Sat, 07/06/2024 - 19:11

Aqueduct's final day will feature pick-6 carryover of $114,387

Barbara D. Livingston
Sunday will be the final day of the Aqueduct meet, with the circuit moving to Saratoga beginning Thursday.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - There will be a pick-6 carryover of $114,387 into Sunday’s closing-day card at Aqueduct. Since it is the final day of the meet, the entire pool must be distributed.

The pick-6 Sunday will be on races 4 through 9 and will include the $125,000 Port Washington Stakes for New York-bred fillies, the co-feature on the card. The other stakes, the $125,000 Hudson Valley, goes as Race 2 and is not part of the pick-6.

Sat, 07/06/2024 - 09:23

Fifth Circuit Court Of Appeals rules part of HISA unconstitutional

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a core function of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority is unconstitutional, in a narrow ruling that will nonetheless keep HISA’s legal status in limbo for months to come.

The ruling, issued on Friday night by a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit, held that HISA’s enforcement powers “violate the private nondelegation doctrine” attributed by many courts to the constitution by giving HISA broad powers to enforce its rules without initial guidance from the Federal Trade Commission, its overseer.

Thu, 07/04/2024 - 10:39

NYRA pulls signal from FanDuel as contract negotiations stall

Adam Coglianese/NYRA
The New York Racing Association has pulled its signal from FanDuel while contract negotiations have stalled.

Races from the Belmont at Aqueduct meet run by the New York Racing Association began to be blacked out on Thursday on FanDuelTV and its online horse racing betting company TVG after the two sides could not agree on a new contract, according to NYRA and FanDuel.

An earlier contract between NYRA and FanDuel expired on Monday, but the two sides had continued to negotiate through Wednesday. The Thursday card at Aqueduct is NYRA’s first live racing date since Sunday.

Wed, 07/03/2024 - 21:20

David Hofmans, trainer of Touch Gold and Awesome Again, dies at 81

Barbara D. Livingston
Trainer David Hofmans stands with multiple Grade 1 winner Melatonin in 2016. Hofmans died Wednesday at the age of 81.

David Hofmans had the sort of results in 1996 and 1997 many trainers could only dream of accomplishing through an entire career.

In 1996, Hofmans won the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Woodbine with Alphabet Soup, beating a field that included the legendary Cigar. Three weeks earlier,  Dramatic Gold won the Grade 1 Meadowlands Cup in New Jersey.

Mon, 07/01/2024 - 14:25

Plans call for an ‘all Tapeta' winter at the new Belmont – not everyone agrees

Belmont Park construction May 22 2024
Susie Raisher
Demolition of the Belmont Park grandstand continues in late May as horses exercise over the Belmont training track.

When downstate racing on this circuit moves solely to Belmont Park, winter racing will be conducted exclusively over a soon-to-be-constructed synthetic track, the New York Racing Association announced Monday.

NYRA officials are targeting the 2026-27 meet as the time when winter racing moves to the Tapeta track. The exact duration of the winter meet is still to be determined, but its likely to be from mid-to-late December through mid-to-late March.

Mon, 07/01/2024 - 13:01

Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation meets for first time.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation met on Monday for the first time under its new status as a state corporation, rather than a department under the aegis of the state’s Public Protection Cabinet.

Mon, 07/01/2024 - 09:28

Horses trained by Foley, Lawrence test positive for metformin

Horses trained by Greg Foley and James Lawrence II have become the latest to test positive for metformin, the banned diabetes drug that is being studied by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority for its potential to contaminate drug-testing samples.

Sun, 06/30/2024 - 17:28

Jockey Club Gold Cup and BC Classic possible scenario for Kingsbarns, Pletcher says

Barbara D. Livingston
Kingsbarns earned a 100 Beyer Speed Figure for Saturday's win in the Stephen Foster.

Now that Kingsbarns has thrown himself into contention in a seemingly wide-open older male dirt division, his connections will have some decisions to make as to how to proceed with the second half of the 4-year-old’s campaign.

Following his sharp 2 1/2-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 1 Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs, Kingsbarns was scheduled to return on Tuesday to his summer base of Saratoga, where he will train toward another likely lucrative Grade 1 opportunity.

Sun, 06/30/2024 - 14:18

Ruidoso Downs postpones Sunday card to Monday amid flash floods

File photo
Ruidoso Downs also canceled two races on Saturday's card due to flooding.

A week after losing three programs to massive wildfires in a local forested area, Ruidoso Downs in southern New Mexico canceled the final two races on Saturday and postponed Sunday’s program to Monday after a flash flood inundated part of the track on Saturday afternoon.

Sun, 06/30/2024 - 12:38

Parenting will make graded stakes debut in Haskell, Baffert says

Benoit photo
Parenting was a dominant winner of the Affirmed Stakes at Santa Anita on June 9.

CYPRESS, Calif. - Parenting, the runaway winner of the Affirmed Stakes at Santa Anita on June 9, will have his first start in a graded stakes in the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park on July 20, trainer Bob Baffert said on Saturday.

Baffert said Parenting will take the place of Muth, who has not raced since a win in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park on March 30. Muth was scratched in the days prior to the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 18 because of illness.