The rain forecast in Southern California will complicate planning for Saturday at Santa Anita. Two races are scheduled for turf – race 1 at 1 1/8 miles and race 4 at 6 1/2 furlongs on the hill.
Churchill Downs officials on Friday released a list of 154 early nominees to the 141st Kentucky Oaks, led by reigning champion Take Charge Brandi and other accomplished horses atop the current 3-year-old filly division, including Condo Commando, I’m a Chatterbox, Callback, and Angela Renee.
Trainer Mike Hushion has been hospitalized with “a serious health issue,” according to Barry Schwartz, one of Hushion’s primary owners and close friend.
West Point Thoroughbreds, the racing partnership company, has signed a deal giving it presenting sponsorship rights to the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge, and the company will award financial interests in a West Point Thoroughbreds horse to the top two finishers in the handicapping contest, the Breeders’ Cup and West Point Thoroughbreds announced Friday.
A quick return to racing at a shorter distance will test the 7-year-old gelding Memphis in a first-level optional $20,000 claimer for California-breds on Sunday at Santa Anita.
Veteran jockey Francisco Torres, who decided at the last minute to ride at Fair Grounds this season, is having a strong meet. Through Thursday, Torres stood in fourth place in the jockeys’ standings with 52 victories from 327 mounts.
A subsidiary of The Jockey Club, the nonprofit organization that owns several large racing-related companies, has bought a controlling interest in Blood-Horse, the media organization that publishes the only weekly magazine covering Thoroughbred racing and breeding, the companies announced on Friday.
In between will be the 2015 juvenile sale season, in which all four of the major North American auction companies – Keeneland, Fasig-Tipton, Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co., and Barretts – will undergo a significant change. Some will find new homes, some are expanding, and others will take a step back in the coming months.
Joe Sharp, who has been winning races at a high rate since going out on his own as a trainer six months ago, has kicked into overdrive recently at Fair Grounds.
Regardless of how his 2013 running lines in England might be interpreted, Matrooh figures to take serious action Sunday in the $48,000 feature race at Gulfstream Park.
