SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Melanie Giddings stood at the end of Barn 69, her face awash in sadness, as she stared down the shed row. The two horses closest to her, both grays, had their heads sticking out of their stalls and were munching on hay.
But it was the empty stall a little farther down - lacking one gray filly in particular - that was top of mind.
“She just loved to run, that horse,” Giddings said. “She didn’t want anything different.”
The live racing committee of the California Authority of Racing Fairs met on Thursday afternoon without finalizing a proposed schedule for Northern California in 2024, when Golden Gate Fields will no longer be in operation.
The parent company of Golden Gate Fields, 1/ST Racing, announced on July 16 that the track in Albany, Calif., will close at the conclusion of its autumn meeting on Dec. 10. The decision shocked California racing, and has caused widespread concern about the long-term effects for racing in Northern California.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – There was hardly elbow room in the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion as start time for the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame approached. The building filled up with old friends reuniting for the annual event, and fans, many wearing gear sporting the silks or likenesses of their favorite Thoroughbreds, taking advantage of the opportunity both to rub elbows with current members of the Hall of Fame – more than a dozen received a standing ovation at the start of the ceremony – and to celebrate the Class of 2023.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Though she no longer faces a license revocation, trainer Linda Rice could still face some penalty from the New York State Gaming Commission for the case involving her having improper access to names and other information regarding entries to races she was considering entering before those races were drawn for approximately a three-year period beginning in 2011-12.
Only one could win when champions Arrogate and California Chrome shared a starting gate for the first time in the highly anticipated 2016 Breeders’ Cup Classic. They were separated by mere feet, with Arrogate winning by a half-length. California Chrome ultimately took home Horse of the Year honors and both earned divisional trophies.
On Friday the two will share a stage in lockstep as they enter the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y, as part of the class of 2023.
The Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission has taken the unusual step of reversing a disqualification issued to a horse because of a positive drug test, a decision that will restore a stakes win for the mare Artie’s Princess and strike a suspension from the record of the mare’s trainer, Saffie Joseph Jr.
Churchill Downs will return to live racing in September for its regularly scheduled fall meet, the company announced on Monday, nearly two months after ceasing live racing at the Louisville track after a highly publicized spate of fatalities.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Nearly two years ago, Senor Buscador was taking up space in trainer Todd Fincher’s stable.
At the time, the 3-year-old was nearing a comeback from ankle and suspensory injuries when another injury flared.
“I was close to running him and something happened in his stall and he messed up his hock,” Fincher recalled on Sunday. “His hock looked like a basketball. He could barely walk for a couple of months.”
DEL MAR, Calif. - For the eighth time since September, Eric Kruljac followed a familiar pattern after watching his prized gelding The Chosen Vron run in a stakes.
At Del Mar on Saturday evening, Kruljac greeted jockey Hector Berrios aboard the 5-year-old, talked briefly about the race, and then proceeded to the winner’s circle.
For the first time through The Chosen Vron’s eight-race winning streak, the victory was not in a race for California-breds, but the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes, the state’s richest annual sprint.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Forte and Angel of Empire emerged from their bumping battle in Saturday’s Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes unscathed and both are likely to be part of a good-sized field expected for the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 26.
