Mon, 09/22/2025 - 13:08

Following important Seneca win, Immersive will try tougher

Immersive wins Seneca Overnight Stakes at CD Sept 20 2025
Coady Media
Immersive righted the ship in the Seneca Overnight Stakes after losing two straight races to start her year.

Although she had never been worse than second in her career, questions swirled around Immersive entering Saturday’s Seneca Overnight at Churchill Downs. Her trainer, Brad Cox, said earlier in the week that her connections had to learn if Immersive was still “wanting to be a racehorse at the top level.”

Mon, 09/22/2025 - 13:00

Hernandez suffers multiple injuries in spill; will have surgery Tuesday

Brian Hernandez Jr. .July 13 2024
Barbara D. Livingston
Brian Hernandez Jr. fractured seven ribs, punctured a lung, and lacerated his liver in a Sunday accident at Churchill.

Brian Hernandez Jr. sustained rib fractures and multiple internal injuries in a fall Sunday at Churchill Downs, putting his fall season in jeopardy.

Hernandez was aboard Sgt. Garcia in Sunday’s third race, a maiden claimer for 2-year-olds. The Kenny McPeek trainee suffered a foreleg injury near the five-sixteenths pole, dislodging the rider.

Mon, 09/22/2025 - 12:57

Betting, field sizes drop at Canterbury, while attendance ticks up

Coady Media
Canterbury Park has struggled since an agreement with a nearby Indian tribe providing purse and operational subsidies expired in 2023.

Field size at the recently completed Canterbury Park meet in Shakopee, Minn., dropped nearly 10 percent, while betting on the track's races followed suit, with total wagering down 12.7 percent during the 50-day meet, according to an analysis by Daily Racing Form.

Average field size for the track’s Thoroughbred races dropped from 7.40 horses per race during last year’s 54-day meet to 6.75 horses this year. With 39 fewer Thoroughbred races held this year, average handle per race dropped 3.2 percent, according to the analysis.

Fri, 09/19/2025 - 17:58

Saturday card has pick six and pick five carryovers

Barbara D. Livingston
The Saturday pick six carryover is $123,936. The late pick five carryover is $240,923.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - A parade of double-digit-priced winners capped by Blown Cover’s 41-1 upset in Friday’s finale have resulted in a carryover in both the late pick five and pick six wagers Saturday at Aqueduct. 

The carryover in the late pick five is $240,923 and the carryover in the pick six, the latter having not been hit for two days, is $123,936. The late pick five is a 50-cent wager while the pick six is a $1 bet. 

The late pick five sequence on Saturday will be on races 7 through 11 while the pick six will encompass races 6 through 11. 

Fri, 09/19/2025 - 14:24

Lavender Disaster moves to dirt

Debra A. Roma
Lavender Disaster won her 3-year-old debut in a first-level allowance at Aqueduct in May before finishing third in the Wild Applause Stakes and fourth in the Grade 3 Lake George.

Lavender Disaster, a bit of an underachiever thus far on turf, will make a surface switch to dirt in Sunday’s featured second-level allowance for filly and mares at seven furlongs at Aqueduct.

A daughter of Into Mischief, Lavender Disaster gave trainer Chad Brown the feel of a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf horse a year ago after she won at first asking at Saratoga. Her second start was a toss-out, as she got carried out badly at the quarter pole of the Grade 2 Miss Grillo and could never recover, finishing last.

Fri, 09/19/2025 - 14:18

Pletcher trio get back to work for Breeders' Cup Classic

Barbara D. Livingston
Mindframe went a half-mile in 49.77 seconds over the Oklahoma training track on Thursday.

Trainer Todd Pletcher’s trio of Breeders’ Cup Classic candidates, two of whom are coming off Grade 1 stakes victories, returned to the work tab Thursday in Saratoga to prepare for the $7 million race to be held Nov. 1 at Del Mar.

Fri, 09/19/2025 - 13:30

Injured rider Pereira nearing return

Tiago Pereira.Lady Claypoole.Santa Anna Stakes at SA March 15 2025
Benoit Photo
Tiago Pereira has been out since sustaining facial injuries in a one-horse spill at Del Mar on July 19. He may get clearance from his doctor next week to resume riding.

Tiago Pereira, who sustained facial injuries in a one-horse spill at Del Mar on July 19, is aiming for a comeback at the Santa Anita autumn meeting that starts on Sept. 27.

Pereira’s agent, Craig Stephen, said on Thursday that the veteran rider hopes to receive doctor’s clearance next week to resume riding.

“Once he gets clear, he should be able to breeze horses,” Stephen said. “Hopefully, he’ll be ready at the beginning of Santa Anita. I’ve got a couple of stakes for him to ride. I would like him to be on them.”

Fri, 09/19/2025 - 13:07

Stronghold done for the year; Gold Phoenix may run in John Henry

Benoit
Trainer Phil D'Amato said it's 50-50 whether Del Mar Handicap winner Gold Phoenix runs in the John Henry Turf Championship or goes straight to the Breeders' Cup Turf.

Stronghold, winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in 2024 and a close second in the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien Stakes at Del Mar in August, will not race again this year, trainer Phil D’Amato said on Friday.

“You won’t see him until next year,” he said. “He’s not had time off at the farm since I’ve had him as a 2-year-old. He’ll get 60 days.”

Fri, 09/19/2025 - 10:26

Dates approved for Hawthorne, Fairmount

Four-Footed Fotos
Hawthorne is hoping to sign a financing agreement by the end of the year that would allow the track to finish construction on a casino.

The Illinois Racing Board on Thursday approved 63 live racing dates in 2026 at Hawthorne Race Course in the Chicago area and 57 days of live racing at Fairmount Park in Collinsville.

The dates for the tracks largely overlap, but Hawthorne and Fairmount will run on different days of the week for most of their meets. Hawthorne will begin its meet on March 29 and run through Nov. 1 with live racing on Thursdays and Sundays, while Fairmount will begin its meet on April 14, running on Tuesdays and Saturdays through Oct. 27. 

Thu, 09/18/2025 - 14:40

Gimme a Nother headed to Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf

Gimme a Nother after winning John C. Mabee at DMR Sept 6 2025
Benoit Photo
John C. Mabee winner Gimme a Nother will make her next start in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar.

The South African-bred mare Gimme a Nother won the first stakes of her American career in the Grade 2 John C. Mabee Stakes at Del Mar on Sept. 6 and will not race again until the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at the same venue on Nov. 1.

Trainer Graham Motion said on Thursday that Gimme a Nother should benefit from an eight-week gap between races.

“I will not run her in between,” he said. “She ran really well fresh this time.”