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Woodbine Entertainment has announced its award-winning docuseries Free Rein, featuring the elite competitors of Canadian Thoroughbred racing, will return for a second season beginning Jan. 10.

Winter weather in Bensalem, Pa., continues to wreak havoc on live racing at Parx Racing as the track canceled its Jan. 6 card because of snow. A winter storm in Florence, Ky., forced Turfway Park to cancel racing for Jan. 9.

In support of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, the Continuing Stallion Auction kicks off Friday, Jan. 10 before concluding Jan. 15.

The online auction offers seasons to 30 Thoroughbred and Standardbred horses, all CHRHF inductees or have Hall of Fame horses in their pedigrees. Among the stallions represented, Ami's Flatter, Bond Street, Connect, Medallist, Mystic Guide, Reload, Shirl's Speight and Tapiture.

For the complete roster of stallions, click here.

The post Connect, Mystic Guide Among Sires Represented in CHRHF Stallion Auction appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

1/ST Racing's Gulfstream Park and the Florida Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association (FHBA) have reached an agreement to support changes to Chapter 550 of the existing State Legislation–decoupling regulations–that will enable Gulfstream Park's live racing schedule to become independent of the venue's parimutuel license, it was announced by 1/ST Racing Monday. The basis for the agreement, “unique and designed to address the needs of Florida and consistent with similar gaming entities in the region,” said 1/ST, “allows 1/ST to pursue necessary opportunities for development at Gulfstream Park. The agreement ensures purse revenues are unaffected and provides for additional contributions by Gulfstream Park to horsemen's workers' compensation premiums and meaningful increases to Thoroughbred aftercare efforts in Florida.”

House Bill 105 was filed Monday January 6. If passed, tracks could still operate slot machines and card games while they are not running live racing.

“As a supporter of the Thoroughbred Horse racing industry, I'm proud to sponsor House Bill 105,” said Representative Adam Anderson. “Gulfstream Park and the horse racing industry are integral to our state's economy and cultural heritage. Gulfstream Park is not just a premier destination for racing; it's a vital part of its local community, agriculture business and state's economy, providing jobs and driving tourism. Florida's horse racing industry is a symbol of excellence and tradition, and I will continue to advocate for policies that ensure its growth and success, securing its future in Florida for generations to come.”

“We look forward to the upcoming legislative consideration process and to working in collaboration with Florida (horsemen) and other stakeholders to advocate for the passage of the statutory amendments to Chapter 550 that will provide the necessary foundation to support an economically sensible plan to protect year-round racing at Gulfstream Park,” said Stephen Screnci, President, Racing, 1/ST.

“The Florida (horsemen) and 1/ST share an understanding of the issues critical to and facing year-round Thoroughbred racing at Gulfstream Park, and are committed to the same outcome,” said Herb Oster, Executive Director, of the Gulfstream horsemen's group. “By supporting the statutory amendments to Chapter 550 to enable Gulfstream Park's live racing schedule to become independent of the venue's parimutuel license, we are securing a sustainable future for horsemen in Florida that sensibily addresses the challenging economic realities facing the industry.”

The statement released by 1/ST Racing, picked up by some media outlets, named the Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association as the group who supported the changes. The National HBPA was quick to correct that, releasing the following statement:

“The National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA) finds it necessary to address a recent press release picked up by several media outlets regarding decoupling from live racing.

The press release from Gulfstream Park (“1/ST”) contains inaccuracies pertaining to the Gulfstream horsemen and their affiliation. The NHBPA wishes to clarify that the Gulfstream horsemen's association is not an NHBPA affiliate. While this association had previously been an affiliate, it agreed to discontinue the use of the name “Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association.”

“The NHBPA, along with its affiliates–including the Tampa Bay HBPA–and many other horsemen across Florida, cannot currently support the proposed changes to Chapter 550. At this time, these changes do not appear to offer any favorable provisions for horsemen.

“For years, the NHBPA has consistently opposed decoupling from live racing, as it is detrimental to the health and welfare of the horseracing industry. We remain committed to protecting the interests of horsemen and the future of live racing and for these reasons we oppose the proposed changes to Chapter 550 of Florida statutes.”

The post Gulfstream Park And Gulfstream Horsemen’s Group Align To Support Changes To Decoupling Regs In Florida appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame will open a new exhibition to celebrate its 75th anniversary Jan. 15. Titled “Laying the Foundation: The Architecture of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame”, the new exhibition will chronicle how the Museum has physically evolved with the times since its founding in 1950.

“We have a lot of plans to celebrate the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame's 75th anniversary in 2025 and this exhibition is a great starting point to chronicle that journey,” said the Museum's curator Jessica Cloer. “This particular exhibition really dives into how the institution has grown throughout the years to better meet the needs of our visitors and achieve our mission.”

The National Museum of Racing opened to the public in its permanent home on June 2, 1956. “Laying the Foundation” will explore how the Museum has grown since its establishment including major additions such as the West Wing in 1957, the Walter M. Jeffords Memorial Wing in 1960, the George D. Widener Memorial Wing in 1978 and the Paul Mellon Wing in 2000.

The post National Museum Of Racing To Open New ‘Foundation’ Exhibition appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

A GoFundMe campaign has been established for the Fair Grounds' assistant track photographer Jan Brubaker after she broke her femur in a freak accident Sunday at the New Orleans track. The incident happened when a horse broke through the gate and struck Brubaker prior to the fourth race.

She is currently receiving treatment at University Medical Center in New Orleans and had surgery Monday. At midday, the Hodges account on X posted an update from Brubaker's daughter, saying her mother was out of surgery and in PACU (post-anesthesia care unit) and doing 'great' and that they were waiting for a hospital bed in a room.

Brubaker has been working for the Hodges family since 2020. Hodges Photography is the long-time licensee at the New Orleans oval.

 

Update on Jan from her daughter: She's out of surgery and in PACU. She did great – we're waiting on a bed in a room now. pic.twitter.com/uQ2KsE8NvY

— Hodges Photography (@hodgesphoto) January 6, 2025

The post GoFundMe Page Established For Injured Fair Grounds Photographer appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

We're inside the 16-week mark for the May 3 GI Kentucky Derby. That's roughly 168,000 minutes until post time, but who's counting? The initial Top 12 rankings are largely based on 2-year-old form, but a speculative element is baked into the equation with an eye toward projecting how these still-developing contenders will blossom over the winter and early spring.

1) FIRST RESORT (c, Uncle Mo–Fair Maiden, by Street Boss) O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Eoin G. Harty. Lifetime Record GSW, 4-2-1-0, $338,671. Last start: WON Nov. 30 GII Kentucky Jockey Club S.

This Godolphin homebred by Uncle Mo showcased his big, bounding stride when running away with the 1 1/16-miles GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. at Churchill Downs Nov. 30, an effort that rates higher on the “how he did it” scale than the winning margin (2 1/4 lengths) and Beyer Speed Figure (88) might suggest.

This Eoin Harty trainee broke his maiden sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs in the Ellis Park mud July 5, then won an internal pace battle before getting collared in the late stages of the 6 1/2-furlong GII Saratoga Special S. Aug. 10.

Forced to rate after being bumped at the break of the ultra-competitive GI Summer S. over a mile on the Woodbine grass Sept. 14, First Resort still managed fourth behind a tightly bunched first three after advancing between runners in upper stretch.

Bettors let First Resort drift to 6-1 in the Kentucky Jockey Club S., and he broke fluidly to press a 21-1 speedster (a next-out Fair Grounds allowance winner at 1-5 odds) through moderate opening quarter-mile splits of :24.56 and :24.74 before assuming command in hand three-eighths out.

Taking the better part of the next sixteenth to gradually uncoil, this colt repulsed two mild challengers off the far turn, then opened up late to swat back a more serious bid from the onrushing, odds-on favorite.

After that slow early going, First Resort hit his best stride through a fourth-quarter split clocked in :23.28 and a final sixteenth in :6.10. Those are the fastest such finishing fractions out of eight Derby qualifying stakes at 1 1/16 miles so far in 2024-25. Since the 2022-23 campaign, only two other Derby qualifying stakes at 1 1/16 miles have yielded final sixteenths of :6.10 or faster.

