A memorial service will be held Saturday in Sherman Oaks, Calif., for broadcaster Bill Seward, who died last month following a career that included working for racing channels TVG and HRTV.

Seward, 63, had a wide-ranging broadcasting career – including three years working for ESPN, as well as Olympic assignments for NBC – but always was passionate about racing.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Stewards in Kentucky have suspended the trainer Bob Baffert for 90 days and disqualified Medina Spirit from the colt’s victory in last year’s Kentucky Derby, according to rulings issued on Monday.

The two rulings were released one week after Baffert and Medina Spirit’s owner, Amr Zedan, appeared before the stewards for a formal hearing related to the finding of betamethasone, a regulated corticosteroid, in the post-race sample from Medina Spirit after the Derby. Baffert was also fined $7,500.

The 3-year-old filly La Crete underwent successful surgery Sunday to repair a condylar fracture in her right-front leg. 

The stabilizing surgery was performed at the Equine Surgery Center at Louisiana State University but Stonestreet Farm, which bred and owns La Crete, flew in Dr. John Madison of Ocala Equine in Florida to undertake the procedure, according to Ian Brennan, Stonestreet’s trainer at their Florida farm and training center. 

ARCADIA, Calif. – Leading jockey Flavien Prat was among three riders who declined to ride Sunday’s ninth race on turf at Santa Anita, with Prat expressing concern about the condition of the course.

Prat, Ryan Curatolo, and Drayden Van Dyke declined to ride. Replacement riders were unavailable at the end of the day for two of their mounts, stewards said. Countess Rosini, the early favorite scheduled to be ridden by Prat, and Everystepoftheway, Curatolo’s mount, were withdrawn.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Tentative plans call for undefeated Flightline to resume training in early March, trainer John Sadler said Sunday morning.

Flightline won his first three starts by double-digit margins, including the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes on Dec. 26, and was aiming toward the Grade 2 San Carlos on March 5 before a strained hock interrupted his campaign. Indications are the setback is relatively minor.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario — The number of graded stakes in Canada was decreased to 40 for 2022 after the Jockey Club of Canada’s graded stakes committee held its annual review. The decrease is due partially to individual racetracks choosing to place selected races on hold for the 2022 season and other races that have felt the repercussions of the pandemic. Additionally, two graded stakes races were downgraded.

Joan O’Brien, the wife of retired Thoroughbred trainer Leo O’Brien and the mother-in-law of Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, died Thursday night after a two-year battle with cancer. She was 75.

Joan and Leo O’Brien were married for 54 years. They had two children, a daughter, Leona, and son, Keith. Leona married John Velazquez in 1994. The couple has two children.

Keith O’Brien worked as an assistant for his father for several years before taking over the small stable two years ago. Keith and his wife, Deirdre, have five children.

Trainer Marcus Vitali has had a year-long suspension issued by Pennsylvania stewards stayed while he appeals the ruling, according to records maintained by the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission.

Vitali, who is currently stabled at Turf Paradise in Phoenix, received the stay on Feb. 8. On Jan. 27, stewards at Penn National Race Course issued the one-year suspension and a fine of $10,000 after one of his horses tested positive for methamphetamine after winning a race at Presque Isle Downs on Aug. 26.

Trainer Juan Vazquez filed an appeal and has received a stay from the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission of 30 days’ worth of suspensions handed him by that commission for two positives in 2021 involving the deworming medication levamisole.

Trainer Bennie “Chip” Woolley, the small-time trainer who hit it big when Mine That Bird won the 2009 Kentucky Derby, has been suspended for 180 days by stewards at Turf Paradise racetrack for possession of a needle and syringe, according to a ruling provided by the state’s Department of Racing.

The 180-day suspension is the highest penalty that stewards can assign, and the ruling requests that the Department of Racing take additional action “due to the severity of this violation which calls into question the honesty and integrity of horse racing in Arizona.”