Wed, 08/31/2022 - 15:43

Taylor has right horses to pull off All American Futurity-Champion of Champions double

Jake Rogers/Ruidoso Downs
Empressum, trained by Heath Taylor, runs Dec. 10 in the Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos.

For reasons largely unique to Quarter Horse racing, Paul Jones is the only trainer in history who has won the All American Futurity at Ruidoso Downs and the Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos in the same year.

The All American Futurity is the sport’s leading race for 2-year-olds, and the Champion of Champions the top race for 3-year-olds and up. Jones, who accomplished the feat in 2006 with No Secrets Here and Wave Carver, may have company on that short list this year.

Wed, 08/31/2022 - 14:05

Australia: Lord Ardmore in sharp form for Wyong Gold Cup

Two recent wins in lucrative handicaps and a third in a Group 3 race last month have made Lord Ardmore the favorite and topweight for the $137,100 Wyong Gold Cup at Wyong Racecourse in Australia on Thursday.

Lord Ardmore’s recent form and the race distance of 1 5/16 miles suggest the 5-year-old New Zealand-bred gelding can win for the sixth time in his 21st start in the 11-runner Wyong Gold Cup.

Wed, 08/31/2022 - 08:47

Plaque commemorating Del Mar greats to be unveiled in downtown plaza

Courtesy of Marla Zanelli
The plaque contains the names of 72 Del Mar racing greats, from Accelerate to Zenyatta.

DEL MAR, Calif. -- A commemorative plaque that lists many of the all-time great runners to have competed at Del Mar will be unveiled Thursday night, following the races, at the downtown Del Mar Plaza, located at the northeast corner of Pacific Coast Highway and 15th Street.

The plaque, to be displayed on the upper level of the plaza, will be unveiled during a ceremony lasting for one hour, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Pacific.

Tue, 08/30/2022 - 15:10

Closing arguments made at Baffert hearing

Barbara D. Livingston
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert is going for a record eighth Preakness victory.

FRANKFORT, KY. -- Attorneys for Bob Baffert on Tuesday wrapped up their side of an appeal of a 90-day suspension the trainer has already served by reiterating that a horse Baffert trained, the 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit, was never injected with a regulated corticosteroid and that rules applying to the drug should not have been used to punish him.

Mon, 08/29/2022 - 17:32

Baffert attorneys call first witnesses at suspension appeal hearing

Barbara D. Livingston
Bob Baffert currently is banned from running at Churchill through the 2023 Kentucky Derby.

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Attorneys for Bob Baffert on Monday began their case in a hearing to contest the trainer’s already-served 90-day suspension by pressing ahead on a contention that Kentucky’s rules do not apply to a treatment Baffert has acknowledged his staff repeatedly applied to the horse Medina Spirit in the lead-up to last year’s Kentucky Derby.

Sun, 08/28/2022 - 20:31

Cody's Wish victory in Forego tops big weekend for trainer Mott

Debra A. Roma
Cody's Wish earned a 112 Beyer Speed Figure for the victory in the Forego at Saratoga on Saturday.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Bill Mott was sitting in a golf cart outside his barn Sunday morning and accepting congratulations for three stakes victories accrued in less than 24 hours.

Mott, however, was more interested in looking forward than back.

“It’s all history now, it’s all in the record book, we’re looking for the Jockey Club Gold Cup and the Flower Bowl,” Mott said.

Yes, Mott will have Olympiad and War Like Goddess as top contenders in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup and Grade 2, $600,000 Flower Bowl at Saratoga.

Sun, 08/28/2022 - 16:49

Gufo wearing blinkers may have made difference in Sword Dancer

Debra A. Roma
Gufo earned a 104 Beyer Speed Figure for his victory in the Sword Dancer at Saratoga on Saturday.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Gufo has been very good for a long time, although it appears he saves his absolute best for Saratoga.

Gufo returned to the Spa for the first time since winning the 2021 Sword Dancer and turned in a carbon copy of that performance right down to the 104 Beyer Speed Figure he earned for his half-length victory over Mira Mission in the Grade 1 turf fixture here Saturday. In his only other Saratoga appearance, Gufo finished a late-running second, beaten a head by Domestic Spending, as a 3-year-old in the 2020 Saratoga Derby Invitational.

Sun, 08/28/2022 - 15:43

Malathaat will target Spinster en route to BC Distaff

Barbara D. Livingston
Malathaat earned a 105 Beyer Speed Figure for the triumph in the Personal Ensign on Saturday at Saratoga.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Last year, after Malathaat won the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga, Todd Pletcher elected to train her up to the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, in which she finished a very creditable third, a half-length behind upset winner Marche Lorraine.

This year, after Malathaat won Saturday’s Grade 1 Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga, Pletcher plans on taking a different tack toward the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Nov. 5 at Keeneland.

Pletcher said Sunday he will point Malathaat to the Grade 1, $600,000 Spinster, a 1 1/8-mile race at Keeneland on Oct. 9.

Sun, 08/28/2022 - 15:24

Jockey Tyler Baze returns to mounts after three weeks off

Barbara D. Livingston
Jockey Tyler Baze was unable to ride when a prescribed medication did not clear his system as soon as expected.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Tyler Baze resumes riding at Del Mar on Sunday after an absence of three weeks that included a week he took off for a personal reason and nearly two weeks in which he failed to clear a required drug test for a prescribed medication.

Baze is booked to ride Club Cal in the sixth race, Lady Maryann in the seventh race, and Floral Essence in the ninth race.

Baze was cleared to ride shortly before 9 a.m. on Sunday, according to Del Mar steward Luis Jauregui and the rider’s agent, Jack Carava.

Sun, 08/28/2022 - 14:33

Epicenter now points to his elders in BC Classic

Debra A. Roma
Epicenter earned a career-best 112 Beyer Speed Figure with Saturday's triumph in the Travers Stakes.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Having taken control of the 3-year-old division with his dominant victory in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga, Epicenter will now be prepared to take on a tough group of older horses this fall as he targets the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland on Nov. 5.

Leading that group of older horses are Flightline, the undefeated colt who makes his second start of 2022 in Saturday’s Pacific Classic at Del Mar, and Life Is Good, a three-time graded stakes winner this year including the Grade 1 Whitney four weeks ago.