2) SANDMAN (c, Tapit–Distorted Music, by Distorted Humor) O-D. J. Stable LLC, St. Elias Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds and CJ Stables; B-Lothenbach Stables Inc (KY); T-Mark E. Casse. Sales history: $1,200,000 2yo '24 OBSMAR. Lifetime Record: GSP, 5-2-0-1, $164,595. Last start: WON Dec. 13 Oaklawn AOC.

This $1.2 million OBSMAR colt by Tapit is the only Derby Top 12 aspirant to have started five times, and his only defeats have come in two stakes and in a beaten-fave sprint debut, when he lost to an eventual stakes winner. His three most recent races were at a mile or longer, and after scoring smartly in an Oaklawn allowance going a mile Dec. 13, trainer Mark Casse said Sandman will next target the GIII Southwest S. Jan. 25.

In his previous start, the GIII Street Sense S. at Churchill Oct. 27, this athletic gray absorbed a bump at the break and was late to change leads before accelerating to just miss second behind the No. 5-ranked Sovereignty (Into Mischief).

Six weeks later in Hot Springs, Sandman broke well from the rail and carved out a ground-saving go while mid-pack and covered up for most of his backstretch run. He was then tasked with a positioning dilemma on the far turn when jockey Christian Torres edged him toward the outside, then decided to slice back to the rail to a shoot a narrow gap that easily could have closed and left them blocked.

Sandman not only got through, but nimbly torqued out to the three path for clear running room off the bend, willingly inhaling the leader while opening up through a short-stretch configuration over which Oaklawn's one-mile races end at the sixteenth pole.

“I thought he took to the two turns,” Casse said after the 89-Beyer win. “It was more about him being able to run into the bit a little bit and to take hold of him. Obviously, early on, those shorter races, you're always kind of hustling and I don't think he likes that. Even when we did run him the two turns, in the Street Sense, I felt like that he still was always trying to play catch-up and never really got into a nice rhythm.”

3) BARNES (c, Into Mischief–All American Dream, by American Pharoah) O-Zedan Racing Stables, Inc.; B-Jeff Drown and Don Rachel, LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert. Sales history: $3,200,000 Ylg '23 FTSAUG). Lifetime Record: GSW, 2-2-0-0, $189,000. Last start: WON Jan. 4 GII San Vicente S.

After watching this $3.2 million FTSAUG colt pulverize four rivals in Saturday's GII San Vicente S., the big question for Derby prognosticators as we await word about where Barnes will next start is whether or not this Bob Baffert trainee's substantial potential will exceed his enormous hype.

If it ends up being the other way around, with performance eclipsing exuberance, the sport will be in for a wild ride over the course of this spring's Triple Crown season.

Barnes, hand-picked to be Baffert's first starter at Churchill Downs after the Hall-of-Fame conditioner's three-year corporate banishment from that track was lifted last year, scored a head victory sprinting 5 ½ furlongs in Louisville on Thanksgiving Eve (87 Beyer).

Even though Barnes had only scored a narrow victory in a short sprint, his price plummeted in that weekend's Derby Future Wager, closing at 13-1 odds, the lowest mutuel on any of the 38 individual horses offered in the pool.

In the San Vicente over seven furlongs, this son of Into Mischief broke running and forced lively opening quarter-mile splits (:22.65 and :22.45) before cracking the rail-running pacemaker.

Cornering three wide on the turn, Barnes briefly came off the bridle and was “kind of looking around” at the quarter pole according to jockey Juan Hernandez, who quickly got his colt refocused, bounding home solo through the stretch in a :12.55 final furlong (:35.50 for the final three-eighths) for a seven-furlong time of 1:22.15 (94 Beyer).

Baffert, who generally does not publicly commit to Derby preps weeks or months in advance, usually opts for stakes at Santa Anita and Oaklawn for his A-list sophomores. A 1 1/16-mile race would be the next logical step for Barnes, which means the GII Rebel S. Feb 22 and the Mar. 1 GII San Felipe S. could both be in play.

4) CITIZEN BULL (c, Into Mischief–No Joke, by Distorted Humor) O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Dianne Bashor, Determined Stables, Robert E. Masterson, Tom J. Ryan, Waves Edge Capital LLC and Catherine Donovan; B-Robert Low & Lawana Low (KY); T-Bob Baffert. Sales history: $675,000 Ylg '23 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: MGISW, 4-3-0-1, $1,301,000. Last start: WON Nov. 1 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

Citizen Bull's 15-1 score in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile capped a 3-for-4 season in which this $675,000 KEESEP son of Into Mischief twice wired two-turn Grade I stakes under non-favored circumstances. His overall body of work (rounded out by an on-the-pace debut win sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs and a third-place try over seven-eighths in the GI Del Mar Futurity) makes him the deserving choice for Eclipse Award honors.

Citizen Bull winning the GI Breeders' Cup | Horsephotos

But 2-year-olds who shine at 1 1/16 miles on the first weekend of November rarely get draped in a blanket of roses after triumphing over 10 furlongs on the first Saturday in May. Since the advent of the Breeders' Cup in 1984, Juvenile winners have accounted for only two Kentucky Derby wins from 40 runnings (Street Sense in 2007 and Nyquist in 2016).

Citizen Bull established a speed-in-hand lead in the Juvenile, coasting to the front after 'TDN Rising Star' East Avenue (Medaglia d'Oro)-the 9-5 favorite and an expected pace threat-stumbled out of stall one and was relegated to the back.

This Bob Baffert trainee maintained a measured cadence and hit another gear in the stretch when confronted by two stablemates, and he was by no means sapped crossing the wire 1 ½ lengths in front.

To date, only three rivals who finished behind Citizen Bull have run back out of that 10-horse Juvenile. Gaming (Game Winner) and Getaway Car (Curlin), second and fourth in the Juvenile, ran third and second, respectively, in the Dec. 14 GII Los Alamitos Futurity Dec. 14. 'TDN Rising Star' Jonathan's Way, seventh in the Juvenile, was second in the Nov. 30 GII Kentucky Jockey Club S.

Although they all hit the board, each of their Beyers declined in those next-out starts (Gaming from 95 to 77, Getaway Car 89 to 82, Jonathan's Way 86 to 85). This begs the question of whether Citizen Bull will be able to build upon his 96 winning Beyer when he debuts at age three, likely in the GIII Robert B. Lewis S. Feb. 1 at Santa Anita.

5) SOVEREIGNTY (c, 2, Into Mischief–Crowned, by Bernardini) O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-William I. Mott; Lifetime Record: GSW, 3-1-1-0, $143,280. Last start: WON Oct. 27 GIII Street Sense S.

Sovereignty (Into Mischief) broke his maiden in both a stakes race and his first two-turn attempt. But he had already signaled his prowess with two sustained runs in New York maiden races, so when trainer Bill Mott sent him to Churchill for the Street Sense S., the betting public backed him zealously to 7-5 favoritism in a nine-horse field.

This Godolphin homebred broke a step slow from the outermost post, and remained patiently ridden in last until the quarter pole. Jockey Junior Alvarado then looped the entire group, tipping seven wide for the drive, and after Sovereignty brushed aside a tiring rival before the three-sixteenths marker, a hustling hand ride resulted in him coming over the top at the eighth pole and extending fluidly while wrapped up under the wire, five lengths clear (87 Beyer).

Sovereignty was sent to Mott's Payson Park stable in November, but he's only posted one workout there so far this winter, a three-eighths breeze back on Dec. 24.

6) RODRIGUEZ (c, Authentic–Cayala, by Cherokee Run) 'TDN Rising Star' O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Dianne Bashor, Determined Stables, Robert E. Masterson, Tom J. Ryan, Waves Edge Capital LLC and Catherine Donovan; B-Kingswood Farm & David Egan (KY); T-Bob Baffert. Sales history: $485,000 Ylg '23 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 2-1-1-0, $46,800. Last start: WON Jan. 4 Santa Anita MSW.

Off at 1-2 odds in his second lifetime start for trainer Bob Baffert, Rodriguez (Authentic) earned 'TDN Rising Star' status with a seven-length blowout in a two-turn maiden race at Santa Anita. Among the rivals he beat Jan. 4 were the runner-up, Baeza, who is a half-brother to '23 Derby winner Mage and '24 GI Belmont S. victor Dornoch.

The win looked polished and professional, especially considering Rodriguez got a relatively late start as a May 20 foal.

