Led by Tampa Bay Derby winner King Guillermo, such highly regarded runners as Pneumatic and Shooters Shoot, as well as the filly Swiss Skydiver and the high-priced auction buy Cezanne, a total of 22 3-year-olds were made eligible to the Triple Crown at the second deadline, which closed Wednesday after being postponed from March.
The list was released on Thursday by Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby.
:: KENTUCKY DERBY 2020: Derby Watch, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more
The remarkable rags-to-riches career of Imperial Hint has come to an end, trainer Luis Carvajal Jr. confirmed Sunday morning. But when one door closes, another sometimes opens. Imperial Hint is a full horse, and Carvajal has been speaking with stud farm operators in the United States and overseas.
Nadal, the undefeated 3-year-old and leading contender for the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5, suffered a condylar fracture to his left foreleg after completing a workout Thursday morning at Santa Anita and has been retired from racing, according to co-owner George Bolton.
Nadal worked a half-mile in 48.80 seconds on Thursday in preparation for a start in the $1 million Belmont Stakes on June 20.
Afterward, at the barn, trainer Bob Baffert noticed Nadal was off and X-rays revealed the fracture.
The Maryland Racing Commission on Thursday unanimously approved a request by Laurel Park to begin live racing spectator-free as of Saturday, May 30.
Racing was approved for Friday-through-Monday for the opening weekend, then for Friday-Sunday next weekend. After that, the track will run on Fridays and Saturdays, Laurel officials said.
Several major racing organizations have banded together to fund an advertising campaign that is intended to draw attention to racing during a time when nearly all other major sports are on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organizations announced on Thursday.
Prairie Meadows in Altoona, Iowa, is anticipating opening for live racing on June 19, several days after re-opening the casino on the property, the executive director of the state’s racing and gambling commission said on Wednesday.
Prairie Meadows and the state’s horsemen’s group have informed the commission that the track is shooting for the June 19 opening date, according to Brian Ohorilko, the administrator of the commission. Last week, the board of Prairie Meadows approved a plan to open the track’s stable area on June 1 in anticipation of hosting live race dates.
Trainer Steve Asmussen has been fined $1,000 after a horse he trains, Shang, tested positive for the hypertension drug Atenolol after running third in last July’s $250,000 Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows, according to a ruling from stewards at the track.
Shang was disqualified from the race and placed last as a result of the positive. Although the horse finished third under the line in the Iowa Derby, he was elevated to second due to interference in the stretch.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – A Franklin County Circuit Court judge said on Wednesday during a teleconference hearing that he expects to issue an order within a week regarding an effort by a Kentucky horsemen’s organization to prohibit Churchill Downs from writing races that ban the raceday administration of the regulated anti-bleeding medication Lasix.
The North American International Cataloguing Standards Committee has reduced the minimum purse requirements for existing non-listed black-type races by 20 percent for the remainder of the year, the committee announced on Thursday.
The reduction will drop the minimum purse for a non-listed black-type race that had been run prior to 2019 from $50,000 to $40,000. The minimum purse for the same type race that was run first the first time in 2019 will drop from $75,000 to $60,000 this year.
