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With a quiet weekend of racing for the top level, Metropolitan Handicap (G1) winner Raging Torrent held his lead in Week 21 of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association's Top Thoroughbred Poll.

Docklands bounced back to go one better and cause a 14-1 shock as he narrowly denied Rosallion in the Queen Anne Stakes (G1) June 17 to open the Royal Ascot meeting in thrilling fashion.

Having been beat in her three starts since winning this race a year ago, Vahva aims to right the ship June 21 in the $300,000 Chicago Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs.

Industry veteran Bernie Sams announced that he will be launching a new venture, BF Sams Bloodstock Advisory.

Field Of Gold is the favorite to avenge his Newmaket defeat by Ruling Court and Thady Gosden believes the son of Kingman has plenty in his favor in the St James's Palace Stakes.

Selling a group 1 as competitive can be a cop-out, a subtle way of implying the race lacks its usual quality. That billing contradicts the top-tier field assembled for the Queen Anne Stakes.

Defending champion Asfoora is up there with old rivals Believing and Regional. Most of what lies beneath these stalwarts is newer blood in the division. 

The final Florida juvenile sale begins June 17-18 at the Ocala Breeders June Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training and Horses of Racing Age Sale. The sale offers a variety of horses for buyers at all levels, ready to hit the racetrack this summer.

Omar Ramirez is primed with a strong consignment of 30 horses for the OBS June Sale June 17-18, including a colt by Beau Liam (Hip 829), who breezed a quarter in :20 1/5 on the final day of the under tack show, tying a track record.

Amo Racing's remarkable recruitment drive continued in Kensington Palace Gardens June 16 after the high-class Ghostwriter topped the Goffs London Sale following a £2,000,000 bid from Kia Joorabchian.

FanDuel TV will bring one of the pinnacles of international racing into the homes of fans across the country June 17 21 with live, on-site coverage of the entire meet from Royal Ascot.

The 2025 Remington Park Thoroughbred season begins Aug. 8 and features regular major races in the grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby and the $300,000 Remington Springboard Mile.

Santa Anita Park concluded its six-month 2024-25 Winter-Spring season June 15 by posting encouraging increases in handle, field size, on-track attendance, and safety.

Panama, consisting of jockeys Marcelino Pedroza Jr., Santo Sanjur, and Arcello Flaco, scored the win among 12 countries in the 11th annual World Jockey Challenge June 14 at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

Already postponed once for rain from May 30 to June 20, weather has yet again pushed the four turf stakes on GIII Penn Mile day another week out. In a press release Tuesday morning, Penn National stated that the four stakes in question, the Penn Mile, Penn Oaks, Alphabet Soup Stakes and Lyphard Stakes will be now be held Friday, June 27.

The release reads: “With significant, persistent rainfall in the local forecast for the next several days, the four turf stakes races carded for Friday, June 20th at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course have been rescheduled for Friday, June 27. Those four stakes will go–as drawn–on June 27. The other 7 non-stakes races carded for this Friday, June 20th will be run as
scheduled, with this Friday's first post remaining at 5 pm. Of course, the safety of our athletes–both human and equine–is everyone's top priority. Moving these four stakes to June 27 also helps ensure that our horsemen will be able to run their horses on the turf, as intended.”

The track also noted that guest announced Larry Collmus will still be on site on the 27th to call those four stakes races.

The post Rain Forces Another Postponement Of The Penn Mile appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Immigration enforcement officers raided the Delta Downs racetrack Tuesday morning in what has been described as a sweep of the backstretch, which had been closed off by the authorities.

The raid, involving drones, was coordinated between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), state and local law enforcement agencies, according to several sources.

In the latest development in an evolving situation, “several dozen individuals” have been detained at the track as part of the raid, said Eric Hamelback, CEO of the national Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA).

Delta Downs' latest Thoroughbred meet ended in February. The track is currently in the middle of a Quarter Horse meet.

“There was a raid at Delta Downs. They shut down the highway-it's federal highway that's by Delta Downs. They shut that down, buttoned down the place and had an ICE raid,” said Ed Fenasci, executive director of the Louisiana HBPA, reached early Tuesday morning.

The raid, said Fenasci, started before eight o'clock.

“The descriptions I'm getting, it was a raid. They had drones out,” said Fenasci, who added that members of his staff weren't permitted onto the property. “Nobody was allowed in or out,” he said.

The immigration raid came as a surprise to the Delta Downs backstretch, said Hamelback, who added that he has heard second-hand reports of horses being left unattended on wall-ties and on horse-walkers.

“I was told of one rider that was told to get off the horse and let it go,” said Hamelback, who added that the “lack of concern for equine wellbeing is also a major concern.”

In a statement Tuesday morning, David Strow, Delta Downs' vice president of corporate communications, wrote that he understood no Delta Downs employees were swept up in the raid. Delta Downs is owned and operated by the Boyd Gaming Corporation.

“Our Company complies fully with federal labor laws, and to our knowledge, no Delta Downs team members were involved in this matter.  We will cooperate with law enforcement as requested,” wrote Strow.