His 1:35.91 final time for the mile (93 Beyer) was 0.24 seconds faster than a seasoned group of older allowance/optional claiming males covered the same distance five races later. For perspective, the winner of that race, a Rodriguez stablemate named Mirahmadi (Into Mischief), is a 4-year-old being pointed for the GI Santa Anita H.

This $485,000 KEESEP colt is a half-brother to One Liner, who in 2016-17 started his career 3-for-3 for trainer Todd Pletcher (including a 103-Beyer win in the Southwest S.) before being sidelined off the Derby trail.

 7) AVIATOR GUI (c, Uncle Mo–Paulistinha, by Tapit) O/B-Three Chimneys Farm, LLC; T-Chad Brown. Lifetime Record: GSP, 4-1-1-1, $120,500. Last start: 2nd Dec. 7 GII Remsen S.

This Uncle Mo-sired homebred for Three Chimneys Farm was third behind the No. 2-ranked Sandman in his Aug. 10 debut over seven furlongs at Saratoga, then broke his maiden in a one-turn-mile off-the-turfer at Aqueduct Sept. 28, out of which the second- third- and fourth-place horses all came back to win their next starts.

Aviator Gui got bumped at the break and was fanned wide when fourth in the Awad S. over 1 1/16 miles on the turf Oct. 29. He rebounded with an adversity-overcoming second when stretched out to nine furlongs and transitioned back to dirt in the Dec. 7 GII Remsen S.

This Chad Brown trainee's 9-1 loss by a nose in the Remsen resonates as one of those races in which the runner-up impressed more than the winner.

Aviator Gui stalked inside, was locked and blocked when full of run at the quarter pole, then, after brushing aside a rival at the lead of the lane and subsequently getting his momentum stalled a second time when lugging in atop the heels of 'TDN Rising Star' Poster (Munnings), this gray finished with authority to almost nail that rival, ending up second by a head-bob before galloping out past the winner.

The co-Beyers of 83 for Poster and Aviator Gui represent nine-furlong figures that clocked 0.53 seconds slower than the time for the winning 2-year-old filly in the GII Demoiselle S. a half-hour later. But the Remsen top two both finished with vigor through a respectable final furlong in :12.60 while three lengths clear of the third-place horse.

8) EAST AVENUE (c, Medaglia d'Oro–Dance Music, by Ghostzapper) 'TDN Rising Star'

O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Brendan P. Walsh. Lifetime Record: 3-2-0-0, $410,645. Last start: 9th Nov. 1 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

'TDN Rising Star' East Avenue (Medaglia d'Oro) went off favored at 9-5 in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile based on winning his first two starts by a combined 13 1/4 lengths. But he stumbled leaving post one and was relegated to the rear of the field for most of his 1 1/16-mile journey, during which he never settled and never fired, finishing an uninspiring ninth.

This Brendan Walsh trainee is one of three Godolphin homebreds to crack TDN's initial Derby Top 12 rankings of the season.

East Avenue blew away an Aug. 24 Ellis Park maiden sprint field by eight lengths, earning an 86 Beyer in a debut out of which only one of the nine horses he beat came back to win next time out.

His second start was an emphatic 5 1/4-length wiring of the GI Breeders' Futurity over the short-stretch 1 1/16-miles configuration at Keeneland. East Avenue was never headed (95 Beyer), but it's worth noting that the first two days of that Keeneland meet were tilted in favor of front-end speed, with 13 dirt races yielding seven wire-to-wire winners and three others who dueled with or raced just behind the early leaders.

East Avenue had his first published workout since the Breeders' Cup Jan. 3 at Fair Grounds, and is being pointed for the GII Risen Star S. there Feb. 15.

“Our goal is to get him [to the Risen Star] in great shape and leave some room for improvement,” Walsh said. “He's naturally fast, but he's also a very cool horse with a great mind.”

9) JONATHAN'S WAY (c, Vekoma–Female Drama, by Indian Charlie) 'TDN Rising Star' O-Rigney Racing, LLC; B-Susan L. Anderson Racing LLC (OH); T-Philip A. Bauer. Sales history: $290,000 Wlg '22 KEENOV). Lifetime Record: GSW, 4-2-1-0, $268,530. Last start: 2nd Nov. 30 GII Kentucky Jockey Club S.

'TDN Rising Star' Jonathan's Way (Vekoma) might square off against East Avenue in the Risen Star S. at Fair Grounds.

This $290,000 KEENOV weanling won each of his first two races (from off the pace in a Saratoga maiden sprint and all the way on the lead in the one-turn-mile GIII Iroquois S.). But he was never in it to win it with no obvious excuse when seventh in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

Jonathan's Way | Sarah Andrew

This Ohio-bred from Philip Bauer's barn then rebounded with a hard-trying second despite being the beaten .87-1 favorite in the Kentucky Jockey Club S.

In that Nov. 30 stakes, Jonathan's Way got bumped at the break, was a touch keen while trying to be rated by jockey Joel Rosario, then settled into fifth while covered up in mid-pack traffic. Briefly boxed while awaiting room, he spun five wide off the turn and had to twice shift outward from a tiring rival in upper stretch before popping off with a determined late run behind No. 1-ranked First Resort.

Jonathan's Way's first two starts mirrored those of his sire. Both won six-furlong maiden sprints in New York, then scored as favorites in one-turn-mile stakes. At age three, Vekoma ran third in the GII Fountain of Youth S., won the then-GII Blue Grass S., and finished 12th in the '19 Kentucky Derby. At age four he targeted one-turn stakes and was a Grade I winner over seven and eight furlongs.

Through four races, it's still a work in progress as to what the most effective running style might be for Jonathan's Way.

10) KEEP IT EASY (c, Hard Spun–Boxwood, by English Channel) O-St. Elias Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds, CJ Thoroughbreds. B-Mr. & Mrs. William L. Pape. T-Dale L. Romans. Sales history: $435,000 Ylg '23 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 4-2-0-0, $207,671. Last start: WON Nov. 30 Ed Brown S.

Even though Keep It Easy ($435,000 KEESEP) has not started beyond 6 1/2 furlongs in four lifetime races, trainer Dale Romans is likely to give him a shot at two turns sometime in the near future.

This Hard Spun colt's victory in the Nov. 30 Ed Brown S. at Churchill caught the eye for his getting bumped at the break, stalking in the four path, then kicking away under mild urging to finish 5 1/4 lengths ahead of a favored runner-up (who won the Sugar Bowl S. at Fair Grounds as the 2-5 favorite in his next start).

That 1:15.42 final time for Keep It Easy (87 Beyer) represents the fastest Churchill clocking at 6 ½ furlongs for any 2-year-old over a 377-race span that dates to 1992.

Keep It Easy's previous stakes try, in which he was clobbered by 23 1/2 lengths when eighth and last in the Saratoga Special S.,  is an absolute tossout because of how badly he stumbled leaving the gate.

With a half-mile breeze Jan. 4, this colt is one workout into his winter training at Gulfstream Park after a brief break.

11) PATCH ADAMS (c, Into Mischief–Well Humored, by Distorted Humor) 'TDN Rising Star' O-CHC Inc., Siena Farm LLC, WinStar Farm LLC; B-WinStar Farm LLC (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-1, $78,125. Last start: WON Nov. 30 Churchill MSW.

After dueling and yielding grudgingly to finish a close-up third as the odds-on favorite in his Keeneland debut, 'TDN Rising Star' Patch Adams (Into Mischief) delivered a blistering seven-eighths victory at 58 cents on the dollar in start number two in a Churchill maiden race Nov. 30, making him the third winner from that “Stars of Tomorrow” card for juveniles to be ranked on TDN's first Top 12 list of the season.

This homebred for co-owner WinStar Farm tracked the early action from third, cruised up to challenge for the lead while in hand five-sixteenths out, then rocketed away through a final furlong in :12.17  before being geared down late in a 10 ½-length smash-and-grab score that equated to a resounding 98 Beyer.

Patch Adams's final time of 1:20.77 was just 0.33 off the 12-year-old track record held by the champion female sprinter Groupie Doll.

This colt is currently three workouts into winter training at Payson Park. On Monday he progressed from four to five furlongs with a bullet breeze.

 12) BULLARD (c, Gun Runner–Reve d'Amour, by Warrior's Reward) 'TDN Rising Star' O-St. Elias Stable, Talla Racing LLC, Three Chimneys Farm and West Point Thoroughbreds; B-Three Chimneys Farm, LLC (KY); T-Michael McCarthy. Sales history: $675,000 Ylg '23 KEESEP. Lifetime record: GSW, 3-2-0-1, $129,000. Last start: 3rd Jan. 4 GII San Vicente S.

