Tom Amoss, who saddled his first winner nearly four decades ago, will step away from head training duties next month, he announced Monday night.
Amoss, 64, announced on his social media profiles that he would step down from head training duties effective April 1, handing off his stable to assistant Kinnon LaRose. Amoss plans to remain involved with the barn in an advisory role.
The new team behind the familiar Pin Oak Stud has had its share of heartbreak in the last few years. But hope springs eternal in Thoroughbred racing, especially in the spring.
After one Pin Oak colt, Incredibolt, seemingly punched his ticket to the Kentucky Derby by winning last Saturday’s Virginia Derby, another hopeful, Chaos Agent, looks to do the same in this coming weekend’s Grade 3 Jeff Ruby, another prep offering major Kentucky Derby points. The colts carry the gray and blue silks now associated with the Bernhard family, whose patriarch, Jim Bernhard, died in November.
LAS VEGAS – Dylan Donnelly improved on his fifth-place finish in the 2025 National Horseplayers Championship by winning this year’s NHC by less than $1 after three days of contest play.
Donnelly was in fourth place going into the contest’s final race, the fifth race at Santa Anita. His $2 win-place payoff of $37.80 on Crazy Cavalier pushed him to the top of the leaderboard by just 84 cents over Frank Polk, who earned $12 for his bankroll when None Above the Law finished second.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux has been fined $750 and suspended three racing days after excessive use of the whip in an allowance race on turf at Santa Anita on Saturday.
Desormeaux was cited for his ride aboard Balladeer. According to a ruling published on Sunday by Santa Anita stewards on behalf of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, Desormeaux used his whip 14 times, or eight more than the permitted amount.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Jockey Umberto Rispoli recently began physical therapy for what is expected to be a lengthy recovery from ankle and leg injuries sustained when he was unseated in a race at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 24.
Rispoli is “taking things by day to day,” his agent, Matt Nakatani, told Santa Anita publicity on Sunday. “He’s finally walking a little bit now. The most important thing is he’s inching forward.”
ARCADIA, Calif. - More than 43 months after his first appearance in a graded stakes, the 7-year-old gelding Sumter finally had a breakthrough victory at that level in Saturday’s Grade 3 San Simeon Stakes for turf sprinters at Santa Anita.
Sumter ($7.80) may not have been trainer Richard Mandella’s best runner in the $100,500 race. Seal Team, the 2-1 favorite, finished last of six by 3 1/2 lengths in his first start since May. On Saturday, Seal Team was last as the field crossed from the hillside turf course to the main turf course, where he ducked out severely.
ARCADIA, Calif. - There was a minor element of mystery surrounding a five-furlong workout by the 3-year-old Intrepido at Santa Anita on Sunday, but only because of brief weather conditions.
Intrepido, scheduled to start in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 4, worked five furlongs in 1:00.40 at dawn. Trainer Jeff Mullins said later in the morning that the workout met his satisfaction, at least the part he could witness.
“It was foggy,” Mullins said. “We couldn’t see much.”
Visibility improved through the morning as the fog lifted.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Jockeys Ramon Vazquez and Cristian Torres, who are battling it out atop the standings at Oaklawn Park, will be based on different circuits after the meet wraps on May 2.
Vazquez is Oaklawn’s current leading rider with 44 wins. His mounts have earned $2.2 million. Cody Autrey, the agent for Vazquez, said the rider will head to Lone Star Park near Dallas after this meet ends. Lone Star opens April 16 and races through July 12.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Oaklawn Park will have a special entry date for the Grade 1, $1.5 million Arkansas Derby, which will be held on March 28, according to track racing secretary Pat Pope.
Pope said entries for the 1 1/8-mile race will be taken on Saturday. Entries for the remainder of the March 28 card will be taken Sunday.
“What’s new is that the Arkansas Derby will be drawn on the day before, and the rest of the Derby card will be taken on Sunday,” Pope said.
Tammy Johns of Meridian, Idaho, leads a field of 83 entries still eligible for the title of Horseplayer of the Year heading into the final day of National Horseplayers Championship on Sunday at Horseshoe Las Vegas.
The field of 828 entries was cut to the top 10 percent after two days of contest play on Saturday. Under the contest rules, players make mythical $2 win and place wagers on races from an array of tracks selected by the contest organizers. Some of the races are mandatory for all players.
