Feed aggregator

The New York Racing Association announces its stakes schedule for the Belmont Park fall meet, which will take place at the new, reimagined venue.

Tycoon Star will have to overcome the outside draw if he is to give Lindsay Park a breakthrough win in the May 9 The Goodwood (G1) at Morphettville Racecourse, but Ben, Will, and J.D. Hayes are confident the colt has a genuine chance.

While the full register of high-rolling attendees will be revealed over the next 48 hours, with a full day of inspections May 8 ahead of the May 9 sale, there was a healthy turnout to oversee the workouts May 7 at Deauville Racecourse.

Fasig-Tipton has cataloged 94 entries for its May Digital Sale. Bidding opened May 7 and will close May 12, beginning at 2 p.m. ET.

The May 9 Ruffian Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct Racetrack features three runners from the Saffie Joseph Jr. barn, as well as the Chad Summers-trained Dry Powder coming in off eight days of rest.

Focus now shifts from the Kentucky Derby (G1) to the Preakness Stakes (G1), which will be held May 16, and for the first time at Laurel Park, without the top two finishers in the Derby.

Silver Slugger, runner-up in this race last year, is back May 9 at Aqueduct Racetrack to compete in the $175,000 John A. Nerud Stakes (G3).

When Monmouth Park opens its doors for the 2026 season on Saturday, the issues it faces will already be obvious. Only eight races were carded with 63 horses entered. With only 500 to 600 horses on the grounds, the Elkwood section of the backstretch has temporarily been closed. The Long Branch Stakes did not fill, but the racing office salvaged the race and it will be run Sunday with a field of six.

Those are just some of the issues facing the picturesque Jersey Shore track as it prepares to kick off a 50-day meet, and they are serious enough to raise questions about Monmouth's future. But Dennis Drazin, who heads the management team that runs the track, is adamant that the track that has been around since 1946 will survive.

“I'm not going to let Monmouth Park close on my watch,” Drazin said. “Whatever I have to do to make ends meet, I'm going to do to support live racing and breeding in the state of New Jersey.”

The obvious quick fix would be for Monmouth to get a casino, something that it has been pressing for for decades, but has always been stymied by political forces that back the Atlantic City casinos. But there is hope this time. Bills have been introduced that would allow Monmouth and the Meadowlands to open casinos, but they must be passed by a 60-40 “super majority” in both branches of the legislature. If that happens, the casino question would then appear on the 2026 ballot. In 2016, the voters were asked to approve casinos outside of Atlantic City, an initiative that went down to a staggering defeat, losing by 54.48% points.

Drazin believes that the idea of a casino at Monmouth remains a possibility, but he isn't necessarily expecting it to happen overnight.

“Right now, all our eggs are in the casino basket, but the casino play is running out of time for this year,” he said. “It doesn't mean it can't happen, but we're dedicated to continuing over the next two years at the latest while continuing to try to make the casino play. Our first preference is this year, but with the budget coming up and June 30 probably being the end of legislators coming in for the year, that just gives us between now and June 30 to try and get it on the ballot for November. We're continuing to press the issue, but right now we're running out of time. Absent the casino, I'm going to continue to do the best I can to put on the best show that we can given the limited resources.”

If the casino effort fails, Drazin said he may turn to Historical Horse Racing Machines.

“If you were to say we give up completely on a casino, which I'm not prepared to do, then you turn around and you look at things like historical racing, which would also require a constitutional referendum,” he said. “Maybe there's not as much opposition to historical racing as it relates to casino expansion. But I think if you make that play now and go on the ballot for that, you probably would be foreclosing the opportunity to get the casino down the road because they would say we already took care of you.”

The purses at Monmouth are subsidized to the tune of an annual $20 million investment by the state, half of which goes to the Meadowlands. That money allows Monmouth to have purses that are comparable to tracks that it competes against, like Parx, Laurel and Delaware Park. But Governor Mikie Sherrill, who was elected in 2025, has cut the subsidy to $5 million in her budget for fiscal year 2027. Because of this uncertainty, a new bill was introduced in March 2026. It would allow Monmouth Park to drastically reduce its racing dates–to as few as 25 days–if the state fails to provide at least $10 million in purse money.

