Horse Racing

Calling it “the biggest challenge of my life,” popular Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano has overcome being diagnosed with the coronavirus and praised Gulfstream Park for the track’s approach in keeping its horses, horsemen and personnel safe. Castellano, 42, spent 14 days in quarantine at the South Florida home of his 64-year-old mother, where […]

Pirate’s Punch did just that last Friday, knocking out the competition in a five-length allowance victory for trainer Grant Forster, who said Tuesday afternoon that the gelding is scheduled to run next in the $600,000 Oaklawn Handicap (G2) for older horses at 1 1/8 miles May 2. Pirate’s Punch, who was ridden by Tyler Baze, […]

Uncertainty has become the new normal, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc around the world. With horse racing shut down across most of the United States, backstretch workers are feeling that strain more than ever before. At Santa Anita Park, there are approximately 750 grooms, hot walkers and exercise riders whose income depends […]

Beau Choix, a Grade 1-placed multiple stakes winner and veteran Florida stallion died Wednesday due to complications from colic surgery, per the social media channels of Pleasant Acres Farm. The 13-year-old son of Elusive Quality stood at Pleasant Acres in Morriston, Fla., where he entered stud for the 2014 breeding season. He has sired five […]

Gulfstream Park’s 10-race program Thursday includes a guaranteed pool in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 of $750,000, which has been handicapped by racing analyst Acacia Courtney. The sequence begins in the fifth race and includes three turf races and three maiden races, two on the turf. With a $40,000 maiden claimer on the turf kicking off the […]

The eyes of the racing world were on Fonner Park Tuesday evening as action-starved horseplayers chased the Dinsdale Pick 5 on a forced payout day that popped the gates with a pool of about $4.1 million – an unheard of amount for the small Nebraska track. That enthusiasm quickly turned to frustration among several horseplayers […]

It’s been a slow Oaklawn meet for jockey Channing Hill, with top mounts like multiple Arkansas-bred stakes winner Hoonani Road losing a step and stakes-placed sprinter Manny Wah winless in two starts. Both horses are trained by Hill’s father-in-law, Wayne Catalano. But Hill scored a riding double last Saturday, highlighted by a 1 ¾-length triumph […]

Stallion Spotlight offers stud farm representatives a chance to address breeders and answer questions as they finalize their mating decisions for the 2020 breeding season. This time around, Claiborne Farm president Walker Hancock and stallion seasons and bloodstock manager Bernie Sams talk about Lea, a dual-surface star whose first foals are 3-year-olds of 2020. Lea […]

Unique Bella, a two-time Eclipse Award winner during her on-track career, was bred to two-time Horse of the Year and leading sire Curlin, per the Twitter account of the mare’s owner Haras Don Alberto. The mating would produce Unique Bella’s second foal, after the 6-year-old Tapit mare delivered a Medaglia d’Oro filly in January. Unique […]