HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - It’s official. Sovereignty will race again in 2026.
Michael Banahan, Director of Bloodstock for Godolphin, broke the silence regarding Sovereignty’s immediate future Saturday at Gulfstream Park by confirming that the likely soon-to-be-named Horse of the Year will join trainer Bill Mott’s barn in early January to point to his highly anticipated 4-year-old campaign.
Chip Honcho and Liberty National, separated by three-quarters of a length finishing first and second Saturday in the Gun Runner Stakes at Fair Grounds, seem very unlikely to meet again in the Grade 3 Lecomte on Jan. 17.
Plans aren’t yet set for Chip Honcho, who could race again in January, but Kenny McPeek, who trains Liberty National, appears inclined to skip January racing and aim for a February start.
ARCADIA, Calif. – A severe rainstorm forecast to begin Tuesday in Southern California is already wreaking havoc on Santa Anita tradition.
Track officials announced on Sunday that opening day of the winter meet, traditionally scheduled for Dec. 26, the day after Christmas, has been postponed two days due to weather that could deliver as much as eight inches of rain.
Santa Anita will wait out the storm. The revised date for opening day is Sunday, Dec. 28.
The last day of racing at Aqueduct will be June 28. The first day of racing at the new Belmont Park will, tentatively, be Sept. 18. In between, there will be 46 days of racing at Saratoga.
Vincent “Jimbo” Bracciale Jr., one of the winningest jockeys in the history of Maryland racing, passed away on Monday, Dec. 15. He was 72.
Between 1970 and his retirement in 1990, Bracciale rode in 20,290 races, earning 3,545 victories. Most of those wins came at Laurel Park in Maryland, where the jockey settled with his family in 1976 and remained for the rest of his career.
CYPRESS, Calif. - Litmus Test will start his 2026 campaign in coming months as one of California’s leading 3-year-old prospects, a status confirmed by his win in Saturday’s Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity.
There were signs in recent months that he would easily rise to that level.
Litmus Test won for the second time in his fifth start in the Los Alamitos Futurity at 1 1/16 miles, and gave Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert a record 15th victory in the race – six at Hollywood Park before the track’s closure in 2013, and nine at Los Alamitos since 2014.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario — Woodbine canceled the last five races on Sunday’s closing-day card due to cold weather and less-than-ideal track conditions.
There was a lengthy delay after the seventh race while the sun was setting, during which some track maintenance was done on the synthetic Tapeta surface, before the cancelation was announced around 5 p.m. Among the canceled races was the Steady Growth Stakes for Ontario-sired runners.
None of the canceled races was rescheduled.
Sunday’s eight-race program at Aqueduct was canceled due to a winter storm that was forecast to bring up to five inches of snow to the area followed by low wind chill values and high winds, the New York Racing Association announced.
A winter weather advisory was in place for the New York City area until 1 p.m., according to the National Weather Service. The forecast called for 3 to 5 inches of snow, followed by dropping temperatures and increased winds.
The snow, which began overnight, prompted NYRA officials to cancel training at Belmont Park Sunday morning.
Quarter Horse trainer Ramiro Castillo has been banned from operating a stable at Los Alamitos after five of his horses died as a result of injuries sustained in races or because of illness since March, the track announced on Monday.
The decision comes days before Castillo was scheduled to start two leading contenders in Saturday’s $700,000 Champion of Champions – the multiple stakes winners Stanley Cartel and Scoops Dynasty. They have been transferred to trainer Luke Lindsey, according to a track spokesman.
CYPRESS, Calif. - Consequent is the latest name on a remarkable list of nine consecutive wins in the Grade 2 Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos by the powerful stable of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert.
Consequent remained unbeaten after two starts with a one-length victory in Saturday’s $200,000 Starlet Stakes at 1 1/16 miles, closing from third in a field of five under jockey Kazushi Kimura.
In his career, Baffert has won the Starlet 12 times, including three runnings at Hollywood Park before that track closed in 2013. The Starlet was moved to Los Alamitos in 2014.