It's still one more battle Drazin is facing.

“Governor [Phil] Murphy [Sherrill's predecessor] was very, very good to us over the years,” Drazin said. “In his proposed budget, he took the 20 down to 10 and it always got put back up to the 20. But when the state needs revenue, you can't cut some people and not others without raising eyebrows and having people say, 'This isn't fair.' So this is a process we've been going through even in the prior administration and the legislators who support racing and the governors have always ultimately given us the $20 million. So I wouldn't say I'm panicked yet.”

Drazin said Monmouth's horse population will be down from last year, but will eventually reach about 1,000 horses. They are facing competition from what is a much healthier racing circuit in Parx, and it will only get worse with Delaware Park now open and with Colonial Downs set to reopen June 25. There is no part of the country that has such a glut of racetracks, and Monmouth is the only track in the region that does not receive revenue from casinos.

“[New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association Executive Director] Mike Musto has been very vocal about the whole Mid-Atlantic region and what needs to change in terms of not competing against each other,” Drazin said. “This is something we've been struggling with for as long as I've been around. Just by way of example, the conflict between the Haskell and the Jim Dandy is probably the biggest standout. Instead of one race with 10 to 12 horses, you have two races with six to eight. That doesn't make sense to me. I think we need to cooperate.”

Monmouth Park is a survivor, but little has gone its way in recent years. It made headlines for the wrong reasons at the end of last year's meet when it ran out of money and couldn't immediately pay horsemen.

The track's survival may hinge on getting a casino, but that is far from a guarantee. Absent that, what can Drazin and his team do? His answer is this: find a way.

“I'm trying to save an industry,” Drazin said. “I'm trying to do the right thing. It would be easy for me to walk away from it all in terms of my own time and how much effort I put into all this, but that's not part of my DNA. I took on the responsibility years ago to help the horsemen and I spend probably more time than I should on the track instead of concentrating on my law practice. But I think it's very important that horse racing in New Jersey and breeding in New Jersey survives. It is something that has always been part of my life. As long as I am here, it's not going to go away.”

The post Ready to Open for Another Season, Monmouth Has Problems, but Drazin Vows to Fight On appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

When the new Belmont Park opens on Sept. 18, NYRA will kick off an expanded fall meet that will run through Dec. 6 and include 72 stakes races worth $17.7 million in total purses, the racing association announced Thursday.

Among the highlights will be the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, which has been moved back to the downstate track after being run in Saratoga from 2021 through 2025. With a purse of $1 million, it will be the feature race on the first day of racing at the new facility. The Jockey Club Gold Cup provides a “Win and You're In” berth to the Breeders' Cup Classic. To help unveil the new Belmont Park to a national audience, FOX will present live coverage of the Jockey Club Gold Cup on its broadcast network.

“The new Belmont Park will provide the stage to showcase the best racing in North America,” Andrew Offerman, NYRA SVP, Racing & Operations, said in a statement. “With that in mind, we have arrived at a stakes schedule that reflects the importance of the fall racing season, emphasizes major weekends throughout the meet, and establishes a strong foundation in advance of the 2027 Breeders' Cup World Championships. We look forward to Sept. 18, and the next chapter in NYRA's history.”

There was one notable to change to the stakes schedule as the Woodward was not included. Once one of the most prestigious races in the country, it has struggled to find a place on a calendar that is loaded with stakes races in the late summer and early fall on the dirt for males and had been dropped to Grade II status. Twenty winners of the race were eventually inducted into the Hall of Fame.

“As a result of the shift of the Jockey Club Gold Cup to Belmont Park, the Woodward has been temporarily furloughed for 2026 and will return to the NYRA Stakes Schedule in 2027 on a date to be determined,” said NYRA Vice President Communications Patrick McKenna.

One important and historic NYRA race has returned. The GII Brooklyn Stakes, which was not held in 2025. is back on the schedule, slated to be run on Dec. 5. When last run in 2024, it was held on July 5.

