turf racing

Churchill Downs Racetrack officials have opted to suspend racing over the Matt Winn Turf Course for four stakes events on Saturday and Sunday "to allow the root system on the new course to continue to develop", the track said in a release.. Racing on turf at Churchill Downs was initially paused June 11 with hope for a possible return on closing weekend of the Spring Meet. The decision to cease was made following turf training over the seven-furlong grass oval Tuesday. "The root system for the new Bermuda-hybrid continues to...

In Global Views, Godolphin Flying Start trainees provide insight into practices experienced and observations taken on their worldwide travels. First-year trainee Margaux Herinckx discusses the challenges of growing American turf racing. As many in the American Thoroughbred industry will be quick to tell you, the most coveted prize of all for owners, breeders and trainers alike remains the GI Kentucky Derby, run on a surface synonymous with the U.S. racing scene: dirt. Since its inception in 1875, winners of the Derby--think Seattle Slew, Secretariat, Unbridled and Sunday Silence to name...

For many years it was a tradition that the British Flat racing season would start on the Carholme at Lincoln towards the end of March and then finish at Manchester (and at Lingfield, which raced on the same afternoon) in November. Lincoln and Manchester have both now been lost in the mists of time, each having closed its doors in the 1960s. Happily, the season's first big race (the Lincolnshire H., as it became known in 1860, having previously been known as the Lincoln Spring H.) and its last big...

Following the announcement last week of a purse increase to $30.5 million for Dubai World Cup night, a new four-race Jumeirah Series on turf for the Classic generation at the Dubai World Cup Carnival was revealed on Thursday. In addition, a new race has been added to the Mar. 5 Super Saturday card-the $300,000 Ras Al Khor over 1400 metres on grass. Sheikh Rashid bin Dalmook, Chairman of Dubai Racing Club, said, "The introduction of new races within the framework of the Dubai World Cup Carnival is part of His...

Steve Sherack and Brian DiDonato give their best bet for each day of racing during the FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs. $100 Win/Place format; highest bankroll at the end wins. Steve Sherack: Race 2 - Don't think we'll see anything near the 20-1 morning-line quote, but Gamble's Orb can certainly run this field off their heels at a price in her grass debut. She flashed big speed in her first two goes in the Gulfstream slop, dueling and finishing a close second June 25, then dueling and tiring to a well-beaten...

It's easy to see why so many top American stables have made a point of circling the Kentucky Downs meet on their calendars. It mainly comes down to the money. During the unique European-style six-day meet, $10 million alone will be paid out in stakes purses, there are three $1 million races, maiden races go for $125,000 and the purses for allowance races range from $135,000 to $145,000. This year, Chad Brown will be there and so will Wesley Ward, Brad Cox, Bill Mott, Steve Asmussen and many other top...

It doesn't make me mad anymore. Maybe it's just the idealism of youth ebbing away. But I have also begun to understand the virtue of markets. If people want to breed to unproven stallions, that's their prerogative. I can always buy a mare, send her to a sire of runners, and see y'all in the starting gate. If I'm right, the odds are in my favor; I get value from the market. And if I'm wrong, well, no need to be angry. Even in setting all that aside, however, it's...

A new $10-million turf course that will widen the running surface and increase durability to allow for an increased number of races will be installed at Churchill Downs following the Spring 2021 meet at the historic Louisville oval. Officials expect that the new course will be ready for use in the Spring of 2022, but did not rule out the possibility that turf racing could resume in November 2021. The current Matt Winn Turf Course is a seven-eighths mile oval situated inside the dirt track and has been in use...

Churchill Downs took its Saturday grass races, including the GII Mrs. Revere S., off the turf and made the following announcement: "There will be no turf entries taken for races scheduled to be run on turf from Nov. 19-22. All scheduled turf races in the condition book during this time period will be transferred to the main track and entries taken for the same conditions will be dirt only." Churchill was also off the turf on Friday. On Thursday, 2020 GI Kentucky Derby competitor Winning Impression reportedly broke down after...

In response to reports of inaccurate times being produced for Del Mar turf races by its new Gmax GPS timing system, Equibase said in a statement Thursday that Del Mar will hand time its turf races for the rest of the meet. The statement also admitted the company found "inconsistencies" in the Gmax timing of Del Mar turf races that it will work to fix before the fall meet at the seaside oval. "Del Mar racetrack will be utilizing hand timing for turf races for the remainder of the summer...

In data released by The Jockey Club's Equine Injury Database for 2019, the rate of fatal injury for Thoroughbreds last year dropped to 1.53 per 1,000 starts from a rate of 1.68 in 2018. It was the first time the rate has decreased since 2016, and overall the fatality rate is down 23.5% from the 10-year high of 2.0 per 1,000 starts in 2009. Based on the data, 99.84% of flat racing starts at racetracks that participated in the EID occurred without a fatality. A graph depicting all updated statistical...

In our ongoing series, New Stallions, the TDN is visiting first-year sires around the country and giving readers a chance to take a look at them on video. Today, we're at Claiborne Farm visiting Catholic Boy (More Than Ready-Song of Bernadette, by Bernardini), one of only three North American 3-year-old colts to win Grade I races on both turf and dirt. In accomplishing that feat, he joined Secretariat and California Chrome. Kelsey Riley spoke to Bernie Sams about the 5-year-old new stallion. TDN: Catholic Boy is pretty unique in that...