Mon, 09/22/2025 - 13:38

Godolphin's Rebel's Romance, El Cordobes tune up for Joe Hirsch Classic

Rebel's Romance wins the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot June 21 2025
Megan Coggin
Rebel's Romance is 4 for 6 this year including a win in the Hardwicke at Royal Ascot in June (above). The two-time Breeders' Cup Turf winner runs Saturday in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Two-time Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Rebel’s Romance, his Grade 1-winning Godolphin stablemate El Cordobes, and multiple Grade 1 winner Far Bridge head a field of five entered in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic.

Rebel’s Romance, a winner of 19 of 28 races, including the Group 1 Preis von Berlin in Germany in his last start, and El Cordobes, winner of the Grade 1 Sword Dancer last month, both stretched their legs Monday morning over the Oklahoma turf course in Saratoga.

Mon, 09/22/2025 - 13:29

His 1,000th win behind him, riding title is Kimura's next goal

Barbara D. Livingston
In his quest for a Santa Anita riding title, will attempt to surpass Juan Hernandez.

CYPRESS, Calif. – Kazushi Kimura won the 1,000th race of his career in North America at Los Alamitos on Saturday and immediately declared a goal for his next milestone – winning the riding title at the upcoming Santa Anita autumn meeting.

Kimura, a former champion jockey in Canada, faces a tough task of winning the most races at the 16-day Santa Anita autumn meeting. He will attempt to surpass Juan Hernandez, who has been the dominant rider on the circuit in the last three years.

Mon, 09/22/2025 - 13:24

Atitlan out of training with injury, will miss John Henry Turf Championship

Benoit Photo
Trainer John Shirreffs said Atitlan could be sidelined for up to two months.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Atitlan, a two-time graded stakes winner on turf earlier this year, is out of training because of an injury. The setback takes the 4-year-old colt out of consideration for Saturday’s Grade 2 John Henry Turf Championship at Santa Anita.

“He has a little injury and it will prevent him from racing,” trainer John Shirreffs said. “He’ll go to Kentucky and he’ll get a little rest. It could be four-week thing or it could be two months."

Mon, 09/22/2025 - 13:19

Phileas Fogg runs back in Woodward after Jockey Club Gold Cup DQ

Phileas Fogg works at SAR JUly 23 2025
Barbara D. Livingston
Phileas Fogg crossed the wire third in the Jockey Club Gold Cup but was disqualified for coming inward at the start and causing a chain-reaction collision.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – When it comes to Phileas Fogg, trainer Gustavo Rodriguez has decided there’s no place like home.

Thus, instead of waiting for a race out of town next month, Rodriguez and owner Steve Shapiro have opted to supplement Phileas Fogg in Saturday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Woodward Stakes at Aqueduct for a fee of $1,500.

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.