LONDON – Bob Baffert sometimes called Arrogate “The Blue Locomotive,” a steel gray colt with a relentless stride who, once he gained momentum, was nearly impossible to stop. The Arrogate train went off the tracks midway through 2017, but a quiet end to Arrogate’s journey doesn’t erase the memorable stops along the way, and Arrogate’s superiority was rewarded again Tuesday when he was named the Longines World’s Best Racehorse for 2017 by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities at an awards luncheon at Claridge’s Hotel.

Gun Runner will have a number of rivals when he ends his racing career Saturday in the Pegasus World Cup, but he has no challengers when it comes to Horse of the Year for 2017.

Sure, both Arrogate and World Approval were announced earlier this month as fellow finalists for the Horse of the Year trophy, which will be presented at the conclusion of the 47th annual Eclipse Awards dinner Thursday night at Gulfstream Park, but everyone knows this is a walkover for the Breeders’ Cup Classic winner.

Jockey Jevian Toledo, the top rider by wins in Maryland last year and the leading rider at the Laurel Park fall that which concluded Dec. 31, was injured in a training accident Sunday morning.

Toledo was working a horse for trainer Jamie Ness at Laurel who fell. The horse reportedly got to his feet and ran back to the barn.

Toledo was taken to Howard County Hospital in Columbia, Md., with back and leg pain. According to his agent, Marty Leonard, X-rays revealed that Toledo has compression fractures of the T7 and T8 vertebrae in his mid-back region and a punctured lung.

Barn 20 at Laurel Park has been placed under quarantine until Jan. 30 by the Maryland Department of Agriculture after a horse stabled there tested positive for the equine herpesvirus (EHV1) on Friday.

The horse in question is English Tudor, a 4-year-old gelding who has made nine starts in the maiden-claiming ranks. He has not been ill or displayed any of the neurological symptoms that can be associated with the herpesvirus, according to his trainer, Tony Aguirre. Since testing positive, he has been moved offtrack to a farm.

Diamond Joe, a fan favorite in Nebraska and the most successful son of 1995 Arkansas Derby winner Dazzling Falls, has been retired, trainer Chuck Turco said on Friday. Diamond Joe ranks fifth all time among Nebraska-breds in earnings, a list topped by his sire. Turco also trained Dazzling Falls.

“It was a great run with Joe, that’s for sure,” said Turco.

Diamond Joe, a 9-year-old gelding, last raced in June and finished fourth in an allowance at Canterbury Park. He is now residing at a farm in Lincoln, Neb.

Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., has canceled Friday’s nine-race program due to the effect of freezing temperatures since Monday night.

It is the second straight cancellation following Thursday’s program.

Oaklawn has missed training Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Officials were hoping to get onto the track Friday afternoon.

Oaklawn officials said the cancellation Friday was due to track conditions, as the surface has not completely thawed. The decision was made for the safety of riders and horses, according to a press release.

Gun Runner, expected to be named 2017 Horse of the Year at the Eclipse Awards next week, arrived at Gulfstream Park Thursday night with Scott Blasi, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen.

Winner of the Breeders' Cup Classic in November, Gun Runner will be favored Jan. 27 in the $16 million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream against West Coast, Collected, Sharp Azteca and others.

The Pegasus will be Gun Runner's final race before he is retired to stud at Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky.

Josephine T. Gleis, whose top-class turf horse Fly Till Dawn was a four-time Grade 1 stakes winner and one of the top runners in the country in the early 1990s, died at her home in Newport Beach, Calif., on Sunday at age 105.

“She had her faculties all the way to the end,” said her grandson Rick Hausman, who said he and his grandmother bonded over their love of racing. “It was a great connection I had with her.”

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - The 2018 stakes schedule at Hastings has six fewer stakes than last year and there is a major change to B. C. Cup Day, one of the highlights of the year.

Opening day for the 52-day meet, which runs through Oct. 14, is Saturday, April 21.

The 36-race stakes program worth $2.175 million begins April 22 with the $50,000 Swift Thoroughbred Inaugural for 3-year-olds and up, and the $50,000 Brighouse Belles for fillies and mares. 

Jessies First Down was honored as the 2017 World Champion Racing Quarter Horse for the second consecutive year in a ceremony at the Heritage Place sale company in Oklahoma City on Wednesday evening.

A 6-year-old in 2017, Jessies First Down won 5 of 7 starts and earned $468,757 through the year, winning major stakes at Sam Houston Race Park, Ruidoso Downs, The Downs at Albuquerque, and Zia Park for owner Ted Abrams of Houston.