OCEANPORT, N.J. – Midmorning Sunday, the day after winning the Haskell Invitational Stakes at Monmouth Park, Dornoch, sound and healthy according to trainer Danny Gargan, was on a horse van bound for Saratoga. But while the Travers Stakes there on Aug. 24 remains the colt’s immediate goal, Dornoch won’t stay long at the track.
NYRA Bets, the national account-wagering operation of the New York Racing Association, will formally take over account wagering in New Jersey under an agreement signed between the association and the operator of Monmouth Park, the state’s only full-time Thoroughbred track, the two companies announced on Tuesday.
Accel Entertainment, a manufacturer and distributor of gambling machines, has reached an agreement to purchase Fairmount Park, which operates as Fan Duel Sportsbook and Horse Racing, in a transaction that will allow a casino to be built on the property, the companies announced on Monday.
Members of the team that calculates Beyer Speed Figures occasionally encounter data that defies common sense. If a horse earns a seemingly implausible figure, we may override it and assign a number that does make sense for most of the horses in the field. We don’t do this lightly, but we don’t want to publish figures that undermine our own credibility.
Louis Albertrani, a retired trainer best known for campaigning 1999 champion sprinter Artax, died Saturday of an apparent heart attack at his home near New Castle, Del., family members said Monday. He was 67.
According to Equibase, Albertrani won 133 races from 1,657 starters during a 30-year career from 1992-2021. In 1999, Albertrani won three Grade 1 stakes, including the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, with Artax, who was voted the Eclipse Award for champion sprinter. His other victories that year included the Carter and Vosburgh as part of a 15-race campaign.
A truly remarkable 2023/24 Hong Kong racing season concluded at Sha Tin on Sunday, 14 July, marking the close of one of the most extraordinary chapters in Hong Kong’s racing history.
The Club’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges: “We had the best-ever season finale, we want to position racing as a world-class entertainment and sporting event. We couldn’t have planned a better season finale than today when the on-course atmosphere and response from our 30,000 racing fans, which include a record number of over 6,000 Mainland visitors, was amazing.”
White Sands, who has won the first two races of her career by a combined margin of 23 1/4 lengths, could move into graded company for her next start, trainer Wesley Ward said Saturday.
Ward said White Sands is under serious consideration for the Grade 3, $150,000 Sorrento Stakes at Del Mar. The six-furlong race for 2-year-old fillies will be run Aug. 10.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Sierra Leone, runner-up in the Kentucky Derby and third as the favorite in the Belmont Stakes, continued preparations for the second half of his 3-year-old campaign Sunday by working a sharp half-mile in 48.74 seconds over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga.
Working by himself for the third straight week, Sierra Leone went his opening quarter in 25.31 seconds and his final quarter in 23.43 while continuing out five furlongs in 1:01.92, and six furlongs in 1:14.59.
Sierra Leone is pointing to the Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy here on July 27.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Woodbine canceled Sunday’s card due to a forecast of excessive heat in the Toronto area. The decision was made in consultation with the HPBA and commission veterinarian.
The forecasted high for today is 28 degrees Celius or 82 degrees Fahrenheit, with considerable humidity.
The $125,000 Victoria Stakes has been rescheduled as is for Friday.
Live racing is scheduled to resume on Thursday; that card that has already been drawn. Post time is 4:50 p.m.
