Nitrogen has been racing and winning all year, but only in the past two weeks has her standing changed dramatically for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Nitrogen went from a double-digit longshot to likely second favorite.
A better-than-looked runner-up finish by Nitrogen in the Grade 1 Spinster Stakes on Oct. 5 and two major defections from the Distaff have elevated Nitrogen to 4-1 on the Daily Racing Form’s early odds line. Seismic Beauty is the 8-5 favorite.
It doesn’t appear Ted Noffey will have many challengers in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, but he will encounter at least one familiar foe as Blackout Time, second to Ted Noffey in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland on Oct. 4, will take him on again in the Juvenile, trainer Kenny McPeek said Tuesday.
In the first 41 years of the Breeders’ Cup, there have been only four 3-year-olds to have run in all three Triple Crown races and win the Classic later that year.
On Nov. 1 at Del Mar, Journalism will attempt to become the fifth, joining, among others, his sire, Curlin, who pulled off the feat in 2007. He joined Sunday Silence (1989) and Unbridled (1990), and they were joined by Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in 2015.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The number of Thoroughbred mares bred in California declined 13.4 percent this year but maintained its customary position as second in North America to Kentucky, according to statistics released earlier this month by The Jockey Club.
The Jockey Club reported that 1,291 mares were bred in California during the 2025 breeding season, a decline from 1,491 in 2024 and 1,592 in 2023. The reduction comes at a time when racing in Northern California has ceased following the 2024 closure of Golden Gate Fields and the stoppage of fair racing in that part of the state.
A persistent disconnect between the governor's mansion and the state's many Indian tribes is about the only thing that's prevented Oklahoma from passing sports betting on several occasions.
Disclaimer: For those outside of Oklahoma, you may face restrictions on the offers you see on this page.
If Governor Kevin Stitt and Oklahoma's Indian tribes could get on the same page, it's safe to say the Sooner State would have sports betting by now. On multiple occasions, bills to allow the state's many tribes to exclusively offer sports betting have cleared various levels of the legislature, but Stitt's steadfast insistence that commercial entities get a slice of the pie has torpedoed all efforts.
Term limits prevent Stitt from running for reelection in 2026, meaning that 2027 seems a viable target for the tribes and their legislative allies to redouble efforts to get sports betting passed in Oklahoma, which has a rich gaming environment when it comes to casinos and horse racing.
March 21, 2023
House Bill 1027, which seeks to legalize sports betting in Oklahoma, clears the state's House of Representatives but fails in the Senate due in part to a perceived disconnect between Governor Kevin Stitt and Oklahoma's Indian tribes, who control gaming in the state.
March 27, 2025
The Oklahoma House of Representatives passes a pair of sports wagering bills, but their odds of passage in the Senate are uncertain.
March 25, 2025
Two bills that would give Indian tribes the exclusive right to offer sports betting in Oklahoma clear the Senate Business and Insurance Committee.
May 8, 2025
Despite clearing one legislative chamber and a Senate committee, Gov. Kevin Stitt's insistence that commercial entities – and not just tribes – get a piece of the sports betting pie torpedoes the legislation.
October 23, 2025
On the same day arrests are made related to an illicit NBA gambling ring, representatives from the Oklahoma City Thunder pitch a plan to the state legislature that would legalize sports wagering and allow them to share in the ensuing revenue windfall.
Despite widespread support for Indian tribes to legally operate sports betting in Oklahoma, sports wagering is not yet legal in the Sooner State.
Nobody can legally bet on sports other than horse racing in Oklahoma, at least not yet.
Since sports betting is not yet legal in Oklahoma, there is no regulator. But if it is legalized, the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission would be a leading candidate to assume oversight.
There are a ton of tribal casinos in Oklahoma and you can bet on horse racing in the state, but that's it.
You can't bet on sports other than horse racing in Oklahoma.
There aren't any laws on the books concerning daily fantasy sports contests in Oklahoma, meaning DFS exists in something of a gray area there. This has not stopped major operators from offering DFS contests in the state.
There are three racetracks at which to bet on live or simulcast horse racing in Oklahoma: Remington Park in Oklahoma City, Will Rogers Downs in Claremore, and Fair Meadows in Tulsa. Online account wagering is also legal in Oklahoma.
Have other Questions? Email cservice2@drf.com
21+. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
To say that trainer Brendan Walsh comes into Week 3 of the fall Keeneland meet on a roll would be saying too little.
Walsh through Oct. 12 topped the trainer standings with seven winners. He won the Grade 2 Jessamine with Imaginationthelady. He won the Grade 1 Spinster with Gin Gin. He won the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup on Saturday with Lush Lips. And if Proctor Street holds form and has any luck, Walsh stands a good chance of winning race 8 on the Thursday card.
Richard Craigo, a leading equine tax attorney and a former regional president of the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, died Oct. 6 at the age of 91, according to his friends.
Born in Hot Springs, Ark., in 1934, Craigo lived in Los Angeles for much of his life. As a tax attorney, he represented numerous clients in California racing, notably Bob and Beverly Lewis, Allen Paulson, Marty Wygod, Bill Shoemaker, and Charlie Whittingham, according to an obituary published by Santa Anita’s publicity department.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The recent training of the older sprinter Big City Lights is tempting trainer Richard Mandella into big ideas.
A winner of 7 of 13 starts, the 6-year-old Big City Lights is being prepared for a comeback likely to occur in the $100,000 The Chosen Vron Stakes for California-breds at seven furlongs on Nov. 8 at Del Mar.
However, the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar a week earlier has Mandella’s attention for Big City Lights’s first start since an easy win by 7 3/4 lengths in the California Cup Sprint for statebreds at Santa Anita in January.
ARCADIA, Calif. – A day after she worked a slow half-mile at Santa Anita, Om N Joy was confirmed for her first start outside of California in Saturday’s Grade 2 Raven Run Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Keeneland.
Trainer Aggie Ordonez and the partnership that owns Om N Joy – Connie and Jerry Baker, Michael Golovko, and Terrence Scanlan – debated Sunday whether to skip the $400,000 Raven Run in favor of a start in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Nov. 1 at Del Mar but have opted for the trip to Kentucky.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The New York-bred 2-year-old filly With the Angels won her first two races by more than 20 lengths last year and her connections were understandably excited. There was even some talk about potentially trying the Breeders’ Cup.
The more trainer Linda Rice watched the filly, though, she knew aiming for less ambitious targets was the way to go. So, With the Angels stayed home and beat New York-bred foes in both the Maid of the Mist and Key Cents to complete a perfect 4-for-4 campaign that was rewarded with a New York-bred championship.
