Zayat Stables' grade III winner E Z Warrior is to make his next start in the July 29 Bing Crosby Handicap (gr. I) at Del Mar, trainer Bob Baffert said after the chestnut son of Exploit worked a half-mile in :47 1/5 over a fast main track at Santa Anita on Friday morning.
The silks of owner James B. Tafel will be prominent in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (gr. I) at Keeneland in Lexington--and during Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach this weekend in California.
Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith plans to ride on the Southern California circuit beginning with the final week of the current Santa Anita racing season, agent Brad Pegram confirmed Friday.
Last year's champion sprinter Thor's Echo will be returning to Southern California and trainer Doug O'Neill's care, the conditioner's brother, Dennis, said Wednesday.
Lava Man is scheduled to return to his Hollywood Park base Wednesday night after his trip to Dubai, and trainer Doug O'Neill said it's "reasonable to say" the gelding won't be leaving his home state again.
Multiple grade II winner Surf Cat returned to the worktab at Santa Anita for the first time in more than 10 months Mar. 10, breezing three furlongs in :36 over the fast main track for the third-fastest of the 22 who went the distance on the day.
Longtime Southern California horseman Noble Threewitt officially called it a career on what was his 96th birthday Feb. 24 after spending the better part of eight decades in the Thoroughbred industry.
Trudy McCaffery was remembered as a "cross between Mother Teresa and Elizabeth Taylor" during a well-attended memorial service at Santa Anita Park, where her racehorses regularly competed.
Graded stakes-placed Buckland Manor has been retired, and eventually is expected to stand at stud.
With an overall record of two wins, a second and a third from 12 starts in the Breeders' Cup World Championships, it's clear longtime trainer Mel Stute rarely heads to the big event without a legitimate candidate.
Breeders' Cup Classic – Powered by Dodge (gr. I) contender Brother Derek was put through his final preparations for Saturday by logging five furlongs in :59 1/5 over a fast Santa Anita main track Sunday morning. Also working in Southern California were Quick Little Miss, Malt Magic and Aragorn.
The names of 85 of some of California's best runners passed through the
entry box for Saturday's California Cup XVII, the final Saturday program for the 2006 Oak Tree at Santa Anita fall season.
Grade I-winning filly Shining Energy will be pre-entered for the NetJets Breeders' Cup Mile (gr. IT), trainer Julio Canani reported Oct. 18, rather than the Emirates Airline Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (gr. IT).
Reducing the number of racing events without the loss of a significant number of actual racing days in the North was the goal of the California Horse Racing Board's Strategic Alliance Planning Committee, which met for the final time Oct. 12 before making a final 2007 dates recommendation to the full board.
Jockey Patrick Valenzuela has hired veteran California agent Jim Pegram to handle his riding engagements, replacing Tom Knust, who will continue to maintain the business for Corey Nakatani.
California Horse Racing Board investigators are looking into allegations that a jockey at the recently concluded Fairplex Park meeting was carrying an illegal electrical device, known as a "battery" or a "buzzer", during the running of the second race on Saturday, Sept. 24.
Jockey Patrick Valenzuela has been named to ride four horses on Thursday's card at Oak Tree at Santa Anita, but may not know whether he'll be allowed to ride until a few hours prior to post time.
Everest Stable's three-time grade I winner Island Fashion is to make her final career start in the Nov. 4 Emirates Airline Breeders' Cup Distaff (gr. I) at Churchill Downs and then be sold as a broodmare prospect during the November breeding stock sales in Kentucky, trainer Julio Canani revealed Thursday.
Leading apprentice jockey Julien Leparoux will be aboard Stonecrest Farm's multi-millionaire Perfect Drift for the first time when the 7-year-old gelding heads postward in the Sept. 30 Kentucky Cup Classic (gr. II) at Turfway Park, the rider's agent, Steve Bass, has confirmed.
Cementing the 2007 racing schedule in the state remained the focus of the California Horse Racing Board Strategic Alliance Planning Committee, which met Sept. 19 for the third time.
Cecil Peacock's multiple grade I winner Brother Derek remains on track for his next start in the Oct. 7 Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap (gr. II) at Santa Anita.
Several runners with their eyes on upcoming Breeders' Cup World Championship prep races around the country lit up the Southern California work tab Sept. 18, led by Del Mar Debutante (gr. I) winner Point Ashley, who logged six furlongs in 1:11 4/5, breezing, on the fast main track at Santa Anita Park.
Embattled jockey Patrick Valenzuela, who hasn't ridden since the conclusion of the spring/summer meet at Hollywood Park July 16, was given clearance to resume exercising horses Sept. 7 after meeting with Del Mar stewards the morning of Sept. 6.
Reducing the dates calendar while increasing the overall quality of racing and the possible closure of two major racing facilities remained the focus of the California Horse Racing Board's "Strategic Alliance Planning Committee," which met for the second time at Del Mar on Aug. 28.
Jay Em Ess Stable's champion Declan's Moon, who finished last of seven as the 3-2 favorite in Sunday's Pat O'Brien Breeders' Cup Handicap (gr. II) at Del Mar, bled slightly and emerged from the race with a slight lung infection, trainer Ron Ellis said.
The Merv Griffin Ranch Co.'s champion Stevie Wonderboy worked on Monday for the first time since undergoing surgery to repair a condylar fracture to his left front leg in February, logging an unofficial quarter-mile over a fast track at Santa Anita.
