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Racing returns to Fair Grounds Nov. 20, launching its 154th Thoroughbred racing season. The nation's second-oldest racetrack will unveil a series of venue improvements, including the completion of its paddock renovation.

The Jockey Club and Weatherbys announced the launch of "Racehorse Naming," a website that enables users to check the potential availability of a Thoroughbred name in Great Britain, Ireland, the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico.

A deep and quality catalog of around 370 2-year-olds are on the market for this year's New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale, with the two-day auction beginning at the Karaka Sales Center Nov. 12.

Dollars & Sense with Frank Angst

During the seventh session, Keeneland sold 259 horses for $8,444,500, including post-ring sales, nearly even from the seventh session last year when 285 horses brought $8,596,600. The average rose 8% from $30,164 to $32,604.

The Florida Gaming Control Commission asked a Florida state court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Gulfstream Park seeking a decoupling of its racing license and slot machine permit.

Chino Gudino, his son Luis, and Doug Adams from Mountaineer Racetrack received the 2025 White Horse Award because of their unwavering dedication to caring for their dear friend, Dennis VanMeter, during his final days battling cancer.

It was announced Nov. 10 by Juddmonte that two-time Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) winner Elite Power, the only son of Curlin to win consecutive Eclipse Awards, will stand the 2026 season in Kentucky for a fee of $35,000.

It's a highlight that equestrians and sporting art enthusiasts look forward to every year: Keeneland Association and Cross Gate Gallery continue their collaboration by offering the 13th annual Sporting Art Auction Nov. 13 at Keeneland Sales Pavilion.

Lope De Vega has surged to the highest fee during his career at Ballylinch Stud and will stand for €200,000 (approx. US$231,278) in 2026. 

On the Nov. 10 episode of BloodHorse Monday, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' Aron Wellman on racing Journalism in 2026, National HBPA's Eric Hamelback on the Nov. 15 Claiming Crown, and Horseshoe Indianapolis' Eric Halstrom on Veterans Day.

Keeneland's Horses of Racing Age Sale, which will be held Nov. 12 at noon ET, now includes 216 horses in the catalog with the addition of the latest supplement, grade 3-placed and four-time winner Crevalle d'Oro.

The exploits of Kalpana have earned sire Study of Man a substantial raise as he heads the Lanwades Stud roster at a new perch of £35,000 for 2026.

Finger Lakes cancelled the entirety of its card due to adverse weather in the region on Tuesday.

“Please be advised due to adverse weather conditions and out of an overabundance of caution, today's races have been cancelled. The entire card has been rescheduled to this Thursday, November 13th, with a 12:20p.m. first post,” read a Finger Lakes Gaming post on X Tuesday afternoon.

The post Finger Lakes Cancels Due to Adverse Weather Tuesday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) registration fees will be going up as of Jan. 1, 2026. The increase is the first since 2022.

Registrations for foals will go from $75 to $95; yearling rates from $100 to $140; racing-age rates from $350 to $700.

Only Kentucky-sired and Kentucky-foaled horses that are registered with KTDF prior to the close of entries will receive KTDF purse supplements.

The registration rates for stallions will stay at current levels, based on a $400-$850 sliding scale related to stud fee, with higher-priced stallions paying the most. Stallions must be registered annually by Mar. 1 for each breeding season. See the complete range here.

Chauncey Morris, the executive director of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association and Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners & Breeders, told TDN that the money raised by the last two KTDF registration fee increases, which took effect in 2017 and 2022, was solely directed to fund two special projects, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Promotional Fund and the J. David Richardson Research Fund for Reproductive Disease.

Other than those two special-project fee increases, Morris explained that the KTDF's operating budget has been funded by the same underlying fee structure for 21 years.

“The two previous price increases were to promote the industry and to fund research for the breeding industry, two missions that have been accomplished. This one is for administrative terms,” Morris said.

“The registration sum that we've been operating on, administratively, has been the same since 2004,” Morris said. “And we actually waited, [knowing that] the trajectory of KTDF was going to increase, and things were going to be very stable and on an upswing before we sought any administrative increase, and that's what this is.

“Not only that, it's really important for end-users to realize that we, including the trainer colony here in Kentucky, really want to encourage total registration of the foal crop,” Morris said. “We're running high 80's [percent], which is fantastic. But we'd like to get [it up] a bit more, and the cheapest way to do that is [by incentivizing people to register] at the foal level, which we purposely kept under $100.”

