Stronach Stables' Einstein, unplaced in the Nov. 7 Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I), was assigned top weight of 123 pounds for the Nov. 27 Clark Handicap (gr. II) at Churchill Downs.
6 hours ago
Trainer Hal Wiggins, who plans to retire at the end of November, is the recipient of the 2009 Warner L. Jones Jr. Horseman of the Year Award given by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners.
11 hours ago
The market for quality stock was pretty solid, according to buyers and consignors participating in the first week of the Keeneland November breeding stock sale.
4 days ago
Catesby W. Clay of Runnymede Farm believes the Thoroughbred industry will bounce back, as it has in the past.
4 days ago
Churchill Downs Inc., which announced Nov. 11 plans to purchase Youbet.com and its United Tote subsidiary for about $126.8 million, is on the lookout for other prospective purchases in the area of Internet wagering.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Cotton Blossom, winner of the 2007 Acorn Stakes (gr. I), became the most expensive horse sold so far at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale when she brought $2.3 million during the auction's second session Nov. 11 in Lexington.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Summer Raven, winner of the 2004 Tempted Stakes (gr. III) and in foal to Unbridled's Song, became the first horse to bring seven figures Nov. 11 during the second session of the Keeneland November breeding stock auction in Lexington. Offered around noon (EST), she sold for $1.7 million to Kentucky bloodstock agent Reynolds Bell.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Ro Parra's Millennium Farms near Lexington and John Turner's Moon Lake Farm near Elm Grove, La. have announced an alliance between their operations. Turner's farm will be renamed Millennium Farms at Moon Lake.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
The Kentucky Breeders Incentive Fund could be reduced by 30% because of declining revenue, while horse farms "can't withstand another year like 2009," Kentucky lawmakers were told Nov. 10 during a meeting of the Joint Subcommittee on Horse Farming.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
This year, without as much star power, the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November select mixed sale suffered sharp downturns of 59.4% in gross revenue, 52.7% in average price, and 32% in median price Nov. 10 in Lexington even though seven horses sold for amounts of $1 million or more apiece.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The struggling Thoroughbred marketplace stumbled badly yet again as the Keeneland November breeding stock auction opened its 13-day run in Lexington Nov. 10.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The final bid on Swift Temper was $2,050,000, but it came from her owner, Mark Stanley, so she didn't find a new home Nov. 10 during the opening session of the Keeneland November breeding stock sale in Lexington. Taylor Made Sales Agency consigned the 5-year-old daughter of Giant's Causeway to the auction for Stanley as a racing or broodmare prospect.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Three participants in this year's Breeders' Cup World Championships â€" Diamondrella, Lethal Heat, and Magical Fantasy -- were scheduled to be offered at the Nov. 10 Fasig-Tipton November select mixed sale in Lexington as of Nov. 9. Grade I winner Diamondrella finished 11th in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint; grade II winner Lethal Heat was seventh in the Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic (gr. I); and grade I winner Magical Fantasy finished fifth in the Emirates Airline Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (gr. IT).
Monday, November 09, 2009
While the plunging economy was pounding other mixed sales late in 2008, the Fasig-Tipton November select auction generated spectacular results. The gross revenue rose 35.1% from the previous year while the average price and median prices increased 58.8% and 38.9%, respectively.
Monday, November 09, 2009
Republican Kentucky Sen. Damon Thayer has prefiled legislation calling for a constitutional amendment to authorize racetrack video lottery terminals.
Friday, November 06, 2009
Ohio voters Nov. 3 approved casinos on the fifth try by gambling supporters in the past two decades, and Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear immediately issued a statement saying Kentucky must respond.
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
A rainy October in Kentucky led to much lower on-track business for the Keeneland fall meet, but good racing at the track helped the simulcast wagering, and the combined off-track and on-track betting increased.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
The Galt House Hotel in Louisville, Ky., has signed a three-year sponsorship agreement with Churchill Downs to be named the official host hotel of the track, the Kentucky Derby (gr. I), and the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I), it was announced in an Oct. 30 release.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Due to the ongoing investigation into equine piroplasmosis in the state of Texas, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture's state veterinarian's office has opted to require testing of all horses from Texas entering the state of Kentucky.
Friday, October 30, 2009
The Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall yearling sale bucked the prevailing negative trends in the Thoroughbred marketplace to post increases of 9.1% in median price and 5.7% in gross revenue during its three-day run that ended Oct. 28 in Lexington.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
People listening closely to the announcements from the auction stand during the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall yearling sale heard something new during the auction's three-day run (Oct. 26-28) in Lexington. For the first time, Fasig-Tipton told prospective buyers when a horse's stem cells had been collected and stored.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Scott County in Kentucky, along with Harrison, Owen, and Grant Counties will be hosting a Horse College on November 2, 9, 16, and 23 from 6:00 8:30 each evening.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Aside from the issue of when to close betting pools, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission is debating a recommendation that racetracks made good on winning wagers that aren't merged into pools.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Leonard Lavin's Florida-based Glen Hill Farm was a powerful buying force during the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall yearling sale's second session, which generated a median price that was up 25% from a year ago. The average price fell 4.4% while the gross revenue declined 12.3% Oct. 27 in Lexington.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Ellis Park officials said Oct. 27 the racetrack will shut down after Nov. 8 and suspend simulcast operations until April 1, 2010. The move affects 75 full- and part- time employees at the Western Kentucky track.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, on the advice of one of its committees, Oct. 27 approved 2010 racing dates for all three breeds, including a 25% cut in Thoroughbred racing.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
A controversial recommendation to halt wagering at zero minutes to post time at all racetracks was shelved by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission Oct. 27 pending a public meeting at which the issue will be further vetted.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
The news wasn't all bad during the opening session of the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall yearling sale Oct. 26 in Lexington. The median price increased 20% from 2008 while the buy-back rate was down significantly. The results also included downturns of 11% in gross revenue and 6.4% in average price, but they weren't nearly as severe as those suffered by many other yearling auctions earlier in 2009.