The raid has occurred in the midst of the Trump administration's increasingly aggressive immigration enforcement tactics, hitting hard those sectors that rely heavily on an immigrant labor force.

In February, immigration enforcement officers descended upon the Frontera Training Center in Sunland Park, New Mexico, in a targeted visit for specific individuals. Similar targeted visits have also involved Oaklawn Park and other tracks in recent months, according to several sources.

Tuesday's raid at Delta Downs, however, is believed to be the first major immigration sweep of a racetrack since the new administration regained power in January.

Just last week, Trump posted on his Truth Social media platform that the “very aggressive” raids were hurting farmers and hotels. Subsequent reports indicated that the administration had told ICE officials to largely pause raids and arrests in the agricultural industry, hotels and restaurants.

Reports on Monday, however, suggested that the administration had already reversed that order.

Hamelback said that he sent messages Tuesday to the offices of Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, of Louisiana, to Kentucky congressmen Andy Barr and to Louisiana congressman Steve Scalise, warning of the damage to the Thoroughbred horseracing industry from such raids.

   This story will be updated.

 

 

this is absolutely horrifying and heartbreaking. pic.twitter.com/9O4TMM0n2g

— Anika Miskar Photography (@seattleracing) June 17, 2025

The post Immigration Enforcement Descend Upon Delta Downs appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

John Stewart's Resolute Racing farm in central Kentucky, located on the grounds of the former Shadayid Stud, will be expanded to include a new training facility, Stewart said on Nick Luck's Live From Royal Ascot podcast Tuesday.

“It's our second year [on the farm],” said Stewart. “Last year we bred 31 mares, this year we bred over 50. We've got some fantastic diversity on the farm and we're really excited about that. We've got out first yearlings that were bred on the farm coming up so next year they'll be 2-year-olds. So it's all coming along pretty well. We've grown the farm from 800 acres to 1,300 acres and we're planning to build a training center on the property. So it's going pretty well.”

Stewart's farm roster includes a who's who of successful race mares and broodmares led perhaps most notably by Puca (Big Brown), the dam of GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic), GI Belmont Stakes winner Dornoch (Good Magic) and this year's MGISP Baeza (McKinzie). His aforementioned yearlings are by top international stallions such as Wootton Bassett (GB), Siyouni (Fr) and Frankel (GB) while his American-bred yearlings feature the full-brother to Mage and Dornoch along with a Flightline half-sister to 2-year-old champion Forte (Violence).

“You can't just get involved in racing and want to win” he said. “Because then you're just taking from the sport. If you're going to get involved in something, you have to get involved with all aspects of the sport and you have to want to support everything. For me, that's competing on a global stage. I think it's important to be in these historic venues. Ascot is definitely at the top of the list of races I want to compete in. So much so that I'm building a replica of the mile uphill on my farm. I specifically bought an additional farm because it has a 1 1/2-mile of property so I can build a proper uphill gallop. I think if we want horses to come over here [to Ascot] and race, you have to train them in environment you want them to compete in.”

Asked by Luck if Resolute would keep an in-house trainer on site or if the facility would only include pre-training, Stewart said, “Not going to go with my own trainer. I'm going to require every trainer that wants to train with me to have a division at my training center. I'm going to keep all my horses there in America and I'll ship them to the races just like they do at [Coolmore's] Ballydoyle. We're building a training center with 400 stalls. It's going to be state of the art. I'm going to take the Ballydoyle concept and take all the latest technology and implement it and try to up the game. There's a lot of incremental things we can learn from sports science. So much we want the horses to be athletes but we treat them still like farm animals. I think there's a lot of opportunity to makes things more competitive and to give the horses every opportunity and also to take care of [their] wellness from a training standpoint.”

The post ‘I’m Going To Take The Ballydoyle Concept’: Stewart Plans New Training Center appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Bernie Sams will be launching a new venture, BF Sams Bloodstock Advisory, according to a press release from the new company this morning. Drawing upon his extensive experience working for some of the world's top Thoroughbred farms, Sams said he would offer a variety of consulting services, including broodmare band management, advice on matings, purchases of stallion seasons and shares, securing equine insurance, and more.

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Sams began working with Thoroughbreds while attending the University of Kentucky. Early in his career, he worked at Wimbledon Farm, Haras de Roiville in France, Manchester Farm Lexington, and Overbrook Farm, as well as managing stallions at Gainesway.

In 2003, Sams began his tenure at Claiborne Farm, where he served as Bloodstock and Stallion Manager. His role included assisting in buying and syndicating new stallions, managing the stallions, advertising, helping clients purchase mares to fortify their broodmare bands, consulting on matings, and a host of other duties and responsibilities. Among the successful stallions Sams managed at Claiborne were Pulpit, Arch, Flatter, Blame and War Front, one of the most accomplished sires in recent history.

