Flavien Prat

1st-KEE, $100K, Msw, 3yo/up, 6f, 1:00 p.m. A Gary and Mary West homebred, HOLLYWOOD ENDING (Curlin) makes the races Friday for trainer Brad Cox. The colt is the fifth foal out of Canadian champion 3-year-old filly Milwaukee Appeal making him a half-brother to MGSW Actress (Tapit), herself the dam of GIII Withers S. winner Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}). On a steady work tab at both Turfway Park and, more recently, Churchill Downs, Hollywood Ending comes in with a good foundation and picks up Flavien Prat for his debut. TJCIS...

If the saga over the supposedly pending sale of now-closed Turf Paradise was a soap opera, its title would surely be "AZ the World Turns." The state's racing is hanging in the balance amid an increasingly acrimonious long-term feud between the track's owner and horsemen, leading one trainer at last Thursday's Arizona Racing Commission meeting to liken the horse community's predicament to children "being used as pawns in a divorce battle" by vindictive parents on the verge of a nasty split. Although TDN's original story about that Oct. 12 commission...

After getting brushed and shuffled in the early stages of Saturday's GI Travers S. while losing momentum and position, Javier Castellano decided to wing his trip aboard 2.7-1 second choice Arcangelo (Arrogate). He would later explain with a laugh--in the way that only winning jockeys can find humor when their riding tactics go off-kilter--that "it seemed to me that everybody had a plan, except myself." Sometimes no plan ends up being the best plan, as demonstrated by Arcangelo's artful dissection of a "loaded" Midsummer Derby that brought together not only...

It's a bit of Christmas in August Saturday at venerable Saratoga Race Course, which plays host to no fewer than five Grade I events for horses of all ages--on dirt and on turf--topped by the main event on the summer calendar, the $1.25-million GI Travers S. While the fields are short on numbers, they are long on quality, as three of the races have attracted reigning Eclipse Award winners, none of whom are anything close to a cinch in their respective heats. Champion and 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence) has...

Jockey Luis Saez, who went down during the running of Wednesday's John's Call S. when his mount Burning Bright suffered a fatal cardiac event, was dignosed with a dislocated collarbone and slight fracture in his left wrist, according to a tweet from former trainer and current agent Kiaran McLaughlin, but was released from Albany Medical Center. He will be out of the saddle for an undetermined period of time. After Javier Castellano committed to GI Belmont S. winner Arcangelo (Arrogate) for Saturday's $1.25-million GI Travers S., Saez was named by...

Klaravich Stables' Program Trading (GB) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) showed grit and determination that belied his relative inexperience and dug down deep to stave off a bid from tough-trip Webslinger (Constitution) to win Saturday's GI Saratoga Derby Invitational over a Mellon Turf Course left yielding by torrential rains that spelled doom to the final four races on Friday's program. Favored Far Bridge (English Channel) plugged on at one pace to be third. It was a second Saratoga Derby for Seth Klarman's operation following on from Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB})...

Nobody was going to rain on Elusive Princess (Fr) (Martinborough {Jpn}--Elusive Action {Fr}, by Elusive City)'s parade as she emerged from the bog that was Saratoga's lawn Friday to score her first stakes win in the GIII Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Oaks Invitational S. With pouring rain that led to an abandoned post parade and eventually cancelled the rest of the card, the field for the Saratoga Oaks went straight from the paddock to the gate. Selenaia (Ire) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) controlled the pace through :23.55 and :48.57 early fractions while...

Every week, the TDN publishes a round-up of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky. Here's a primer on how each of these jurisdictions adjudicates different offenses, what they make public (or not) and where. The TDN will also post a round-up of the relevant Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) related rulings from the same week. These will include decisions from around the country. CALIFORNIA Track: Del Mar Date: 07/23/2023 Licensee: Jose Valdivia, jockey Penalty: Three-day...

Jockey Kendrick Carmouche has opted not to appeal a three-day "careless riding" suspension imposed by the Saratoga Race Course stewards and will sit out the penalty this Thursday, July 27, through Saturday, July 29. The infraction occurred in Saratoga's sixth race July 20, a 5 1/2-furlong MSW turf sprint for 2-year-old fillies. He was aboard Parade Ring (Ire), (Night of Thunder {Ire}), a 44-1 first-time-starter who finished third. The Equibase chart explained that Parade Ring was "a bit fractious in the gate prior to the start, was backed out and...

Jockey Flavien Prat will sit out next Wednesday through Friday at Saratoga Race Course after opting not to appeal a three-day "careless riding" suspension incurred there in race eight on July 14. Prat was aboard 9-year-old Happy Farm (Ghostzapper) in a $50,000 claiming sprint. He got forced out soon after the six-furlong start, but settled in the seven path. Prat guided the gelding closer to the rail entering the turn, then cut from the three path down to the fence in front of Thinkaboutit (Uncaptured), who took up sharply while...

Every week, the TDN publishes a roundup of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky. Here's a primer on how each of these jurisdictions adjudicates different offenses, what they make public (or not) and where. With the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) having gone into effect on July 1, 2022, the TDN will also post a roundup of the relevant HISA-related rulings from the same week. California Track: Santa Anita Date: 06/04/2023 Licensee: Flavian Prat, jockey...

Hoping that the GIII Dinner Party S. might be a sampling of things to come later on the Preakness Day card, Never Explain came from off the pace to collect his first black-type victory for trainer Shug McGaughey. Handily away from gate six, the dark bay settled off the pace in fourth as GI Pegasus World Cup Turf winner Atone (Into Mischief), sent off at 5-2, strode to the front with MGSW 'TDN Rising Star' Emmanuel and Rising Empire (Empire Maker) in hot pursuit rounding the first turn. With the...