The same study found the presence of veterinary drugs not approved for food-producing animals and known to be harmful if consumed by humans. This is a documented public health risk that directly undermines the reputation and integrity of the beef supply that cattle producers have worked so hard to protect–and as you know, Mexico is one of America's largest beef export markets, receiving more than $1 billion in U.S. beef annually.

For nearly two decades, Congress has acted to defund USDA inspection of horse slaughter facilities. More recently, President Trump has included the defund language in his budget. This reflects a broad national recognition that horses occupy a unique place in American agriculture and American life. What begins as livestock on our farms frequently transitions. A racehorse becomes a breeding animal, a sport horse, a work horse, a therapy horse, a pleasure horse, or a companion. The lifecycle of a horse does not follow the same arc as a steer, and the care provided across that lifetime reflects that from the very beginning.

We are not asking the Public Lands Council to abandon its members or its mission. Horsemen have no interest in policy for cattlemen. We are asking you to recognize that the horse farmers, owners, trainers and breeders supporting an end to horse slaughter shipments to Mexico and Canada are not your opponents, but rather your peers. We share your commitment to agriculture, to rural economies, and to the integrity of American farming. We simply ask that the conversation reflect the genuine distinctions that make this issue different from livestock transportation broadly.

–Patrick Cummings is the Executive Director of the National Thoroughbred Alliance.

The post Letter To The Editor: Pushing Back On Opponents Of The Slaughter Ban appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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

Dates: 05/27/2026
Licensee: Brian Lusk, 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: Medication violation for the presence of Methocarbamol–a class C controlled substance–in a sample taken from Dark Wind, who finished third at Tampa Bay on 4/12/26.

Dates: 05/26/2026
Licensee: Pedro Rafael Garcia Jr., 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: Medication violation for the presence of Methocarbamol–a class C controlled substance–in a sample taken from Foxy Lady, who won at Tampa Bay on 4/3/26.

Dates: 05/22/2026
Licensee: Moises Yanez, trainer
Penalty: 7-day period of Ineligibility for Covered Person, beginning on May 23, 2026; 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.
Explainer: Medication violation for the presence of Acepromazine–a class B controlled substance–in a sample taken from Kid Kaos, who did not finish the seventh race at Tampa Bay on 4/18/26. According to Equibase, the horse was pulled up entering the stretch and ambulanced off.

Dates: 05/19/2026
Licensee: Felicia Dunn, trainer
Penalty: None–Withdrawal of Charge.
Explainer: Dunn was facing possession of banned substances charges for Chlorpromazine and Propionylpromazine on an event dated 5/27/25. Read more about the case here.

Pending ADMC Violations

05/28/2026, Rene Cazares, trainer: Pending vet's list medication violation for the presence of Methocarbamol–a class C controlled substance–in a sample taken from Miss Goodbar on 4/24/26.

05/27/2026, Reynaldo Yanez, trainer: Pending medication violation for the presence of Methocarbamol–a class C controlled substance–in a sample taken from Goodie Goomer, who won at Tampa Bay on 4/29/26.

5/27/2026, Jesus Romero, trainer: Pending vets' list medication violation for the presence of Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO)—a class C controlled substance—in a sample taken from Neuschwanstein on 4/27/26.

05/21/2026, Steven Miyadi, trainer: Pending medication violation for the presence of Diclofenac–a class C controlled substance–in a sample taken from Tom Seaver, who finished eighth at Santa Anita on 4/17/26.

05/21/2026, Ricardo A. Murillo, trainer: Pending medication violation for the presence of Flunixin–a class C controlled substance–in a sample taken from Byk, who won at Penn National on 4/16/26.

05/21/2026, Brittany Russell, trainer: Pending medication violation for the presence of Methamphetamine–a banned substance–in a sample taken from Kerness K, who won at Laurel Park on 3/13/26.