“I'm very excited to begin this new venture,” said Sams. “Claiborne was very good to me over the past 20-plus years and I look forward to the next chapter. I'm also happy to see my son, little Bernie, showing a passion for the Thoroughbred industry, so I'm hoping in the next few years he'll join me in this new endeavor.”

Bernie Sams can be reached at bfsams1959@gmail.com.

The post Bernie Sams Launches BF Sams Bloodstock Advisory appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

The 2024-2025 race meeting at Turf Paradise in Phoenix, Arizona, concluded on Kentucky Derby day May 3 with the lowest ever fatality rate in the 69-year history of the track, according to a release.

For the entire meet, the track recorded a fatality rate of 0.73 per 1,000 starts and from the beginning of 2025 through the end of the meet, post a rate of just 0.24. The 2024 Jockey Club national average was 1.11/1,000, while the 2024 HISA national average was 0.90/1,000, the release stated.

“Such accomplishments come about because of teamwork and collaboration,” said Turf Paradise owner Jerry Simms. “A heartfelt thanks to our track crew and track veterinarian, to our horsemen and the HBPA and to our regulatory partners, the Arizona Department of Racing and to HISA. Zero fatalities is our next goal.”

There was one fatality on the main track and three on the turf course among the 6,981 starters to race during the race meet.

The post Turf Paradise Reports Historically Low Fatality Rate appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

LAMBO, 6/12, CD, Race 8, 6 furlongs, video
Beyer Speed Figure – 86
(c, 4, by Uncle Mo-Sunshiny Day, by Bernardini)
O-Lawrence Roman. B-Aaron Sones (Ky). T-Peter Jacobson. J-Jose Ortiz.
In his first start since being purchased privately by Larry Roman (a New Yorker who also owns current stakes runner Banishing) and trainer David Jacobson, six-race maiden Lambo finally saw another fast-track sprint and celebrated by speeding 6 furlongs in 1:08.63 on the lead throughout.

DESERT GATE, 6/13, SA, Race 2, 5 furlongs, video
Beyer Speed Figure – 86
(c, 2, by Omaha Beach-Theogony, by Curlin)
O-Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman. B-Twin Oaks Bloodstock (Ky). T-Bob Baffert. J-Juan Hernandez.
Baffert unveiled his first 2-year-old starters of 2025: Curlin filly and $900k Ocala purchase Himika dominated four rivals June 12 to win by six lengths over stablemate Bottle of Rouge, and colt Desert Gate (bought at the same sale for $260k) prevailed in a four-horse field the next day as the 2-5 chalk for the familiar partnership known as the “Three Amigos.” After an extended battle with 9-5 Acknowledgemeplz, he edged away late–and the healthy Beyer indicates both youngsters have talent.

CHEEVER, 6/14, SA, Race 9, 7 furlongs (2nd), video
Beyer Speed Figure – 86
(c, 3, by Into Mischief-Electric Forest, by Curlin)
O-Muir Hut Stables. B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings (Ky). T-Mark Glatt. J-Antonio Fresu.
Welcome to the world of Southern California racing. Cheever has been among the Five Fastest Maidens after both his lifetime starts – yet remains a maiden. In his May 10 debut, the Stonestreet product racked up a sparkling 92 Beyer Speed Figure but checked in third behind Baffert duo Southern Gentleman and Sierra Silver. And Saturday he would have been an 8-length winner were it not for Sierra Silver. It's just a matter of time…right?

STARS AND STRIPES, 6/15, BAQ, Race 1, 1 1/8 miles, video
Beyer Speed Figure- 87
(c, 3, by Not This Time-Pearl River, by Quality Road)
O-Frassetto Stables. B-Pam and Marty Wygod (Ky). T-Bill Mott. J-Jose Lezcano.
Last week, Bill Mott topped these rankings with Stars and Strides. This week, he's back with Stars and Stripes. The 3-year-old colts aren't related, but both are fast. This one was ignored at 33-1 in his May 17 Aqueduct debut, but closed for third in a one-mile maiden race so fast he earned a 91 Beyer. That resulted in his 4-5 favoritism Sunday and he coasted in 10 1/2 lengths in front. His first two dams were unraced, but his Wygod family tree includes Breeders' Cup winners Sweet Catomine and Life Is Sweet.

SIERRA SILVER, 6/14, SA, Race 9, 7 furlongs, video
Beyer Speed Figure – 95
(c, 3, by Game Winner-Promise Me Silver, by Silver City)
O-Golden Bear Racing. B-Chester and Mary Broman (NY). T-Bob Baffert. J-Juan Hernandez.
How could a maiden capable of a 95 Beyer need three races to visit the winner's circle? Because Baffert stablemates beat him in his first two starts. He also made this list in the aforementioned May 10 race with a 95 Beyer in defeat. Bettors who backed Sierra Silver at even money Saturday had a tense moment when his stumbling start put him near the back of the eight-horse field, but the New York-bred cruised strongly to the front at the 5/16ths pole while being chased in vain by Cheever.

 

The post The Five Fastest Maidens, Presented by Taylor Made, for the Week of June 10-15 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.