Although Bullard was being driven hard and could not keep up when third behind the sensational Barnes in the San Vicente S., it's too early in the campaign to vote him off the Top 12 island based on a single subpar sprint performance. Like the two horses ranked directly above him on this list, two turns could end up bringing out his best.

This 'TDN Rising Star' by Gun Runner was previously 2-for-2 in sprints in which his decisive closing kicks were accentuated by swift opening splits.

In the seven-furlong GIII Bob Hope S., this $675,000 KEESEP colt out of Michael McCarthy's barn set up shop at the back of the pack and was ridden along in spots while briefly on hold behind horses before tipping out five-sixteenths from home.

He responded to being roused for run four wide off the turn, ran in close to the veering-out leader in deep stretch, then charged by tiring foes top open up by 4 3/4 lengths in a manner that suggests longer distances are within the scope of his ability.

Bullard is a half-brother to two siblings who each once hit triple digits on the Beyer scale, one in a one-turn-mile allowance and another over seven furlongs in a listed stakes.

The post TDN Derby Top 12: Off and Running with Into Mischief (4), Uncle Mo (2) Colts Leading Season’s First Rankings appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Paul F. Oreffice, who spoke fewer than 50 words of English when he arrived in America in the mid-1940s and went on to become a partner in multiple Classic-winning Thoroughbred horses in addition to a successful career in the business world, passed away peacefully in his sleep on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, at his home in Paradise Valley, Arizona. He was 97 years old.

Born in Venice, Italy, on Nov. 29, 1927, Oreffice moved with his family to Quito, Ecuador, and came to the U.S. in 1945, attending Purdue University despite his very limited English-language skills. He graduated from the Indiana school in 1949 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering, served two years in the U.S. Army and eventually joined the Dow Chemical Company in February 1953. After several overseas assignments in Italy, Brazil and Spain, he landed at Dow headquarters in Midland, Michigan, in 1970 and became the company's CEO in 1978. He later became the Chairman of the Board and retired in 1992.

Oreffice also served on the boards of CIGNA, Coca-Cola, Morgan Stanley and Nortel Networks. He was also chairman of The American Enterprise Institute, The National Parkinson's Foundation and was on the visiting board of MD Anderson Cancer Center. He was recognized with Spain's highest civilian award and was the recipient of the top medals awarded by the world's three premier chemical organizations.

A Life Master in Bridge, skilled at ping-pong and a single-digit handicap golfer before giving up that discipline for tennis, Oreffice was also an enthusiastic sports fan, particularly of the Miami Dolphins and his alma mater Boilermakers.

After riding horses as a child, Oreffice invested in horses for the last four decades, participating in partnerships with Dogwood Stable and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners. Among his career highlights were the GI Preakness Stakes with Summer Squall and the GI Belmont Stakes with Palace Malice. He had ownership interests in eight Kentucky Derby starters, finishing second, third and fourth. He served on the board of the New York Racing Association, was chairman of Saratoga War Horse and maintained a home in Saratoga.

Oreffice is survived by his wife of 29 years, Jo Ann Pepper Oreffice; children Laura Jennison (Jon) and Andy Oreffice (Jamie); six grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.

“Paul Oreffice lived a wonderful and inspiring life and leaves behind a tremendous legacy in the business world, Thoroughbred racing, and through his family,” said Charlotte Weber, chair of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. “He was admired throughout the sport and a good friend to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. He will be greatly missed.”

Added Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher: “Paul Oreffice was the definition of gentleman, businessman, family man, husband and friend. We will miss him greatly.”

“Paul was as game and as enthusiastic of a horse owner as they come,” Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' Aron Wellman said. “He adored racing horses, he enjoyed gambling on races and he generously supported any number of industry-related charitable causes. When he joined Eclipse as a partner in 2013 after three decades of being synonymous with Cot Campbell's Dogwood Stable, I had no idea how powerful and meaningful of an impact he'd have on our stable, and more importantly, on my life. He was a truly great, great man who was larger than life and the sport of horse racing and everyone he meant so much to will miss him deeply. He leaves behind an unfillable void.”

A celebration of life for Paul Oreffice will take place Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, at 4 p.m. at Paradise Valley Country Club. A private entombment will occur in Saratoga at a later time. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Oreffice's memory to The Purdue For Life Foundation (purdueforlife.org), the Parkinson's Foundation (parkinson.org) or MD Anderson Cancer Center (mdanderson.org).

The post Paul Oreffice, Successful Horse Owner, Businessman, Dies at 97 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Due to the lingering effects of a winter storm that swept through Northern Kentucky on Sunday, Jan. 5, officials at Turfway Park Racing & Gaming have canceled its live racing program scheduled for this Thursday, Jan. 9.

A Late Pick 5 carryover in the amount of $180,036 will now shift to Friday's nine-race slate with first post scheduled for 5:55 p.m. ET.

Track officials indicated that they would monitor the weather forecast through the coming week and that they would provide appropriate updates regarding potential changes to the Friday program as necessary.

For additional information, visit turfway.com.

The post Winter Weather KO’s Turfway Thursday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

'Free Rein,' the award-winning docuseries produced by Woodbine Entertainment that brings viewers into the races and behind the scenes to follow leading jockeys and trainers on their quests to capture Canada's most prestigious racing titles, will return for a second season on Jan. 10.

“Creating high-quality and accessible content about horse racing, like 'Free Rein', is crucial to the growth of the sport,” said Woodbine-based trainer Santino Di Paola. “I'd love to see more young people interested in racing, and this is the way to connect with them.”

Among the storylines during the second season are the rise of jockey Pietro Moran as he follows in the footsteps of his father–a former rider–Ryan and Kelsey Munger's relocation from South Africa to Greater Toronto and a behind-the-scenes look at King's Plate Day.

“The passion and grit required to find success in horse racing makes for so many compelling stories,” shared 'Free Rein' producer Alanna Nolan. “Our team is so proud to share these stories with both our new and well-acquainted audiences.”

The fourth episode of Free Rein's first season, 'The World-Class Women of Woodbine', was recognized with a 2024 Hashtag Sports Award. The episode, featuring world-leading female jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson, focuses on the strong presence of women and the unique way that men and women compete alongside one another in horse racing. Other award-finalists included the LPGA, Fox Sports, PUMA, Clemson Athletics and The Players' Tribune.

Following the release of the first episode of season two, new episodes will follow every three weeks. 'Free Rein' can be streamed free of charge on Woodbine's new YouTube page dedicated to storytelling that brings fans closer to the action. Subscribe to the page by clicking here.

WATCH: Free Rein Season 2 Teaser

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The GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks purse has been raised to a record high $777,000, making it the richest race in the history of Turfway Park, Churchill Downs Incorporated announced Monday.

Set to run Saturday, Mar. 22, the marquee day of the Turfway season will feature a 12:45 p.m. ET first post and tickets have now been released for sale. As part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby, the contest awards qualifying points to the top five finishers on a 100-50-25-15-10 scale, which makes it a vital path to a spot in the starting gate on the first Saturday in May for many runners on the outside looking in.

Since 1980, 77 Kentucky Derby starters, and three winners, have taken the Jeff Ruby route, including most recently GISW Rich Strike (Keen Ice), who finished third in the 2022 running and later went on to wear the blanket of roses.

The 2024 edition produced eventual GI Preakness Stakes hero MGISW Seize the Grey (Arrogate)–who also finished third–and showcased GSW West Saratoga (Exaggerator), the runner-up who was recently purchased privately to continue his career in Dubai with trainer Doug Watson.

“Raising the Jeff Ruby Steaks purse to $777,000 reflects Turfway Park's ongoing commitment to elevating our stakes program and showcasing top talent on the Road to the Kentucky Derby,” said Matt Shehadi, general manager of Turfway Park Racing & Gaming. “This record-setting purse underscores the Jeff Ruby Steaks as the centerpiece of our season, continuing its legacy as a key test for Derby hopefuls.”

Jeff Ruby Steaks Day will also contest the Listed Bourbonette Oaks, a championship series race on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks, on a busy afternoon that includes four other Listed and graded races.

