Tom Morgan, one of the best-known jockey agents in Chicago, died this weekend at 72.
For decades, Morgan, a Michigan native, booked mounts for an array of riders at the various Chicago tracks. Regardless of how live his jockey might be, Morgan, a gadfly who always came to work carrying a brown briefcase, seemed to be not only at the center of the racing-office dynamic, but an endless source of racing gossip and information.
D. Wayne Lukas, a horseman who revolutionized the sport of Thoroughbred racing while becoming one of the most accomplished trainers and iconic figures in the industry, died at his home Saturday evening after battling a blood infection. He was 89.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Reigning Canadian Horse of the Year Patches O’Houlihan was resting comfortably Sunday morning after he was vanned off after winning Saturday’s Grade 2 Highlander at Woodbine.
With Sofia Vives riding for trainer Bob Tiller, Patches O’Houlihan drifted out dramatically through the stretch during his front-running score over My Boy Prince in the six-furlong Highlander on the main turf in which he suffered a soft-tissue injury.
“Bob said he was comfortable through the night,” owner-breeder Frank DiGiulio Jr. said.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Churchill’s Derby City Six jackpot-style multi-race wager produced multiple winning tickets again Saturday, generating a carryover pool of $1,413,928 into Sunday’s card. The bet typically pays the bulk of the pool only if there’s a single winning ticket, but must be paid out entirely Sunday on closing day of the spring meeting here.
The bet has a 20-cent base and spans the card's last six races, 6-11, on Sunday. The first five races in the sequence are stakes, the nightcap a turf maiden with a full field of entrants.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The New York Racing Association announced Saturday that the precautionary quarantines of Barns 60 and 63 at Saratoga have been lifted by the New York State Department of Agriculture effective immediately.
All horses stabled in those barns are again permitted to enter races as of Saturday, June 28, and to train with the general horse population beginning Sunday, June 29.
D. Wayne Lukas, a former high school basketball coach who became one of the most influential figures in the sport of Thoroughbred racing, has been hospitalized and is in poor health and will no longer be training horses, his family said in a statement released Sunday through Churchill Downs.
Kings River Knight tends to duplicate his success.
The 7-year-old gelding won his eighth stakes in Saturday’s $101,000 Bertrando Stakes for statebred milers at Los Alamitos, a race he also won in 2023. He has won the Crystal Water Stakes on turf for statebred milers at Santa Anita the last three years, including on May 24.
Kings River Knight has yet to win a stakes at Del Mar, a milestone he could reach as soon as the $150,000 California Dreamin’ Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on turf for California-breds on Aug. 2.
After a slight adjustment to her workout schedule, the three-time graded stakes winner Sweet Azteca is on schedule for her first start since October in a tough running of the Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes at Los Alamitos on July 5.
On Saturday at Santa Anita, Sweet Azteca worked six furlongs in 1:12.80, her first work since a fast five furlongs in 58.80 seconds on June 11.
“Hopefully, everything goes well,” trainer Richard Baltas said. “She’s just about ready.”
Paul Cornman, who held a variety of positions in the Thoroughbred racing industry but was best known as an outstanding handicapper, advocate for horseplayers and part owner of the first New York-bred to earn $1 million, died Saturday in a Las Vegas hospital due to cancer. He was 73.
Sunday's card at Laurel Park will offer five-digit carryovers for three wagers after several upsets stumped bettors on Saturday.
The Early Pick 5 leads with a $58,193 carryover, though it could again be the most challenging bet.
All nine favorites went down on Saturday and only two winners went off at odds under 5-1, undoubtedly creating value in individual race bets but making multi-race wagers increasingly difficult.
