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January

Fighting Fifth hero Not So Sleepy to head straight to Champion Hurdle

Not So Sleepy, who shared the spoils with Epatante in the Grade 1 Fighting Fifth Hurdle in November, will head straight to the Unibet Champion Hurdle on the back of a below-par effort at Kempton. The Hughie Morrison-trained ten-year-old concluded last of five to Epatante in the Christmas Hurdle on December 26, having dead-heated with the 2020 Champion Hurdle winner to gain a first top-level success at Newcastle. A nine-time winner from 55 starts, Not So Sleepy finished fifth in last season’s Champion Hurdle at 125-1 and Morrison is hoping for another good show by using the coming weeks to freshen up his jumping stable star. […]

December

With storms coming, Santa Anita looks ‘OK’ for opening day

Under somewhat similar circumstances two years ago, Santa Anita made the pre-emptive move five days early to push back the beginning of its marquee winter-spring meet to Dec. 28 from its traditional day-after-Christmas opening. It was the first time since 1976 the track did not open on Dec. 26. This time around – as things currently stand – Santa Anita plans to open as planned on Sunday. “The track guys pay for a couple of different weather services that give them pretty good information, and right now they think we’re going to be OK,” Santa Anita general manager Nate Newby […]

December

Fincher looks for Springboard Mile repeat with Bye Bye Bobby

For trainer Todd Fincher and Bye Bye Bobby, the choices were limited. Fincher decided to run the Quality Road colt in the Zia Park Juvenile Stakes on Nov. 23. “My only option was to run him in the stake or don’t run him,” Fincher said. “Opportunities aren’t very good for 2-year-olds in some places, but it turned out good.” For the late-developing Bye Bye Bobby, the trial by fire went as well as it could have. He started off the pace in the six-furlong race before making up ground down the stretch and winning by 1 1/2 lengths. The result was […]

December

Medina Spirit Collapses, Dies After Santa Anita Workout

This year’s Kentucky Derby first-place finisher Medina Spirit collapsed and died after a workout at Santa Anita Park on Monday morning, the California Horse Racing Board’s Equine Medical Director Jeff Blea confirmed. Trained by Bob Baffert, the 3-year-old son of Protonico had just completed five furlongs in 1:01.40 in his second work since finishing second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. “I spoke to the attending veterinarian, and when they got to him on the track he had already expired,” stated Dr. Blea, former American Association of Equine Practitioners president, speaking from the AAEP convention in Nashville, Tenn. “Not sure where […]

November

Smile Happy Gives McPeek Another Kentucky Jockey Club Win

The horse that brought Kenny McPeek to the winner’s circle for the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs was not the one that most fans would have expected. Instead of Tiz the Bomb, who scratched out of the G2 stakes earlier Saturday, it was Smile Happy, a son of Runhappy, who gave McPeek his third victory in the early prep race for the 2022 Kentucky Derby. In a field scratched down from 14 to 11, Smile Happy broke from post eight, taking up position in fifth around the first turn and onto the backstretch. Setting early fractions of […]

November

Jockey Geovanni Franco To Return To Oaklawn For 2022

Southern California-based jockey Geovanni Franco announced on Twitter Saturday that he is returning to Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., for the 2021-2022 meeting that starts Dec. 3. Franco will be represented by retired Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens. Franco rode regularly in 2016 and 2017 at Oaklawn, amassing 61 victories, including four stakes, and $2,573,621 in purse earnings. He rode 16 winners in his 2016 debut and 45 in 2017 to tie for third in the standings. Franco capped his 2017 meeting with a closing-day double, guiding Inside Straight ($41.40) to an upset in the $750,000 Grade 2 […]

November

Belle Street Stars Saturday at Keeneland

With Godolphin’s Belle Street (Street Sense) leading the way at $550,000, the Book 3 section of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale opened Saturday with strong results as the 10-day auction continues to track well ahead of 2020 figures. During Saturday’s session, 252 head grossed $19,981,500. The session average of $79,292 was up 36.37% from the corresponding 2020 figure and the median of $65,000 was up 49.43%. With 78 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 23.64%. It was 24.67% a year ago. Through four sessions, 838 head have sold for $146,615,500. The average of $174,959 is up 12.99% from a […]

November

State Upholds Race Ban for McPeek Tied to Quarantine

New York State regulators denied a bid for a declaratory relief by trainer Kenny McPeek,who argued that a steward made an “arbitrary and capricious” decision that kept seven of his horses from racing in the days after an equine herpesvirus-1 quarantine ended last summer at Saratoga Race Course. The state Gaming Commission unanimously sided with Peter Moschetti Jr.— a board member of the commission —who on Oct. 28 ruled versus McPeek’s appeal of the steward’s decision to restrict the trainer from entering the horses Aug. 1, 3 and 4 after a quarantine at Saratoga’s Barn 86 had ended. An outbreak of […]

November

Ferguson Riding High Into Del Mar After First Group 1 Win

There’s grey, cloud-stuffed sky hanging over Newmarket as the mild autumn is bustled along by an impatient winter. A week ago, it felt like spring was still in the air in Paris as a sun-dappled day saw second-season trainer James Ferguson revealed his presence in the international stage with a first Group 1 winner. The diminutive El Bodegon (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) passed almost literally under the noses of observers on the paddock rails who mostly had eyes for his bigger, stronger rivals, but the little colt has the heart to match his talent and kept his upward climb to the […]

October

No Change In Top Three Of NTRA Thoroughbred Poll; Knicks Go Leads Two Weeks Ahead Of Breeders’ Cup

There was no alteration in the top three positions in this week’s NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll as Korea Racing Stable’s 5-year-old horse Knicks Go retained his top ranking for the twelfth consecutive week in the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll with 23 first place votes and 339 points. Knicks Go is expected to be sent off the favorite in the $6 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 6 at Del Mar. St. George Stable’s 5-year-old mare Letruska remained in second place in the poll with six first place votes and 313 points. Trained by Fausto Gutierrez, Letruska is a leading […]

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Tag

Fighting Fifth hero Not So Sleepy to head straight to Champion Hurdle

With storms coming, Santa Anita looks ‘OK’ for opening day

Fincher looks for Springboard Mile repeat with Bye Bye Bobby

Medina Spirit Collapses, Dies After Santa Anita Workout

Smile Happy Gives McPeek Another Kentucky Jockey Club Win

Jockey Geovanni Franco To Return To Oaklawn For 2022

Belle Street Stars Saturday at Keeneland

State Upholds Race Ban for McPeek Tied to Quarantine

Ferguson Riding High Into Del Mar After First Group 1 Win

No Change In Top Three Of NTRA Thoroughbred Poll; Knicks Go Leads Two Weeks Ahead Of Breeders’ Cup

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