The post Jeff Ruby Stakes Purse Increased to Record High for Turfway Park appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Five names have been released as the nominations for the 76th George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award with a winner to be named in February, Santa Anita Park announced via press release.

Kendrick Carmouche, James Graham, Brian Hernandez Jr., Juan Hernandez, and Alfredo Juarez comprise a group which will be voted on by their peers nationwide. Named for a man who was not only one of the greatest 'big-money' riders of his era but also revered by his peers as a fierce competitor and consummate professional, the Woolf Award honors riders whose career and personal character earned esteem not just for the individual but the sport as well.

It may only be won once.

The 2024 recipient was Junior Alvarado and the 2025 winner will become the 76th jockey dating back to Gordon Glisson in 1950 to earn the honor.

The post 2025 George Woolf Nominees Released, Winner Announced in February appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Look Forward (Bolt d'Oro) was a nice first-out winner for the late Ben Cecil at Del Mar when she took she took her competition gate to wire while posting an 82 Beyer Speed Figure Nov. 8. Transferred to Michael McCarthy's care, she was then tested for class in the GII Starlet Stakes, stretching out to 1 1/16 miles at Los Alamitos Dec. 7. She dueled late into the race with GISW and eventual winner Tenma (Nyquist) and just yielded close to home when second by 1 3/4 lengths. Cutting back to seven furlongs and now firmly on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks, Look Forward stayed close as pacesetter Silent Law (Tiz the Law) put up fractions of :22.14 and :44.98. Wide of that leader with plenty of momentum, the 8-5 favorite stuck a head in front past the quarter pole and was left with a determined run from Artisma (Munnings) to handle in the final sixteenth as the pair were separated by a just a head in a driving photo finish. With the win, Look Forward was awarded a further 10 points towards the Oaks and now sits fifth with a total of 15 points (she gained five in her Starlet runner up).

“I'm just thankful to (owner) Paul Reddam for moving this horse over to us,” said McCarthy. “Ben and his crew did all the heavy lifting. Who knows how far she will run? Obviously with her run the other day at Los Al, you would think that she would stretch out. I think once she does do that, she will be able to find herself in a comfortable spot.”

The 14th stakes winner for Bolt d'Oro, Look Forward is a half-sister to MSW/GSP Amidst Waves (Midshipman). First dam Troublesome, a winner herself, RNA'd for $300,000 at KEENOV in 2023. She has a 2-year-old Classic Empire filly, a yearling colt by Yaupon and is due to Flightline this year. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

 

#5 LOOK FORWARD ($5.40) and @_MGutierrez_ win the $100,000 Santa Ynez Stakes at @SantaAnitaPark and earn 10 points toward the :cherry_blossom: Kentucky Oaks. Congratulations to the @mwmracing team and owner Reddam Racing. Another stakes winner by @SpendthriftFarm's Bolt D'oro. pic.twitter.com/NVHjH1zxoK

— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) January 5, 2025

FASIG-TIPTON SANTA YNEZ S., $101,500, Santa Anita, 1-5, 3yo, f, 7f, 1:25.42, ft.
1–LOOK FORWARD, 120, f, 3, by Bolt d'Oro
                1st Dam: Troublesome, by Into Mischief
                2nd Dam: Apple Pie Baby, by Not For Love
                3rd Dam: Time to Dream, by Time for a Change
($285,000 Ylg '23 KEESEP). 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O-Reddam
Racing LLC; B-Woods Edge Farm, LLC & Ballyfair Bloodstock
(KY); T-Michael W. McCarthy; J-Mario Gutierrez. $60,000.
Lifetime Record: GSP, 3-2-1-0, $132,400. *1/2 to Amidst Waves
(Midshipman), MSW & GSP, $292,400.
2–Artisma, 120, f, 3, Munnings–Chausie, by Bluegrass Cat.
($190,000 Wlg '22 KEENOV; $200,000 Ylg '23 KEESEP;
$285,000 RNA 2yo '24 OBSMAR; $185,000 2yo '24 EASMAY).
1ST BLACK TYPE. O-Breeders Mark, LLC, Calvin Nguyen and
Joey C. Tran; B-Sun Valley Farm (KY); T-Richard Baltas.
$20,000.
3–Silent Law, 122, f, 3, Tiz the Law–Southern Silence, by Dixie
Union. ($80,000 Ylg '23 KEESEP; $190,000 RNA 2yo '24
OBSAPR; $400,000 2yo '24 OBSOPN). O-CSLR Racing Partners
LLC; B-Newstead Corp (KY); T-Bob Baffert. $12,000.
Margins: HD, 4 1/4, 3 1/4. Odds: 1.70, 10.70, 3.50.
Also Ran: Howin, A. Z. Wildcat, Practical Dream, Polythene Pam, Mawu.

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The bandwagon for Barnes was already pretty crowded heading into Saturday's GII San Vicente S. at Santa Anita. It now may be next to impossible to find a standing-room-only spot after the Bob Baffert-trained son of Into Mischief uncorked a crusher of a performance that left four rivals reeling in his 5 ½-length wake.

I have no idea if the two sprint victories at the root of this $3.2 million FTSAUG colt's foundation will blossom into a blanket of roses on the first Saturday in May. I am pretty certain, though, that Barnes stands a chance at being the most highly hyped GI Kentucky Derby prospect ever.

The benchmark for pre-Derby exuberance-in my lifetime, at least-has always been Arazi, the compact chestnut with the jagged white blaze from France who blasted into contention by obliterating the field in the 1991 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

Returning overseas for the winter while out of the American public's view only added to the colt's outsized mystique, and even though it was well-reported that Arazi had undergone arthroscopic surgery in Kentucky to remove bone spurs on both knees four days after the Breeders' Cup, his Derby price dipped to as low as 8-5 at some Las Vegas bookmakers in the era before pari-mutuel futures betting.

After only one prep race in France 25 days before the '92 Derby, Arazi started as the 9-10 favorite on race day. Unwinding with authority from the back of the pack, he ranged up to challenge the leaders off the far turn, then suddenly had nothing left to give. Backpedaling to eighth through the stretch, Arazi weakened behind 16-1 upsetter Lil E. Tee. He won only one more Group 2 race in France later in the year before returning to the States to finish his career 11th as the 3-2 beaten favorite in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile.

Make no mistake, Barnes's talent and untapped potential are there. But what will really stoke his fire of fancy into a full-blown conflagration over the next 120 days is the unavoidable narrative that figures to dominate headlines leading up to the first leg of the Triple Crown on May 3.

The gaming corporation that owns Churchill Downs had barred Baffert in June 2021 because of a string of drug positives in horses Baffert trained, including two in Churchill's most prominent races, the 2020 GI Kentucky Oaks and the 2021 Derby. The colt who tested positive and was disqualified for an overage of betamethasone in that 2021 Derby, Medina Spirit, was owned by Amr Zedan, who has spared no expense in trying to win the Derby in the first year that his main trainer has become re-eligible to compete in it.

Barnes, who is named after the Hall-of-Fame trainer's longtime assistant, Jimmy Barnes, was hand-picked to be Baffert's first starter at Churchill after the corporate ban was lifted earlier this year.

When the colt scored a head victory sprinting 5 ½ furlongs in Louisville on Thanksgiving Eve, his price subsequently plummeted in that weekend's Derby Future Wager.

Even though he had only raced once in a short sprint, the 13-1 odds on Barnes represented the lowest mutuel on any of the 38 individual horses in Pool 2.

And that price could be halved when betting opens for Pool 3 on Jan. 17.

That's a prohibitively low potential return for a prospect who won't have raced two turns prior to locking in those odds, with the Derby itself still some four months away.

Then again, Barnes certainly looks the part of a colt who might relish longer distances based on the assertive way he splintered the San Vicente field, earning a 94 Beyer Speed Figure, up from 87 in his debut.

He menacingly forced the issue through legit quarter-mile splits (:22.65, :22.45 and :24.50), then bounded home solo through the stretch in a :12.55 final furlong (:35.50 for his final three-eighths) for a seven-furlong clocking of 1:22.15.

“He was aggressive down the backside but he's still learning how to run,” jockey Juan Hernandez said after scoring his third consecutive renewal of the San Vicente. “I like him because around the quarter pole he got off the bridle and was kind of looking around a little bit. But when I corrected him, he came back to me. I was really surprised how he finished today.”

