After a year severely impacted by COVID-19, which came on the heels of a year buffeted by a rash of fatalities at Santa Anita, racing turned the calendar to 2021 with hopes for seeing the headwinds dissipate. Instead, the sport faced a hurricane. In the biggest event in the country, the Kentucky Derby, the first-place finisher, Medina Spirit, the record seventh Derby winner for trainer Bob Baffert, subsequently tested positive for a therapeutic medication that is banned on race day, and later in the year – with the adjudication of the Derby still pending – dropped dead at the end of a workout. At the second-biggest event, the Breeders’ Cup, the hasty veterinarian scratch of a perfectly sound horse in the Juvenile Turf resulted in outcry for its impact on bettors, who already have grown increasingly frustrated and perplexed by the unfathomable race-timing issues and late odds drops that continue to plague numerous racetracks. A scandal first revealed in 2020 resulted in its biggest penalty yet when disgraced trainer Jorge Navarro was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in using mislabeled medications, much of them of dubious efficacy, with the purpose of essentially fixing races. The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act hit a significant bump when the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, touted by HISA’s sponsors for months as being an essential part of the project, dropped out, further underscoring how the bill has been strong-armed absent such basic, fundamental aspects as funding being defined. :: Bet the races with confidence on DRF Bets. You're one click away from the only top-rated betting platform fully integrated with exclusive data, analytics, and expert picks. The nation’s most modern and gleaming facility, Arlington Park, was sold for development, the latest track in recent years – joining Calder, Hollywood Park, Suffolk, etc. – to be deemed of better use closed by a corporate overlord. Linda Rice received a three-year suspension by the New York State Gaming Commission, ruled to have received inappropriate information over a number of years from the New York Racing Association racing office, but an injunction has allowed her to continue training. Jockey Miguel Mena was killed after wandering onto a highway and being hit by a car, and COVID-19 continued to impact the sport, claiming the life of the beloved owner-breeder Dr. J. David Richardson, a pillar of the medical community in Louisville, Ky. Those events made for a challenging, often times depressing, year, but the resilience of the sport shined through the darkness, with record achievements on a number of fronts, and, as always, brilliant equine performances that are at the heart of why racing tugs at the emotions. Steve Asmussen became the all-time winningest trainer when scoring career victory 9,446. Career milestones were recorded by jockeys Mario Pino (7,000 wins) and Gerard Melancon (5,000 wins), and trainers Gerald Bennett and Karl Broberg both passed the 4,000-win mark. There’s no higher career honor than election to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, whose 2021 inductees were Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and the trainers Jack Fisher and Todd Pletcher. Both Asmussen and Brad Cox surpassed the previous single-season record of $31.1 million for purse earnings by a trainer. With only a handful of days remaining in the year, Cox narrowly led. Both won 10 Grade 1 races, one fewer than Baffert. Cox sent out Essential Quality to dramatic victories in races like the Belmont Stakes and Travers, and guided Knicks Go to a seemingly certain Horse of the Year title, that horse’s campaign bookended by similar front-running victories in the Pegasus World Cup and Breeders’ Cup Classic. Asmussen successfully got unbeaten Echo Zulu to stretch out for a dominant victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Similarly, Corniche ended a perfect year with a victory in the BC Juvenile for Baffert .Joel Rosario, the regular rider for Knicks Go, also won on Echo Zulu during a year in which he led his brethren with 49 graded stakes wins and purse earnings of nearly $33 million by his mounts, making him the favorite to get an overdue and deserved first Eclipse Award as champion jockey. Flavien Prat led all riders in Grade 1 wins, with 12, including the Malibu on the exciting Flightline, who earned the year’s biggest Beyer Speed Figure, a 118. Appleby dominates Breeders’ Cup British trainer Charlie Appleby continued his assault on North American racing with three Breeders’ Cup victories, including the controversial Juvenile Turf, captured by Modern Games, the horse prematurely scratched who ended up racing for purse money only. Appleby also won the Mile with Space Blues, and the Turf with Yibir, who earlier had won the Jockey Club Derby at Belmont Park. Life Is Good, moved from Baffert to Todd Pletcher at mid-year, continued his brilliant form by pummeling his rivals in the Dirt Mile, and Aloha West, who began the year as an unraced 4-year-old, completed his ascension with a narrow victory over Dr. Schivel in the Sprint. Ce Ce soundly defeated defending champion Gamine in the Filly and Mare Sprint. :: Get Daily Racing Form Past Performances – the exclusive home of Beyer Speed Figures.  