LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Hoppertunity, runner-up to California Chrome in the Santa Anita Derby and winner of the Rebel Stakes, was scratched from the Kentucky Derby on Thursday morning because of an issue with his left front foot, trainer Bob Baffert said.

Baffert said he suspects that Hoppertunity merely has a foot bruise, but, for precautionary reasons, he is sending Hoppertunity to the Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., for a full evaluation with noted veterinarian Dr. Larry Bramlage.

The 2014 Alberta racing season begins Friday with an eight-race card at Northlands Park. First post time is 6:30 p.m. Mountain.

The highlight of the season is Canadian Derby Day, Aug. 16. The Grade 3, $200,000 Canadian Derby is the richest race in western Canada, and it is by far the biggest day in terms of handle and attendance at Northlands. Last year, the $1,160,650 wagered marked the only day at Northlands where the handle surpassed $1 million.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – California Chrome has won four straight races, and when he goes for five on Saturday in the 140th Kentucky Derby, he’ll be wearing number 5, the post he drew when a full field was entered on Wednesday at Churchill Downs.

Victor Espinoza, the rider of California Chrome, was satisfied with the post, believing it to be a good omen, since he scored his only Derby victory in 2002 on War Emblem, who was number 5 in that race.

Louisiana Downs will launch its 84-date meet Friday with large fields, a condensed stakes program led by the Grade 2, $400,000 Super Derby, and a new voice booming from the announcer’s booth.

The Bossier City track has nine races carded for its season opener, with 96 horses representing such stables as defending training champ Joey Foster, Karl Broberg, Bret Calhoun, Ron Faucheux, Jonas Gibson, Allen Milligan, Morris Nicks, Danny Pish, Ronnie Ward, and Shane Wilson.

Several racetracks and sales companies, including Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton, have said that they will no longer advertise in the popular but controversial gossip sheet known as “Indian Charlie” after an edition of the publication on Saturday included racist remarks about Mexicans.

Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton are two of the largest advertisers in the two-sided gossip sheet, which is typically distributed by hand throughout sales grounds during auctions. Many consignors at auctions also take ads out in the sheet.

The New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association has agreed to assess a $5 fee on each starter at New York Racing Association tracks beginning with the start of the Belmont Park meet Thursday as a donation to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, the organizations announced Wednesday.

Heavy rains throughout the Mid-Atlantic region forced Parx Racing to cancel the seven turf races scheduled for closing day Wednesday at Atlantic City Race Course. The local horsemen will return home to Parx in suburban Philadelphia to begin racing again on Friday.

EAST BOSTON, MASS. - Firefighters from four nearby departments continued to battle a three-alarm blaze that broke out in the track kitchen on the backside of Suffolk Downs on Tuesday evening, but no humans or horses were injured.

As of 8:45 p.m., the fire was still burning but had been contained to the kitchen. The blaze, broke out shortly after 6 p.m. and about 30 horses in an adjacent barn were evacuated immediately to other barns.

Were it not for the fact that he was the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes, Sir Barton’s name most likely would be buried in the pages of history.

But each spring, sportswriters – many of whom write about Thoroughbred racing only during this time – often bring up the name of the 1919 Horse of the Year as the first to win the coveted Triple Crown.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Rick Violette believes there are Thoroughbred industry leaders – specifically members of The Jockey Club – who are doing more to submarine the sport than to advance it.