Fair Grounds got hit by a hurricane but dodged a bullet.
The Churchill Downs Inc.-owned New Orleans racecourse opens its 2021-22 meet down two barns thanks to the summer winds of Hurricane Ida, but still has use of its turf course when the 80-day season begins Thursday.
Trainer Adolfo Macias, who is based in Kentucky, has been suspended 90 days after a search of his barn at a Central Kentucky training center, according to a ruling issued by Kentucky stewards.
Macias, who has three wins from 81 starts this year, waived his right for a formal hearing on the suspension, which will begin Dec. 1 and run through Feb. 28.
The ruling says that the search turned up “injectable medications, hypodermic syringes, and needles.” It is illegal for trainers to possess hypodermic needles and controlled substances.
Jackie’s Warrior, who finished sixth as the 1-2 favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, emerged from the race with a bone chip in his left knee, trainer Steve Asmussen said Wednesday.
Asmussen said Dr. Larry Bramlage of Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital removed the chip in a procedure Friday. The horse is currently in Kentucky.
“He is going to do rehab at Becky Maker’s farm in Lexington,” Asmussen said. “We do plan on a 2022 campaign.”
The California Horse Racing Board on Wednesday approved six live Thoroughbred race dates at Los Alamitos Race Course over a two-week period running from Dec. 3 to Dec. 12.
The application, which was approved along with a longer Quarter Horse meet at the track, passed unanimously. The commission also approved an agreement between the operators of the track and the Thoroughbred Owners of California that will require Los Alamitos to enforce medication rules that are somewhat stricter than CHRB rules currently in place for licensed racetracks.
Separate-pool wagering on five Breeders’ Cup races offered in Japan and Hong Kong on Saturday was a total of approximately $14.8 million, the Breeders’ Cup said.
In Japan, bettors wagered $11.7 million on three Breeders’ Cup races, the Filly and Mare Turf, the Mile, and the Turf, according to the Breeders’ Cup. In Hong Kong, bettors wagered $3.1 million on two races, the Mile and the Turf.
A federal district court judge sitting in New York on Tuesday permitted attorneys for Bob Baffert to file an amended complaint seeking the dissolution of an order banning the trainer from the tracks operated by the New York Racing Association.
Jerry Hollendorfer, the Hall of Fame trainer who was banned by several California tracks in the wake of an uproar over catastrophic deaths at Santa Anita in 2019, has filed another motion for a preliminary injunction that would prevent Santa Anita from banning him during its upcoming meeting, according to court documents.
Grade 1, $1,840,000 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, 1 1/16 miles, Del Mar, Nov. 5, 2021
(0 Derby qualifying points for first, 8 for second, 4 for third, 2 for fourth)
Winner: Corniche, by Quality Road
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Jockey: Mike Smith
Owner: Speedway Stables LLC
Beyer Speed Figure: 91
DEL MAR, Calif. – Knicks Go emphatically stamped himself the 2021 Horse of the Year and champion older dirt male with his victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday, and over the course of the two-day, 14-race event a number of other year-end honors were solidified, most notably 2-year-old filly, where Echo Zulu is a slam dunk. But many divisions have become as tough to see through as the morning fog that often descends upon Del Mar.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Though his victory in Friday’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar stamped Corniche as the early favorite for next May’s Kentucky Derby, it wasn’t a topic Bob Baffert was interested in discussing Sunday morning.
“We’re not going down that road, that’s a long way off,” Baffert said Sunday morning.
