When the last van from San Luis Rey Downs arrived Thursday night at Del Mar, the horse Dream Police stepped off, the last of three runners whom owner Jeff Bloom had at San Luis Rey Downs, which was hit by a devastating fire Thursday. One by one they had trickled in – first A Red Tie Day, then Sassy Ashley, and finally Dream Police – and now all were safely relocated.
“When he got here,” Bloom said Friday, “the whole place erupted.”
Martine Bellocq, a California trainer from a prominent racing family, is being treated in a San Diego-area hospital after suffering severe burns when attempting to rescue her horses during the fire Thursday at the San Luis Rey Downs Training Center in Bonsall, Calif., according to her brother-in-law.
Jack Whitaker, whose dogged reporting and graceful prose enhanced racing telecasts for generations of viewers, was announced on Wednesday as having been selected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame’s Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor, along with journalist Michael Veitch and the late columnist Barney Nagler.
Charles J. Cella, whose vision and sportsmanship made Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., a hotbed for 3-year-olds like eventual Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, died Wednesday from complications of Parkinson’s disease. He was 81.
Cella died at home in St. Louis, surrounded by family, according to his sons, John and Lou Cella.
CYPRESS, Calif. - The $71,510 purse of a Santa Anita race on June 24 has been ordered redistributed after the stewards ruled owner Nick Cafarchia was ineligible to run race winner My Italian Babbo because of a suspension announced the preceding day.
The suspension involved financial responsibilities.
The decision was announced Sunday. Stewards Grant Baker and Kim Sawyer voted to disqualify My Italian Babbo and redistribute the purse, while steward Scott Chaney voted against a disqualification.
Jockey Jenn Miller continues to recover nine days after a spill at Charles Town, but remained hospitalized Monday at the Winchester Medical Center in Virginia, according to her agent Roniel Gerardo.
Miller was aboard Green Time for trainer Wayne Potts in the second race Nov. 25 when her mount broke down just after crossing the finish line. Miller was thrown to the ground and then kicked in the face by a trailing horse.
Jockey Tracy Hebert reached a milestone of 4,000 Thoroughbred wins in North America on Tuesday, when he guided Rational Decision to a 4 1/4-length victory in the fourth race at Zia Park in Hobbs, N.M.
Hebert, 54, is a native of Erath, La., the same hometown as Randy Romero, Shane Sellers, and Curt Bourque. Hebert’s first career win came at 16, at Evangeline Downs in 1979. He was aboard for his uncle and mentor, trainer Doris Hebert. Tracy Hebert's mounts have since earned more than $54 million.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The mutuel field, the 24th or "all others" option, closed as usual as a decisive favorite in Pool 1 of the 2018 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which closed Sunday at 6 p.m. Eastern after a four-day wagering window.
With $177,103 in the win pool, the field closed at 6-5 and was followed by Bolt d'Oro (7-1), Good Magic (11-1), McKinzie (12-1), and Montauk (17-1). Another $73,156 was bet in exactas, making for a combined handle of $250,259. The lowest $2 exacta will-pay combination of Bolt d’Oro over the field (2-24) is worth $40.80.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Jockey Alex Solis, who came from his native Panama with a few dollars and a dream and had so much success that he made it to the Hall of Fame, officially announced his retirement on Sunday, seven months after his last mount.
Solis made the announcement at Del Mar on TVG. He had not ridden since April but has been a commissioner on the California Horse Racing Board since 2015.
Grade 2 winner and promising young sire El Padrino was euthanized Wednesday following a series of bouts with colic and surgeries at the New Bolton Center.
The son of Pulpit was 8, and had stood at Northview Pennsylvania. In total, he will be the sire of four crops of foals, including those arriving in 2018.
He is the sire of eight winners from 13 first-crop starters to date, led by stakes winners Enchanted Star and Whereshetoldmetogo. He ranks as the leading freshman sire of Mid-Atlantic region stallions in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