Crop Violations

Aqueduct
Flavien Prat–reporting date May 25; $250 fine, one-day suspension

Churchill Downs
Christopher S. Elliott–reporting date May 26; $500 fine, one-day suspension
Cristian A. Torres–reporting date May 25; $1,000 fine, three-day suspension

Gulfstream Park
Edwin Gonzalez–reporting date May 21; $750 fine, three-day suspension, on appeal stay requested

Parx Racing
Francisco J. Martinez–reporting date May 22; $500 fine, two-day suspension, on appeal stay requested

Penn National
Wilfredo Corujo–reporting date May 25; $250 fine, one-day suspension

Santa Anita
Joel Rosario–reporting date May 27; $500 fine, two-day suspension, on appeal stay requested
Tyler Baze–reporting date May 26; $500 fine, one-day suspension, on appeal stay requested

Sunland Park
Filiberto Quiroz–reporting date May 22; $3,000 fine, 14-day suspension
Kevin Carmona–reporting date May 22; $500 fine, three-day suspension

The post Weekly National Rulings: May 21-28 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

A proposal floated by the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association of New Jersey (TBA) that would have significantly cut the cash awards the organization pays to the state's horse breeders and owners failed to gain approval at Wednesday's New Jersey Racing Commission (NJRC) meeting.

The measure, which was accompanied by the disclosure that the TBA has been unable to pay out $200,000 that is still due to breeders and owners who earned incentives at the 2025 Monmouth Park meet, got tabled until the July NJRC meeting by a 3-0 vote.

The money that pays for the incentives is generated by a percentage of handle.

Michael Campbell, the TBA's executive director, said the organization is currently short of funding to the point where it was only able to make good on 88% of its incentives from last year's meet.

“Coming into [2025] we had a little bit of a surplus from the prior year,” Campbell said at the May 27 meeting. “Our revenue since 2023 has decreased about $115,000. Our awards, our obligations, last year were about $1.6 million. That's really where the shortfall was. And obviously, we had to take our [operating] budget out of that as well.”

Sara Ben-David, the NJRC's acting executive director, read into the record an outline of the proposed changes the TBA wanted to make. The items that stood out were:

1) Dropping the awards to breeders from the 2025 levels (either 25% or 35% of the purse depending on whether the sire was a New Jersey stallion) to a flat 20%, regardless of the stallion's state status;

2) Lowering the horse owners' and stallion owners' awards from 10% of the purse to 5%;

3) Capping maximum awards at $10,000.

The TBA was additionally requesting that the changes be made retroactive to the start of the 2026 Monmouth meet.

When asked by several commissioners if the proposed reductions would enable the TBA to make good on the outstanding 2025 payments by the end of 2026, Campbell said that was unlikely.

“That's the difficult part. If we had additional revenue at the end of this year, which I'm not sure we're going to have, the board would decide that at the time,” Campbell said. “But we'll just keep it as a payable until we have it. If we have some, we'll just chip away at it. But I don't foresee us paying the additional $200,000 at the end of this year.”

Two of the three commissioners-they did not identify themselves when speaking-chimed in with concerns that by making the proposed reductions retroactive, the TBA would be breaking a promise to people who made breeding and ownership decisions as far back as several years ago on the on the current crop of racing-age horses.

“There is an obligation to satisfy them. I mean, that's why they bred [in New Jersey],” one commissioner said.

“I still think those folks need to be made whole for the investment that they made,” said another commissioner.

Campbell admitted that “we probably should have lowered the caps last year.” He suggested that if an $8,000 limit had been implemented for 2025, “the obligation would have been fulfilled.”

Dennis Drazin, the chairman and chief executive officer of Darby Development LLC, which operates Monmouth, was one of several Jersey-based horsepeople to voice concerns about the cuts. Although Drazin at first said he was speaking as a longtime in-state horse breeder and not as a track executive, his comments eventually blended those two roles.