NYRA has organized the first half of the fall meet around two consecutive “blockbuster” Saturdays to include 10 graded stakes with six Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” chances on the line. On Sept. 26, the $500,000 GI Joe Hirsch Classic will headline a program that will also feature the $500,000 GII Flower Bowl, a “Win and You're In” to the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf, the $250,000 GII Vosburgh, a “Win and You're In to the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, and the $250,000 GII Gallant Bloom.

Four Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” races will be run on Oct. 3 as part of a lucrative program designed to showcase emerging stars from the juvenile division. Headlined by the $500,000 GI Champagne Stakes, a prep for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, the Oct. 3 card will also feature the $500,000 GI Frizette Stakes, the $250,000 GII Pilgrim, the $250,000 GII Miss Grillo Stakes, the $200,000 GII Futurity and the GIII Matron.

The GII Man o'War Stakes, previously contested during the Belmont spring meet, has been shifted to Nov. 28.

The final Saturday of the extended meet will be held on Dec. 5 and will include the Brooklyn, the $250,000 GII Cigar Mile Stakes, the $250,000 GII Remsen Stakes, the $250,000 GII Demoiselle Stakes and $250,000 GIII Elite Power Stakes.

To view the entire Belmont Fall Meet stakes schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/stakes-schedule/.

The post Inaugural Meet at New Belmont Park Features $17.7 Million in Stakes Purses appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

The stewards at Belterra Park have imposed a $1,000 fine on that track's clerk of scales, Jose Sanchez, Jr., for failing to check the weight of apprentice jockey Summer Pauly before she rode the 3-2 favorite in the second race May 2.

A ruling issued Thursday, described what happened:

“During the post parade of race #2, the Board of Stewards radioed Outriders to bring #1 Bobby's Gift back to the Paddock to re-check jockey Summer Pauly's weight, due to Steward's concerns it was incorrect. The scale showed Ms. Pauly was six pounds under the required weight listed in the program, due to Clerk of Scales Jose Sanchez Jr. failing to check the jockey at time of weighing out. The weight was corrected and #1 Bobby's Gift returned to the racetrack.”

Bobby's Gift, a 7-year-old son of Into Mischief, was the 3-2 favorite in the one-mile-and-70 yards route for $5,000 claimers. He led until deep stretch and was caught by two closers, finishing third.

The ruling stated that Sanchez had waived his right to a formal hearing before meeting with the stewards, and that his fine would be cut in half to $500 if he did not appeal.

“Any further violations of this nature will lead to increased penalties and potential action regarding the conditions of the license,” the ruling stated.

Sanchez could not be reached for comment prior to deadline for this story.

Although the ruling did not elaborate on the circumstances, Pauly, a five-pound apprentice, was facing unusual time constraints in trying to get to Belterra to ride four mounts last Saturday because she was pulling double duty at two tracks.

Pauly rode in the second race on the GI Kentucky Derby undercard at Churchill Downs. That race had an 11:33 a.m. off time.

After finishing 11th and last on a 70-1 shot at Churchill, Pauly then had to make the 112-mile trek from Louisville to Cincinnati, a drive that normally takes about an hour and 45 minutes, but was likely exacerbated by Derby day traffic.

Post time for the second race at Belterra was scheduled for 2:05 p.m., but after the delay for Pauly needing to be called back to the scale to be properly weighed, the off time was 2:12 p.m.

Pauly then won Belterra's third race aboard the 7-10 favorite.

The post Belterra Clerk Fined $1,000 for Weigh-Out Omission appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Fasig-Tipton has catalogued 94 entries for its May Digital Sale, which opened for bidding Thursday. Amongst the full catalogue, which may be viewed online here, is the five-strong consignment of Tessa Walden's Evergreen Equine, including an exciting 2-year-old maiden special weight winner from Keeneland in Blessed Flyer (Dialed In) (hip 1).

“It's hard to get them to races this early and he did it very effortlessly,” Walden said. “There were some bullet works in there and some other flashy moves but the best move he made was when he won. I think he's the full package. He's a good-sized horse, around 16 hands. He's super strong. Looks like he's still got some growing to do even on top of that.”

What impressed Walden the most from Blessed Flyer's Apr. 16 debut was not so much that he won, but how he did it.