Morris said that Kentucky racing has grown since 2020 in field size, average purse, and increases in graded stakes thanks to the KTDF, which, along with funding from each track, goes to pay purses in the state.

The KTDF supplements that bolster purses are funded by three-quarters of 1% of all wagers in the state on both live Thoroughbred races and historical horse race gaming, plus 1% of all money bet on Thoroughbred races via inter-track wagering and whole-card simulcasting.

“You get a lot of bang for your buck here in Kentucky, and the KTDF has been a fantastic program that has grown since 1978, along with every iteration of pari-mutuel wagering here in Kentucky that's legal,” Morris said. “And we see what it's done for the year-round racing circuit here. It's helped create, arguably, the best racing circuit in the country.”

The post KTDF Registration Fees To Go Up In ’26, First Increase In Four Years appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

The United States's Jockey Club and Europe's Weatherbys have partnered to launch 'Racehorse Naming,' the organizations announced in a joint statement Tuesday. The website enables users to check the potential availability of a Thoroughbred name in Great Britain, Ireland, the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico.

According to the statement, 'Racehorse Naming' “streamlines the naming process for owners and breeders and will be especially useful for unnamed Thoroughbreds bred or purchased in one country and imported to another, which requires name approval by the exporting and importing authorities.”

“We're proud to partner with Weatherbys to launch Racehorse Naming, and we hope that owners and breeders find it easy to use and helpful in streamlining the naming process,” said Andrew Chesser, director of Registration Services and director of Business Development for The Jockey Club. “Given the scale of trade between Britain, Ireland, and North America, it made perfect sense to create a shared tool that supports those naming horses bred in one jurisdiction and racing in another.”

Mike Butts, Head of Equine Services at Weatherbys, said, “Working with our partners at The Jockey Club U.S., we have created a new service designed to help anyone looking to check the availability of horse names across multiple jurisdictions–not just in Britain and Ireland but now also in the USA, Canada, and Puerto Rico–all through a single, convenient website. It has been a great pleasure to work alongside our long-standing partners at The Jockey Club U.S. to deliver a tool that will be of real assistance to our many mutual customers.”

The Jockey Club oversees naming in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico, and Weatherbys covers Great Britain and Ireland. The results of a name search on Racehorse Naming indicate if the name is potentially available in both jurisdictions, only one jurisdiction, or neither jurisdiction.

The post Jockey Club And Weatherbys Partner On Racehorse Naming Site appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

With numbers continuing to surpass the 2024 standard, Monday's seventh session of the Keeneland November Sale closed out another day of strong trade, highlighted by a gross of $234,253,000, up from $181,460,500 generated one year ago.

Average through seven sessions increased 25.34% to $141,886, while the median showed a sharp rise, up 40.35% to $80,000 this year. The RNAs to this point decreased from 470 in 2024 to 424 this term.

Conversely, session 7 saw RNAs rise to 58, increasing from 49 one year ago, while 259 head drew an aggregate of $8,444,500, down from $8,464,600 generated for 278 head sold in 2024.

Heading the day's activity, Repole Stable extended to $475,000 for Hip 2313, Whitethorn, a recently-placed 3-year-old daughter of Not This Time.

Whitethorn was the lone purchase on Monday for Repole Stable, the session's leading buyer.

“We had to fend off some serious players [to get her], so we were happy to buy her,” said agent Jacob West.

Consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency acting on behalf of breeder Juddmonte, the dark bay is out of Cognitive (Uncle Mo), already responsible for Juddmonte's dual stakes winner Show Card (Into Mischief).

Repole Stable also secured Cognitive (Hip 349)–in foal to Elite Power–for $500,000 in Book 2.

“She was a lovely filly,” said West. “We are obvious fans of the pedigree. We feel that she has some major upside and it only helps to control her future.”

Under the care of Michael McCarthy, Whitethorn finished third in her career debut going 8 1/2 furlongs at Churchill Downs in September before coming home runner-up–beaten 1 3/4 lengths to American Pearl (Gun Runner)–in a one-mile test at the Louisville oval on Nov. 5.