Baffert said post-win Saturday that Barnes shares physical resemblances with his maternal grandsire, American Pharoah, whom Baffert trained to Triple Crown stardom in 2015.

Such comparisons, repeated often enough over the next 17 weeks, will only further inflate this colt's can't-miss aura, contributing to even more imbalances in the futures betting.

The post Week in Review: Barnes Bandwagon Approaching Capacity – Care to Hop Aboard ‘Rising Star’ Rodriguez Instead? appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Prep season for the GI Kentucky Derby is still in its earliest stages, but a couple of races over the weekend gave us some things to get excited about. It appears, in GII San Vicente Stakes winner Barnes (Into Mischief), we have an early Derby favorite that could give Bob Baffert his first official Derby win since Authentic (Into Mischief) in 2020 in what would be his return to America's most famous race after the Churchill ban. Sold for $3.2 million at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga, this could be a special horse.

But we also have this year's dark horse, the type of underdog everyone can get behind, a modestly bred 3-year-old named Coal Battle (Coal Front) who is trained by Lonnie Briley. He won Saturday's Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn, beating horses trained by Peter Miller, Wayne Lukas and Brad Cox. For Briley, a soft-spoken 72-year-old trainer from Louisiana, it was the biggest win of a career that started in 1988. Prior to that, he was the long-time farm manager for the late John Franks.

Since going out in his own in 1988, Briley, who races primarily at Evangeline Downs, Delta Downs and Fair Grounds, has won 338 races, but he's yet to win his first graded stakes race. The Smarty Jones is a listed race.

Nonetheless, he had no reason to be believe he'd come as far as he has when he picked Coal Battle, a Kentucky bred, out of the 2023 Texas Thoroughbred Association Yearling Sales, paying just $70,000. The sire, Coal Front, stands for just $2,000.

Coal Battle debuted July 25 at Evangeline, winning a $31,000 maiden special weight race by 3 1/2 lengths with Juan Vargas aboard. There was nothing particularly special about the performance. He covered the 5 1/2 furlongs in :59.40 seconds and the Beyer figure was a modest 55. Briley then made the decision to run Coal Battle in successive grass races, which didn't work out.

He went back to the dirt, and the results were back-to-back wins in the Jean Laffite Stakes at Delta and the Springboard Mile Stakes at Remington Park.

“It's been fun and exciting,” Briley said. “The horse is sound and he keeps getting better and better as we have kept running him. He's been at six different racetracks in four different states. He ran a little different Saturday, going to the lead. We had been taking him off the pace, but the fractions were so slow the rider just kind of went with him. He had his head bowed all the way around and he just kind of galloped down the stretch. He's a neat little horse. At the Springboard Mile he was looking at the grandstand and was kind of running sideways. At Delta Downs, he was looking at the gate in the infield and running sideways there. Yesterday, nothing bothered him so it seems like he has matured and is getting better and better.”

Lonnie Briley and Juan Vargas in the Oaklawn winner's circle | Coady Media

The $250,000 Smarty Jones was clearly the best race of his career. He went to the lead right from the start, but a challenge emerged when race favorite Kale's Angel (Complexity) came to him at the head of the stretch. But Coal Battle sprinted away from him to win comfortably, by four lengths.

Briley said the Feb. 22 GII Rebel at Oaklawn is probably next for his colt.

Then there's the jockey. Vargas has been riding in the U.S. since 2008 and is a regular in southern Louisiana. He's a had a bit more success than Briley, having won three graded stakes, but not much more. Prior to coming to the U.S., he rode in Argentina and his native Peru. Briley took him off Coal Battle for a race at Kentucky Downs and another at Keeneland. But he got the mount back for the Jean Laffite and is now 3-for-3 on the horse.

“I went to the Jean Laffite and put Vargas back on and he won,” Briley said. “I just kept him on him. He likes the horse and gets along with him and knows horse. Why not ride him?”

Somewhere down the line and if he stays healthy, Coal Battle may have to face Barnes. That would be quite the David vs. Goliath story. After selling for $3.2 million to owner Amr Zedan, Barnes made his debut at Churchill Nov. 27. He was the first horse Baffert was able to run at Churchill since they rescinded the ban that stemmed from the betamethasone positive with Medina Spirit (Protonico) from the 2021 Derby. He was able to win at first asking, but didn't necessarily live up to the hype. He had to fight to win by a head and got a Beyer figure of 84.

He was much better in the San Vicente. Facing off against the highly regarded GIII Bob Hope Stakes winner Bullard (Gun Runner), Barnes turned the San Vicente into a one-horse race. He won by 5 1/2 lengths over stablemate Romanesque (Practical Joke). Bullard, a 'TDN Rising Star' was third.

“I knew he would run well,” Baffert told the Santa Anita notes team. “I was watching [Jockey] Juan [Hernandez], he knows the horse well, and he said he was a little green. But everyone who has worked him says he has another gear. They are all a little green. The second out is the most important for all these horses.”

The other 3-year-old winners Saturday were Cyclone State (McKinzie) in the Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct and Guns Loaded (Gun Runner) in the Mucho Macho Man Stakes at Gulfstream Park. Both ran well and should be heard from again. But the plucky horse out of Louisiana and the colt that cost $3.2 million, it was their weekend.

 

Rajiv Maragh Has Lofty Goals

Rajiv Maragh picked up his third winner since he launched his comeback in October, winning Saturday's seventh at Gulfstream aboard Valentine Bug (Dramedy). After being away from the sport for 2 1/2 years while he explored opportunities in the technology field, he knew it would not be easy to win a lot of races in Hallandale, where the riding colony is arguably the best in the country, upon his comeback. But Maragh said he is not the least bit discouraged and has set some very lofty goals for himself. He believes he can win an Eclipse Award before he is done.

Rajiv Maragh back at Gulfstream | Ryan Thompson

“My biggest dream as a jockey is to win an Eclipse Award,” he said. “That is my overarching goal. In the short-term, I would like to be riding in the higher quality races, the elite races. Within the next five years I'd like to be traveling around riding in all the premier races. Not only domestically, but internationally. I want to get prime opportunities. That's the stage where I want to see myself riding, in races like the Pegasus and the Saudi Cup.

“I feel like the first phase is just going back to the basics and showing people the value proposition of riding me,” Maragh said. “Whenever I ride a horse, I want the owner and trainer to believe they have achieved their optimal position. That's what I think it all comes down to. That's what I am focusing on right now. If the horse is expected to win or is a longshot, I'd like the owner and trainer to think I might have over achieved. I finished third but I should have been fourth. By riding me they got a better placing.”

The post Coal Battle Makes Case For Derby Cinderella Story; Maragh Enjoying Gulfstream Return appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Paul Braverman and Timothy Pinch's Scorching (Mo Town) takes aim at the Road to the Kentucky Derby as he targets the Mar. 1 GIII Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack. The one-turn mile for sophomores awards 50-25-15-10-5 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top-five finishers.

Trained by John Charalambous, the Ontario-bred colt was last seen winning the restricted Oct. 6 Cup and Saucer Stakes over the Woodbine Racetrack turf. The CTHS sale graduate scored the victory by disqualification after Ashley's Archer (Karakontie {Jpn}) got his nose down first on the wire but was ruled to have interfered with a rival in the stretch of the 1 1/16-mile route.

The Cup and Saucer came on the heels of an impressive graduation with a pacesetting five-length score in the 6 1/2-furlong restricted Simcoe Stakes in August over the Tapeta.

“I think he ran a winning race,” Charalambous said of the Cup and Saucer. “We just got beat the last jump and I'm still not sold that he's any better on turf. I was really happy with that race and I was happy with the way he was coming into his next race, but he developed a virus and it took him longer to get through it, so we gave him the rest of the year off. The owners made the decision to try a different route, so here we are.”

Scorching arrived at Belmont Park in late December and has yet to breeze over the training track.

“Our plan is to race in the Gotham. We're just starting him back up at Belmont, and he trains on dirt in Canada and has breezed on it a bunch of times, so hopefully he can make the transition in the afternoon,” Charalambous said. “We're just trying to get him fit and ready, and hopefully everything goes well.”

Scorching debuted in July at Woodbine with a runner-up effort sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs over Tapeta ahead of his Simcoe score. Charalambous said he believes the dark bay can be effective at a one-turn mile.