Monday, October 26, 2009
The harsh competitive environment in which Kentucky racing finds itself was on displayed in black and white Oct. 26 when a subcommittee of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission considered applications from Thoroughbred racetracks that signal a drastic reduction in live racing dates for 2010.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Churchill Downs and Kentucky horsemen have reached a three-year agreement that sets purse payments, establishes purse supplements and ends a legal dispute that began in the spring of 2008.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Fasig-Tipton's Kentucky fall yearling sale isn't as fancy as the company's Saratoga and Kentucky July select auctions, but as a producer of Kentucky Derby Presented By Yum! Brand (gr. I) winners, it stands out. Big Brown, who captured the Run for the Roses in 2008, and Mine That Bird, who scored in the first leg of the Triple Crown this year, both are graduates of the October sale.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Lexington-based McMahon Bloodstock and Hidden Brook Farm in Paris are involved in a cooperative effort to bolster business for their individual companies during a time of economic challenges.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Kentucky's horse racing and breeding industry plans to stand its ground in the wake of a proposal for a constitutional amendment on gaming some have characterized as a politically-motivated stall tactic.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Bruce Hundley, who co-bred champion Fly So Free and raised three other champions at his Saxony Farm near Versailles, Ky., died at a Lexington hospital Oct. 21. He was 67.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
During a presentation to members of the horse industry at the Kentucky Horse Park Oct. 20, Kentucky Senate President David Williams and Sen. Damon Thayer, both Republicans, proposed constitutional amendments regarding the future of the state's horse industry.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Fasig-Tipton, which introduced its virtual catalog concept last year for its Kentucky November select mixed sale, has made a number of technical enhancements since then. The improvements can be seen in the virtual catalog for this year's edition of the November auction, which appears on the sale company's Web site: www.fasigtipton.com.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
A Kentucky Thoroughbred breeder said Republican lawmakers plan to push for a constitutional amendment on racetrack gaming, but a spokesperson for the state's Senate leader said that's not the case.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Jockey Miguel Mena was sent to the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington for precautionary X-rays after he was unseated from his mount at the start of Keeneland's first race Oct. 18.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Warrior's Reward, who ran fifth as the favorite in the Perryville (gr. III) Oct. 17 at Keeneland in Central Kentucky, was tentatively scheduled to return to trainer Ian Wilkes' barn at Churchill Downs late Oct. 18.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Robby Albarado, leading rider at the Keeneland fall meet with 10 victories, was off all of his mounts Oct. 18 after a spill in Oct. 17's sixth race.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
John Gasper has been named general manager of Dr. Tom Simon's Vinery and will oversee day-to-day operations.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Total handle through the five days of racing at Keeneland is up 9.83%, the Lexington racetrack announced Oct. 16.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Tropical Storm will stand the 2010 breeding season at Alfred H. Nuckols Jr.'s Hurstland Farm it was announced Oct. 15.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Keeneland was named the winner of the 2009 Simulcast Award Oct. 14 during the 17th annual International Simulcasting Conference in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Keeneland also won the award, which honors the horse racing industry's best simulcast production, in 2003 and 2008. Keeneland's latest award was for its coverage of the Vinery Madison Stakes (gr. I) from April.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
The Kentucky Derby Challenge Stakes at Kempton in Great Britain, inaugurated in 2009 to award a Europe-based horse a berth in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), won't be held next year. But officials said it could return.
Friday, October 09, 2009
Fasig-Tipton has cataloged 972 horses for its Kentucky fall yearling sale, which will be held Oct. 26-28 in Lexington. The total is down 10.8% from last year's total of 1,090.
Monday, October 05, 2009
Keeneland announced Oct. 5 that 4,702 horses have been cataloged for its November breeding stock sale, a decline of 17.6% from the record 5,709 cataloged for the Lexington sale in 2008.
Monday, October 05, 2009
Jockeys that won leading rider titles at Turfway Park over the past 50 years will return to the Northern Kentucky track Oct. 8 when it ends its 50th anniversary meet.
Monday, October 05, 2009
Multiple grade I-winning millionaire and Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) second-place finisher Pioneerof the Nile will stand for $20,000 when he enters stud at Dr. Tom Simon's Vinery near Lexington in 2010.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Kentucky Downs concluded what became a three-day meet with declines in total pari-mutuel handle.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