“It was a much larger field than some of the other 2-year-old races we saw, which were maybe five or six-horse fields. This was a 10-horse field,” said Walden. “And then on top of that, we got to see a horse that showed diversity in his first start. So many of the 2-year-olds that are impressive at this time are year are horses that leave the gate and never look back. But what this horse did was he left the gate and found himself mid-pack. He took dirt, and he didn't like it but he pinned his ears and instead of basically wussing out, he ran up between horses and then targeted the leader and ran that horse down and beat him on the wire. And then he continued to gallop out. It was this huge, mature move that is so much greater.”

“The last thing I want to see in a 2-year-old race, when you're looking towards the future, is a horse that runs to the wire on the lead and then stops. They've got to have continuance. It's the most important ingredient for a horse that's going to develop into being something good, and this horse has it. He's by Dialed In, who is a good, proven, blue-collar stallion. There's a lot to be excited about with this horse.”

Now in its second full year of operation, Evergreen Equine brings in a diverse slate of horses from across the country which Walden specifically points through the Fasig-Tipton Digital Platform.

“Anything that's a racehorse is going to sell well, especially if it has conditions,” Walden said. “I have four horses from California this time. They're all horses that are actively racing. One of them, Sterling Sea (Union Rags) (hip 16), just broke his maiden May 1 for $50,000 [at Santa Anita].  And he'll be a great purchase now being starter eligible. Then I have a couple that'll be fresh for turf season that are more turf-oriented. [Turf horses] are a hot commodity right now [ahead of the racing season] with Colonial Downs, New York and Laurel Park, and then Ellis Park and Kentucky Downs too.”

Walden acknowledged the ease of which Fasig-Tipton allows consignors the opportunity to market a horse from its stall over two thousand miles away all while saving prospective buyers money.

Tessa Walden | Sara Gordon

“In reality, someone isn't going to try to arrange a situation where they can claim a horse out there unless they're local to California and specifically looking for that horse,” Walden said. “[Fasig-Tipton] has created a really good, easy way to move horses who may stay [where they are]. I would say probably 50% of the horses I've sold that reside in California have stayed there.”

The Digital Platform afforded Walden an opportunity to sell horses on a flexible schedule as she kicked off on her own after nearly 10 years working under the tutelage of trainer Brad Cox.

“[Brad and I] talked a lot about bloodstock throughout my last six months of working for him,” Walden said. “And Carrie Brogden [of Machmer Hall] was the main person who told me, 'You need to do these digital sales. This is going to be amazing for you as a mom with your schedule.' She's the one that really pushed me and I'm so glad she did because it's really opened up a whole new realm of things that I can do. And the more you do it, the more momentum you get.”

“I'm so passionate about bringing [2-year-olds] along. What are their strong points? What are their good qualities? I think Fasig's provided a great platform for 2-year-olds especially that people maybe didn't want to push into the 2-year-old sales and they want to do something a little more laid back. This platform has grown and grown and I'm really blessed that I get to do what I do because it's been amazing.”

In addition to Evergreen Equine, the Fasig-Tipton May Digital Sale features offerings such as:

• 40+ horses of racing age
• Broodmares in foal to Drain the Clock, Early Voting, Mage, Munnings, as well as first season sires Barnes, First Mission, and Il Miracolo.
• Mares with foals at foot
• 2-year-olds in training
• Yearlings

“We're coming off a great April sale and an exciting weekend which saw Digital grads win two stakes on the Derby undercard,” said Leif Aaron, Fasig-Tipton Director of Digital Sales. “Despite the short turnaround from the April sale, which ended less than two weeks ago, we have a significant catalogue of horses of racing age, breeding stock, two-year-olds in training, and yearlings on offer.”

To create an account or register to bid for the May Digital Sale, prospective buyers should click here.

The post Fasig-Tipton Digital Platform An ‘Evergreen’ Opportunity For Walden appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

At this point in time, there is no reasonable argument to be made that the Preakness should remain two weeks after the Kentucky Derby. Four winners in just the last seven years (2019-2026) have bypassed the second leg of the Triple Crown. These include Golden Tempo (2026), Sovereignty (2025), Rich Strike (2022), and Country House (2019).

