Thistledown Racetrack outside Cleveland, Ohio, will be closed for racing on Wednesday and Thursday while its main track is evaluated by a racing-surface diagnostics company, according to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority.

A spokesperson said on Tuesday night that HISA and Thistledown officials had agreed to cancel the two live racing dates to allow the Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory to “review current track measurements and confirm the track surface is consistent and there are no abnormalities or areas of concern.”

Grade 2 winner and successful sire Congrats died Monday at age 25. The former WinStar Farm stallion was pensioned to Woodford Thoroughbreds, formerly the site of his owner Cloverleaf Farm, in Florida in 2021.

Congrats, by A.P. Indy, was just shy of millionaire status during his racing career while racing for Cloverleaf Farm. He won the Alysheba Stakes, which was then a listed stakes, in 2004 at Churchill Downs, and the following year took the Grade 2 San Pasqual Handicap. He was also multiple Grade 1-placed.

Computer-assisted wagering accounts, whose massive bets can rapidly change final odds, will be denied access to win pools within two minutes of post time beginning Thursday, Del Mar management announced on Tuesday.

The decision was reached after track officials held meetings on Sunday following a weekend in which win prices in several races changed dramatically between the time the field was being loaded into the gate and final odds were determined.

A U.S. District Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a former regulatory veterinarian at Hawthorne Race Course in Illinois, ruling that her claims did not establish direct harm or qualify for adjudication under the broad anti-conspiracy law known as RICO.

The judge, Jeffrey Cummings of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, dismissed the lawsuit from Dr. Christine Tuma without prejudice, meaning that she can re-file the suit without alleging harm under the complaints he dismissed.

Quarter Horse trainer Cristian Alcala was summarily suspended by the board of stewards at The Downs at Albuquerque on July 23 after one of his horses died following a race at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico in May, and three others were vanned off, including one that required hospitalization, according to a recent ruling.

The summary suspension is in effect until a hearing is conducted between Alcala and the Albuquerque stewards on Friday.

Alcala did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment on Sunday afternoon.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The rematch of Breeders’ Cup Classic one-two finishers Sierra Leone and Fierceness in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Whitney at Saratoga will have an added element, as the late-running Sierra Leone will have a pacemaker in the field in recently purchased Contrary Thinking. 

DEL MAR, Calif. - For Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, Saturday at Del Mar was a reflection of his stable’s widespread capability, the massive financial resources provided by his clients, and his ability to coax top-class efforts from high-profile Thoroughbreds.

First came Brant, a 2-year-old with unlimited potential, meeting high expectations in a maiden race.

Two hours later, Nysos won the longest race of his career in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at 1 1/16 miles, closing from off the pace to claim a place atop California’s older horse division.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott had a simple answer when asked Sunday morning why the Travers Stakes is so important to him. 

“I have never won it,” said Mott, who is winless with 13 starters in 12 runnings of the Travers going back to 1995. “The majority of [winners] probably tried the Triple Crown, if they’ve gone through that and then can still manage to run in there, they’re usually nice horses.” 

The Whitney Handicap, 20 years ago, was the coming-out party for Commentator. The New York-bred gelding, who twice won the historic race – in 2005 and 2008 – as he thrived in Saratoga, where, upon his retirement, he was presented with a peppermint key to the city in the winner’s circle. Commentator came back to call the Saratoga Springs area his home, and died last month at Old Friends at Cabin Creek, in nearby Greenfield Center.