“This is not a new problem. This is a problem that has existed for a long time. There was a point in time in the past where the [TBA] owed [incentives of] several million dollars, because we got into this 'couple hundred thousand every year' and they never paid it, and the backlog got to an unreasonable number,” Drazin said.

“Fortunately, the [New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association] had funds at that point in time [that] enabled us to lend [$4 million] to the breeders, so they could pay all their awards, and they did pay us back over a period of time,” Drazin said.

“We have a lot of breeders who were not consulted about these changes,” Drazin said. “There was no general membership meeting. There was no information passed on. I know about the change because I requested a copy of what they submitted to the commission by way of the new program. But there are a lot of breeders that don't even know that these requests are being made.”

Campbell admitted that the TBA's board had come up with the plan on its own, adding that the topic would be addressed at a general membership meeting June 24.

Drazin pointed out other issues related to the TBA, its shortfall, and how participants might be affected in the coming season and beyond.

Drazin said one problem is that Monmouth is required by statute to card at one New Jersey-bred race per day. But the racing office is continually asked by owners and trainers to offer additional restricted opportunities, so in recent seasons, more state-bred races have ended up on the overnight.

“This year, we're trying to keep a tight limit on this, given that they haven't able to pay [awards dating back to] last year, and only write one a day,” Drazin said. “The breeders aren't really happy about that [because] they'd rather run in Jersey-bred company than open company.

Another issue, Drazin said, has to do with the bonuses paid to Jersey-breds who do race successfully in open company.

“If they're requesting that the component of the owner award goes down from 10% to 5%, we pay-Monmouth Park pays-40% in open company,” Drazin said. “And we're not obligated to do that. We need revenues too.

“The agreement with the breeders in the past has been, 'We want to see the breeders encouraged to breed in New Jersey, so we're going to make sure collectively we get them 50% to run in open company,'” Drazin said.

“Because if you're not writing the restricted races, they can run in the open races, and if you get in an extra bonus, it encourages you to go in that spot,” Drazin said.

“But if the breeders now want to change their program to reduce the owner component, Monmouth Park may not give them the 40% in open company. We may look at whether or not we should save money.”

Drazin also questioned aspects of the TBA budget, specifically the recent hiring of a lobbyist for $60,000, which he said was not something that has been a traditional expense for the organization.

“They're taking that out of money that would otherwise be paid to the breeders,” Drazin said.

The post Facing $200k Shortfall, NJ Breeders’ Assn. Fails to Gain Commission Approval to Cut Incentives appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

A study done by the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California-Davis has revealed that a racehorse is likely to show a positive test result for metformin if its groom is taking the diabetes medication and urinates in the horse's stall.

After a rash of metformin positives in 2024, anecdotal information surfaced that in many of these cases their grooms handling the horses had been on the drug. Metformin is used to manage blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes.

With the uncertainty over the metformin cases rising, HIWU put a stay on any enforcement until further scientific review could be conducted. HIWU has nine cases pending from 2024-25.

Not one trainer was hit harder for a metformin positive than Jonathan Wong. Wong was provisionally suspended in August, 2023 after being alerted that the B Sample confirmed the presence of metformin in a post-race test taken from his trainee, Heaven and Earth (Gormley). Wong, who denied all wrongdoing, was given a two-year suspension that began on July 1, 2023, and a $25,000 fine, along with having to pay back $8,000 in arbitration costs.

Wong resurfaced on Feb. 13, 2024 at the Fair Grounds, taking advantage of the fact that HISA and HIWU have no jurisdiction over Louisiana. He has not run a horse outside the state since.

Though his HIWU suspension ended last summer and there are no longer any charges pending against him, Wong has been marooned in Louisiana. His attorney, Brad Beilly, said part of the reason he has not sought to race outside of Louisiana is that he is struggling financially and is having a hard time coming up with the $33,000 he must pay to be reinstated by HISA.

In 2022, the last full year of training before he was suspended, Wong's stable earned $5,391,479. His total earnings in 2025 were $1,615,070.