How stupid do you want to get? Would you like the American Triple Crown to be a practical non-entity as with the English Triple Crown, where you are extremely lucky to have a participant in the St. Leger that also ran in the Epsom Derby?  The English Triple Crown is not a “thing” anymore.

Ignoring Kentucky Derby winners, year after year as of late, few horses that ran in the Kentucky Derby run in the Preakness. For those that participated in the Kentucky Derby and did not win, there is even less incentive for them to run in the Preakness, since they have no chance at the Triple Crown. And this year, we have near perfection: as of May 7, save for the possibility of Ocelli, not a single horse that ran in the Kentucky Derby appears to be running in the Preakness.

I could go through the history of the Triple Crown to show that there have been differences. Sir Barton ran in a mile and 3/8 (not 1/2) Belmont, and the Preakness was only 1 1/8 miles (not 1 3/8) and only four days after the Kentucky Derby. When Gallant Fox won the Triple Crown, the Preakness was 8 days before the Preakness. Heck, in 1890, a 5-year-old won the Preakness which was run as a handicap at Morris Park in the state of New York at 1 1/2 miles (the distance of the modern Belmont). If that wasn't enough, two races later on that 1890 Preakness day the Belmont Stakes was run at the same track at 1 1/4 miles.

Changes are not all relics of the past. While the Belmont has been a Saratoga ('24,'25,'26), it has been run a 1 1/4 miles and not the traditional 1 ½ miles.  By the way, when Belmont was under construction in the 1960's, for five years, 1963-1968, the Belmont was run at 1 1/2 miles at Aqueduct. So I don't want to hear anything about the need to preserve “tradition.”

“Traditionally,” the better horses ran in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness–they obviously do not anymore. You would have to be thick beyond belief to not take this new development into consideration when scheduling the Preakness. How stupid can horseracing get? The fans of the sport are sick and tired of not being listened to. The Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont are not like other races. They should be placed one month apart, so that horses are encouraged to run in all three races, and the rest of horse racing should set their calendars around that fact.

There is a reason the old saying “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result” is said over and over again. Here's to insanity, a deaf ear, and a much less interesting Preakness.

 

Rinaldo Del Gallo, III

The author is a horseracing fan and historian

The post Letter to the Editor: Rinaldo Del Gallo, III appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Turf Paradise had to cram them in on the day of the GI Kentucky Derby Day. Every seat in the track was sold out and, including those who bought general admission tickets, the estimated crowd was 7,500. While most tracks draw big crowds for the Derby simulcast and live racing, this was something new for Turf Paradise.

The facility had grown into such disrepair that no one had wanted to come. Things were so bad that, according to new

GM Tom Ludt, most people living in the Phoenix area did not even realize that Turf Paradise was still open.

“This sport was going to die here,” Ludt said.

Now, they had a sellout on Derby Day.

Not everyone was ready to give up on a track that had been open since 1956.

California horse owner and real estate developer Gary Hartunian's Skyfall 7 LLC entered into an agreement with track owner Jerry Simms, signing a two-year lease with an option for an extension. The deal was made in September, but due to required approvals from the Arizona Racing Commission, the new owner, who put Ludt in charge, wasn't able to fully take control of operations until mid-December.

Once given the green light, Ludt made fixing up the plant and reviving on-track attendance his main priorities. A lot of people live in or around Phoenix. The Greater Phoenix metropolitan area (Maricopa and Pinal counties) has a population exceeding

5 million. He just had to find a way to get them to discover or rediscover Turf Paradise.

“It's the reason I agreed to come out here,” said the veteran track executive, who has served as the chairman of the Breeders' Cup, and the president of Santa Anita, said. “As a horse racing fan all my life, if we don't start creating new fans, this industry's going to die. Phoenix is the perfect climate this time of year and have the perfect dates. If you don't get people to the track to fall in love with horse racing, you're going to lose your fans. We had to make a concentrated effort to get people here. We have to make coming to the track fun again. I've gotten into more arguments with people about this. Tracks that are abandoning the on-track experiences are killing the industry.