“We bought her mother earlier in the sale and part of the appeal to the team and to Mike was that we knew she had a current filly on the track showing promise,” said West, explaining the purchase. “We already own the factory so to speak so we just bought the product.”

According to West, the filly will head to trainer Todd Pletcher.

Hailing from a prolific female line, third dam Turbo Dream (Unbridled) is responsible for dual Grade I winner Dream Rush (Wild Rush), herself the dam for Grade I-winning Dreaming of Julia (A.P. Indy), who in turn produced two-time champion Malathaat (Curlin).

Julia Shining (Curlin) and Dream Pauline (Tapit) also stem from the Dream Rush pipeline.

Through seven sessions, Repole Stable purchased seven head for total expenditures of $2,575,000 while averaging $367,857. The median was $475,000.

Also included among Repole's November purchases–GSW Mo' Green (Uncle Mo, i/f to Vekoma) (Hip 496) who brought $550,000 in addition to Gate to Paradise (Arrogate) (Hip 789), another $500,000 buy for the team.

Responsible for Monday's topper, Taylor Made Sales Agency was the session's leading consignor with sales of $1,141,500 for 25 horses.

Leading Monday's weanling action, a colt by first season sire Gunite brought $160,000 from Louis Dubois, buying for Wesley Ward. Offered as Hip 2485, the colt was consigned by Wasabi Ventures Sales.

Out of Itgetsgreaterlater (Justify), the chestnut colt is from the family of Grade I winner Cupid (Tapit), in addition to GSWs Heart Ashley (Lion Heart) and Ashley's Kitty (Tale of the Cat).

The Keeneland November Sale resumes Tuesday at 10 a.m.

The post Repole Nabs Not This Time’s Whitethorn for $475K at KEENOV Monday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Muscle Shoals zips through the snow to win Monday’s Tin Cup Chalice Stakes at Finger Lakes. SV Photography.

Stonegate Racing Stables’ homebred Muscle Shoals flexed and proved too good for his six opponents in Monday’s $45,000 Tin Cup Chalice Stakes at Finger Lakes.

The 2-year-old Redesdale gelding stayed unbeaten in two starts with a 5 1/2-length victory over Sunday’s Currency. Muscle Shoals also capped a big afternoon for Stonegate, which also co-bred the winner of Monday’s Shesastonecoldfox Stakes winner Victory Hall.

Luis Perez rode Muscle Shoals to victory for trainer M. Anthony Ferraro. The two also teamed with the gelding in his 2-length debut maiden victory seven days before the Tin Cup Chalice.

Bet down to 8-5 favoritism off that win, Muscle Shoals settled into a tracking spot early behind God’s Angel up the backstretch. God’s Angel opened up a 2-length advantage through the snow flurries that were starting to stick through the opening quarter-mile in :22.58 over the sloppy and sealed track.

God’s Angel, a 15-1 outsider coming off a 3 ¾-length maiden win Oct. 6 at Finger Lakes, opened up by 4 lengths to the half in :45.94. Muscle Shoals stayed in contact with the leader and after coming off the inside turning for home, collared the leader at the eighth pole and powered home. Muscle Shoals won in 1:12.91.

Sunday’s Currency finished 3 lengths clear of Savage State for the runner-up spot, with God’s Angel fourth. Instant Success, Kings Dancer and High Yield Hunk completed the field.

Muscle Shoals picked up $27,000 for the win to boost his bankroll to $46,560.

Foaled at Stonegate Stables in Fort Edward, Muscle Shoals is the first foal out of the winning Maclean’s Music mare Chevy to the Levy. She won eight of 45 starts and earned $188,211. A $240,000 OBS March 2-year-old in 2016, Chevy to the Levy later sold to Stonegate for $25,000 at the 2021 Keeneland November breeding stock sale.

Chevy to the Levy is also the dam of a yearling New York-bred colt by Happy Saver that sold for $15,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Saratoga fall mixed sale.

The post Muscle Shoals caps big day for Stonegate Stables in Tin Cup Chalice appeared first on New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. News.

HISA announced that retired jockey Trevor McCarthy has joined the organization as HISA's Jockey Wellness Consultant, a new role dedicated to advancing the health, safety, and overall well-being of riders nationwide.

Roddy O'Byrne, a well-known figure in both Irish and American bloodstock circles and who played a key part in the careers of two Grand National winners, died at his home in County Waterford Nov. 9. He was 78.