“I didn't really think he was a sprinter,” Charalambous said. “I didn't know if he could go a Classic distance, but he never really trained like he was a sprinter-he always worked well, but wasn't excessively quick. The way the races came up, the timing was perfect on both his stakes wins.”

In the Gotham, Scorching will be making his first start in five months.

“The layoff certainly did him well mentally, and he put on some weight,” Charalambous said. “He's just got to get used to the track–it's deeper here than back home. It's something we have to work through, but he's in great shape and we'll take it from there.”

The post Cup and Saucer Winner Scorching Gotham Bound appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Gold Square, George Messina and Michael Lee's Cyclone State (McKinzie), winner of Saturday's Jerome Stakes at the Big A, may contest the one-mile G3 Saudi Derby on Feb. 22 at King Abdulaziz Racecourse or remain local for the one-mile GIII Gotham on Mar. 1–a 50-25-15-10-5 points race for the Kentucky Derby.

“He's doing good. He stepped on my foot but otherwise he's doing good,” trainer Chad Summers said, with a laugh. “He came out of it good.”

The Big A also offers the nine-furlong GIII Withers on Feb. 1, offering 20-10-6-4-2 points.

“I would think the Saudi Derby is a possibility,” said Summers. “He's got 10 points towards the Kentucky Derby, and it is always everybody's dream to head that way, so he will go down to Florida and we'll nominate to everything and see what's what. We know he likes Aqueduct and one mile, and it is 50 points to the winner of the Gotham. We have that in the back of our mind as well.”

Summers added, “He's run seven times already so I'd think he'd be doubtful to run in the Withers, just off this performance and having to go from a mile and an eighth back to one mile.

Summers explained that he feels the Iowa-bred colt can take another step forward with increased focus in the lane.

“The first time we ever breezed him out of the gate, he opened up 10 lengths on a horse. Then when the horse came up to him and he heard another horse, he took off again,” Summers said. “It is him, it is a learning thing. The fact that he wants to re-engage once he hears the footsteps, it is OK. We don't feel like he's tired, with added distance, we think he'll stretch out and be OK.”

 

The post Jerome Winner Cyclone State May Venture to Saudi Derby for Upcoming Start appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

5th-Gulfstream, $70,000, Msw, 1-5, 3yo, f, 1mT, 1:35.30, fm, 1 1/4 lengths.
SOL D'ORO (f, 3, Bolt d'Oro–Peru {GB} {MSP, $376,735}, by Motivator {GB}) was a well-intended first-time starter here as the 7-2 favorite. Drawn against the rail, she took up shortly after the start to have only 'Insight' runner Just Silvia (Justify) behind her into the backstretch. Angled off the fence past the half in :47.32, she fanned out across the top of the lane with intent and pushed past Table Flirt (Constitution) in the final sixteenth to graduate by 1 1/4 lengths. After stumbling at the start, Just Silva never factored and came in a wrapped-up 10th. Sol d'Oro is the second foal and first winner for Peru and the family includes champion older mare Waya (Fr) (Faraway Son) as the winner's third dam. Steve Rocco picked up Peru's 2-year-old Midshipman colt for $130,000 at KEESEP last year the mare reported a Golden Pal colt in 2024 before visiting City of Light. Sales History: $70,000 Ylg '23 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $42,000. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
O-Tango Uniform Racing LLC and Steven Rocco; B-Nursery Place Donaldson and Broadbent (KY); T-Christophe Clement.

 

“Where did she come from?!” – @AnnouncerPete

#1 SOL D'ORO ($9.00) closed strongly to break her maiden in the fifth race at @GulfstreamPark. The three-year-old filly by @SpendthriftFarm's Bolt d'Oro was ridden by @iradortiz for trainer @clementstable. pic.twitter.com/O3pd5CBuZb

— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) January 5, 2025

The post Sol d’Oro Graduates At First Asking In Gulfstream Maiden appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

It was the Christmas present the horses involved didn't deserve, and one that horse racing didn't need.

Last month, the Kentucky Humane Society's Equine CARE program rescued 13 horses from a Franklin County farm, including War Envoy, a former stallion and Royal Ascot winner. The news soared around social media and made it onto international news pages Christmas week.

“Former Irish-trained one-time champion racehorse found 'starving in a cold mud pen waiting to die' in the US,” wrote The Irish News.

“Ex-Aidan O'Brien Royal Ascot winner rescued in US from 'cold mud pen waiting to die,'” wrote British newspaper, The Mirror.

Some of the horses were in a pitiful state. According to Olivia Dixon, equine manager for the Kentucky Humane Society, the rented residence wasn't set up for housing that many horses, with little to no shelter in the harsh winter. The horses were fed negligible amounts of hay, she said. One horse was found eating its own feces.

Another of the horses rescued–a thrice-raced now 3-year-old colt called Mischief Humor–probably wouldn't have lasted long without swift intervention, said Dixon.

“All the stallions were thin, but he was so critical,” said Dixon. “He got down at our facility a little over a week after he came to us. He's at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital right now being lifted with a lift because sometimes digesting food after they come into care takes a lot of energy.”

What the case highlights, however, are several common features of a familiar problem. One spans the cult of celebrity. More to the point-the bigger the rescued star, the more likely they are to be rehomed.

War Envoy was one of six Thoroughbreds rescued from the farm. They include Handsome Todd, a now 7-year-old colt who raced three times last year, and 8-year-old mare Primela, who last ran at Tampa Bay in early 2020, after being sold at the 2019 Keeneland November Breeding Stock sale for $8,000.

Mischief Humor at Rood & Riddle | Kentucky Humane Society

The Kentucky Humane Society has received several offers to adopt War Envoy, including from Mick Ruis, who raced the colt and stood him as a stallion. Ruis had also offered to adopt back another of the horses rescued from the farm-a 3-year-old filly he bred called Specific Vow.

And while several people have expressed possible interest in some of the other horses, said Dixon, “in my experience with the exception of horses with notable accomplishments like War Envoy, some people want the horse soon after it's rescued but fewer people still want the horse after it's been brought up to weight and healthy, [and] evaluated later.”

Another feature of the case is a glaring vulnerability in horse racing's approach to Thoroughbred aftercare: What happens to the countless broodmares and stallions no longer wanted in the breeding shed?

“If you ask someone what they're doing with their retired racehorse coming off the track, they usually have an answer,” said Anna Ford, Thoroughbred program director for New Vocations, the nation's largest racehorse adoption program.

“The next step is, what do we do with our retired breeding stock?” Ford added. “What are you going to do with your retired broodmares? Or your retired stallions?”

War Envoy initially competed under the Aidan O'Brien banner for two seasons, during which time he routinely raced at the top table. In his stateside career, War Envoy made three starts for Wesley Ward before he was sold for $150,000 at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton Summer Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale and subsequently raced for owner-trainer Mick Ruis.

Ruis stood War Envoy first in California and then in Pennsylvania. According to The Jockey Club, War Envoy's last active year as a stallion was in 2019, when he covered seven mares.

According to Ruis, he kept War Envoy at his Wen-Mick farm in Kentucky when his career as a stallion was over. Ruis put the farm up for sale and was going to take War Envoy to his property in Montana.

According to Ruis, an employee at the farm said a brother of a groom who worked for Jose DeLima wanted War Envoy for breeding purposes. DeLima has trained for Ruis.

“We thought he was at a good home when we gave him away,” said Ruis. His farm sold in early September. Ruis is unsure when War Envoy adopted out, but he said he didn't know about what happened “until it came out on Twitter.”

War Envoy remains under the Kentucky Humane Society's care while he undergoes treatment for malnutrition.

Ruis provided the TDN with the name and address of the person who adopted War Envoy. According to Dixon, they don't match the details of the actual rescue, though she was unable to offer more details as it's an open criminal investigation. What this disconnect highlights, however, is yet another all-too-common feature of horse racing's aftercare problem-the way in which horses can change hands with little to no paper trail or system of notification.

Indeed, according to the American Society for the prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the average horse will have seven different owners throughout its lifetime.

Until the traceability problem is fixed, it's impossible to know exactly how many Thoroughbreds annually are slipping through the cracks and into bad spots, say experts. Is the industry actively working on a fix?

“That's what we're trying to do,” said Shannon Luce, The Jockey Club vice president of communications, about the organization's traceability initiative, to update its database of digital certificates to ensure the right owner is matched to the right Thoroughbred. “We're trying to figure that out.”

