HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The great Arkansas gold rush of 2020 starts Friday at Oaklawn Park.
The 57-date meet, which runs through May 2, has drawn a slew of new stables and all are panning for the meet’s record purse money.
There are four $1 million races – the Arkansas Derby, Apple Blossom, Oaklawn Handicap, and Rebel – on the $10.7 million stakes calendar. Oaklawn officials project purses to average $600,000 a day.
It has been more than 20 years since an Eclipse Awards sweep for Horse of the Year plus that horse’s jockey, trainer, and owner, but that scenario stands a very good chance of occurring on Thursday night at the 49th annual Runhappy Eclipse Awards dinner at Gulfstream Park.
Each week in this space, the top Beyer performances by maiden winners will be featured and analyzed. Click here for a complete archive.
Bulwark
Jan. 9, 4th race, Aqueduct, MdSpWt60k
Beyer: 86
6 1/2f, 1:19.51
b. g. 4, Hard Spun–Awesome Bull, by Holy Bull
Owner: Edition Farm
Trainer: Richard Schosberg
Breeder: Edition Farm (NY)
Mongolian Groom, the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Classic runner who suffered a fatal injury in the stretch of the race, had lesions on both rear fetlock joints indicative of lameness, according to a report commissioned by the Breeders’ Cup to examine the fatality, but the nature of the injury made a diagnosis of lameness difficult to detect without additional measures.
Mick Ruis, the Southern California-based owner and trainer, has filed a lawsuit in California Superior Court against the California Horse Racing Board seeking the disqualification of Justify from a win in the Santa Anita Derby in 2018.
For owners and trainers of top-class older dirt horses, what potentially could be the most lucrative months of their racing careers are about to commence.
Beginning with the $3 million Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 25 at Gulfstream Park, and continuing with the inaugural $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 29 and $12 million Dubai World Cup on March 28, three races worth a total of $35 million will be run the first quarter of the year at distances ranging from 1 1/8 miles to 1 1/4 miles.
Three of racing’s most prominent on-air television personalities will co-host this year’s Eclipse Award ceremony, scheduled for Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, Fla., the organizers of the ceremony announced on Tuesday.
Acacia Courtney, Britney Eurton, and Gabby Gaudet will co-host the event, the first time that the ceremony has featured three co-hosts. All three have extensive experience as television reporters or analysts.
Angel I. Diaz spent a lot of time in the winner’s circle in 2019.
The up-and-coming talent led all North American-based apprentice jockeys in wins with 244, and the accomplishment has made him an Eclipse Award finalist. Diaz is a candidate for outstanding apprentice jockey of 2019.
If a horse is judged on the quality of the company it keeps, it is no wonder Elate ended her final season of racing as an Eclipse finalist for outstanding filly or mare of 2019.
Elate won just two of seven starts in her 5-year-old campaign; both wins were Grade 2’s. The character she showed in five defeats, including four Grade 1’s against the country’s top horses regardless of sex, matched the class Elate displayed in her wins.
Brain Power’s first start in the United States in October restored his reputation as a top-class jumper and placed him firmly on the list of finalists for the Eclipse Award as the outstanding steeplechaser of 2019.
Brain Power had only one start in the United States in 2019, a 15-length win in the Grade 1 Grand National Stakes at Far Hills, N.J., on Oct. 19. Well known in England for his promise, as well as his recent setbacks, Brain Power gave famous English trainer Nicky Henderson his first win in the $450,000 Grand National.
