After showing her fondness for Belmont Park with a front-running triumph in the Acorn Stakes (gr. I) one month ago, Gabby's Golden Gal will cut back in distance for trainer Bob Baffert in the Prioress Stakes (gr. I) July 4.
The Breeders' Cup announced July 1 that 10 individuals are on the ballot for the election of six positions to its board of directors.
The storybook ride of Calvin Borel and Mine That Bird has come to an end, with the connections of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner now looking for a new jockey.
Jockey Rene Douglas, who was seriously injured in a May 23 racing accident at Arlington Park, has issued his first statement since the accident occurred. Douglas, who is currently paralyzed from the chest down, sent a letter to the 3,527-member Facebook group 'Rene Douglas Get Well Card,' in which he voiced his appreciation to the racing community.
The Maryland Jockey Club and Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association have agreed to the live racing dates and stakes schedule for the balance of 2009, including the return of the Grade I Frank J. De Francis Dash after a one-year hiatus.
The effects of the international recession on the European breeding industry is underscored by registration figures from Weatherbys showing sharp downturns in broodmare registrations and ownership changes during the first five months of 2009.
The Jockey Club announced July 1 that it has enhanced its free Tattoo Identification Services by adding access to its markings database to the tattoo research module.
Viva Pataca finally achieved his rightful place alongside the greats of Hong Kong racing when he was named Horse of the Year for 2008-09 at the annual Champions Awards.
Hong Kongers sent horse racing on its annual summer holiday after a spectacular Sha Tin season finale that gave the Jockey Club its biggest betting day in six years.
Former jockey Mark Guidry is now making his way as a trainer back in his native Louisiana, and will give a leg up to veteran Shane Sellers July 2 at Evangeline Downs.
The Obama administration says it's named Michigan Racing Commissioner Christine White as state executive director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency.
It is unlikely that Hal Wiggins will find a horse like Rachel Alexandra any time soon, but he does have a promising young colt making his stakes debut in the $100,000 Bashford Manor (gr. III), a sprint for 2-year-olds July 3 at Churchill Downs.
Five months after horse industry officials lobbied for funds from the United States Department of Agriculture's Emergency Conservation Program to assist with property damage to dozens of Central Kentucky Thoroughbred farms due to a January ice storm, the USDA delivered some negative news.
Horses have efficient natural thermoregulatory systems to cool themselves, but sometimes they are overwhelmed and cannot compensate for the heat. Hyperthermia or heatstroke results when a horse is unable to control its internal temperature and it starts to rise.
The $750,000 United Nations Stakes (gr. IT) and the $250,000 Salvator Mile (gr. III), both run at Monmouth Park on July 4, represent the first state-side races in this year's international "Win and You're In" Breeders' Cup Challenge series.
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association announced June 30 the broadcast schedule for "Emirates Airline Summer Racing Presented by the NTRA."
Louis Romanet, chairman of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities, will discuss the importance of and need for international harmonization of medication policies when he delivers the keynote address at The Jockey Club's 57th annual Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing at the Gideon Putnam Resort in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Aug. 23.
Last year's Eclipse Award winning sprint champions -- Benny the Bull and Indian Blessing -- are among the 96 horses nominated to the 10th annual Summit of Speed at Calder Race Course, to be held this year on Saturday, July 11.
John J. Brunetti has announced that his son, John J. Brunetti Jr., and racing industry veterans Randall E. Soth and Dennis Testa will head up the management team for the redeveloped Hialeah Park. The South Florida track that last had live racing in 2001 is scheduled to reopen later this year or in early 2010 for Quarter Horse racing.
The Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit's Shoeing and Hoof Care Committee is now offering a free educational DVD entitled, "The Hoof: Inside and Out" that examines the physiology of the equine hoof and demonstrates proper care and shoeing techniques.
Arkansas Derby (gr. II) winner Papa Clem, who finished fourth, beaten a head for second, in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands, is scheduled to arrive at Monmouth Park June 30 to prepare for the $1-million Haskell Invitational Handicap (gr. I) Aug. 2.
Jerry Moss, owner of champion mare Zenyatta, said he hopes to meet Rachel Alexandra in the Breeders' Cup, but likely wouldn't ship Zenyatta east to tangle with 'Rachel' this summer.
What will the yearling selling season of 2009 be like? A story with comments from a variety of auction participants appeared in the June 27 edition of The Blood-Horse and also was published on the magazine's Web site: www.bloodhorse.com. Now, two more people, Lincoln Collins and Craig Bandoroff, weigh in on the subject.
Fasig-Tipton will host a five-kilometer (5K) race and a one-mile "fun run" Aug. 15 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Both events will start in front of the auction firm's Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion. All proceeds will be divided equally among the New York Racing Association's four charities: The Anna House, Backstretch Employee Service Team, New York Racetrack Chaplaincy, and The Backstretch Education Fund.
Dr. James Smith, a semi-retired equine veterinatian, was recently appointed to the board of directors for Horses and Humans Research Foundation. The foundation, headquartered in Cleveland Ohio, seeks to support research which will improve the quality of equine-assisted activities for people struggling with disabilities.