 

The Jockey Club has so far reached out about 5,800 Thoroughbreds that haven't had any activity over the last couple of years. Their overtures have so far focused mainly on sales companies and the racetracks.

“We're sending emails saying, 'hey, you have horses that haven't seen any movement, and we want to know where they are. Can you please tell us where the horse is?'” said Luce.

“They can reply that they're still in possession of the horse. They can reply that they've sold or transferred it for racing or breeding. It's been sold or transferred for non-racing. It's been consigned to a non-Thoroughbred auction or livestock sale, but it died. Or they decline to answer,” said Luce.

Of those 5,800 Thoroughbreds so far, “there have been probably about 1,500 certificates move or change to a different certificate manager,” said Luce. These are all horses with digital certificates.

“Later on, we're going to do the horses born in 2017 and before,” said Luce, highlighting older horses without digital certificates. Part of The Jockey Club's plan to encompass this older brigade is to send out surveys.

The number of horses that need to be traced is no insignificant number. But the initiative currently appears to have limited visibility.

“I wasn't even aware of that,” said Ruis, when asked if he had participated in it. “If I was aware of that, I would have stipulated it when they adopted him that they had to do that.”

That highlights another key vulnerability of the initiative if it's ever to be adopted wholesale-that it's voluntary, with no ramifications for non-participation.

“All of these things are good if they're used,” said Stacie Clark Rogers, operations consultant for the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA).

That said, there are some programs tackling the traceability problem at the local level.

“We put each case through an automated database runner that every period of time-depending on when they adopt it-they receive emails asking for updates. If [the adoptee] doesn't do the update, we get a trigger to let us know to reach out, so that I can say, 'hey, where's that horse?'” said Kyle Rothfus, co-founder of Mareworthy Charities, a not-for-profit organisation for retired broodmares.

Rothfus has poured much time and energy into trying to understand the fate of this particular population.

He recently ran the numbers of over 22,600 sales records from Keeneland's November and January sales between 2015 and 2024, and identified certain age thresholds when broodmares appear especially vulnerable to falling into the slaughter pipeline.

 

His analysis identified the following:

 

• Median Sale Prices: For mares aged 16, the median price is just $13,000, declining to $7,000 by age 17 and $5,000 by age 19. In contrast, the average median price for mares aged 15 and younger is $25,000.
• Sales Under $10,000: 49.45% of mares aged 16 and older sell for under $10,000, while only 27.63% of mares aged 15 and younger fall into this price range. According to Rothfus, this highlights the increased risk as mares grow older and move into low-cost market segments.

 

When time allows, Rothfus combs through the list of 23,000 mares released by The Jockey Club that could be introduced or returned to the breeding population, contacting their last known connections.

“I'm taking that list and basically saying, 'let's track down the last-known owner. Where did they go? Who's the last listed owner?' And then from that we can build follow-up segments based on why the mare hasn't been in the shed,'” said Rothfus.

“Currently it's me on my own with the board,” said Rothfus, about this approach. “We're still at the starting point on it.”

Mareworthy's traceability program, said Rothfus, is based on the one used by New Vocations.

“It's hard to keep track of a horse over seven different owners,” admitted New Vocation's Ford. But she has several tips for those looking to find a safe home for their retired Thoroughbred.

One is to go through an accredited organization. The Jockey Club's online placement page is a useful centralized resource for some of the more prominent such outfits. Another is to stipulate in any contract or bill of sale that the new owners notify them of any future sale or transfer.

“Anybody can put a contract together that states whatever your stipulations are when you sell or give a horse away,” Ford said. “In a lot of these cases there's no paper trail. And so, if one of these situations comes about and they can whip out a piece of paper and say, 'I had them sign this contract-it's right here,' publicly at the very least that would look a lot better.”

Another approach boils down to good old-fashioned self-policing, especially in an environment of inadequate sanctuary space.

“With some of these older mares, should you really be putting them into a third career?” said Ford. “Don't they deserve a nice retirement? Haven't they done enough already?”

Some organizations are already taking this approach.

“We figured we may as well be proactive instead of waiting around for some kind of rule that's passed, or some sales company decides to do something,” said Walker Hancock, president of Claiborne Farm. “We're taking matters into our own hands.”

Starting in 2025, Claiborne Farm will no longer sell any mare that's 17 or older. Furthermore, for clients with these essentially retired broodmares, Claiborne will more than halve their day rate, to $10 a day.

“Not that they were going to dump them,” explained Hancock. “But instead of perhaps selling them when they get a little older, they can know that they can live here for the rest of their life for a minimal charge. They'll be able to be turned out in their pasture with their buddies.”

Such programs, said Rogers, help foster a broader sense of accountability, so that it might one day become a social “faux pas” to allow a horse in your care to slip into the wrong hands.

“Remember when you could smoke everywhere? Smoke at work? Smoke in your office? And now you can't smoke more than 10 feet from your home,” said Clark Rogers. “Maybe it'll one day be socially unacceptable to say, 'I didn't know. I didn't know where my horse went.'”

The post War Envoy Story Highlights the Vulnerability of Ex-Breeding Stock appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Dornoch (Good Magic), Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) and Fierceness (City of Light) in the Three-Year-Old Male category were among the finalists for the 2024 Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards, recognizing excellence through the past year in Thoroughbred racing, the National Thoroughbred Racing Associaiton (NTRA) said in a Sunday release.

Winners in 17 horse and human categories will be announced on FanDuel TV, and other outlets, during the ceremony, presented by John Deere, Keeneland, and The Jockey Club, on Thursday, Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The evening will culminate with the announcement of the 2024 Horse of the Year.

Of the 240 eligible voters represented by the NTRA, consisting of racetrack racing officials and Equibase field personnel, the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB), and Daily Racing Form, 208 (87%) took part in the voting. Finalists were determined in each category by voters' top three selections, using a 10-5-1 point basis. Eclipse Award winners are determined solely by first-place votes.

The 2024 Eclipse Awards Finalists, with the exception of Horse of the Year, (in alphabetical order) are:
Two-Year-Old Male: Chancer McPatrick (McKinzie), Citizen Bull (Into Mischief), Gaming (Game Winner);
Two-Year-Old Filly: Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro), Immersive (Nyquist), Lake Victoria (Ire) (Frankel {GB});
Three-Year-Old Male: Dornoch, Fierceness, Sierra Leone;
Three-Year-Old Filly: Cinderella's Dream (GB) (Shamardal), She Feels Pretty (Karakontie {Jpn}), Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna);
Older Dirt Male: Full Serrano (Arg) (Full Mast), National Treasure (Quality Road), Straight No Chaser (Speightster);
Older Dirt Female: Adare Manor (Uncle Mo), Idiomatic (Curlin), Raging Sea (Curlin);
Male Sprinter: Cogburn (Not This Time), Straight No Chaser, The Chosen Vron (Vronsky);
Female Sprinter: Society (Gun Runner), Soul of an Angel (Atreides), Ways and Means (Practical Joke);
Male Turf Horse: Carl Spackler (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), Johannes (Nyquist), Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire});
Female Turf Horse: Cinderella's Dream (GB), Moira (Ghostzapper), She Feels Pretty (Karakontie {Jpn});
Steeplechase Horse: Carloun (Ire) (Kingman {GB}), L'Imperator (Fr) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), Snap Decision (Hard Spun);
Owner: Godolphin LLC, Juddmonte, Klaravich Stables, Inc.;
Breeder: Calumet Farm, Godolphin, Judy Hicks;
Trainer: Chad Brown, Brad Cox, Kenny McPeek;
Jockey: Tyler Gaffalione, Irad Ortiz Jr., Flavien Prat;
Apprentice Jockey: Erik Asmussen, Gabriel Maldonado, J.G. Torrealba.

Each finalist will receive two complimentary tickets to the Eclipse Awards, courtesy of The Jockey Club.

During the live show, finalists for Horse of the Year will be revealed. In addition to honoring the 17 winners in the horse and human categories, Mike Gillum will receive the Eclipse Award as the 2024 Horseplayer of the Year. Members of the media will be honored for outstanding coverage in six categories.

Click here for more information concerning Eclipse-related events.

Eclipse Award Nominations Announcement https://t.co/sIeqKgMbnb

— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) January 5, 2025

The post Dornoch, Sierra Leone and Thorpedo Anna Head 2024 Eclipse Finalists appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.