Finger Lakes looks to continue its growth as it kicks off its 65th season of live Thoroughbred racing on Monday.

Finger Lakes, an important part of the New York-bred ecosystem, has scheduled 91 days for this season. Racing will be conducted on Mondays and Tuesdays for the first two weeks of the season, allowing for better field sizes with the existing horse population and carding races at 4 1/2 furlongs as many locals work their way back out of a winter layoff. The track then adds cards for its regular Monday-Wednesday schedule through Nov. 25.

Churchill Downs
Thursday, April 23
Weather: Clear
Temperature: 66°
Track: Fast

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The inexact science of preparing a horse for a grueling race like the Kentucky Derby was never more on display than Thursday at Churchill Downs, with trainers using very diverse methods of bringing their 3-year-olds up to the big event. Even within their own barns.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – This week, the eyes of the sports world are on Louisville, as the River City prepares for the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby on May 2.

“It’s a great, great time of year,” said trainer Brad Cox, a Louisville native. “It’s Louisville’s day to shine throughout the world.”

But there is life beyond the Kentucky Derby. This Saturday kicks off the Churchill Downs spring meet, with a total of 44 race dates and 50 stakes races cumulatively worth a record $27.8 million.

ARCADIA, Calif. – In the wake of a fatal breakdown in a hillside turf sprint April 4, followed by miscommunication that compromised heavily favored Queen Maxima in the Grade 3 Monrovia Stakes the same day, Santa Anita veterinary staff have issued new protocols for hillside turf sprints.

The Santa Anita Downhill Turf Course Protocols limit horses eligible for downhill races and require jockeys to school their mounts downhill over the dirt crossing before going to the starting gate at the top of the hill. The directive also precludes apprentice jockeys from riding in those races.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Triple Crown nominee Crupper earned a Preakness berth for his win in the $200,000 Bathhouse Row Stakes last Saturday at Oaklawn Park and will be considered for a start in the 3-year-old classic, according to his trainer, Donnie Von Hemel.

Crupper emerged from the Bathhouse Row in good order and is now settled in at Churchill. Von Hemel and Robert Zoellner, who bred and owns Crupper, will be debating a start in the Preakness.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Grade 1 winner Saudi Crown and the 3-year-old colt Munnings Challenge have been two of the most notable winners trainer Brad Cox has had at the current Oaklawn Park meet that closes May 2.

Saudi Crown launched his 6-year-old season here March 5 with a ratings handicap win over 1 1/16 miles, earning one of the meet’s best Beyer Speed Figures, a 101. Saudi Crown then traveled to Keeneland and won the Grade 3 Commonwealth over seven furlongs April 4. For his next start, the $3.6 million earner could return to Grade 1 company, according to Cox.