Santa Anita has canceled racing on Wednesday and Thursday because of the expectation of significant rain, the track announced early Wednesday.
Racing is scheduled to resume on Friday for a three-day weekend through Sunday. The track plans to conduct a makeup day of racing on Thursday, Jan. 8, according to a text message issued by the racing office on Wednesday.
Negotiations on a new live-racing agreement between Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., and its horsemen remained ongoing Tuesday afternoon, according to officials involved in the process, one day prior to the expiration of the current contract.
The talks were expected to continue Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, according to the officials, who requested anonymity to characterize talks that remain unresolved.
Tamara, the winner of the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante in 2023 whose career was repeatedly delayed by injuries or illnesses, has been retired, trainer Richard Mandella said Tuesday.
Tamara was being prepared for a start in Sunday’s Grade 3 Las Flores Stakes at Santa Anita. An injury was detected after Tamara worked five furlongs in a fast 57.80 seconds on the infield training track at Santa Anita on Saturday.
Mandella said post-workout X-rays were “clean, but she is off a little in her right front.
“They’re planning to retire her, and I’m all for that,” he said.
ARCADIA, Calif. – There was little to celebrate in the career of the filly Ambaya until the stretch run of Sunday’s Grade 1 American Oaks.
Ignored at 12-1 in a field of 11, Ambaya closed from fifth to win by a half-length. Not bad for a filly still eligible for a first-condition allowance race.
While Ambaya was the seventh choice, she was held in high regard by trainer Jonathan Thomas and owner and breeder George Strawbridge Jr.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Antonio Fresu will be sidelined for an undetermined period after suffering a broken toe on his left foot in an incident in Sunday’s seventh race at Santa Anita, according to his agent, Ron Anderson.
Fresu was scheduled to discuss treatment options with doctors on Monday, Anderson said. There is a possibility the injury could require surgery.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Sunday’s opening day of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting drew an announced ontrack crowd of 41,962, the highest since 46,514 attended the first day of the 2016-17 meeting.
Sunday’s figure was slightly higher than the 2024 opening day crowd of 41,562 held on a Thursday. Opening day is typically Dec. 26. Sunday was supposed to be the third day of the current meeting, but the Friday and Saturday programs were canceled over the weekend because of substantial rain last week.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The Nysos show is likely to go international in early 2026, and he may take a talented friend with him.
After a win in the Grade 2 Laffit Pincay Jr. Stakes on Sunday at Santa Anita, trainer Bob Baffert said Nysos is on schedule for a start in the $20 million Saudi Cup at 1 1/8 miles on Feb. 14 in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Cup also is a possibility for Nevada Beach, the three-time stakes winner who challenged Nysos through the stretch of the Pincay before losing by a head.
“That was a good prep for both and for something bigger,” Baffert said.
Though Mailata was the 5-2 morning-line favorite in Tuesday’s $75,000 Future Stars Stakes at Parx Racing, his connections also entered him in Saturday’s $150,000 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct.
Trainer Butch Reid said a decision on where Mailata would run would likely be made sometime Monday, but he sounded as though he preferred the Jerome.
“I like the spot, outside post in a five-horse field going a mile. Seems perfect for me,” Reid said.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Doc Sullivan won his third stakes race of the year and stated a case to be New York-bred champion older dirt male with his victory in the Alex M. Robb Stakes last Friday at Aqueduct.
But that may not have been the most exciting thing to happen for trainer John Ortiz and owner TriStar Farm last week.
A Florida state representative has introduced a bill that would allow Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach to cease live racing in 2030 while continuing to operate its casino.
Rep. Adam Anderson, a real-estate developer who spearheaded a similar legislative effort earlier this year that ultimately failed, filed the bill Tuesday, giving notice to the state’s racing industry that a decoupling battle will once again be staged in the state legislature in 2026.