Terrence Lanni and Bernard Schiappa's grade I winner Shining Energy will most likely start in the Sept. 2 Palomar Breeders' Cup Handicap (gr. IIT) at Del Mar before being retired and offered for sale in Fasig-Tipton Kentucky's November sale, trainer Julio Canani said.
Steve Taub's three-time grade II winner Imperialism has been retired and sold, trainer Kristin Mulhall revealed Saturday, and will take up stud duty at Get Away Farm in Ocala, Fla., for the 2007 breeding season.
Eclipse Award-winning jockey Jorge Chavez plans to relocate from his East Coast base to ride regularly on the Southern California circuit within the next two weeks, according to agent Chuck Marikian.
TVG will make their isolated camera feeds and race replays available to Del Mar track stewards each Friday, Saturday, and Sunday through the end of the season, Tony Allevato, network executive producer announced Aug. 4.
Trainer Jeff Mullins said he was informed by the California Horse Racing Board that one of the horses in his care, Robs Coin, tested positive for a prohibited amount of the anesthetic mepivacaine, and that he is awaiting the results of split-sample tests.
Del Mar track management held an informal meeting the morning of July 22 to address the spike in injuries and fatal breakdowns during the first days of the seaside oval's summer season.
Jockey Alex Solis, who was instrumental in bringing sports agent and rare-coin collector Dwight Manley to the attention of the Jockeys' Guild, said he's committed to turning around the Guild and hopes to bring it back to prominence in the Thoroughbred industry.
Trainer Bob Baffert, who was fined $500 by the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority for incidents involving security guards at this year's Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), said he would like for Churchill Downs to have security personnel who recognize horsemen positioned in key areas, such as the paddock.
After a four-week break, Cecil Peacock's dual grade 1 winner Brother Derek returned to Santa Anita's main track this past Saturday to begin preparations for a probable start in the $1 million Haskell Invitational Handicap (gr. I) on Aug. 6 at Monmouth Park, trainer Dan Hendricks revealed.
Hal and Patti Earnhardt's grade I winner Behaving Badly, runner-up to stablemate Pussycat Doll in the May 6 Humana Distaff Handicap (gr. I) at Churchill Downs May 6, will make her next start in either the $150,000 A Gleam Invitational Handicap (gr. II) at Hollywood Park or the $500,000 Princess Rooney Handicap (gr. I) at Calder Race Course, trainer Bob Baffert said.
Donald and Irene Dizney's Oak Leaf (gr. II) winner Diamond Omi lost her three-week battle with pneumonia and was euthanized on Nov. 17 at Chino Valley Equine Clinic, trainer Bob Baffert said.
The Barretts Mixed Sale held Oct. 24-25 at the Hinds Pavilion at Fairplex Park in Pomona, Calif., saw solid across-the-board increases in gross receipts, average and median.
Golden Shadows brought a final bid of $40,000 from John B. Cook to top the opening session of the Barretts October Mixed Sale held Monday at the Hinds Pavilion at Fairplex Park in Pomona, Caliornia.
Stewards at Santa Anita excused injured jockey Patrick Valenzuela on Thursday from all of his commitments through Sunday's race card, one day after he failed to call in prior to taking off his mounts.
Jockey Patrick Valenzuela will meet with stewards Thursday morning after missing all his mounts at Oak Tree at Santa Anita on Wednesday. The oft-troubled rider said he was suffering from a sore foot that knocked him out of action following his ride in the second race on Sunday.
Stan Fulton's El Camino Real Derby (gr. III) winner Uncle Denny is back in full training after undergoing surgery to remove a chip from his left front ankle in March.
Diamond Omi and Wild Fit, the top two finishers in Saturday's Oak Leaf Stakes (gr. II) at Oak Tree at Santa Anita, are both set to square off again in the Oct. 29 Alberto VO5 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I).
Steve Taub's Imperialism, fifth in Saturday's Jockey Club Gold Cup (gr. I) at Belmont Park, will most likely make his next start in the TVG Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I) rather than the Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) - Powered by Dodge, trainer Kristin Mulhall revealed.
Mercedes Stables and Madeleine Paulson Pickens' Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap (gr. II) winner Rock Hard Ten came out of his latest victory in top shape, trainer Richard Mandella said, and will make his next start in the Breeders' Cup Classic - Powered by Dodge (gr. I) at Belmont Park on Oct. 29.
Eclipse Award-winning jockey Tyler Baze was suspended by Hoosier Park stewards on Oct. 1 after a routine pre-race breathalyzer test revealed that he was under the influence of alcohol. Baze was scheduled to ride Southern Africa for trainer Mike Puhich in the $500,000 Indiana Derby (gr. II), but was removed from his mount when he failed the test.
Fog City Stables' grade I winner Roman Ruler will not make the trip to New York for Saturday's Jockey Club Gold Cup (gr. I), trainer Bob Baffert said, and will instead run in the $500,000 Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap (gr. II) at Oak Tree at Santa Anita on the same day.
Jay Em Ess Stable's champion Declan's Moon will be on the shelf for at least the next two months after a recent nuclear scan detected a slight injury to the top of his left cannon bone, trainer Ron Ellis said Saturday.
Multiple grade II winner Blackdoun is back in trainer Julio Canani's Santa Anita shedrow and is being prepared for a probable early 2006 start, the veteran conditioner said.
Roman Ruler and Imperialism, two California-based runners bound for next Saturday's Jockey Club Gold Cup (gr. I) at Belmont Park, were put through their final preparations for the 1 ¼-mile event on Friday morning.
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