Blood-Horse Publications received a total of 17 awards -- including the top award for general excellence for Keeneland magazine -- on June 27 at the American Horse Publications Annual Awards Program held in New Orleans, LA.
Ahmet Kiliccioglu's Miramis, a son of Sri Pekan posted a 1 1/2-length victory over Cakilhan in Turkey's Gazi Derby at 1 1/2 miles on June 28.
Stakes winner One Nice Cat came through with his first winner when his son R Rich E. Rich won June 28 at Arlington Park.
The National Museum of Racing's new exhibit "Preserving our Past" is open in the von Stade Gallery.
In his first workout since finishing third in the Belmont Stakes (gr. I), Mine That Bird went an easy half-mile in :51 at Churchill Downs on June 29 in preparation for his next start in the Aug. 1 West Virginia Derby (gr. II) at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack & Resort. Jockey Calvin Borel was aboard for the breeze.
A groundbreaking study to be published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association shows that furosemide does more than enhance performance in Thoroughbred racehorses; it also has beneficial effects on the health and welfare of those horses.
He may be banned from racing in Britain, but Spanish Moon proved to be successful in France, charging to a 1 1/2-length win in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud June 28.
Odds-on choice Black Mamba always seems to run her race, and in the $147,000 Beverly Hills Handicap (gr. IIT) at Hollywood Park June 28, the grinding effort was just good enough for the New Zealand-bred mare to make it consecutive wins in the 1 1/4-mile turf event.
Our Man Luke gave trainer Lloyd Mason his 1,000th career win when he closed from off the pace under Russell Baze to take the fifth race at the San Joaquin County Fair at StocktonJune 27.
Fame And Glory justified being the odds-on favorite with a commanding five-length victory in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby (Ire-I) at the Curragh June 28.
Dance for Us, ridden by Chantal Sutherland, won the second leg of the Triple Tiara for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies when she prevailed by a nose in Woodbine's $217,665 Bison City Stakes June 28.
Favored Porte Bonheur showed needed improvement in her second start of the year when she wore down Spritely in the final strides to post a nose victory in the $150,000 First Flight Handicap (gr. II) at Belmont Park June 28.
Scarcely 12 hours after her record-setting victory in the Mother Goose (gr. I) June 27 at Belmont Park, Rachel Alexandra stepped onto a van that carried her up the Northway to Saratoga Race Course, which will be the base for her summer campaign.
Terrain, who pulled up in Friday's Iowa Derby, came out of the race with broken sesamoid bones in his right front ankle and had to be euthanized.
The steady veteran Jonesboro angled off the rail for the drive, wore down pacesetting Shadowbdancing in deep stretch to win the $300,000 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap (gr. II) June 27 in Iowa.
D. Wayne Lukas added to his record-setting number of Debutante (gr. III) wins, snatching his seventh when Westrock Stables' Decelerator outdueled Wild Forest Cat by a neck June 27 in the $111,300 event at Churchill Downs.
Front-running Rahy's Attorney turned the tables on rival Sterwins in the $283,475 King Edward Stakes (Can-IIT) June 27 at Woodbine, refusing to give way when challenged in the long homestretch to post a one-length victory.
Angled to the middle of the track for the stretch run by jockey Gabriel Saez, heavy choice Kodiak Kowboy overpowered his rivals in the $200,000 Donald LeVine Memorial Handicap to win by four lengths at Philadelphia Park June 27.
A 129-pound impost wasn't enough to stop the undefeated champion Zenyatta, who earned a repeat win in the Vanity Handicap (gr. I) at Hollywood Park June 27 for her 11th consecutive victory.
Mary's Follies made her turf debut a successful one, taking over in upper stretch and then holding off a late charge from Kiawah Cat to win the $150,000 Boiling Springs (gr. IIIT) by a length June 27 at Monmouth Park.
Rachel Alexandra faced only two opponents in the $300,000 Mother Goose (gr. I) June 27 at Belmont Park but the sensational filly put on a dazzling display anyway, setting a stakes record while romping by nearly 20 lengths under Calvin Borel.
Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber's Dar Re Mi became the first European horse to qualify for the 2009 Breeders' Cup World Championships following her half-length victory in the Audi Pretty Polly Stakes (Ire-I) June 27 at the Curragh.
The field for $300,000 Mother Goose Stakes (gr. I) today was reduced to three with the scratches of Don't Forget Gil and Hopeful Image, leaving Preakness (gr. I) heroine Rachel Alexandra to face only Flashing and Malibu Prayer.
Grade I winner Dixie Chatter has been retired from racing and will stand in 2010 at Martin and Pam Wygod's River Edge Farm near Buellton, Calif.
Shipped north to Prairie Meadows for the June 26 Iowa Oaks (gr. III) off a big win in the Dogwood Stakes (gr. III) last month at Churchill Downs, Hightap delivered again, taking the $200,000 race by three-quarters of a length over Sweet Relish.