Wong said that he has been through so much since he was first hit with the positive that he will take a wait-and-see attitude.

“For me, this study is, I think, great news,” he said. “With the study that they did from UC Davis, they showed how it would take such a high level to make any effect on a horse and my level is still way, way, way below it. Yet, there was still no taking back of my suspension, nothing, no waving of my fine. For me, it's tough to get optimistic at this point because everything that we've said…starting with the chain of custody, which there were important issues over. We brought in the question of chain of custody and laboratory testing and we proved all of it and none of it was to our benefit. They had zero intention to even really care. That's why I have a hard time getting optimistic.”

Owner Brent Malmstrom, who has been a big supporter of Wong throughout his ordeal, maintains that had the information on metformin that is now available been made public when Wong first came onto HIWU's radar, things would have been handled far differently.

“Jonathan Wong would not have been suspended,” Malmstrom said. “None of the things would've happened. And in fact, none of the cases that led to penalties or the positives as they relate to metformin would've even been charged. There are a lot of trainers out there who were wrongly charged.”

According to Malmstrom, HIWU has been in contact with the Wong legal team but has made offers that have been rejected.

“At the end of the day, they've offered to settle his case and we've rejected their offers because part of their consideration for settlement is that we have to agree to drop any and all lawsuits,” he said. “I don't believe that what they've offered is enough restitution to make him whole.”

The next steps will be left up to Wong, Malmstrom and Beilly. They appear ready to take on HIWU and see where things lead in court. Beilly said seeking punitive damages is a possibility and a civil suit is likely.

“When HIWU announced that they were putting all the metformin cases on hold because they weren't sure of the science and they were going to undertake these studies to get some answers, we specifically asked both HISA and HIWU to take Wong off of suspension and if they didn't change the thresholds to put them back on when the studies were over and they refused,” Beilly said. “So Wong was the only person to be found liable under bad science. So the question now is what's going to happen because HISA has acknowledged on the record in another case that they are not immune from a damages suit.”

“We've talked about (a lawsuit),” Malmstrom said. “The Federal Magistrate in the Phil Serpe case has had HIWU acknowledge and  HISA acknowledge that they can be sued. They're not immune from responsibility. Even though they've hidden behind this, 'we're private entity, we're a federal entity'–and have done so depending on which facts and circumstances suit their cause. So we will look at it. We'll think which claims are the most appropriate and which jurisdiction is the most appropriate to file and go forward.”

Attorney Drew Mollica, who represented George Weaver in a metformin case, applauded HIWU for using science to get more definitive answers when it comes to metformin, but said it was too little too late.

“The regulations are written that you can't challenge the validity of their science, which is completely counter to due process because the science is the only thing they have,” Mollica said. “Once they find a positive, they throw it back at the poor trainer and say, 'Trainer responsibility, it's completely your problem … Unless you can show us where.' Well, sometimes you can't show where something came from because it's unfindable. So the science has to be able to be questioned. And without questioning the science, you're just walking these people down a plank.

“The truth of the matter is HISA and HIWU have shown that they're trying to move forward. But the truth is how do we put the broken eggs back together from the mistakes? How do we put these people back together?”

The post With UC Davis-Commissioned Study Showing that Metformin Positives Can be a Result of Contamination, Jonathan Wong’s Team Weighing Legal Options appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

These are uncertain times for Monmouth Park. The foal crop is down, their horse population is way down, and they're having trouble filling fields. That's what happens when you are one of many players in an overloaded Mid-Atlantic region and you are the only track that does not get revenue from casinos. (Monmouth does get a $10 million subsidy from the state to prop up purses, but that could be reduced to $2.5 million in 2027).