Golden Pal flashed his brilliant speed winning the Turf Sprint, following up his victory the previous year in the Juvenile Turf Sprint. His trainer, Wesley Ward, won the Juvenile Turf Sprint for the third straight year when Twilight Gleaming capped off a globe-trotting campaign with a speedy win. The Breeders’ Cup highlights also included celebrity chef Bobby Flay’s homebred Pizza Bianca winning the Juvenile Fillies Turf, giving trainer Christophe Clement his first Breeders’ Cup win, and a pair of victories by runners based in Japan – most notably the highly accomplished Loves Only You, who won the Filly and Mare Turf. Her win, and the stunning upset by Marche Lorraine in the Distaff, augurs well for increased participation from Japan’s world-class turf and dirt runners in coming years. Marche Lorraine’s win came at the expense of fan favorite Letruska, who came into the Distaff having won five straight graded stakes – four Grade 1 – at five different tracks for trainer Fausto Gutierrez, making her the most accomplished of her division. After a tumultuous post-Derby, which resulted in Churchill Downs barring Baffert from competing in the next two Derbies, the Triple Crown was righted by the first classic victory for ascendant trainer Michael McCarthy, with Rombauer in the Preakness, followed by a thrilling Belmont in which Essential Quality wore down the popular Hot Rod Charlie in deep stretch. The 3-year-old division, always the focal point of the year, had some memorable races, one of the best being the H. Allen Jerkens at Saratoga, in which Jackie’s Warrior and the previously unbeaten Life Is Good dueled, with Jackie’s Warrior prevailing by a neck. The Haskell was fortunate to not be a tragic footnote to the year, as first-place finisher Hot Rod Charlie cut off Midnight Bourbon in upper stretch and caused that rival to clip heels and lose his rider. Hot Rod Charlie was disqualified, giving the win to Cox-trained Mandaloun, who also one day could end up being the 2021 Derby winner, as he finished second to Medina Spirit in that race. On the filly side, Malathaat carried on for the late Sheikh Hamdan al Maktoum’s Shadwell Stable by winning the Kentucky Oaks – the fourth for Pletcher – and the Alabama. Appleby and O’Brien pere et fils – Aidan and Joseph – made significant forays with European-based runners. Appleby won an amazing eight Grade 1 races in North America alone, the three Breeders’ Cup races, as well as the Summer with Albahr, the Natalma with Wild Beauty, and Canadian International with Walton Street, all at Woodbine, and the Just a Game and Diana with Althiqa. Joseph O’Brien engineered a Saratoga Derby upset with State of Rest, who subsequently won the prestigious Cox Plate in Australia. Aidan O’Brien won the Belmont Derby with Bolshoi Ballet, and both the Belmont Oaks and Beverly D. with the brilliant Santa Barbara, who subsequently lost her life in a training accident. Appleby trains for Godolphin, which had a sensational year. Godolphin won with homebreds like Essential Quality and the popular Maxfield, who ended his career with a victory in the Clark for trainer Brendan Walsh, and Godolphin also won the Dubai World Cup with another homebred, Mystic Guide, who gave trainer Mike Stidham the biggest win of his career. In addition to Mystic Guide, the other significant victories overseas for American-based runners were Extravagant Kid for Walsh in the Al Quoz Sprint in Dubai, and Zenden, who sped to victory in the Golden Shaheen on the same card for Carlos David but collapsed and died soon after finishing. In the steeplechase division, the mare The Mean Queen won three Grade 1 events, including the Jonathan Sheppard, a significant victory for trainer Keri Brion, Sheppard’s former assistant. Wagering, sales boom Bettors continued to support the biggest events. The Breeders’ Cup had a record commingled pool, and both Del Mar and Saratoga had record opening-day handles en route to seasons that saw average daily handle records for both popular venues; Saratoga eclipsed $800 million in all-sources handle for the first time. Wagering overall continued to grow, with domestic handle on pace to record double-digit increases over both 2019 and 2020. :: Join DRF Bets and play the races with a $250 First Deposit Bonus. Click to learn more. Similarly, sales activity was robust, with Keeneland’s September yearling sale, for instance, posting records for average price, median, and a low number of buybacks. Into Mischief had another incredible season in the breeding shed, breaking his own record for progeny earnings. Jockey Robby Albarado and announcer Richard Grunder were among those who retired, and Josephine Abercrombie dispersed her successful Pin Oak operation. In addition to Mena, Richardson, and Sheikh Hamdan, other prominent racing personalities who died in 2021 included owner-breeders Prince Khalid Abdullah, Gil Campbell, Alice Headley Chandler, Bert Firestone, Richard Golden, and B. Wayne Hughes; owner Rick Porter, former trainers Juan Arias, Harry Benson, Ashlee Brnjas, Julio Canani, Junior Coffey, John Forbes, Bruce Headley, Eduardo Inda, Morris Nicks, Gary Palmisano Sr., and John T. Ward Jr.; Hall of Fame jockeys Sam Boulmetis Sr. and John Rotz and Canadian Hall of Famer Hugo Dittfach; former jockeys David Gall, Todd Kabel, and Larry Melancon; racing executives Bob Bork, Sam Huff – the NFL Hall of Famer – Brant Latta, Donnie Richardson, Lynn Stone, and Peter Tunney; racing officials Daryl Parker and Joe Ray Peluso, veterinarian Dr. Gary Lavin, publicists Sam Spear and Nat Wess, announcer turned official Marshall Cassidy, jockey agent George O’Bryan, photographer Jerry Clark, former Claiborne farm manager Gus Koch, former Hall of Fame president John Von Stade, Ragozin sheets founder Len Ragozin, broadcaster Bob Neumeier, journalists Ron Parker, David Schmitz, and Denise Steffanus; former Daily Racing Form journalists Nick Borg and Howard Senzell, popular Delaware Park simulcast host Rich Glazier, and NYRA’s beloved television personality Harvey Pack. Other prominent equines besides Medina Spirit, Santa Barbara, and Zenden who died included fellow current runners Blame Virginia, Bowies Hero, Chublicious, Fiya, Multiplier, Owendale, Royal Approval, expensive yearling buy America’s Joy, and the Grade 1-winning steeplechaser Baltimore Bucko; Mexican Triple Crown winner Kukulkan, Breeders’ Cup winners Arazi, Big Drama, Boston Harbor, Caressing, Elmhurst, Gilded Time, and three-time winner Goldikova; champions and influential stallions Bernardini and English Channel; top stallions Dansili, Galileo, Laoban, and Malibu Moon; and broodmares Balanchine, Kind, Praise, Sealy Hill, and Win Approval. Praise and Win Approval? Sounds like goals for racing to attempt to achieve in 2022.