“You and I are going to continue to bet, but our kids aren't if they've never been to the track. You don't fall in love with it watching it on your phone. I mean, you just can't. People say, 'Well, but the sport's going in the wrong direction.' It's going the wrong direction because we've given up on it. Look at NASCAR, look at soccer, look at some of the sports that were dying. They had to find a way to have a resurgence and motivate people to come to the events and, a lot of times, at new facilities.”

It took a lot of work to bring back a facility that had been neglected for years. Things were so bad that what had been a director's room was boarded up and used for storage space. Several glass windows were covered with plywood and some areas of the grandstand were so dilapidated that they were closed off.

Ludt said it all started with cleaning the place up.

“The first thing we did was we cleaned it up,” he said. “We created a beautiful infield that had gone to hell. We created a nice general admission area. We created a good simulcasting area, and then we opened up a VIP room. And so we created three atmospheres for the different levels of play. We really emphasized cleaning our facility. We've got an incredible corporation that we've hired to do our cleaning. I'm very proud to hear customers say they see our cleaning crew everywhere, working all the time. You have to do that. You have to give people an environment that they're comfortable to be at. And we did that. Now we can bring people here and show them a facility we are proud of.”

It was also important to show the fans a good time. One particularly popular promotion involved a raffle. It costs $5 to get into Turf Paradise but the entire pool was raffled off toward the latter part of the card, with one patron taking home the entire gate.

Since Ludt's team officially took over in mid-December the people have started to come back. Between December 15 and May 2, the final day of the meet, on-track attendance rose by 70%. On-track handle was up 20 percent. Total all sources handle was up just one percent during that time, but Ludt noted that on-track bets produce far greater revenue for tracks than bets that come from ADWs or simulcast locations.

The struggle for Turf Paradise is to put together a decent betting product when it has small purses and does not receive any revenue from gaming.

“Obviously, in competing against other tracks, it is a big challenge because of purses,” Ludt said. “But the reality of the matter is, and I've said this about California because we're in the same boat, the Indian casinos are in a compact. You're not getting a casino. So quit talking about it and focus on how you can get people to the track. I mean, at the end of the day, horse racing lived very well for many, many years before anyone ever heard of a racino.”

Having less than five months to turn Turf Paradise around, Ludt didn't accomplish everything he had hoped to. He knows that increasing total handle and improving the quality of the racing is a must. But he believes the best is yet to come.

“We haven't even scratched the surface of letting people know about this place,” he said. “People still don't know about it. You've got to be wise where you spend your money to educate people, but the place has been here for 70 years. So we're really going to amp up our marketing and advertising and promotions to get people here for the next meet.

“They have created an environment at Del Mar and at Keeneland. Can we do what they do? No. But we can create the best environment possible for Turf Paradise. This industry needs to start focusing on what works versus complaining about what doesn't work. And is it easy? No. My dad used to say it all the time, 'Tom, if it were easy, everyone would do it.' This is a great challenge. We've got to focus on making people come and have fun and enjoy it.”

The post Focusing on Bringing People Back to the Track, Turf Paradise Appears Headed for a Brighter Future appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Letters to the editor for BloodHorse Daily May 6

OwnerView hosts monthly conferences connecting owners and trainers with industry experts. The May 5 panel dives into the importance of owning a Thoroughbred farm and what goes into the responsibilities.

At the moment, the 3-year-old gelding Trendsetter is not nominated to the Triple Crown. Yet that could change based on what happens May 9 in the $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The achievements of the 2025 Alberta Thoroughbred industry were celebrated May 1 at the annual Night of Champions. More than 150 owners, breeders, trainers, and fans gathered to hear the season's award winners announced.

Taj Mahal earned a spot in the 151st Preakness Stakes (G1) by winning the Federico Tesio Stakes by 8 1/4 lengths. He is son of Nyquist, who won the 2016 Kentucky Derby (G1) and ran third in the Preakness.

Correspondent Bob Ehalt of BloodHorse and photographer Charles Toler of Eclipse Sportswire will be recognized for their coverage of the 2025 Preakness Stakes (G1) during the Alibi Breakfast May 14, ahead of this year's Preakness at Laurel Park.

A filly by I Am Invincible and a colt by Shinzo share the top billing on the May 6 final day of the Inglis Australian Weanling Sale, each bringing AU$400,000.