Horse Racing

It has been two months since the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) stopped sending samples to the University of Kentucky's Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory due to "concerns with the performance" of the facility. Prior to that, the laboratory had been one of six drug testing facilities used under The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's (HISA) drug testing program. Since then, several key developments have unfurled amid limited public explanations. HISA and HIWU announced that they have opened an investigation into the UK Laboratory's performance, alongside the university's own investigation...

5th-Keeneland, $97,558, Msw, 4-18, 3yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 1:41.50, fm, 1 length. WAVES OF MISCHIEF (f, 3, Into Mischief--Pearl River, by Quality Road), off as the 5-2 choice for this debut here, settled along the rail in the third position while the pace was made by Beyond Lucky (Nyquist). As the field began to bear down on the leader around the far turn, the filly--bred in part by Marty Wygod who passed away last week at the age of 84--launched her bid by tipping to the two path at the...

2nd-Keeneland, $76,880, Msw, 4-18, 2yo, f, 4 1/2f, :53.48, ft, 3 3/4 lengths. ULTIMA GRACE (f, 2, American Pharoah--Ultima D {SW, $241,936}, by Scat Daddy) debuted as the 1-9 choice here, but she was not alone upon exiting the gate as she was joined by Haven't a Red Cent (Goldencents). The pair locked horns around the far turn, but the Wesley Ward trainee began to pull away entering the stretch and she won in geared down fashion by 3 3/4 lengths over Kiss Cam (Mastery). A $300,000 purchase by For...

9th-TAM, $53k, Msw, 3yo, 1mT, post time: 4:37 p.m. ET Pennsylvania-bred JOYANT (Wootton Bassett {GB}) gets her career started here for owner/breeder Erdenheim Farm and trainer Arnaud Delacour. The filly's dam Cintra (Ire) (Camacho {GB}), an unraced daughter of European Broodmare of the Year Bordighera (Alysheba), was purchased by James Wigan's London Thoroughbred Services for 420,000gns ($570,730) on behalf of Erdenheim at the 2019 Tattersalls December Mare Sale and she produced a Kingman (GB) filly the following spring, visiting this outstanding stallion prior to her export. The listed-placed Bordighera was...

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running at Tokyo and Fukushima Racecourses: Saturday, April 20, 2024 6th-TOK, ¥14,880,000 ($96k), Allowance, 3yo, 1600m ASSURBANIPAL (c, 3, Arrogate--Georgie's Angel, by Bellamy Road) makes a much-anticipated return to the races, having graduated at first asking over this course and distance back...

The Whitney Viewing Stand at Saratoga's Oklahoma Training Track will open to the public beginning Thursday, Apr. 25, the New York Racing Association said in a release Wednesday afternoon. Prior to the start of the summer meet, the site will be open free of charge from Thursday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. ET. The Oklahoma Training Track is accessible to pedestrians through Gate 21 on East Avenue. Parking is not currently available within the Oklahoma grounds. The opening of the Whitney Viewing Stand also coincides with the...

According to a Wednesday press release, the 2024 Wanamaker's April Sale catalogue is now available, which includes yearlings, horses of racing age, open broodmares, and broodmares in-foal. Bidding will open at 9:00 a.m. ET on Thursday, Apr. 25, with the first listing set to close at 2:00 p.m. Subsequent listings will close in three-minute increments.   Highlights of the catalogue include: Nyquist filly, Deck of Cards, who has won her last three starts at Keeneland and Turfway Park and has earnings of over $125,000. Ligeia, a Florida-bred filly with two...

When it comes to getting horses to the GI Kentucky Derby few have done more with less. Dennis Albaugh's Albaugh Family Stable doesn't have nearly the numbers of a Mike Repole or the partnership of SF Racing, Starlight Racing, and Madaket Stables, but he keeps coming up with Derby starters. This year he has Catching Freedom (Constitution), the winner of the GII Louisiana Derby, who will be his tenth starter under the Twin Spires over the last seven years. The goal this time around is not to simply make into...

Edited Press Release FanDuel TV, the New York Racing Association, Keeneland and Santa Anita will team up with Hall of Fame jockeys along with some of the top active riders in the country and other prominent racing personalities on Sunday, Apr. 21 for the sixth annual telethon presented by Lane's End to raise money for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF). The event will be broadcast on both FanDuel TV and America's Day at the Races on the Fox Sports family of networks as well as streamed on TVG.com. Fans...

His contentious prohibition from Churchill penalizes many others besides Bob Baffert and his loyal patrons. A shot at the GI Kentucky Derby, once-in-a-lifetime for most, is also being denied to everyone else with a stake in his horses' development, from those on duty at the foaling shed to the pre-trainer to the feed company. And, of course, there's nothing like a Derby winner to market a stallion. As things have turned out, a setback means that Nyquist would have lost the services of Nysos even had he moved to another...

Godolphin homebred Encino (Nyquist) took to dirt with aplomb, delivering a 3/4-length, wire-to-wire victory over favored The Wine Steward (Vino Rosso) in Saturday's GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. at Keeneland. With the win, good for 20 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, Encino is currently ranked 21st on the leaderboard with 40 points. "Ultimately (whether he starts in the Kentucky Derby) will be up to the Godolphin team--Dan Pride, Michael Banahan, Sheikh Mohammed--and if it's something they want to do, we'll prepare him," winning trainer Brad Cox said. "We'll...

3rd-GP, $60k, Msw, 3yo, f, 6f, post time: 2:14 p.m. ET In the name of her Whisper Hill Farm, Mandy Pope went to $1.3 million for a son of Tapit out of MSW & GSP Danzatrice (Dunkirk) at the 2021 Keeneland September, and that looked like money well spent when Tapit Trice went on to a victory in the 2023 GI Toyota Blue Grass S. while placing in the GI Belmont S. and GI Travers S. Pope was so enamored of her purchase that she went back to the well...