DEL MAR, Calif. - Already well established among California’s leading trainers, Phil D’Amato reached a career first at Del Mar on Saturday.
D’Amato won three graded turf stakes on the same program, with Gold Phoenix in the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap, Motorious in the Grade 3 Green Flash Handicap, and Conclude in the day’s final race, the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile.
“These are the days you work for, to get results like this,” he said after Conclude’s win at the end of the 11-race program.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - There could be a little bit more Saratoga in 2025.
Among the topics that will be discussed in the coming months are adding more racing dates at Saratoga, though they would be considered part of the Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet. First, there could be one day added to the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival held in early June. Second, what would be considered the final week of the Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet (July 3-6) could be held at Saratoga prior to the official start of the Saratoga summer meet that is expected to begin July 10.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Mixto came out of his Pacific Classic upset in top shape and will train into the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 2 at Del Mar, trainer Doug O’Neill confirmed Sunday morning.
Meanwhile, the fourth-place finish by Pacific Classic favorite Dr. Venkman knocked him from BC Classic consideration, though the BC Dirt Mile is possible. Plans are pending for Pacific Classic two-three finishers Full Serrano and Reincarnate, as well as Ultra Power, who delivered the highest-rated victory on the Saturday card at Del Mar. Ultra Power romped in an allowance.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Javier Castellano said he will be out at least two weeks with “a little fracture” in his right hand as a result of the spill he was involved in during the running of Friday’s Saranac Stakes at Saratoga, the jockey told Daily Racing Form on Saturday afternoon.
An attorney for Michael Galvin, a longtime racetrack veterinarian on the New York Racing Association circuit, has contended that the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority violated its rules on public disclosure when it posted a notice on its website this week charging that Galvin failed to submit veterinary reports on hundreds of horses he treated, in violation of HISA’s rules.
Leonard Riggio, the founder of the Barnes & Noble book-selling chain and a horse owner and board member of the New York Racing Association, died on Tuesday of complications of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a statement from his family. Riggio was 83.
The photo on the wall in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame is small – perhaps a handbreadth – and in black and white, making it easy to overlook amidst the other artwork in the exhibit. But she is still so vivid it’s as if she’s in living color. Her stride is fully extended as if to bound off the page as she reaches for the finish line in front, always in front, ears up as if thoroughly enjoying her own power. Her jockey’s pristine silks are snapped taut in a wind of her own making.
Michael Galvin, a longtime racetrack veterinarian on the New York Racing Association circuit, has been charged by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority with failing to provide the organization with treatment records for hundreds of horses, according to a notice posted on HISA’s website.
NFL star Travis Kelce has entered minority Thoroughbred ownership via the Team Valor International partnership, that outfit announced Tuesday.
Team Valor said in a release on Aug. 27 that the Zoldan family and Kelce have acquired a “significant share” of Team Valor’s own interest in the 3-year-old gelding Swift Delivery, who the partnership co-owns with Gary Barber. Team Valor said Swift Delivery will be entered in this Saturday’s $125,000 Toronto Cup on the Woodbine turf.
Trainer Kenny McPeek and the connections of his horses will be honored this year with the Mr. Fitz Award for “typifying the spirit of racing,” the administrators of the award, the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, announced Tuesday.