Yet, better news may be around the corner. Bills have been introduced to have casinos at Monmouth and the Meadowlands, but it appears there will be no movement on them until 2027. If the bills pass the legislature, casino expansion will go on the ballot.  Nothing will be easy about this because the Atlantic City casinos are powerful politically and have always found a way to keep New Jersey's tracks from having casinos. But with casinos having proliferated in Pennsylvania, Delaware and New York, there are plenty of New Jersey residents who are leaving the state to play casino games, leaving their dollars elsewhere.

To talk about Monmouth's situation, the track's general manager John Heims joined the team this week on the Thoroughbred Daily News Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland. He was the Gainesway Guest of the Week.

“We anticipate at some point that there will be a ballot measure and at some point they will let the voters decide whether or not they're going to no longer allow money from the state of New Jersey to cross the borders into Pennsylvania, into Delaware, into New York City,” Heims said. “We're completely surrounded in Atlantic City. When it was just Atlantic City and Vegas, you had a different animal. Casinos have proliferated throughout the entire country now and we're just watching our dollars cross over state borders rather than keep here. It's time to stop letting our money leave the state. Let's keep it here.”

What will happen if they do not get a casino? Many fear the worst.

“We'll still be here,” Heims said. “That's not a question. It just might be a different animal at that point. I mean, Dennis (Drazin) and the whole team look for alternative revenue sources at all times. That includes the new sportsbook that opened. And that generates money. The gains from the sports betting have covered the losses in horse racing.

“A housing project across the street is going to move forward. That's a long-term project that eventually will generate income that's going to go to the horsemen. There are always projects in the works and things of that nature, including when we did fixed odds. Any other alternative revenue source that we can come up with, we're going to utilize it and, as always, we've given it right back to the horsemen. And I'm assuming that's going to be the case moving forward as well.”

With or without a casino, Monmouth still needs to try to fix a difficult situation. With fewer horses available and with Mid-Atlantic trainers having the options of running at Parx, Laurel, Delaware Park and Colonial Downs, Monmouth is often the odd track out because it runs for only 50 days and, in this modern era, its purses are modest.

Heims would like to see tracks in the area cooperate more and work out circuits, like Laurel and Colonial have done.

“If you look at it from a cooperation standpoint, it would have to be Monmouth coming together with racetracks in the Mid-Atlantic region and simply saying, 'We are running too much to support what we have right now.' And I I don't think this is a surprise to anybody. This year in particular, we were hit very hard. In previous years we had done quite well in terms of field size and horses on our backstretch versus some other places that weren't as lucky as we had been. We have less than 800 horses on our backstretch right now, which is the lowest number I can ever recall being here.”

The good news is that on-track attendance at Monmouth is among the best in the country. On nice weekend afternoons, crowds can easily top 10,000. But many come out for family activities and promotions that include food trucks and Irish music festivals. How do you get those people to start wagering?

“You'll see a large attendance and a per capita of about $40 per head,” Heims said. “Betting, that's not what they're here for yet. And so you're just building that fan base into the future. And that's the attempt we've always done here.”

The “Fastest Horse of the Week” was Thermal (Nyquist), who earned a 106 Beyer when winning the Memorial Day Sprint Stakes at Lone Star. The Fastest Horse of the Week segment is sponsored by WinStar, which stands the sire Life is Good.

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the PHBA, 1/ST TV, and West Point Thoroughbreds, Randy Moss, Bill Finley, and Zoe Cadman talked about why there were so few major races over the Memorial Day weekend, with Finley advocating for the GI Metropolitan Handicap to return to what was its traditional spot on Memorial Day. They also reviewed what will no doubt be a huge event, the GI Stephen Foster S. Expecting a stellar field, Churchill has raised the purse for the race from $1 million to $2 million. They also talked about PETA's effort to get Paco Lopez suspended from his winning ride in the GI Preakness Stakes for misuse of the whip. All three agreed that Lopez did not deserve to be suspended. Cadman opined that Lopez had better watch himself because, she believes, PETA is out to get him.

Click here to watch the Writers' Room podcast, and here to listen to the program.

The post Monmouth Park GM John Heims 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.