Fri, 06/08/2018 - 12:20

Trainer Forrest Kaelin, 83, retires

Benoit Photo
Forrest Kaelin worked in racing for more than 65 years, first as a jockey and then as a trainer.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Forrest Kaelin has disbanded his small stable due to his deteriorating health and has officially retired after more than 65 years in racing.

Kaelin, 83, was a jockey as a teenager and once rode six winners in a row on a card at the old Wheeling Downs in West Virginia. A serious injury soon thereafter led him to training, and for some 50 years, he was stabled in the same barn at Churchill, where his shed row entrance was only 50 feet or so across from that of D. Wayne Lukas.

Fri, 06/08/2018 - 12:16

Oversubscribed fields in featured allowance races

Churchill Downs/Coady Photography
Latent Revenge (No. 5) is expected to set the pace in Sunday's featured ninth race.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Two turf allowances (races 6 and 9), both with oversubscribed fields, highlight a 10-race Sunday card that brings a four-day race week to an end at Churchill. The second and richest is a $62,000 sprint in which the speedy Latent Revenge surely will set a quick pace when trying to outlast a well-matched set of opponents.

The ninth race also marks the return of trainer Garry Simms, who will send out Double Tuff as his first starter since the 2017 Churchill fall meet.

Fri, 06/08/2018 - 10:02

Justify impressive in Friday gallop

Debra A. Roma
Justify gallops about 1 3/8 miles at Belmont Park on Friday.

ELMONT, N.Y. – He's going for the Triple Crown on Saturday, and is making the sixth start in an ambitious, accelerated campaign that began less than four months ago, but it would be hard to fault the way Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Justify appears to be coming into the Belmont Stakes.

Thu, 06/07/2018 - 10:56

Impressive debut winner Montauk injured, euthanized

Justin N. Lane
Montauk wins his debut by 11 1/4 lengths and earns a Beyer Speed Figure of 87.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Montauk, one of the more impressive debut winning 2-year-olds of 2017, was injured during a workout Thursday morning at Belmont Park and had to be euthanized, trainer Todd Pletcher confirmed.

Montauk had completed the first quarter of a half-mile breeze on the training track when he was pulled up by his exercise rider. He was vanned off and later euthanized.

“He fractured his left shoulder and had to be euthanized,” Pletcher said. “Very disappointing, very unusual injury, breezing an easy half.”

Wed, 06/06/2018 - 15:36

Jockey Santana's patience, hard work could pay off Tenfold

Barbara D. Livingston
Ricardo Santana Jr. ranks eighth in the nation with $5.9 million in mount earnings this year.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Ricardo Santana Jr. watched from the jockeys’ room at Churchill Downs as Creator outfinished Destin to win the 2016 Belmont Stakes by a nose.

“I was a little upset,” said Santana, who had ridden Creator in his four previous starts, including a victory in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby and an eighth in the Kentucky Derby. “I was on that horse.”

Santana had been removed in favor of another 23-year-old jockey, Irad Ortiz Jr., who was a regular at Belmont Park, which has a unique 1 1/2-mile oval.

Wed, 06/06/2018 - 14:41

Justify arrives for Belmont Stakes, walks shed row

Barbara D. Livingston
Trainer Bob Baffert leads Justify through the shed row at Belmont Park on Wednesday.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Justify, who will make a Triple Crown bid in Saturday’s 150th Belmont Stakes, arrived at Belmont Park on Wednesday at approximately 2:15 p.m. Eastern after a flight from Kentucky, where he had been based since his victory in the Preakness Stakes.

:: Get Clocker Reports, PPs, news, analysis, and more for the 2018 Belmont Stakes

Wed, 06/06/2018 - 13:36

Longacres Mile a summer target for Riser

Reed & Erin Palmer Photography/Emerald Downs
Riser was an easy winner of the Governor's Stakes at Emerald Downs on June 3.

Riser received a career-best 92 Beyer Speed Figure for his dominating win in the $50,000 Governor’s Stakes at Emerald Downs Sunday. The 4 1/4-length front-running victory over Barkley and Mach One Rules stamped him as the local favorite for the Grade 3, $200,000 Longacres Mile, the most important race at the meet. The Mile will be held on Aug. 12.

Wed, 06/06/2018 - 12:26

Guaranteed pools for exotic wagers Friday, Saturday

The New York Racing Association will offer a number of guaranteed pools and a pair of two-day daily-double wagers Friday and Saturday.

The Friday card, which includes five stakes, begins at 12:50 p.m. Eastern. There will be a pick four beginning on race 8 that comprises the Grade 2 True North, Grade 2 New York Stakes, Grade 2 Belmont Gold Cup, and a maiden race on turf. A minimum pool of $500,000 is assured.

Wed, 06/06/2018 - 12:06

Glyshaw thinks Bucchero has chance in King's Stand

Barbara D. Livingston
Bucchero, shown working at Churchill in April, had a final breeze for the King’s Stand on Tuesday.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Tim Glyshaw isn’t sure whether he’ll feel like David facing Goliath or a Stranger in a Strange Land when he makes his first trip to Europe.

“I’ve never been,” said Glyshaw, who is headed to Royal Ascot with stable star Bucchero for the Group 1 King’s Stand on June 19, opening day of the prestigious five-day meet in Great Britain. “So I’m pretty pumped about it.”

Wed, 06/06/2018 - 11:50

Queen's Plate: Dixie Moon enters Woodbine Oaks with eyes on bigger prize

Michael Burns
Dixie Moon paid $4.80 in winning the Cup and Saucer Stakes on Sunday.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Catherine Day Phillips and owners and breeders Sean and Dorothy Fitzhenry are attacking the Queen’s Plate for the second year in a row.

At this time last year, Day Phillips and the Fitzhenry family were celebrating a victory in the Plate Trial with Guy Caballero. This year, Guy Caballero’s younger half-sister Dixie Moon is looking to claim her place in the Queen’s Plate starting gate. She is expected to be among the favorites for Saturday’s $500,000 Woodbine Oaks, which would serve as her final prep for the $1 million Queen’s Plate on June 30.